Free CV Scanner

What our CV scanner checks

The Joby scanner runs every CV through 10+ structural checks grounded in what recruiters and applicant tracking systems (ATS) actually look for. The goal isn't to tell you your CV is "good" or "bad" in the abstract — it's to surface the small, specific issues that determine interview odds before anyone reads a single paragraph.

Checks are grouped into six categories: length (is your CV in the 350–700 word sweet spot), contact information (professional email, phone with country code, LinkedIn URL), structure (clearly-labelled Experience / Education / Skills sections present), impact (strong action verbs instead of passive phrasing like "responsible for", quantified achievements with numbers), ATS compatibility (avoid ALL-CAPS headings and text-in-image patterns), and language (replace empty buzzwords with concrete examples).

Each finding comes back with a severity tier — green means it's working, gold suggests an improvement, red flags something likely costing you interviews. The overall score out of 100 gives a quick health signal, but the real value is in the per-finding tips. Every flag arrives with a concrete, actionable next step you can apply in minutes.

How recruiters skim a CV

Eye-tracking studies consistently show recruiters spend just 6–8 seconds on their first pass through a CV. In those few seconds they aren't reading — they're scanning for a handful of specific signals: your name, the most recent job title, the most recent company name, recent role dates, and degree.

If they can't find those signals in the first seven seconds, the CV moves to fast-reject. Not because the candidate is underqualified, but because the critical information isn't where they expected. This is the biggest gap the Joby scanner addresses: it simulates that 6-second skim and tells you whether the most important information surfaces fast enough.

The practical implication is simple. Put your name and current/most-recent job title at the very top in bold. Make your latest role and the Experience section the strongest visual decisions on the page. Use bullet points starting with strong verbs. A well-organized CV doesn't convince the recruiter you're the perfect fit — it simply earns you the additional minute of attention where their actual evaluation begins.

The most common CV mistakes — and how to fix them

• No quantified achievements. "Managed the marketing budget" says nothing to a recruiter. "Reduced cost-per-lead by 38% over six months" is unforgettable. Add at least one number to every bullet.
• Passive phrases like "responsible for". Rewrite "I was responsible for managing the team" into "Led a team of 7 engineers and shipped 3 major projects in one year". Strong verbs convey ownership and outcome.
• Non-standard section names. ATS parsers and recruiters scan for canonical headings: Work Experience, Education, Skills. Avoid creative renames ("My Career Journey" instead of "Experience") — these confuse the parsing systems used by most employers.
• CV too long or too short. The 350–700 word range is the sweet spot. Below that you lack context; above it the recruiter skims and misses the important details. Aim for one page if you have less than 7 years of experience, two pages otherwise.
• No LinkedIn link. Over 90% of recruiters cross-check a candidate's LinkedIn before reaching out. A CV without that link is a missed opportunity to reinforce your story with a stronger profile photo, recommendations, and longer-form context.
• Empty buzzwords. "Multitasker", "results-driven", "team player" — these don't differentiate you. Replace each with a specific example showing the trait in action.
• ATS-unfriendly formatting. Tables, multi-column layouts, text inside images, and non-standard fonts all confuse ATS systems. Stick with a simple single-column layout in Calibri or Arial.
• Unexplained employment gaps. Gaps don't automatically disqualify you, but unexplained ones raise questions. If you have a gap, label it briefly (study, parenting, freelance work) so the recruiter doesn't have to guess.

Scan your CV now for free and get instant feedback on these points and more — or use the Joby CV Builder to build a fresh one from a professional template that avoids all these mistakes by default.