CV optimisation: the four levers
Most CV advice is vibes. These are the four levers that actually change your callback rate.
Reviewed by Anthony, founder · Updated
Lever 01
Keyword match
The ATS scores your CV against the job ad. If the ad says “stakeholder management” six times and your CV doesn't say it once, you score badly even if you genuinely managed stakeholders. The fix is to read the ad, list the important nouns, and make sure your CV uses the same nouns wherever you genuinely did that work.
Rule of thumb: every skill named in the ad that applies to you should appear at least once on your CV, in the ad's wording.
Lever 02
ATS parsing
If your CV is in a two-column Canva template with icons and skill bars, the ATS parser may scramble your job titles or miss your dates entirely. Single column, standard fonts, plain bullets, no tables. See the ATS CV guide for the full format rules.
Lever 03
Evidence density
A bullet that says “Strong communicator with proven leadership skills” communicates nothing. A bullet that says “Led weekly handover for a team of 12 nurses across two wards” communicates everything.
For each bullet, ask:
Could anyone in the world write this exact bullet about themselves? If yes, rewrite it.
Is there a number, name, place, or specific deliverable I can add?
Does this bullet name the skill the ad is asking for?
Lever 04
Tailoring per application
The single biggest mistake UK job seekers make is sending the same CV to every job. Even two roles with the same title at different employers want different things. A “Senior Project Manager” at a hospital trust wants safeguarding and stakeholder engagement. The same title at a fintech wants OKRs and Jira.
Tailoring is mechanical work. Re-phrasing, re-ordering, re-prioritising. That's exactly the part a tool can do for you in a minute.
See where you score.
Free diagnostic. Upload your CV and a job description, get a score across these four levers plus the keywords you're missing.
Frequently asked
What is CV optimisation?+
CV optimisation is the process of changing your CV so more of your applications convert into interviews. In practice it means four things: matching keywords to the job ad, formatting for ATS parsing, increasing evidence density (specifics instead of platitudes), and tailoring per application instead of sending the same file 50 times.
Is CV optimisation different from CV writing?+
CV writing builds the document from scratch. CV optimisation improves an existing CV. If your CV is fundamentally a list of jobs and dates with no narrative, you may want a writer. If your CV is fine but not converting, you want optimisation.
How much does it cost?+
Sausage Dog optimisation is free for one CV per day and £9/month for unlimited. Human optimisation services range £100-£500 per CV. Both work; speed and price are the trade-off.
Do recruiters actually search by keyword?+
Yes. Most large UK employers have a candidate database (the ATS) that recruiters search with Boolean queries. If your CV doesn't contain the words the recruiter searches for, it doesn't surface, even if you're a great fit.