Senior Data Engineer

What we check and why

We look for an email address and a phone number in the body of the page. Some agency systems skip page headers and footers, so contact details only there can be lost.

Tips

• Put your email address and mobile number just under your name.
• Write them as plain text on a line of their own, not in a header, footer, text box or table.
• Add your town and outward postcode, such as "Leeds LS6". A street address is not needed.
• Use an email address you will keep, not one from your current employer.

What we check and why

We look for a heading over your work history (such as Experience, Employment history, Contract history, Assignments or Placements). Agency systems file your roles under it.

Tips

• Use plain headings: Profile, Experience (or Employment history), Education, Skills.
• A heading such as "Where I've been" may not be read as your work history.
• Put each heading on a line of its own, as text, not inside a picture or a text box.
• Open with two or three lines on what you do, or your tickets and cards, in the advert's words where they are true.

What we check and why

We look for the advert's job title in the first line of your CV after your name and contact details, where our match rate gives 15 points for it, and anywhere in your CV, where a recruiter's search for the title would find it.

Tips

• If the advert's title fairly describes your work, use it in a one-line headline under your name.
• Use the advert's exact wording for the title where it is true, including any short form.
• Never rename a past role. If your real title differed but the work matched, say so in its first bullet.
• Put each role's title on its own line, before the employer and the dates.

What we check and why

We compare the level the advert asks for with the highest level your CV names, in RQF levels (SCQF in Scotland). "Or equivalent experience" in the advert means a miss is not a fix.

When an advert names a qualification, a recruiter looks for it on your CV.

Tips

• Name each qualification in full, with the year: "BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Engineering, 2019".
• Add the level where the name does not show it, such as "HNC (Level 4)".
• Use the advert's name for a qualification when yours is the same one.
• List only what you hold. If you are still studying, say so, with the expected date.
• Where the advert says "or equivalent experience", make that experience easy to see in your roles.

What we check and why

We check that the date ranges in your work history use one format (for example "Mar 2021 - Present" throughout), so a system reads each role's dates the same way.

Tips

• Choose one style and use it for every role, such as "Mar 2021 - Jun 2024".
• Give a month and a year for every start and end date.
• Write "Present" for the role you are in now.
• Keep the dates beside each role, not in a separate column or table.

What we check and why

We check that a term the advert uses in full or as a short form appears on your CV both ways at least once (for example "Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS)"), so a search for either finds you.

Tips

• Write the full term once with its short form in brackets: "Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH)".
• After that, the short form on its own is fine.
• Follow the advert's own form of each term, for the skills you really have.

What we check and why

We check that we could read the text of your file. A scanned page or a picture of text can come back empty to an agency system too.

Tips

• Save your CV from a word processor as a Word file or a PDF, never as a scan or a photo.
• Keep every word as real text: none inside images, logos or graphics.
• Use one column and plain lines; tables, text boxes and sidebars can come out in the wrong order.
• Use a common font and plain round bullets; unusual symbols can turn into stray characters.
• Keep your name and contact details out of the page header and footer.
• If a PDF reads badly here, save it again from the original file.

What we check and why

We count lines that show a result with a number, a percentage or a £ figure (dates, phone numbers and versions left out); 3 or more pass.

Numbers show what changed because of you, which a list of duties cannot.

Tips

• Aim for at least 3 lines with a number in them.
• Lead with the result, then how: "Cut invoice errors by 30% by rebuilding the checks".
• Use real figures you can back up; "about" or a range is fine when the exact number is not known.
• Round sensibly: £1.2m, not £1,198,374.

Examples, by kind of result

• Money: "Cut overtime costs by £18,000 in a year"
• People: "Supervised 14 care assistants across two shifts"
• Volume: "Processed around 400 invoices a week"
• Time: "Brought month-end close down from 8 days to 5"
• Quality: "Kept a 99% on-time delivery rate for 12 months"

What we check and why

We look for blocks of text over 40 words in your work history that are not bullets. Bullets are the UK agency norm.

Tips

• Break any block of more than 40 words into bullets.
• Keep each bullet to one point, on one or two lines.
• Give recent roles more bullets than older ones.
• A short paragraph is fine for your profile; it is the work history that reads best as bullets.

What we check and why

We look for blame and excuse phrases from a plain list we maintain, such as "unfortunately" or "was forced to", line by line.

Blame or excuses colour how a reader remembers you.

Tips

• Say what happened plainly: "Contract ended when the project closed."
• Leave out why an employer or a colleague was at fault.
• Turn a setback into what you did next.
• Cut words like "unfortunately" that add nothing.

What we check and why

We count phrases from our overused-phrase list, a plain list we maintain. 3 or more, at 0.5 or more per 100 words, need a fix.

Phrases that appear on CV after CV tell a reader nothing about you.

Tips

• Swap each one for a fact: instead of "results-driven", say which result, for whom.
• Let numbers and examples do the praising.
• Cut self-praise such as "passionate" or "exceptional" unless a fact sits beside it.
• Keep the advert's own words where they describe skills you really have.

What we check and why

We look for four-word phrases used 3 times or more.

The same phrase again and again makes different roles read alike.

Tips

• Reword the repeats so each role reads as its own job.
• Vary the verbs: led, built, ran, fixed, trained.
• Keep a repeated term where it is the correct name for something.

What we check and why

We count lines that start with a phrase from our weak-opener list, a plain list we maintain, such as "responsible for"; 2 or more need a fix.

The first words of a line are the ones a reader skimming the page sees.

Tips

• Start each line with an action: managed, delivered, installed, reduced.
• Replace "Responsible for" with what you actually did.
• Follow the action with its result where you have one.

What we check and why

We check your CV runs to 350 to 1,300 words.

Too few words leave out your evidence; too many bury it.

Tips

• Aim for 350 to 1,300 words.
• If you are under, add results and the skills you used in each role.
• If you are over, trim older roles and repeated duties first.

What we check and why

We look for details a UK CV does not need (date of birth, age, marital status, nationality, a National Insurance number, a photo) from a plain list we maintain, and for US and UK spelling mixed.

A UK CV leaves out personal details an employer should not use, and keeps to UK spelling.

Tips

• Leave out your date of birth, age, marital status, nationality and a photo.
• Never put your National Insurance number on a CV.
• If it is true, one line such as "Full right to work in the UK" can save a question.
• Use UK spelling throughout: organise, colour, programme.

What we check and why

We look for a LinkedIn profile, a portfolio or a personal website near the top. Whether a link is useful comes from the advert's discipline, from a plain list we maintain; a missing link is never a fix.

A link lets a recruiter see your work, or more about you, for themselves.

Tips

• Add your LinkedIn profile link under your contact details, in its short custom form.
• Where your field shows its work, link one portfolio or set of samples.
• Check every link works and shows only what you are happy to share.
• No link is fine where your field does not use them.

What we check and why

We read the level words in the advert's title and in your CV's role titles (assistant, officer, senior, lead, head and so on) from a plain list we maintain. On a contract advert we also place its day rate against the role's middle half this month. We never read age or years of service.

A recruiter compares the level of your recent roles with the level of the job.

Tips

• Show your level through scope: the team you led, the budget you held, what you signed off.
• Use your real job titles. If your duties were above your title, show them in the bullets.
• Going for a step up? Lead with the work you have already done at that level.

What we check and why

We read the start and end of each dated role; at least 2 dated roles are needed. Years without months, or a work history with no dates at all, are worth a look. Short roles and overlaps are normal in contract and temp work, and we never look at gaps.

A recruiter reads your history as a timeline, so it should be easy to follow.

Tips

• List roles newest first, each with a start and end month.
• Short contracts or temp assignments can sit under one heading, each with its own dates.
• Give every role its real dates, even where roles overlap; never stretch dates to close a gap.
• A gap needs no excuse. A short line such as "Career break: caring" is enough if you want one.

What we check and why

References are optional on a UK CV; agencies take them at offer. We look for referees' names with a phone number or email in the 6 lines after a References heading: those are other people's details.

Tips

• Leave referees' names and numbers off; give them when an offer is close.
• You do not need to write "References available on request".
• Ask your referees first, and tell them about the role.

What we check and why

We compare line-opening verbs from a plain list we maintain within dated work roles. Present or Current dates mean ongoing duties; completed achievements can still use the past tense. Undated roles and unrecognised verbs are not judged.

Mixed tenses blur what you do now and what you did before.

Tips

• Use the present tense for duties in the role you are in now: "manage", "lead".
• Use the past tense for past roles and finished achievements: "managed", "delivered".
• In a role you have left, keep every line in the past tense.

What we check and why

We look for I, we, my, our and contractions at the start of a line, after any bullet, from a plain list we maintain. First person is a style choice; starting with the action can make a CV easier to scan.

Tips

• Start with the action: "Led a team of 5" rather than "I led a team of 5".
• In your profile, open with what you do: "Site manager running housing projects" rather than "I am a site manager".
• Where a result was shared, give your part: "Led the team of 4 that cut waiting times by a third".

What we check and why

We look for the same whole word twice in succession on one line, separated only by spaces. Punctuation breaks the pair. Remove accidental duplication and keep deliberate repetition.

A doubled word reads as a typing slip.

Tips

• Read each flagged line aloud to catch the slip.
• A word repeated across a line break is not flagged here, so read those joins too.
• Run your word processor's spelling and grammar check before you send.

What we check and why

We look for two or more spaces inside a line and a space before punctuation. Indentation and blank lines are ignored; extraction from a file can introduce spacing too.

Stray spaces are small, but they make a CV look less cared for.

Tips

• Use one space between words and none before a full stop or comma.
• Use find and replace in your word processor to swap double spaces for single ones.
• Turning a PDF into text can add spaces; check the original before you change anything.

What we check and why

The existing skill extractor groups known names for the same skill. We flag more than one written form for review, without changing the score. A full name and its abbreviation together can be useful.

Writing a skill one way makes it easier to find and easier to read.

Tips

• Choose one name for each skill and use it throughout.
• Use the advert's form of the name for the skills you have.
• Give a full name with its short form in brackets once, then keep to one of them.