You don't need to write a CV — build your profile instead

Why we'd rather you didn't start with a blank page

Ask two people with identical grades and identical Saturday jobs to write a CV. The one whose mum works in an office, or whose school ran a careers session, produces a far better document. Nothing about them is more employable — they just had better help.

Employers then sift on the document. That's the bit we think is broken, and it's why we built the profile instead: structured questions everyone gets asked the same way, with prompts where a blank page would leave you guessing.

How your profile becomes your application

Fill in your profile once and it works for every role you apply to. When you apply, we pass your details to the employer in the format they use — including generating a properly laid-out CV from what you've entered, so you never have to format one yourself.

Practically, that means:

• No document to write, format, or keep several versions of.
• Nothing lost because you didn't know a CV was supposed to include it.
• You update it in one place when something changes.

What to put in each section

The profile is nine short sections. These are the ones that do the work:

• Education — every qualification, including ones in progress. Put maths and English in, since many apprenticeships have a minimum requirement for both. Waiting on results? Say what you're taking and when you'll get them.
• Experience — far broader than "jobs". See the next section.
• Skills — pick the ones you could give an example of if asked at interview. Skills you can't evidence are worse than no skills.
• Personal details — a phone number you actually answer, and an email address you'd be happy for an employer to read out. Set up your voicemail; recruiters ring.
• Right to work — dull, and it stops applications dead when it's missing.

A complete profile also gets you better matches, because we can only match you on what you've told us.

What counts as experience (more than you think)

This is where people undersell themselves hardest. Employers hiring at this level count all of it:

• Part-time and weekend work, including for family businesses
• Volunteering — charity shops, sports coaching, community groups, Scouts or Guides
• School responsibilities: prefect, mentor, committee, fundraising
• Caring responsibilities at home
• Projects you did for yourself — a YouTube channel, a repair business, a game mod, a market stall
• Duke of Edinburgh, National Citizen Service, cadets

Self-taught projects are especially strong evidence for technical roles, because they show motivation nobody made you have. Caring responsibilities demonstrate reliability under pressure that most adults haven't had to show.

Evidence beats adjectives

Wherever the profile gives you a free-text box, this is the difference between an entry that lands and one that's skipped:

• Instead of "good team player" → "Played in a netball team every Saturday for three years, including organising transport for away games."
• Instead of "hard working" → "Worked Saturdays at a garden centre while doing four GCSEs."
• Instead of "good with computers" → "Built and maintained a three-page website for my dad's business."

The second version of each is specific, checkable and impossible to fake. That's what makes it persuasive — and it's the same instinct that gets you through an interview.

When an employer still asks for a CV

Some employers do ask for a CV upload, and a few run their own application systems. You'll see that on the application itself.

When it happens, you're not starting from nothing: everything the document needs is already in your profile, so it's a matter of putting it in order rather than working out what to say. If you'd like a hand, your school or college careers adviser can help, and the National Careers Service offers free guidance to anyone.

Common questions