Post by Deborah Udy Okusaga Akanne (@deborah_udy_okusaga)

Your CV is being read by a machine before it reaches a human. And the machine does not care how many years of experience you have — it cares what words you used to describe them.

This is not a criticism of your clinical capability. It is a description of how NHS recruitment technology works — and understanding it is the difference between a career in the NHS and a career in the care home.

TRAC keyword matching works on phrase-level recognition. It is looking for specific terminology that appears in the NHS job description and person specification — and it is comparing those terms against the language in your CV.

Some of the phrases TRAC is looking for in a Band 5 Staff Nurse application:

— "NMC Code" — not just "nursing standards"

— "Person-centred care" — not just "patient care"

— "Safeguarding" — not just "protecting patients"

— "Medicines management" — not just "medication administration"

Every one of these phrases represents a clinical competency you almost certainly have. The question is whether your CV uses the phrase TRAC is searching for — or a different description of the same thing.

One phrase. One match. One shortlist.

💬 Need help for your specific application, DM KEYWORDS and let's get the conversation started.

#TRACApplication #NHSJobs #ClinicalCV #NMCRegistration #InternationalNurses #NHSBand5 #KeywordOptimisation #UKNursing2026 #CVReengineering #sovereignstrategy

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