Target role
The intended grade, specialty and employer context, stated so a recruiter reads everything else in the right light.
Inside the diagnostic
What a medical CV review should actually examine.
A useful diagnostic does more than correct grammar. It finds what a medical recruiter or NHS shortlister would misread, overlook or question on your curriculum vitae, and tells you what to fix first. This page shows the twelve things we check and what the report you receive looks like.
The review standard
Twelve checks, every time.
Opening profile
Whether the first paragraph establishes a credible professional identity or wastes the best space on the page.
Registration
Professional registration information that is clear, current and accurate.
Qualifications
Examinations, degrees and courses in an order a recruiter can follow quickly.
Chronology
Consistent dates, grades, organisations and transitions across the whole document.
Employment gaps
Accurate context for any period that would otherwise look unexplained. See our guide to explaining employment gaps.
Clinical work
Level of responsibility, setting and breadth of experience, in terms that mean something to a UK employer.
Audit and QI
Method, standard, your contribution, outcome and learning, where you can evidence them. See the audit and QI guide.
Teaching
Audience, format, frequency and feedback where available.
Leadership
Scope, responsibility and practical contribution rather than titles alone.
Research
Publications, presentations and research activity presented consistently.
Accuracy
Wording that is clear, professional and supported by the information you provide.
Illustrative NHS application review
How a person specification guides the feedback.
This fictional example shows the difference between review comments and an edit. It is not a client application or a measured recruitment result.
Example criterion: experience of clinical audit
The fictional draft says: "I have participated in audit and understand its importance." This names the activity but does not explain the candidate's contribution.
What a £79 review would flag
Describe the standard audited, your own role, what you found and any action or learning. State only details you can support. If you did not take part in a repeat audit, do not imply that you completed the cycle.
What the £149 edit would do
Use the accurate details and examples you supply to organise the paragraph around this vacancy's criterion, improve readability and remove repetition. Missing facts are queried with you, rather than added.
For the next vacancy
Your £149 edit includes an evidence bank you can use to adapt your examples for later applications yourself (see the example entry below). If you would like us to tailor one, a Further Application Edit is £49, edited against that vacancy's job description and person specification. A paragraph that suits one post may need different emphasis for another.
Compare NHS and Trac application support or read the supporting-information guide.
Illustrative criteria map: criterion by criterion
A fictional draft with example comments. A review assesses the draft against the advertised criteria. It cannot show how an employer scored an application.
| Criterion | Evidence in the draft | Gap | Suggested improvement | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Experience of clinical audit (essential) | "I have participated in audit and understand its importance." | No standard, role, findings or action. | Describe the standard audited, your own role, what you found and any action or learning. State only details you can support. | High |
| Commitment to continuing professional development (essential) | Courses appear only in the attached CV. | The supporting information gives the shortlister no example. | Name the most relevant recent course or learning and how you have used it. Follow the employer's instructions about CVs and attachments. | High |
| Teaching of junior doctors and students (desirable) | "I enjoy teaching." | No audience, format or frequency. | Say who you taught, in what format and how often. Mention feedback only if you have it. | Medium |
Illustrative evidence bank entry
A fictional example to show the layout. It is not a real client, candidate or employer. An evidence bank comes with the £149 Supporting Information Edit.
| Evidence recorded | Audit of VTE risk assessment on admission to two medical wards. You collected data on 40 admissions against the trust guideline, presented the findings at the departmental audit meeting and proposed a prompt on the admission proforma, which the department adopted. Re-audit not yet done. |
|---|---|
| Reusable wording | "I collected data on 40 admissions for an audit of VTE risk assessment against the trust guideline, presented the findings at our departmental audit meeting and proposed a prompt on the admission proforma, which the department adopted." |
| Relevant criteria | Clinical audit or quality improvement; presentation or communication skills; commitment to patient safety. Use it only where the person specification asks for these. |
| For future applications | Where the criterion is audit or QI, lead with your own role in the audit. Where it is communication, lead with presenting the findings. Shorten it to each vacancy's word limit, and use the person specification's own terms only where they truly describe what you did. |
| Check before reuse | Do not call this a completed audit cycle until the re-audit has happened. If it has since been done, add the result. Check that the dates and your role are still accurate, and keep patient details out. |
Illustrative report extract
Example priority findings.
This is a fictional example, written to show the format and the level of reasoning. It is not a real client document, and it is not a promise about any recruitment outcome.
Overall verdict
The candidate has relevant qualifications and several years of medical experience, but those strengths are hard to spot on the opening page. The main problems are an unclear target role, a confusing chronology and too little context around achievements.
Priority one: make the target role explicit
The profile currently says the candidate is seeking "a job in the NHS". Name the intended grade and clinical direction, so the rest of the document can be read in context.
Priority two: explain the recent gap
A two-year period is labelled only as "unemployed", although the candidate completed relevant professional examinations during that time. State the facts accurately, without implying clinical activity that did not occur.
Priority three: turn the audit entry into evidence
State the standard audited against, the candidate's own contribution and what happened to the findings. Do not claim an outcome unless it can be supported.
Suggested order
- Professional profile and target role
- Registration and major qualifications
- Clinical employment in reverse chronology
- Audit, teaching, leadership and research
- Courses, interests and references where relevant
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