Post by Deborah Udy Okusaga Akanne (@deborah_udy_okusaga)

TRAC is not reading your CV the way you think it is.

And until you understand how it actually works, your applications will keep disappearing without explanation.

TRAC is the applicant tracking system used by the majority of NHS Trusts.

It processes your application before any human sees it — matching the language in your CV and supporting statement against the language in the job description and person specification.

If your CV says "provided personal care" — TRAC does not connect that to "delivered person-centred care in line with NMC Code standards."

Those are different phrases. The system treats them as different things.

If your supporting statement describes your experience chronologically — starting with your training, moving through your work history, ending with why you want the job — TRAC scores it against the person specification criteria and finds most of them unaddressed.

The nurses whose applications reach human shortlisters are the ones whose documents use the exact terminology of the person specification

— NMC Code, clinical governance, safeguarding, SBAR escalation, NEWS2, medicines management, person-centred care

— written in a way that maps directly to each essential criterion on the shortlisting form.

This is not gaming the system. This is understanding how the system works and respecting it enough to meet it where it is.

Your clinical experience is real. Your CV just needs to make it visible to a machine before a human can appreciate it.

💬 Want the NHS TRAC Keyword Alignment Checklist for Band 5 nursing applications? Comment TRAC and I will send it over.

#TRACApplication #NHSJobs #ClinicalCV #NMCRegistration #InternationalNurses #NHSBand5 #CVReengineering #UKNursing2026 #ShortlistingTips #SovereignHealthcare

0 likes · 0 comments · 0 shares