Sample reading Fictional CV and advert

Sample reading

Senior Data Engineer

Read my CV

Fictional CV and advert · Read 2 Oct 2026

Fictional contract advert

£550 - £600 per day, outside IR35, as the advert states. Fictional advert, made for this sample: there is nowhere to apply.

Duration: 6 month contract
Start: ASAP

Agency CV tips

Put your email address and phone number in the body of the page, not only in a header or footer.
Open with a one-line headline under your name that says what you do, in the words adverts use.
Use the advert's own words for the skills, qualifications and job titles you really have.
Give each role its start and end month.
Send a Word file or a PDF in one column, with no tables or text boxes; many agencies ask for Word.
State your right to work in the UK, and leave out your date of birth, a photo and your marital status.

About this sample

Jordan Sample is not a real person. Our engine read this made-up CV of a contract data engineer against a made-up contract advert on 2 Oct 2026, as it reads yours.

Every Pro part is open here. A free reading of this CV would hide 3 skill names. See Pro plans

A sample keeps nothing about you and runs no AI.

The reading

Searchability

IMPORTANT

What we check and why

Agencies load your CV into their systems and recruiters search it by keyword. This is how well yours reads in that process.

Only the job title match counts in your score here: it earns 15 points.

Tip: Worth a look first: "1 skill written one way only".

Contact details

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.

Pass

Your email address and a UK mobile number are in the body of your CV, where agency systems read them.
Pass

Your CV gives a postcode area near the top, so a recruiter searching by location can find you.

Headings

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.

Pass

We found 6 standard section headings: Summary, Skills, Experience, Education, Certifications, Interests. One of them heads your work history.
Pass

Your CV has a profile or summary heading.
Pass

Your CV has headings for your qualifications (Education, Certifications).
Pass

Your CV has a Skills heading.

Job title match

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.

Pass

Your CV uses "Data Engineer" from the advert's title, "Senior Data Engineer". We could not map this title to a role in our catalogue. Your CV earns the 15 title points in the match rate because the first line of your CV after your name and contact details names the same role as the advert's title.

Education match

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.

Your choice, not scored

The advert does not ask for a qualification, so there is nothing to match.

Dates

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.

Pass

Your 3 date ranges use one format (like "03/2021").

Acronyms

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.

Worth a look

Your CV uses only one form of: Amazon Web Services / AWS. Writing both once, for example "Amazon Web Services (AWS)", lets a search for either form find you. See it in the advert

Text we could read

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.

Pass

We read 361 words from your CV.

3 checks need the file: see What we could not check

Hard skills

UP TO +33 POINTS

What we check and why

The skills this advert asks for, and how often your CV names them. They carry most of your match rate. Each gain is our scorer re-run on your CV with that one change.

Skills are 70 of your match rate's 100 points.

Tip: Snowflake moves your match rate most: +6 points if your CV shows it, only if you have it.

Skill	This CV	The advert	Adverts for the role
Snowflake	Missing	2	No figure
+6 points if this CV shows it · only if you have it
Terraform	Missing	1	No figure
+6 points if this CV shows it · only if you have it
Docker	Missing	2	No figure
+6 points if this CV shows it · only if you have it
Kafka	Missing	2	No figure
+6 points if this CV shows it · only if you have it

2 more issues to fix and 7 more skills this CV shows ShowHide

Skill	This CV	The advert	Adverts for the role
dbt	Missing	2	No figure
+6 points if this CV shows it · only if you have it
CI/CD	Missing	1	No figure
+4 points if this CV shows it · only if you have it
Apache Spark	2	1	No figure
Amazon Redshift	2	1	No figure
Airflow	2	2	No figure
Python	5	2	No figure
AWS	5	2	No figure
Agile	2	1	No figure
SQL	5	2	No figure

All of them together: 67% to 100%. Gains overlap: the skills share the 70 skill points, so they do not simply add up.

Snowflake, Terraform, Docker, Kafka, dbt, CI/CD, Apache Spark, Amazon Redshift, Airflow, Python, AWS, Agile, SQL. Add a skill to your CV only if you have it.

Recruiter tips

1 TO LOOK AT

What we check and why

What a recruiter notices when they open your CV: results, length, wording and a few UK conventions.

1 to look at ShowHide

Does not change your match rate.

Tip: Worth a look first: "A skill has more than one written form".

Measurable results

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.

Pass
11 lines in your CV show a measurable result (a number, % or £ figure).
- Line 14- Built 30 batch pipelines in Python (in the advert and this CV) and Airflow (in the advert and this CV) loading sales and stock data into Redshift (in the advert and this CV).
- Line 15- Cut the nightly load from 5 hours to 70 minutes by partitioning tables and rewriting joins in SQL (in the advert and this CV).
- Line 16- Wrote SQL (in the advert and this CV) models and tests used by 15 analysts across finance and trading.
Show all 11 lines
- Line 17- Added data quality checks that stopped 3 bad supplier files a month reaching reports.
- Line 21- Moved 2 TB of claims data from on-premise SQL Server to AWS (in the advert and this CV) S3 and Glue.
- Line 22- Wrote Spark (in the advert and this CV) jobs processing 8 million policy records a night.
- Line 23- Scripted the data platform's AWS (in the advert and this CV) set-up so 4 delivery teams could build their own environments.
- Line 24- Worked with the pricing team to rebuild their weekly extract, cutting it from 2 days to 3 hours.
- Line 29- Worked in an Agile (in the advert and this CV) team of 6 and ran fortnightly demos for service managers.
- Line 31- Wrote the team's first data dictionary, covering 120 tables, which new starters still use.
- Line 34BSc (qualification) Mathematics, 2:1, University of Leeds, 2019

Paragraph length

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.

Pass

No paragraph in your work history runs past 40 words.

Tone

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.

Pass

We found none of the phrases on our list of blame and excuse phrases, a plain list we maintain.

Overused words

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.

Pass

We found none of the phrases on our overused-phrase list, a plain list we maintain.

Repeated phrases

What we check and why

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

Pass

No four-word phrase appears three times or more in your CV.

Weak openers

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.

Pass

Only one line starts with a phrase from our weak-opener list.

Word count

What we check and why

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

Pass

Your CV runs to 361 words, inside the 350 to 1,300 range we check for.

UK conventions

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.

Pass

Your CV leaves out date of birth, age, marital status, nationality and a National Insurance number, as UK CVs do, and does not mix US and UK spelling (we look for 3 or more of each).

Web presence

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.

Your choice, not scored

No LinkedIn link. That is your choice and not scored: a UK CV does not need one. Add it only if your profile is up to date.

Job level

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.

Your choice, not scored

The role titles on your CV use no level words from our list, a plain list we maintain (such as junior, senior, lead or manager), so we did not compare levels. The advert states the contract length as 6 month contract; the dated roles on your CV last a median of 29 months.

Chronology

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.

Pass

All 3 dated roles show a start and end month. Short roles and overlaps are normal in contract and temp work, and we never look at gaps.

References

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.

Your choice, not scored

No references section. That is fine: references are optional on a UK CV, and agencies take them at offer.

Tense in dated roles

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.

Pass

No issue found by this check.

First-person line openings

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.

Pass

No issue found by this check.

Repeated words

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.

Pass

No issue found by this check.

Spaces and punctuation

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.

Pass

No issue found by this check.

Skill names

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.

Worth a look
3 lines to review, including lines 9, 14 and 22. Check whether the different names for the same skill are useful. A full name followed by its abbreviation can help; otherwise keep the spelling consistent. View where
- Line 9Python (in the advert and this CV), SQL (in the advert and this CV), Apache Spark (in the advert and this CV), AWS (in the advert and this CV) (S3, Glue, Redshift (in the advert and this CV)), Apache Airflow (in the advert and this CV), Git, Agile (in the advert and this CV), data modelling, data quality testing
- Line 14- Built 30 batch pipelines in Python (in the advert and this CV) and Airflow (in the advert and this CV) loading sales and stock data into Redshift (in the advert and this CV).
- Line 22- Wrote Spark (in the advert and this CV) jobs processing 8 million policy records a night.

Nothing to fix

Rate and IR35

Nothing to fix ShowHide

The rate and IR35 status as the advert states them, beside what adverts for the role said this month. Does not change your match rate.

Rate as stated

This advert states £550 - £600 per day. We could not map its title to a role, so there is no benchmark to compare it with.

IR35 as stated

This advert states Outside IR35.

Terms as stated

Duration: 6 month contract
Start: ASAP

Soft skills

None named in the advert ShowHide

The soft skills this advert names, and whether your CV shows them. Does not change your match rate.

Soft skills

What we check and why

We look for the soft skills on a plain list we maintain, word by word, in the advert and your CV. A recruiter's search rarely uses these words; an interviewer asks for examples. They do not change your match rate.

Your choice, not scored

The advert names none of the soft skills on our list, so there is nothing to match.

Formatting

14 not checked ShowHide

How the file itself is laid out: columns, fonts, images and page setup. Does not change your match rate.

14 checks need the file: see What we could not check

Parse view

All good ShowHide

What an agency system reads from your CV file. Does not change your match rate.