How we make CV templates
Original examples, practical structures
Our examples are fictional. The people, organisations, dates, projects and achievements show how a CV can be organised; they are not someone’s credentials. Replace every detail with your own evidence. Each template explains which situation it suits and when another structure may be clearer.
Preview and downloads
The page images and PDFs come from the same original Word files. Accessible text comes from the same sample content. The editor starts with that content and lets you change the order, headings and wording.
Our preview can’t promise where Word or Google Docs will break the pages. Fonts, software and edits can change line and page breaks. Reopen the exact attachment before sending it. The download checklist shows what to inspect.
The editor’s PDF is made on your device. It lays the page out by Word’s own rules (line spacing, space between paragraphs, headings kept with the text under them, no single line left alone at the top or bottom of a page) using open fonts with the same character widths as Arial, Calibri, Cambria and Georgia, so it breaks pages where the Word file should. The preview beside the fields is drawn from that same layout, and its page count is the PDF’s.
Under the designs you can change the colour (Classic, Modern, Professional and Creative have one; the other four are black and grey), the text size (10.5, 11 or 12 point) and the spacing (Normal, or Compact with single line spacing and about half the space between paragraphs). The Word file, the PDF and the preview follow the same choice, and a saved draft keeps it. Every colour we offer reads at a contrast of at least 4.5 to 1 on white and prints as a dark grey in black and white.
What the text checks can tell you
The CV checker runs up to 25 fixed rules and shows them in four groups. Contact details: your name, an email address and whether it includes your name rather than a nickname, a UK-style phone number, a full postcode (your town is enough), a few labels for sensitive details such as date of birth, and web addresses that look mistyped. What your CV says: a section of experience or skills, sample text and prompts in square brackets left in, empty and repeated sections, “I” and “my”, vague phrases such as “team player”, how many work points hold a number, points over 45 words, jobs with more than eight points, lines that appear twice, common US spellings and a “references available on request” line. Dates and order: reversed year ranges, gaps of more than six months between dated jobs, a job listed below one that ended before it began, and month dates written in more than one style. Length and file: how many pages the CV makes in our PDF layout for its design (a word count until that layout has loaded), and, when you open a file, whether its name says whose CV it is. Each result states its rule and limit, quotes what it found and gives an edit destination. A check finding nothing is not proof that the CV is accurate or complete.
The cover letter builder has its own “Check this letter”: every part present, prompts and details from our example letters left in, “Yours sincerely” after a named greeting and “Yours faithfully” after “Dear Sir or Madam”, the greeting naming the person the letter is addressed to, a date within the last week, one page in the PDF layout, and the CV checker’s vague phrases and US spellings. A mention of an attachment gets a reminder to attach it, because we cannot see your email or form.
The checks do not verify employment, qualifications, spelling, grammar or eligibility, and they do not open links. The page count is our layout’s: Word or another program can break a page in a different place, so count the pages of the file you send. They do not assign an ATS score, predict screening or estimate your chance of an interview. Private planning notes are kept out of application downloads.
How the job-advert comparison works
Compare a CV with an advert to review requirements, desirable skills, responsibilities and qualifications. Original headings and statements remain visible. The grouping is a suggestion, and an unfamiliar heading can leave a requirement under other text.
Phrase search ignores capitals and repeated spaces. It keeps word boundaries and technical punctuation: C, C++ and C# are different searches. It quotes the first matching body line in each section and links to that field. It cannot recognise all equivalent wording or decide whether a statement proves competence.
A long paragraph is split into sentences so each requirement is compared on its own. When a statement’s own wording is missing, the comparison tries a plural and a short, fixed list of same-meaning wordings (for example “supervising staff” and “led a team”). Those results are labelled “Similar wording: check it” and kept apart from wording found in your CV; statements with negative or conditional wording are never matched this way.
Requirements come first, then qualifications and responsibilities, then what the advert calls desirable. Inside each group, a phrase the advert uses more than once comes first and says how often, for example “Mentioned 3 times in the advert”, counting its plural or singular as well. Tick “Not relevant to me” on a requirement that does not apply to you, and it is left out of the count until you untick it.
Negative or conditional words prompt a warning; they are not interpreted as a positive skill claim. Read the whole quotation. A missing phrase may be expressed another way. Never add a skill merely to create a match. Editing the advert clears old results, and editing the CV refreshes matches.
Importing an existing CV
Import text, DOCX or a saved draft on your device. Recognised headings split text into sections; uncertain text is retained for review. Names and contact details are not guessed. Review them before applying the result.
DOCX import reads main-document text only. It does not retain layout, images, headers, footers or comments. Copy any missing text from the original. PDF import reads the text of up to 10 pages on your device with pdf.js, Mozilla’s open PDF reader; a two-column layout can come out with its columns mixed, and a scanned PDF has no text to read. Unsupported files get a plain error and a paste alternative. Keep your original file unchanged.
Privacy and corrections
CV, advert and letter text stays in browser memory. Save a draft file, or turn on “Keep this draft on this device” in the editor, if you want to keep working later; otherwise reloading clears unsaved text. The privacy page explains site measurement separately from local editing.
There are no paid placements, affiliate links or sponsored template rankings on this site. Report a correction through Contact without including your CV.