Before You Start
CVwise works best when you have two things ready: your CV (or the information to build one) and a job posting you want to apply for. The AI needs both to do its job. You can sign up for free at cvwise.apptechno.net — no credit card required for the first three optimizations.
Step 1 — Choose Your Starting Point
When you first open the CVwise app, you'll see two options for getting your CV into the system.
Option A: CV Builder (Start from Scratch)
If you don't have an existing CV, or you want to create a clean, structured version from scratch, use the CV Builder. It guides you through five steps:
- Personal Information — your name, contact details, location, LinkedIn profile, and a professional summary.
- Work Experience — add each role with company, dates, and bullet-point descriptions of your responsibilities and achievements.
- Education — degrees, institutions, graduation dates, and any relevant coursework or honors.
- Skills & Languages — list technical and soft skills, with proficiency levels for each language you speak.
- Live Preview — at every step, a real-time preview panel shows exactly how your CV looks as you build it.
The Builder produces a clean, ATS-readable, single-column CV ready for optimization.
Option B: Upload Your Existing CV
If you already have a CV in PDF or DOCX format, upload it directly. CVwise uses Claude AI to parse the document — including multi-column layouts that would trip up simpler parsers. Even scanned PDFs are handled using Claude's vision capabilities, extracting text accurately from image-based files.
After upload, you'll see a parsed preview. You can review and edit any section before proceeding to optimization.
Step 2 — Add the Job Posting
This is where the tailoring happens. You have three ways to provide the job description:
- Paste a URL — works with LinkedIn Jobs, Indeed, Glassdoor, and most job board URLs. CVwise fetches and extracts the job description automatically.
- Paste the text — copy the full job description text and paste it directly into the text field.
- Upload a file — if you saved the job as a PDF or DOCX, upload it directly.
Tip: For LinkedIn jobs, the URL method is fastest and most reliable. Copy the URL from your browser's address bar while viewing the job listing.
Step 3 — Run the AI Optimization
Click Optimize CV. The AI process takes between 30 and 60 seconds depending on the length of your CV and job description. During this time, Claude Sonnet is:
- Analyzing the full job description for required and preferred skills, exact keyword language, and role-specific terminology.
- Comparing your CV section by section against these requirements.
- Rewriting your work experience bullet points, skills section, and professional summary to incorporate exact keywords naturally.
- Calculating your ATS keyword match score.
The rewriting preserves your actual experience — it doesn't invent qualifications you don't have. It repositions and reframes what you've done to speak the language of this specific role.
Step 4 — Review the Results
Once optimization is complete, you'll see three things:
- ATS Keyword Match Score (0–100) — how well your optimized CV aligns with the job description's keyword requirements. Scores above 70 are generally considered strong; above 85 is excellent.
- Section-by-Section Changes — a diff view showing exactly what was changed and why, so you understand and can approve each modification.
- Full CV Preview — your complete optimized CV ready for download.
Review each change. You can edit any section directly in the preview if you want to adjust the AI's language to better match your voice.
Step 5 — Download or Generate a Cover Letter
When you're happy with the optimized CV, you have several options:
- Download as PDF — clean, professional, ATS-readable PDF output.
- Download as DOCX — editable Word document if you need to make further changes offline.
- Harvard Format (Pro) — one checkbox converts your CV to the Harvard OCS format: Times New Roman 11pt, 1-inch margins, no graphics, reverse chronological. Required for consulting, investment banking, and many academic applications.
- Generate Cover Letter (Pro) — using the same job description context, Claude generates a tailored cover letter using the Problem-Solution framework that hiring managers respond to.
Your optimized CV is automatically saved to your Version History. You can return to it, re-download it, or use it as a starting point for a new optimization at any time.
Tips for Best Results
- Use the URL method for LinkedIn jobs — it captures the complete job description including requirements that might not be visible in the collapsed view.
- Enable Harvard format for consulting and finance roles — McKinsey, BCG, Bain, and most investment banks expect this format and it signals that you know their conventions.
- Save every version — even if you're applying to similar roles, keep separate versions. The keywords differ enough between postings to make a difference.
- Don't skip the cover letter — 49% of hiring managers read it before the CV. A tailored cover letter can be the difference between a callback and silence.
- Re-optimize for important roles — if a role is a priority, run the optimization twice: once to get the keywords right, once to refine the language.
Ready to get started? Create your free CVwise account — no credit card required, first three optimizations included.