19/07/2026
Should job seekers use the same CV for every application?
One CV may contain your full work history, but it should not be sent unchanged to every employer.
Job seekers are often advised to “tailor” their CVs. Unfortunately, this can sound as though they are expected to rewrite everything—or change who they are—to suit each vacancy.
That is not what tailoring means.
Tailoring a CV means presenting your truthful experience in a way that makes its relevance to a particular job easy to see.
Consider a person who has worked in a small retail store. Their duties may have included:
• Assisting customers
• Operating the till
• Receiving deliveries
• Counting stock
• Packing shelves
• Keeping the shop clean and organised
When applying for a cashier vacancy, the CV should place greater emphasis on customer service, cash handling and till operation.
When applying for a warehouse assistant vacancy, the same person should place greater emphasis on receiving deliveries, packing, stock counting and maintaining an orderly work area.
The facts have not changed.
The emphasis has.
Why does this matter?
Employers are not simply asking whether an applicant is hardworking or employable.
They are asking:
“Does this applicant meet the requirements of this particular job?”
A generic CV may contain the right experience, but hide it beneath unrelated information. Recruiters should not have to search through several pages to discover that the applicant has the exact skill listed in the advert.
Tailoring also encourages the job seeker to slow down and read the vacancy properly.
Before applying, the applicant should ask:
• Which requirements are essential?
• Which parts of my experience prove that I meet them?
• Are specific qualifications, licences or registrations required?
• Does the employer want particular software or technical skills?
• Are there application instructions that I must follow exactly?
This matters for every job, but the amount of tailoring required will differ.
A cleaner, packer, shelf packer or general worker may only need to make a few focused adjustments. Shift availability, physical work, location, transport and relevant duties may be the main priorities.
Professional, technical, government, graduate, management and specialist applications usually require more detailed tailoring. Employers may be looking for particular systems, qualifications, industry experience, measurable achievements, registrations or leadership responsibilities.
The practical solution is not to create a completely new CV for every vacancy.
Job seekers should build:
1. A master CV
This contains their full work history, duties, achievements, qualifications, certificates and skills.
2. Several job-family CVs
For example:
• Retail and Customer Service
• Administration and Data Capturing
• General Work, Warehouse and Production
• Hospitality and Food Service
• Driving and Logistics
• Professional or Technical Work
3. A final tailored application copy
Before submitting, the applicant should compare the closest CV version with the advert and make the necessary adjustments.
There is also an important boundary:
Tailoring is not lying.
It does not mean copying every requirement into the CV, claiming skills the applicant does not have, changing job titles dishonestly or inventing qualifications.
It means helping the employer recognise the applicant’s real and relevant value.
The goal is not to become a different person for every vacancy.
The goal is to make it easier for the employer to see why the real person may be suitable for the job.
Do not send the same CV blindly. Read the advert, identify the match and present it clearly.
