If you’ve recently been made redundant, laid off, or lost your job, you’ve probably been told the same thing on repeat:
“Update your CV.”
And if you’ve already been applying for weeks (maybe months) and getting nothing but silence, you’ve probably told yourself:
“My CV must be the problem.”
Sometimes it is.
But not in the way most people think.
Because the real issue is often this:
You’re trying to use one CV to win in three (or more) completely different situations.
And it doesn’t work.
Not because you’re not good enough.
Not because your experience isn’t valuable.
But because different hiring routes “read” a CV differently — and most people never adjust for that.
So they keep rewriting the same document… and keep getting the same result.
First: a quick reality check (so you stop spiralling)
If you’re freshly redundant and overwhelmed: you’re not meant to be clear on Day 2. Your brain is trying to regain control. Tweaking your CV feels like control. That’s normal.
If you’re already app