How Tick the Spec uses AI

Last updated 13 November 2026.

Tick the Spec uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help you write job applications. This page explains in plain English what the AI does, what it is designed never to do, what stays your responsibility, and what happens to your data. We want you to know when you are dealing with AI, and when text has been produced or changed by it.

What the AI does

  • Reads the job pack. It picks out the criteria from the person specification or advert, and whether each is essential or desirable.
  • Compares your CV with the criteria. It suggests which criteria your CV appears to evidence, quoting the line it relies on, and which look missing. This is your shortlisting sheet.
  • Asks gap questions. For missing or weak criteria, it asks about real situations you may have experienced, so you can give your own examples.
  • Drafts from your material. It turns your CV lines and answers into clear paragraphs (for example in STAR order for Civil Service behaviours), within the word or character limit you set.

Checks that don't use AI

Some checks are ordinary software rules, not AI, so they behave the same way every time:

  • every quote on your shortlisting sheet is checked word for word against your CV, and quotes that can't be found are dropped;
  • every drafted sentence must point to the CV lines or answers it is based on, and any sentence that can't be traced back to what you gave us, or that adds a number or name we can't find there, is highlighted for you to rewrite or delete;
  • word and character limits are counted, and text is shortened by whole sentences;
  • left-over organisation names, job titles, bands and personal details (such as an email address in an NHS box) are flagged.

How AI text is labelled

  • The site tells you on every page that it uses AI. The shortlisting sheet is marked "AI-assisted check: verify it", and every draft is introduced as written with AI from your CV and answers.
  • Machine-readable marking. Word files you download carry a marking in the document properties (comments, keywords and category) saying the draft is AI-assisted and was made with Tick the Spec. Downloads also carry an X-AI-Generated header. This marking is not in the visible text you paste into an application form.
  • When you have rewritten a draft in your own words, it is your text. Whether and how to declare AI use is set by each employer: see "Your responsibility" below.

What the AI is designed never to do

  • Invent experience. It is instructed to use only what is in your CV, your answers and your older statement. It must not add jobs, qualifications, responsibilities, results or figures you haven't given us. If it ever does, that is a fault, and the checks above are there to catch it. Please report it.
  • Apply for jobs or contact employers.
  • Decide anything about you. The shortlisting sheet is a suggestion to help you write. It is not a score from any employer or a prediction of one.
  • Help in tests or interviews. Don't use Tick the Spec, or any AI tool, during a live assessment or interview.

Your responsibility

You are the author of your application. Before you submit, read every line and make sure it is true, accurate and in words you would use. You should be able to talk about every example at interview.

Employers have different rules on AI. The Civil Service guidance for candidates allows AI to help you organise and present your own experience, but not to generate full or false responses. NHS Employers has advised NHS organisations on candidates' use of AI, and some ask you to declare it. Always follow the rules in the advert, and answer any AI declaration honestly. If you are asked what you used AI for, an accurate answer for Tick the Spec would usually be: "to compare my CV with the person specification, prompt me for examples and help structure and edit my own answers."

Accuracy limits

AI can be wrong. In particular it can:

  • misread a criterion, especially from a badly formatted or scanned job pack;
  • treat a criterion as covered when a panel would want more evidence, or the reverse;
  • miss criteria that appear outside the person specification, for example in the job description or the advert;
  • suggest wording that sounds generic or doesn't fit your experience.

Always check the shortlisting sheet against the original person specification, and check the word or character limit on the employer's form yourself.

The model we use

Tick the Spec uses Claude Sonnet 5.5, a large language model made by Anthropic, through Anthropic's commercial API. If a request is refused or the model is unavailable, Anthropic may answer with another Claude model. If we change the main model, we'll update this page. Anthropic processes the text we send on our behalf, as our processor. Its commercial terms say that it may not train models on that content.

Your data

  • We send the AI only what it needs for each step, such as your CV text, the job pack and your answers.
  • We don't use your data to train AI models.
  • Applications are deleted automatically 30 days after you create them, and you can delete them at any time.
  • Anthropic deletes what we send within 30 days. The exceptions are requests its safety systems flag as breaking its usage policy, which can be kept longer (see the privacy notice).
  • Please don't include names or identifying details of patients, colleagues or others.

Human oversight and testing

You review every piece of text, and nothing leaves Tick the Spec unless you copy or download it. We test changes with an automated test suite that runs on recorded examples of job packs, CVs and AI answers. It covers criterion reading, quote checking, the "no invented facts" checks and the format limits. We read every problem report, and we use reports to improve the instructions and checks.

Transparency and the law

Tick the Spec is designed for individuals preparing their own applications. Employers don't use it to recruit or select candidates, so it is not a "high-risk" recruitment system under the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Annex III point 4). As the provider of an AI system that interacts with people and generates text, we follow the transparency duties in Article 50 of that Act, which apply from 2 August 2026: we tell you that you are using AI, and we mark AI-assisted downloads in a machine-readable way. We also follow the UK's principles for transparent and accountable use of AI.

Reporting a problem

If the AI adds something you didn't say, misreads a criterion, produces something offensive or unsafe, or you have any other concern, use "Report a problem with this draft" under your draft, or email [email protected]. Include the job title and, if you can, the text concerned, but not your whole CV. We review every report. If the problem affected an application you paid for, we'll fix it or refund it, as our terms say.