"Tailoring Your CV"

Let me tell you about a candidate I worked with last year. They’d been searching for eight months, getting interviews but never offers. Plenty of experience, great CV, professional presentation. But something wasn’t clicking.

We did a mock interview. Within ten minutes, I knew the problem. They were answering questions like they were reading from a script. Technically correct, emotionally flat. Every answer felt rehearsed because it was rehearsed.

Here’s the thing about tailoring your cv that most people miss: authenticity beats perfection every time. Hiring managers have sat through hundreds of interviews. They can spot a canned answer from the first sentence. What they’re looking for is a real person having a real conversation.

That doesn’t mean being unprepared. It means being prepared enough that you can be natural. Knowing your stories so well that you can tell them differently each time. Understanding the principles behind your answers, not just the words.

We worked on this for two weeks. Less scripting, more frameworks. Less memorisation, more understanding. The next interview they had, they got the offer. Same person, same experience, different approach.

This is what frustrates me about career advice. Everyone focuses on what to say, when the real issue is usually how you’re saying it. The words matter less than the presence. The content matters less than the connection.

I’m not suggesting you walk into interviews unprepared and ‘just be yourself.’ That’s terrible advice. I’m suggesting you prepare so thoroughly that you can be yourself, because you’re not worrying about what comes next. You’re present. You’re engaged. You’re human.

That’s what makes the difference. Not the perfect answer. Not the impressive credentials. Just a genuine human connection that makes someone want to work with you.

Stop trying to be impressive. Start trying to be genuine. The rest usually follows.