--- title: "Can you use AI to write my CV?" url: https://canyouuseai.com/questions/write-my-cv/ verdict: yes-with-care verdict_label: "Yes, with care" category: "Work and careers" published: 2026-10-01 updated: 2026-10-01 author: "Jack Stovell" publisher: "Adapt Progress Evolve Limited" language: en-GB --- # Can you use AI to write my CV? **Verdict: Yes, with care.** Yes, with care. AI is good at structure, wording and tailoring a CV to an advert, but every job, date, qualification and achievement must be real and checked by you. AI is genuinely good at structure, wording and tailoring. It can take a messy pile of job duties and turn it into something readable, which is the bit most people hate. What it can't do is know what you actually did. Every job, date, qualification and achievement on the page has to be real, and you're the only one who can check that. The tool does the polishing; you supply the truth. The National Careers Service says a CV summarises your skills, achievements and experience. That's the whole job of the document. If an AI adds something that isn't yours, it has stopped being a CV and started being fiction. NHS Employers points out that AI content can be generic and can contain false or misleading information. Generic is annoying. Misleading is the dangerous one, because it reads so smoothly you stop questioning it. ## How to do it well Start with your own material: an old CV, a list of your jobs with dates, and results you can evidence. Anthropic's guidance to its own candidates is to write the first draft yourself, then use AI to refine it. That keeps you in charge of the facts and lets the tool handle the finish. Next, turn duties into achievements. "Responsible for the till" doesn't say much; what happened because of it says more. Tell the AI to use only numbers you supply. If you don't have a number, a plain line beats an invented figure. Tailoring is where AI earns its keep. The National Careers Service says to tailor your CV to each job using the advert's description and essential criteria, and to highlight the skills they ask for. Paste in the advert and ask which of your real skills match and which words the advert uses. Doing that by hand for every application is slow. ``` Here is my current CV and a job advert. Rewrite my last two roles as 3 bullet points each, using only facts in my CV. Flag any line where you'd need a number from me rather than inventing one. ``` That last sentence gives the tool permission to say "I need more from you" instead of filling the gap with something that sounds good. Then check the format, because AI doesn't always respect the basics. The National Careers Service suggests a clear font like Arial, Times New Roman or Calibri at size 11 or bigger, the same style throughout, and headings and bullet points. The usual sections are: - Contact details: name, phone, email and, if you have one, a link to a work network profile such as LinkedIn. - Introduction: a few short lines under your name. - Education history: qualifications, where you studied and the dates. - Work history: most recent first, with employer, job title, dates and two to three lines on what you did, using STAR. Gaps are normal. - References: say they're available on request rather than listing anyone's contact details. Leave out your age, date of birth, marital status and nationality. If the AI helpfully adds any of those, delete them. Now the bit people skip. Check every date, title and qualification, line by line, because AI can quietly change them: a job title nudged up a rung, a start date shifted by a year, a degree classification that wasn't yours. Get someone else to check spelling and grammar too, as the National Careers Service advises. Be careful what you paste in. If you're unsure what a tool keeps, strip out your home address, phone number and anyone else's details first. The Civil Service guidance says not to give an AI tool sensitive information about your organisation, such as figures or personal details, so keep your current employer's confidential numbers out of it. The National Careers Service also points to a CV builder tool from the Department for Work and Pensions, if you'd like a structured starting point. ## Rules and risks The main risk is that invented or inflated content gets an application rejected. NHSBSA says AI can help proofread and refine, but inflating skills and experience could lead to rejection. The Civil Service guidance says not to use AI to inflate or invent skills and experience. Two public bodies saying the same thing tells you something. You'll often be asked to confirm that what you've submitted is true and accurate; both the Civil Service and NHSBSA ask for this. If the AI wrote a line you can't back up, that confirmation is yours to answer for. It's your name at the top. Employers' AI rules vary. Some are relaxed about proofreading and refining; others set out clear limits. Check the guidance from whoever you're applying to before you submit. Write the first draft yourself, use AI to tighten and tailor it, and treat everything it produces as a suggestion to verify. This is general information, not legal advice. ## From the same studio These are our own products (the studio that runs this site makes them). - [How to get AI to](https://howtogetaito.com/): Its free library has a step-by-step guide to getting AI to write a CV, with prompts and privacy notes. ## Sources - [National Careers Service: How to write a CV](https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/careers-advice/cv-sections) - [Civil Service Careers: A candidate's guide to artificial intelligence (AI) in recruitment](https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/artificial-intelligence-and-recruitment/) - [NHSBSA Careers: Your guide to GenAI](https://careers.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/generative-ai-our-recruitment-process) - [NHS Employers: Guidance on the use of artificial intelligence in candidate applications](https://www.nhsemployers.org/articles/guidance-use-artificial-intelligence-candidate-applications) - [Anthropic: Guidance on candidates' AI usage](https://www.anthropic.com/candidate-ai-guidance) ## Questions people ask ### Is it cheating to use AI to write a CV? Not if the content is true. Employers such as the Civil Service and NHSBSA accept AI for refining wording and proofreading. What they rule out is using it to inflate or invent skills and experience, and both ask you to confirm your application is true and accurate. Anthropic's advice to its own candidates is to write the first draft yourself and use AI to refine it. ### What should a UK CV include? The National Careers Service lists contact details, a short introduction, education history, work history and references. Work history goes most recent first, with employer, job title, dates and two to three lines on what you did. Leave out your age, date of birth, marital status and nationality, and say references are available on request instead of listing referees' details. ### Can AI make mistakes on my CV? Yes. NHS Employers warns that AI can generate false or misleading information, and it can also make content generic. On a CV that can mean a changed job title, a shifted date or a qualification you don't hold. Check every line against your own records, and get someone else to read it for spelling and grammar, as the National Careers Service suggests. ### Is it safe to paste my CV into an AI tool? Think about what's in it first. If you're unsure what a tool keeps, remove your home address, phone number and any other people's details before pasting. The Civil Service guidance says not to give an AI tool sensitive information about your organisation, such as figures or personal details, so leave out confidential numbers from your current job too.