How To Write A Perfect Cv In Simple English Ep 806

English Listening Practice: The keywords AI scans for in your CV – do you have them?

Did you know that 90% of job applications in 2025 are first scanned by AI, not humans? And if your CV doesn’t include the right keywords, it might get rejected before a recruiter even sees it?

Welcome to Adept English, the podcast where we help you learn English fluently through real-world topics—like today’s episode on AI-proof CVs and modern job hunting.

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In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Key phrases like ‘elevator pitch’ and ‘ATS-friendly’ (that’s Applicant Tracking Software, by the way—not as complicated as it sounds!).
• How to avoid ageism (yes, even if you’re not 62!) and tailor your CV like a ‘CV whisperer’—no magic required.
• Why using ChatGPT to write your CV might backfire (‘a mile off,’ as recruiters say).

Whether you’re job hunting now or just want to upgrade your English for the future, this episode is your shortcut to confident, AI-ready applications. Ready to crack the code? Let’s begin.

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More About This Lesson

Have you wondered why your job applications keep getting rejected? What if I told you it’s not a human—but an AI—scanning your CV first? That’s right! These days, your dream job might slip away before a real person even sees your resumé. Scary, huh?

But don’t panic—today’s podcast is packed with expert tips on how to play the system. We’ll cover everything from ‘AI-friendly’ formatting to sneaky keywords that’ll get your CV past the robots. Oh, and pro tip? Never let ChatGPT write your CV (trust me, recruiters can spot it ‘a mile off’!).

Listening to this English lesson will help:

1. You learn job-related vocabulary like "CV," "resumé," and "applicant tracking system."
2. You understand idioms like "hit and miss" and "fall at the first hurdle."
3. You hear natural pronunciation of words like "haphazard" and "baffling."
4. You grasp practical advice for real-world scenarios like job applications.
5. You recognize keywords (e.g., "value," "growth") used in professional contexts.
6. You learn cultural insights, like UK vs. US terms ("CV" vs. "resumé").
7. You practice listening to clear, conversational English with varied pacing.
8. You pick up transitional phrases like "fair enough" and "in other words."
9. You discover formal phrases like "prospective employer" and "elevator pitch."
10. You hear contractions (e.g., "don't," "it's") used naturally in speech.

So why is this super useful for English learners? Well, job applications are full of real-world vocabulary—think ‘tailor your CV’, ‘elevator pitch’, or ‘applicant tracking system’. Learning these phrases doesn’t just help your career; it sharpens your English for everyday conversations too. Plus, understanding how AI works (and how to outsmart it!) is a global discussion topic. By the end of this lesson, you’ll sound like a pro—whether you’re chatting about jobs, tech, or modern life. Win-win, right?

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What is the difference between a CV and a resumé in British English?
   In British English, the term CV (Curriculum Vitae) is commonly used, while resumé is more prevalent in other English-speaking countries like the U.S. Both serve the same purpose—summarizing your work experience and skills—but the terminology varies by region. If you're applying for jobs in the UK, using CV will sound more natural.

2. How can I optimize my CV for AI screening when applying for jobs in the UK?
   To ensure your CV passes AI screening, use a digital format like a Word or PDF file that Applicant Tracking Software (ATS) can read. Include keywords from the job description, such as value, growth, or engagement, and tailor your CV to match the role. Keep it concise (no more than two pages) and add an elevator pitch, a brief summary of your skills at the top. Avoid using AI-generated content, as recruiters can spot it easily.

3. Why is it important to avoid AI-generated content in my CV?
   While AI tools like ChatGPT can help draft content, recruiters and hiring managers often recognize AI-generated text as impersonal or generic. A human-written CV reflects your unique voice and experiences, making it more compelling. As mentioned in the transcript, recruiters can spot AI-generated CVs "a mile off," which may harm your chances.

4. What is an "elevator pitch" in a British job application?
   An elevator pitch is a quick, persuasive summary of your skills and achievements, placed near the top of your CV. The term comes from the idea of pitching yourself in the short time an elevator ride takes. In British job applications, this helps AI and recruiters quickly see if you’re a good fit for the role. Focus on what you can offer the employer, not just your personal history.

5. How should I handle age-related concerns when writing a CV for UK jobs?
   If you're an older applicant, focus on the last 10–15 years of experience to keep your CV relevant and concise. Avoid listing outdated qualifications (like school grades) unless they’re directly applicable. Highlight transferable skills and recent achievements instead. While ageism (bias based on age) exists, a well-structured, keyword-optimized CV improves your chances of getting past AI and human reviewers.

Most Unusual Words:

• Haphazard: Not planned or organized; random or messy.
• Baffled: Very confused or puzzled.
• Tailor: To change or adjust something to fit a specific need.
• Whisperer: Someone with special skills, often seeming magical.
• Applicants: People who apply for something, like a job.
• Hurdle: An obstacle or challenge to overcome.
• Elevator pitch: A quick, persuasive summary of an idea.
• Ageism: Unfair treatment based on someone's age.
• Optimised: Improved or made as effective as possible.
• Subjective: Based on personal opinions, not facts.

Most Frequently Used Words:

Listen To The Audio Lesson Now

Transcript: How To Write A Perfect CV In Simple English

Have you applied for a job recently? Things that are useful to know….

Hi there and welcome to this podcast from Adept English. Do you have a CV or resumé? In the UK, we tend to say 'CV', but in the rest of the English speaking world, they tend to use the word 'resumé' instead. Have you used your CV (Curriculum Vitae) to apply for a job in the last couple of years? And when you apply for a job using your CV, do you imagine a human being reading it? In many countries when you apply for a job, the first 'eye' travelling over your CV these days is much more likely to belong to an AI or artificial intelligence software. That's more likely to be what decides whether or not you go through to have a job interview. So have you updated your CV to reflect that idea that it will be AI perusing your CV and deciding whether you go through to the next part of the process? Let's have a look at this today. And also at what the tips are, what's the advice from the experts about how to change your CV, your resumé, to give your job application a better chance of being processed and getting through the AI to the next stage. Adept English - helping you learn English - but also helping you with the skills you need for life, doing our best to keep you informed. Perhaps on the back of this podcast, you may enjoy greater success when you come to look for a job, not only because of your improved English, but also because you heard some useful tips in this podcast.

Hello, I’m Hilary, and you’re listening to Adept English. We will help you to speak English fluently. All you have to do is listen. So start listening now and find out how it works.

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The minefield to negotiate with your CV

One of the things I hear when talking to certain people who are looking for work in the UK in 2025, they're often being told that their lack of success when applying for a job is down to the fact that the first reading of their CV is being done by artificial intelligence, by AI software. Now success in applying for a job has always been what we call in English a bit 'hit and miss'. It's slightly random, slightly haphazard. That's H-A-P-H-A-Z-A-R-D, 'haphazard'. And that's because there's a human element to the processing of your CV. Some CVs are immediately binned for what you might think are crazy reasons. The people doing the recruiting may have likes and dislikes which you can't predict. We've all heard stories in the past, I'm sure, of job applications and CVs being binned because they're in blue ink, not black. Or because they're typed rather than handwritten. Or handwritten rather than typed. You cannot always predict what's going to impress certain people. So sometimes you're lucky and sometimes you're unlucky. It's a bit like the job interview itself. Sometimes the interviewer just likes you and sometimes they don't. And there are trends with CVs. What used to be OK isn't anymore. So I think most of us accept the whole process is 'somewhat subjective'. It's 'subject to opinion'. It's influenced by the particular opinions and views of the person or company advertising the job.

How To Write A Perfect Cv In Simple English Ep 806 Article Image

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A happy woman working at a laptop. Why your LinkedIn profile needs these exact job-title words.

©️ Adept English 2025

Let’s add AI into why it’s so difficult to get a job!

But this idea of AI software looking over your CV is pretty new. And the idea that the AI software may bin your application, your CV, before the recruitment manager even gets to see it - that feels a bit crazy, doesn't it? Fortunately, we're not quite at the stage where the AI does the interview as well. But I'm sure that's a matter of time.

So I saw an article published last week in the Telegraph newspaper. It had the title 'At 62, I was mortified that I couldn't get a job. Here's how I wrote the perfect CV'. This was dated 17th of March 2025, so very recent, and it had the subheading, 'Whether you're 55 or 25, applying for a job has become a challenge and rather baffling.' B-A-F-F-L-I-N-G. 'So what can you do to compete?' In a sense, this was a good news story because the outcome for the writer, Liz Hoggard, was that she became more successful as a result. So this article was written by British freelance writer, journalist in other words, Liz Hoggard. She talks also about how her age, 62 years old, may affect some of her job applications. But the point that she makes in her subheading, 'People of all ages are baffled" - 'baffled' means 'confused', by the process of applying for a job.

When Liz Hoggard's CV and her job applications were not bringing much success, she spoke first of all to a friend who is a recruiter, one of the people who receives CVs and places people in jobs. This friend advised first of all, "There is too much I in it." Meaning that Liz Hoggard had put a lot about herself on her CV. Well, you might think it's her CV, why not? But the wise advice from the recruiter was that those interviewing people for a job - they want it to be more about them, not about you! Meaning that you need to 'tailor', that means 'specially fit', your CV to what a prospective employer is asking for. Fair enough, that sounds good advice. Liz Hoggard tried again - still not much more success. So she talked to someone else she knew who'd paid a lot of money to have her CV optimised. And for the same treatment on her LinkedIn profile. Apparently what is needed, certain keywords must be included, which reflect how the job was advertised. The example she gives, if the job talks about 'value', 'growth', 'insight', 'engagement', and you don't mention these particular words on your CV, then your CV will be rejected immediately by the AI.

The idea of a ‘CV Whisperer’ arrives

Well, that's useful to know! The person Liz Hoggard's friend spoke to, the person able to give advice to people wanting to improve their CV, was called in the article, 'the CV whisperer'. We're accustomed in English to hearing that word 'whisperer', W-H-I-S-P-E-R-E-R, used to mean 'someone with expertise in a particular thing that seems so amazing in the way that it achieves results that it must be magical'. So you may have heard of 'horse whisperers', 'dog whisperers'. 'To whisper' means 'to talk very quietly like this' in someone's ear, which is perhaps what 'horse whisperers' do! So the expression 'CV whisperer' enters our vocabulary, and it means 'someone who works magic with your CV'. No, I hadn't come across that phrase either!

First rule - make sure your CV is in a format the AI can read

Liz Hoggard's friend in the recruitment agency told her, "Optimising your CV helps you get through the AI robots" and that employers are increasingly using Applicant Tracking Software, or ATS, to help manage the recruitment process, particularly where there are a lot of applicants. 'Applicants' means 'people going for a particular job'. So if you want to go through to a job interview and be successful in the recruitment process, your CV must get past the AI software. What tips and pieces of advice did Liz Hoggard receive? Well, first of all, that your CV must be in a digital format that the AI software can read. Your CV must be in the right type of file, that means. If it isn't, the recruiter or the employer aren't going to come back to you and tell you that.

3 Common Scripts That Control Your Life & Your English

They'll just move on to the next CV. Very useful to know then. You don't want to 'fall at the first hurdle', as we say in English. That's an English idiom from the world of horse racing. Other advice is to have on your CV the exact words which are used as the title of the job you're applying to. If your CV doesn't contain these words, it may well not get through the AI process and include an introductory statement about you. In some ways, the more colourful, the better. It's the highlights only. And it's really important to include what's known as 'an elevator pitch'. If you don't know this phrase in English, 'an elevator pitch' is US English. The idea that you may only have the same time as it takes to travel in an elevator to put your idea to an important person. You've got to do it quickly, in other words. So what's important on your CV? A quick summary towards the top of the things you're able to do, your skills and talents. This is so that the AI can see immediately whether what you're bringing suits the job.

And the advice for older job applicants?

And what was the advice for Liz Hoggard on being a 62-year-old job applicant? Well, it was suggested first of all that she only include on her CV what she's done in the last 10 to 15 years. It probably builds on what she's done before anyway and more than that would make the CV longer than two pages. So it's a rule for any CV - no more than two sides, two pages. And of course there is ageism in the world. That's A-G-E-I-S-M. 'Ageism' is the prejudice against someone because of their age, which could be either old or young. And probably if you're older, the grades and the exam qualifications that you achieved when you were 16 years old may no longer be relevant. But your degree, if you have one, is always relevant. The modern CV that impresses AI software emphasizes all the things you can do, which fit the job description. It's so much more about 'what you can do for us'. And very much like your CV, your LinkedIn profile is important too. And if you're using it to help your job application process, that too needs to reflect keywords that appear in the job adverts you want to apply to.

Another rule - the recruiter and employer are allowed to use AI - you aren’t!

What is also made clear in the article by Liz Hoggard, it's really important to write the actual content of your CV yourself. Don't be tempted to use AI for this! Don't use chat GPT or something similar. Even if the AI doesn't spot it, the human recruiter who will eventually be reading your CV - hopefully - they will see it. Liz Hoggard's friend, the recruiter said, "If you use AI, we can spot it a mile off. And you don't want that!" So it's a different set of rules for the job applicants, it seems.

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Liz Hoggard doesn't tell us much about whether her change of approach was successful, but she does tell us that she arrived at 'the perfect CV' and that her friend who paid the CV whisperer has since 'won lots of new contracts' - lots of new work. So it seems that this approach can bring success and really make a difference. I've also included, as a link in the transcript, information from a well-known UK recruiter, a recruitment company, called "How to Beat an Applicant Tracking System".

Goodbye

Let us know whether this is useful and whether you have any experience of this. We always like to hear from you.

Enough for now. Have a lovely day. Speak to you again soon. Goodbye.

Thank you so much for listening. Please help me tell others about this podcast by reviewing or rating it. And, please share it on social media. You can find more listening lessons and a free English course at adeptenglish.com

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