CV Studio — write the CV, watch it come together
A proper CV builder for finance applications. Work through the sections, see the page take shape beside you, and get told what would make each bullet land harder while you are still writing it. Set the size, spacing and margins however you like — the PDF and the Word file come out the same way. It is free, there is no account, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
1.Write it
Work through the sections one at a time. Each bullet tells you, as you type, what would make it land harder. Talk instead of typing if that is quicker.
2.See the score
Eight checks run as you go — page fit, verbs, numbers, dates — and each one says what it looked at and what would fix it.
3.Target the role
Paste a job description to see which of its key terms already appear in your CV, or browse live roles from the tracker that fit what you have written.
4.Take it away
Set the size, spacing, margins and colour, then download the same thing as a print-ready PDF or an editable Word file.
Header
What sits at the top of the page. All of it gets read.
Plenty of room left.
Preview
Exactly what printsNeeds work
Eight checks, run as you type. Open a category to see what it looked at and what would move it.
- Fits one pageFills about 8% of the page at your current formatting. There is room for more — add a bullet or two before you go looking for filler.
- Dates present and consistentNo entries yet. Date every entry and pick one style, e.g. "Jun 2026 - Sep 2026", across the whole CV.
Everything autosaves to this browser and nowhere else — no account, no upload. PDF opens your print dialog, where you pick "Save as PDF"; Word downloads a .doc you can keep editing.
Writing a cover letter too?
Cover Letter Studio is the same idea for the other document — five guided paragraphs, live scoring, and matching to live roles at the firm you name. Also free.
If you want a person to read it
The studio above is free and stays free — plenty of people use it and never need anything else. But if you would rather have someone who has screened analyst classes look over your CV before you send it, there are two ways to do that.
One-off
CV Review by a human
Send the CV you just built and get it back within 48 hours with margin notes on structure, bullets, formatting and how it reads to a screener. Suro reads it himself — ex-Citi, Rothschild, Morgan Stanley and hedge funds.
Ongoing
Inner Circle
A free CV review every year, priority turnaround on the rest, plus the members-only intel, role intros and the private community. Makes sense if you are applying through a whole cycle rather than polishing one document.
There is a cover letter review at $50 on the same 48-hour turnaround, if you want both read together.
CV Studio FAQ
Is CV Studio free?
Yes, all of it. The editor, all three templates, the formatting controls, the scoring, the job-description targeting, the role matcher and both exports. There is no account, no trial and no card.
Does my CV leave my browser?
No. Everything you type is saved in your own browser and never sent to a server. That also means clearing your browser data clears your CV, so export a copy once you are happy with it.
Can I keep different versions for different firms?
Yes, and it is the way most people use it. Keep one master, hit duplicate, and tailor the copy — each version keeps its own name, formatting and target job description, and the name becomes the filename when you export.
How much can I change the formatting?
Template, text size, line spacing, margins and heading colour, plus the order of the sections and whether each one appears at all. Every one of those settings carries through to both the PDF and the Word file, so what you see on the preview is what downloads.
Will it get through an applicant tracking system?
All three templates use the same single-column layout with standard section headings — no tables, no graphics, no text boxes. That is the structure these systems read most reliably. The targeting panel also lets you paste a job description and see which of its key terms already appear in your CV, which is what most first-round filters are looking for.
What do I get out of it — PDF, Word, or both?
Both, free. PDF goes through your browser print dialog (pick "Save as PDF" — only the CV prints, on A4 at your chosen margins), and Word downloads a .doc you can keep editing offline.
What is the score actually measuring?
Eight things a recruiter notices in the first few seconds: whether it fits a page at your formatting, whether bullets open with a verb, whether they carry numbers, whether first-person pronouns crept in, whether a student profile leads with education, whether the contact block is complete, whether dates are consistent, and whether the sections are balanced. Nothing is hidden — each check tells you what it looked at and what would fix it.
Can I talk instead of type?
Yes. Every bullet and the profile have a microphone button that dictates straight into the field, which is often the fastest way to get a first draft of what you actually did. It uses your browser's own speech recognition, so it needs Chrome, Edge or Safari.