Landing a role in sustainability or ESG isn’t just about passion — it’s about proof. Recruiters receive hundreds of applications from candidates who care deeply about the planet, but only a fraction stand out. Why? Their CVs fail to clearly showcase measurable ESG achievements, relevant skills, and alignment with the specific role.
In today’s competitive hiring market, a tailored CV is your secret weapon. It’s the difference between being skimmed over in six seconds and being shortlisted for an interview. The challenge? Tailoring takes time — and most job seekers don’t know what to emphasize for each application.
That’s where AI comes in. Used wisely, AI can help you rewrite key sections, surface the right keywords, and turn vague descriptions into quantified impact — all in minutes, not hours.
This checklist walks you through every CV section, showing you what to include, what to cut, and how to use AI prompts to optimize for each role. Let’s turn your sustainability experience into a CV that gets noticed.
Section 1 – Profile Section
Goal: Instantly position yourself as a relevant ESG candidate. This is the “elevator pitch” of your CV — recruiters should know in 5 seconds why you’re a strong fit.
Best Practices:
Name + target position in large, clear font.
3–4 lines with measurable ESG achievements, key skills, and industry focus.
Avoid fluff like “Passionate about sustainability” without proof — show evidence.
Use keywords relevant to the job description.
⚠️ Bad Prompt Example (too vague, produces generic output):
“Write me a good professional summary for a sustainability job.”
Why it’s bad:
No job description or context provided.
Produces generic clichés like “I’m a motivated professional passionate about making a difference.”
Misses measurable results and role-specific keywords.
✅ Good Prompt Example (AI-ready, specific):
“Rewrite my professional summary to match this [paste job description], highlighting measurable ESG achievements, industry focus, and key skills while keeping it authentic.”
Why it works:
Uses the actual job description for alignment.
Instructs AI to keep achievements measurable.
Maintains authenticity rather than over-polishing into corporate jargon.
Section 2 – Contact Section
Goal: Present your professional identity clearly and make contact easy. This section is simple, but mistakes here can make you look unpolished or even cost you an interview.
Best Practices:
Include: professional email, LinkedIn link, and location (city, country).
No personal details like age, marital status, or full address.
Ensure your LinkedIn profile matches your CV exactly — job titles, dates, and achievements must be consistent.
Section 3 – Experience Section
Goal: Demonstrate relevant ESG impact in previous roles. This is where you prove you can deliver — recruiters should see clear, quantified results tied to sustainability or ESG.
Best Practices:
Use 3–5 bullet points per role.
Start each with strong action verbs (Led, Implemented, Reduced, Improved).
Quantify impact where possible (e.g., “Reduced carbon emissions by 18%”).
Tailor language to match the job description’s keywords.
⚠️ Bad Prompt Example (too generic):
“Rewrite my work experience to make it sound better.”
Why it’s bad:
No specific role or keywords to align with.
“Better” is subjective — AI may over-polish or invent achievements.
Risks losing authenticity and measurable detail.
✅ Good Prompt Example (AI-ready, targeted):
“Rewrite my work experience bullets to align with the keywords in this job description [paste description here], keeping my measurable achievements intact.”
Why it works:
Keeps genuine, verifiable achievements while refining language.
Aligns with role-specific keywords for better ATS performance.
Produces content that is both recruiter-friendly and machine-readable.
Section 4 – Skills Section
Goal: Pass ATS scans and clearly show the capabilities most relevant to the role. This is where you make it easy for recruiters (and software) to instantly see your fit.
Best Practices:
Include 8–10 targeted skills — a mix of technical and soft skills.
Prioritize skills from the job description.
Drop outdated tools or unrelated skills.
Keep phrasing consistent (e.g., “Carbon Accounting” instead of “Experience with carbon accounting tools”).
⚠️ Bad Prompt Example (too broad):
“List some skills for my CV.”
Why it’s bad:
AI will produce generic skills like “Teamwork” or “Communication.”
No tailoring to the job or industry.
Risks cluttering your CV with irrelevant or outdated skills.
✅ Good Prompt Example (AI-ready, specific):
“From this job description [paste description here], list the 10 most relevant technical and soft skills I should include in my CV, removing irrelevant ones from my current list.”
Why it works:
Directly uses the job description as the source for relevance.
Ensures a balanced mix of technical and soft skills.
Removes skills that dilute your impact or confuse recruiters.
Section 5 – Certifications Section
Goal: Show credibility without clutter. Certifications can be a quick trust signal for recruiters — but only if they are relevant and clearly formatted.
Best Practices:
List only certifications relevant to the role.
Include the full name of the certification + issuing body.
Avoid abbreviations unless widely recognized (e.g., “LEED AP”).
Keep formatting consistent for ATS parsing.
⚠️ Bad Prompt Example (too vague):
“Add my certifications to my CV.”
Why it’s bad:
No context on which certifications are relevant.
No standard formatting guidance for ATS.
Risks adding outdated or unrelated certifications that weaken focus.
✅ Good Prompt Example (AI-ready, specific):
“Reformat my certifications list so it matches industry-standard wording for ATS scanning and aligns with this job description [paste description here].”
Why it works:
Ensures certifications are both relevant and clearly machine-readable.
Uses formatting that boosts recruiter trust.
Ties the section directly to the target role’s requirements.
Section 6 – Education Section
Goal: Highlight academic background relevant to sustainability and ESG. This section can demonstrate foundational knowledge, research capability, and specialized training.
Best Practices:
Include thesis titles, dissertations, or final projects only if relevant to sustainability/ESG.
Highlight relevant coursework, memberships, or extracurriculars tied to the field.
Keep formatting clean: degree, institution, graduation date.
Avoid listing outdated or irrelevant education unless it’s your only academic history.
⚠️ Bad Prompt Example (too unspecific):
“Write my education section for my CV.”
Why it’s bad:
Doesn’t specify what’s relevant to sustainability.
Risks producing a generic, chronological list with no emphasis on ESG.
Misses the chance to make academic work achievement-oriented.
✅ Good Prompt Example (AI-ready, targeted):
“Rewrite my academic projects to sound achievement-oriented, highlighting their relevance to sustainability and ESG job requirements.”
Why it works:
Turns academic work into measurable, relevant achievements.
Directly aligns with ESG and sustainability hiring needs.
Helps differentiate you from candidates with generic degree listings.
Bonus AI-Powered Tailoring Tips
Purpose: Take your CV tailoring even further to stand out in competitive sustainability hiring. These prompts help you go beyond basic edits and fine-tune for maximum impact.
1. AI CV Critique
⚠️ Bad Prompt Example:
“Tell me if my CV is good.”
Why it’s bad:
“Good” is subjective — no criteria given.
Won’t produce actionable, role-specific feedback.
✅ Good Prompt Example:
“Act as a hiring manager working closely with the chemical industry, critique this CV for a Sustainability Manager role in the chemical industry — focus on clarity, measurable impact, and keyword alignment. Provide me with clear actionable tips to improve CV content.”
2. Keyword Match
⚠️ Bad Prompt Example:
“Find keywords for my CV.”
Why it’s bad:
Too broad, ignores the job posting.
May suggest irrelevant or generic keywords.
✅ Good Prompt Example:
“Act as a hiring manager working closely with the chemical industry, analyze this job posting and list the top 15 recurring terms — then suggest how to integrate them naturally into my CV.”
3. Role-Specific Tailoring
⚠️ Bad Prompt Example:
“Rewrite my CV for an ESG job.”
Why it’s bad:
No role level, industry, or skill focus provided.
Produces generic ESG language without emphasis.
✅ Good Prompt Example:
“Act as a hiring manager working closely with the chemical industry, using attached CV and job description, write me a matching cover letter for the same job description. ensure to highlight
[Add 3 major points you see you have an advantage applying for this job]”
In the competitive world of sustainability and ESG hiring, a one-size-fits-all CV won’t cut it. Recruiters look for clear evidence of impact, relevant skills, and alignment with their specific needs — and the candidates who tailor every section are the ones who stand out.
By combining a structured checklist with targeted AI prompts, you can transform your CV from a generic summary into a role-specific, results-driven document. The key is specificity: feed AI the right inputs, focus on measurable achievements, and align every section with the job description.
Save this guide, experiment with the prompts, and watch how your applications gain traction.
💡 Pro tip: Consistent tailoring isn’t just for the CV — use the same approach for your LinkedIn and cover letters.
🎯 Closing Thoughts: Maximize the Return on Your Time
For the first time in history, access to knowledge is literally frictionless. We carry libraries in our pockets. Podcasts, YouTube, audiobooks, courses — it’s all there, often for free. The challenge isn’t availability anymore — it’s intentionality.
If you want to grow, the question becomes:
Are you getting the highest return on your time?
That’s why I build simple habits into my daily routine — like listening to podcasts while commuting, walking, or hitting the gym. These moments add up. And when you’re consistent, they compound.
I also believe in making the most of free resources — and this list is a great starting point. But at some point, free information stops being enough. Not because the knowledge isn’t valuable, but because it’s scattered. Disconnected. Time-consuming to piece together.
That’s exactly why I created the ESG Masterclass — not to reinvent the wheel, but to organize everything that’s out there in one practical, structured system.
It’s for professionals who don’t just want to understand ESG, but want to implement it and keep moving forward with clarity and direction.
So whether you’re listening to a podcast on your morning commute or investing in a masterclass — always ask:
Is this the highest-value use of my time right now?
That’s the mindset I use to write every edition of this newsletter: clear, direct, and high-ROI — so you get the most value in the least time.