CV checklist: 30 checks to make before sending your CV

Why you need a checklist

You've spent hours writing your CV and you're tempted to send it straight away. But the mistakes that sink an application are often the most trivial: a wrong phone number, the previous company's name in your cover letter, a PDF that displays badly on the recruiter's phone.

This checklist takes 10-15 minutes. Use it before every important application: some items only need checking once, others change with every job ad.

1. Content and relevance

1. Does the title under your name match the role you're applying for? ("Accounts Assistant", not a generic "Curriculum vitae".)
2. Does your profile explain in 3-4 lines who you are, what you can do and what you're looking for, with at least one concrete fact?
3. Is your experience in reverse chronological order, most recent first?
4. Does every role include at least one result or concrete detail (numbers, volumes, responsibilities), not just a list of duties?
5. Are the roles most relevant to this ad clearly visible and described in more detail?
6. Have you removed what isn't needed for this role (very old, irrelevant jobs, unrelated courses, generic hobbies)?
7. Do long gaps have a brief explanation?
8. Is everything you wrote true, and could you talk about it in an interview with examples?

2. Keywords and the job ad

1. Have you re-read the ad and highlighted the main requirements?
2. Do the required skills you have appear in your CV using the same terms as the ad?
3. Are acronyms and full names included at least once ("Customer Relationship Management (CRM)")?
4. Are your technical skills specific (software names, tools, certifications) rather than generic ("IT skills", "Microsoft Office" with no detail)?

3. Accuracy and style

1. No spelling mistakes: have you used a spell-checker and read it aloud?
2. Has someone else read your CV? After hours on the same text, mistakes become invisible.
3. Dates in a single format (e.g. "03/2023 - 06/2025") throughout?
4. Consistent punctuation in bullet points (all with a full stop or all without)?
5. Consistent tenses: past for finished roles, present for your current one?
6. Company, school and software names spelled correctly, with the right capitalisation?

4. Design and readability

1. Appropriate length: one page for junior profiles, two at most for experienced ones?
2. A readable font (10-12 pt for body text), the same throughout?
3. Regular spacing and margins, with no dense blocks of text?
4. No bars, stars or percentages rating your skills?
5. Readable in black and white and on a small screen? Many recruiters open CVs on their phone.

5. Contact details and personal data

1. Correct phone number, with the international code if you're applying abroad?
2. A professional email address (firstname.lastname@...) that works?
3. LinkedIn and portfolio links that work, are public and up to date, and match your CV (same dates and roles)?
4. No unnecessary or sensitive data (national ID numbers, marital status, children, religion, health)? In the UK and the US, also leave out your photo, age and date of birth.

6. File and sending

1. A PDF with selectable text, unless asked otherwise? Try the test: copy all the text from the PDF and paste it into a text editor. If it comes out in order, recruiting software will read it well.
2. A professional file name: "Firstname_Lastname_CV.pdf", not "CV_final_v3.pdf"?
3. Have you followed the ad's instructions: required format, reference code in the subject line, documents to attach, deadline?

If you also have a cover letter

• Are the company and recipient names correct (and not those from your previous application)?
• Is the role mentioned the right one?
• Is there at least one specific reference to the company and one concrete result of yours?
• Is it within one page and visually consistent with your CV?

If you're applying by email

• A clear subject line: "Application for [Role] - [First name Last name]" or the ad's reference code.
• A short, polite email body, with a greeting, the role, a mention of the attachments and a signature with your contact details.
• Attachments actually attached (forgetting them happens more often than you'd think).
• Test it by sending the email to yourself: does everything open correctly on a computer and a phone?

If you're applying through a portal

• Have you filled in the form fields too, checking that the data automatically extracted from your CV is correct?
• Are knockout questions answered carefully and honestly?
• Have you saved a copy of the ad? It's often removed after the deadline, but you'll need it to prepare for the interview.

After sending

• Log the application: company, role, date, CV version sent, any contact. A simple spreadsheet is enough.
• Update LinkedIn if you've improved your CV.
• Start preparing for the interview now: re-read the ad and think of a concrete example for each requirement.
• Follow-up: if you've heard nothing after 2-3 weeks and have a direct contact, a short polite message is appropriate.

The 5 items you should never skip

If you're short on time, check at least these:

1. Phone number and email.
2. The company name and role (in your CV, cover letter and email subject).
3. Spelling in your profile and first role.
4. The PDF opens and the text is selectable.
5. The ad's main skills appear in your CV.

With WizardsCV you see a live preview of your CV as you fill it in, so you can check length and layout before downloading your PDF, free and with no sign-up.