How to Write a CV for the NHS: A Complete Guide

NHS applications don't get read the way a normal CV does. They get scored — line by line, against a document called the person specification — often before a shortlisting panel has formed any impression of you as a person at all. Get the structure wrong and a genuinely strong candidate can be filtered out before anyone notices.

That's the part that trips people up most. You can have exactly the right experience and still miss out, simply because your application didn't make it obvious. NHS shortlisting is largely a matching exercise, and your job is to make the match unmissable.

Start with the person specification, not your work history

Before you write a word, print or open the job description and person specification side by side with your application. Every essential and desirable criterion listed there needs a corresponding piece of evidence somewhere in your submission. If a criterion asks for "experience working within a multidisciplinary team," your supporting information needs a sentence or two that says, in effect, "here's a time I did exactly that, and here's what came of it."

This is a different mindset from a commercial CV, where you're broadly showcasing your career. Here you're answering a checklist, and the panel is often working through it with the checklist open in front of them.

Structure your supporting information around the criteria

Rather than a flowing narrative, use the person specification's own headings — or close equivalents — as subheadings in your supporting information. Under each one, give a short, specific example: what the situation was, what you did, and what the outcome was. This is essentially a lighter version of the STAR technique, and it works because it mirrors how the panel is scoring you.

• Address every essential criterion with a real example, not a general claim
• Use outcomes where you can — reduced waiting times, improved patient feedback, a successful audit, a service change that stuck
• Don't assume experience "speaks for itself" — spell out how it meets the specific criterion being asked for

Don't bury clinical or professional registration details

NMC, HCPC, GMC, GPhC — whatever applies to your role, your registration number and status should be immediate and unambiguous, not something a panel has to dig for. The same goes for mandatory training and DBS status if the role requires it. These aren't the interesting part of your application, but a missing or unclear one can hold up an otherwise strong candidate.

Employment history still matters — just don't over-invest in it

List roles in reverse-chronological order with dates, employer, and a brief description of responsibilities. Keep it factual and tight. The scoring weight sits with your supporting information, so resist the urge to pad the employment section with the same detail — it's context for the panel, not where you make your case.

If you're moving between agency work and a substantive post

Agency and bank staff sometimes worry that a less linear work history will count against them. In practice it rarely does, provided you frame it clearly — list agency placements as you would any role, and use your supporting information to draw out the breadth of settings you've worked across. If you're weighing that move more broadly, our piece on moving from agency to permanent NHS roles covers what actually changes.

It's also worth understanding where you sit on the Agenda for Change banding system before you apply, since it shapes how you should be pitching your experience — and if speed matters, we've written separately about how to get an NHS interview faster.

Frequently asked questions