Question 1

What does the CV Scan analyze?

Accepted Answer

ATS Score: Format, keywords, structure, length — how well does your CV pass applicant tracking systems? Content Score: Quantification, clarity, relevance — how convincing is your CV for human recruiters? Concrete improvement points with actionable instructions.

Question 2

How does the CV Scan work?

Accepted Answer

PDF upload → automatic text extraction → AI analysis → result in 30 seconds. No login needed, no credit card. Result stays saved for 7 days.

Question 3

What do the scores mean?

Accepted Answer

ATS 0–49: Critical — your CV is rejected by most systems. ATS 50–79: Solid foundation — a few tweaks make it much better. ATS 80–100: Excellent — your CV passes almost all filters. Content 0–2.5: Needs improvement. Content 3–4: Good foundation. Content 4.5–5: Outstanding.

Question 4

Is the CV Scan really free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. No bait-and-switch. No credit card. No subscription. You see all scores and the top improvements immediately. For the full report with all details: email address (still free).

Question 5

Why a one-time purchase instead of a subscription?

Accepted Answer

You need jobsuchi.ch for your active application phase — not forever. 249 CHF for 6 months, 300 applications. No auto-renewal, no hidden costs.

Question 6

What happens after 6 months?

Accepted Answer

Your access ends. You can extend for 99 CHF per 3 months (+100 applications). If you do nothing, we email you on days 0, 14, 27 after expiry and delete your data on day 30. To keep it without extending, use Self-Restore (free): you download an encrypted file, we delete everything, and you can import the file into a new account later.

Question 7

Is there a refund?

Accepted Answer

14-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. If you're not satisfied in the first 2 weeks: full refund.

Question 8

Is it worth it? I'm unemployed.

Accepted Answer

249 CHF = 42 CHF/month — less than 1 career consultation (100–300 CHF/hour). 1 application ≈ 1 franc. If you find a job 1 week earlier, you've made your money back 10x.

Question 9

Where is my data stored?

Accepted Answer

Swiss infrastructure (managed PostgreSQL in Switzerland). No US cloud, no AWS Virginia, no Google Cloud.

Question 10

Who has access to my CV?

Accepted Answer

Only you. No sharing with third parties. No Meta tracking, no Google Analytics on your CV. The AI processes your CV but stores no copy outside the DB.

Question 11

What happens to my data after expiry?

Accepted Answer

30 days after your access expires, your data is permanently deleted, with warning emails on days 0, 14, 27 — unless you extend (99 CHF for 3 months) or take Self-Restore (free, an encrypted file you keep and can import into a new account later). You can delete everything yourself at any time. GDPR-compliant, Swiss data protection law (revDSG).

Question 12

Is the CV Scan secure without login?

Accepted Answer

Your CV is temporarily stored in the DB (7 days). Access only via the unique link you receive after upload. No public access, no search engine indexing.

Question 13

Which sources are your application rules based on?

Accepted Answer

Official and institutional sources, not templates or competitors: arbeit.swiss (the federal employment service, SECO), the Career Services of the University of Zurich and the University of Bern, and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) from the Council of Europe and Europass. Every rule we apply maps to one of these — they are our research, not an endorsement of us.

Question 14

Is a photo really expected on a Swiss CV?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A professional application photo is customary and expected in German-speaking Switzerland — its absence is a disadvantage. The University of Zurich Career Services describes the standard: high quality, neutral background, current (max. 2 years old), head and shoulders, formal attire. This is different from Germany, where photos are increasingly optional. See the 'Application photo in Switzerland' topic for the full guidance (industries, framing, AI photos, ATS).

Question 15

How should I state language skills?

Accepted Answer

Use the CEFR scale (A1–C2) from the Council of Europe, not vague terms like 'fluent' or 'business fluent' on their own. jobs coaches, the University of Zurich and Europass all recommend CEFR because it is objective and comparable. Add a certificate and year where you have one, e.g. 'English: C1 (TOEFL 102, 2024)'.

Question 16

Do I list references on a Swiss CV?

Accepted Answer

Usually not as a section. The Swiss convention (per arbeit.swiss and UZH Career Services) is the line 'References available on request'. If the job ad explicitly asks for them, provide 2–3 with name, company and contact — and note that in Switzerland references are actually contacted, so inform them first.

Question 17

Should I sign my Swiss CV?

Accepted Answer

No. Unlike in Germany, a signature on the CV is not customary and not expected in Switzerland (University of Zurich Career Services states this explicitly). The information in the CV must still be truthful, of course.

Question 18

How long should the documents be?

Accepted Answer

CV: two to three pages (arbeit.swiss/SECO says no more than three; UZH recommends two to three). Motivation letter: one A4 page, three to five paragraphs (University of Bern Career Service). Reverse-chronological order throughout — most recent first, for both work and education.

Question 19

Is a photo expected on a Swiss CV?

Accepted Answer

In Switzerland a CV photo is customary but not mandatory, and the social norm is stronger than in Germany or Austria — in French-speaking Switzerland over 80% of CVs carry one (Léman RH coaching data). Leaving it off can read as if you have something to hide (jobs.ch). But it is not a hard rule: the federal employment service SECO and Adecco call it optional, and the canton of Ticino states it is not obligatory. Rule of thumb: include a professional photo unless the job ad says otherwise — and never include a bad one.

Question 20

Which industries expect a photo, and which skip it?

Accepted Answer

Classic sectors expect a professional photo almost every time: banking, insurance, public administration, healthcare, and client-facing roles (retail, hospitality, sales, communication). Tech, start-ups, creative fields, and increasingly the public sector and NGOs often omit it deliberately to focus on qualifications. A useful heuristic: look at the company website — if they present staff with photos, include one; if the team is anonymous, a photo matters less (Sandra Negri, photoworkers.ch).

Question 21

What does a good Swiss application photo look like?

Accepted Answer

Professionally taken (no selfie, photo-booth, snapshot, holiday or party photo). Head-and-shoulders crop, never full body; body slightly angled, head facing front, upright posture. Neutral, calm background — white or light grey works best; avoid very dark backgrounds. A friendly, natural light smile with a direct gaze into the camera — not a neutral passport look. Good even lighting, face sharp and clearly recognizable. Colour is preferred (more natural and authentic); clean black-and-white is also fine and no disadvantage (jobs.ch, Career Services UZH, Robert Half).

Question 22

Where does the photo go, and how big?

Accepted Answer

Traditionally top-right on the CV (or on a cover sheet), in portrait orientation. A common size is roughly 4.5 × 6 cm, up to about 6 × 9 cm; on a cover sheet it may be larger. One tip from Swiss photographers: your gaze and body should turn into the page toward the text, not off the edge. Keep the whole PDF small — the strictest Swiss limits are around 2 MB (SECO), while job portals allow up to 5 MB and some public-sector uploads up to 10 MB; when in doubt, stay near 2 MB.

Question 23

What makes a photo an instant no?

Accepted Answer

Selfies and phone snapshots, photo-booth pictures, holiday or party photos, swimwear, heavy filters or obvious over-retouching, and a black frame around the photo (it can look like an obituary notice). An outdated photo also counts — keep it recent, roughly one to two years old (sources differ between 1 and 2). And the Swiss consensus is blunt: a bad photo does more harm than no photo at all (Léman RH, photoworkers.ch).

Question 24

What should I wear in the photo?

Accepted Answer

Dress for the job you are applying for, tidy and without loud patterns, logos or text. Finance and banking lean conservative — suit or blazer in dark colours, often a tie and white shirt (Ostendis, Robert Half). Creative and advertising fields may be more relaxed. Keep make-up discreet and jewellery minimal; wear glasses if you normally do. A neat trick: match a colour to your CV layout (e.g. a blue accent that echoes your headings).

Question 25

Can I use an AI-generated headshot?

Accepted Answer

It is legal in Switzerland — you are free to choose your photo as long as you don't infringe anyone's rights (HWZ). But be aware of the norm: many Swiss recruiters are sceptical of obviously AI-generated images and value authenticity, and HR Swiss expects AI images to be disclosed as such. In a blind test 76.5% of recruiters actually preferred AI-edited photos, yet 66% said they'd be put off by a candidate who admits using AI (Ringover study via jobup.ch). The safe path: keep it clearly recognizable as you, a simple background, no filters, and don't try to become someone else. That is also why we improve the photo you upload — light, background, colour, sharpness — instead of generating a new face. Those two numbers only contradict each other if the photo stops being you.

Question 26

Do I have to declare that my photo was edited?

Accepted Answer

For ordinary editing, no, and nobody labels a retouched portrait 'edited in Photoshop' either. The EU AI Act's marking duty (Art. 50(2)) explicitly does not apply where a system performs 'an assistive function for standard editing' or does 'not substantially alter the input data', and the disclosure duty in Art. 50(4) targets deep fakes rather than an edited photograph. Correcting exposure or tidying a background stays on the harmless side of that line; replacing your face does not. This is our reading of the rules, not legal advice — and it is the reason our tool is built to edit rather than generate. The Swiss expectation is separate and stricter in practice: HR Swiss wants AI images disclosed, so the question worth asking is not whether it is permitted but whether the photo still looks like the person who will walk into the interview.

Question 27

Does a photo hurt my chances with an ATS?

Accepted Answer

Usually not with the common Swiss systems: refline and Ostendis actively parse the photo out of the CV and show it to the recruiter, so an embedded photo is functionally expected there, not harmful. The general advice against 'graphics confusing the parser' comes from one older training source and targets overloaded layouts, not a normal photo. If you want to be safe with an unknown ATS, keep the layout clean and the photo as a standard embedded image.

Question 28

How does jobsuchi grade my photo?

Accepted Answer

Our CV scan reads the rendered page with a vision model and grades any application photo from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) against the Swiss criteria above — 0 means no photo was found. You get a short note on what would take it to a 5. The grade is based on the image quality (framing, background, lighting, expression, attire), exactly the things a Swiss recruiter reacts to. Logged in, you can also upload a photo on its own and have it graded the same way, then fix the common problems yourself with brightness, contrast and saturation sliders and watch the grade move. Same criteria as the scan, so the two verdicts never contradict each other, and you can re-grade the same photo under Swiss, Austrian or German rules if you apply across borders.

Question 29

Language

Accepted Answer

Standard German is the norm in German-speaking Switzerland. No Swiss German needed in your CV. Use "ss" instead of "ß" (CH spelling). "Mobile phone" instead of "Handy", "bicycle" instead of "Fahrrad".

Question 30

Greetings

Accepted Answer

"Kind regards" (not "Mit freundlichen Grüßen"). No "Respectfully" (outdated).

Question 31

Application photo

Accepted Answer

Application photo is common and expected in Switzerland. Increasingly frowned upon in Germany. Professional passport photo, no selfie.

Question 32

Personal details

Accepted Answer

Date of birth, marital status, and nationality are customary in CH (due to work permits). Children not necessary.

Question 33

More tips

Accepted Answer

CH letter standard SN 210810 instead of DIN 5008. Salary in CHF, often gross monthly salary (x12 or x13). Mention work permit (EU/EFTA citizens: B permit).

FAQ

CV Scan explained

Pricing & Payment

Data Security

Swiss reference letter codes

Where our Swiss rules come from

Application photo in Switzerland

Germans applying in Switzerland

Our sources

Official government bodies

Swiss university career services

European language standard