A job application becomes harder to assess when the recruiter has to guess why you want the role, what you actually did, or how well you know the skills on your CV. Improving those points is more useful than searching for a perfect template.

We compared eight CareerFairy Live Streams featuring EY, Henkel, Forvis Mazars, Grant Thornton Switzerland/Liechtenstein and BASF. The Henkel application session and Forvis Mazars application training provide recruiter advice; the EY Excel and BASF AI sessions add a useful view of the skills people use at work. Together, they show where an application can become clearer and more credible. Watch the recordings: EY Germany (2026-02-04), EY (Ernst & Young) (2025-04-08), Henkel (2025-11-26), Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (2026-02-09), BASF (2025-11-04), Forvis Mazars (2025-12-10), Forvis Mazars (2025-01-15), Grant Thornton Schweiz/Liechtenstein (2025-04-29).

The quick answer: Tailor your CV to the actual responsibilities, support skill claims with examples, and explain your motivation without repeating your life story. Check the employer's requirements, use AI to improve your own material, and make sure you can discuss everything you submit.

The recordings date from 2025 and 2026. Cover-letter preferences and recruitment systems described here belong to those conversations. Read the current vacancy before deciding which documents to send.

Are you sending the same CV to every role?

A generic CV can hide your most relevant experience beneath details that matter more for a different position.

In Henkel's February 2026 technology-and-chemistry session, the recruiter recommended tailoring the CV even when applying to several jobs at the same employer. Different positions require different skills. The relevant experience should be easy to find in each version.

Henkel's November session offered a simple way to do this: put the job description alongside your CV and identify the experiences and skills that match. Use the terminology when it accurately describes your background. This is a way of making the connection understandable, rather than adding words for their own sake.

EY Germany made a related point about applying to several vacancies. Its recruiters were comfortable with relevant parallel applications, but warned against blindly applying to a large number of positions. That can make your direction difficult to understand.

Before submitting, explain to yourself why this particular role fits. Then check whether the CV contains the evidence for that explanation. You might change which project you describe most fully, or move a relevant skill closer to its supporting experience. You do not need to invent a new professional identity for each application.

Does your CV describe skills without showing how you used them?

“Team player”, “project management” and “good with Excel” leave a lot of room for interpretation.

Henkel's technology recruiter asked candidates to make these claims concrete. In its February session, examples included describing the methods and tools used in a project, rather than listing project management as a standalone phrase. Results or numbers can help when they are real and meaningful.

The EY Excel session shows why vague proficiency labels can be misleading. Its presenters said many interns described themselves as experienced in Excel but were still beginners in practice. They did not expect every intern to arrive as an expert. They wanted willingness to engage with the tool and learn how it works.

That distinction should reduce the temptation to exaggerate. A description of a spreadsheet you built, the data you cleaned or the analysis you presented gives a reader more information than an impressive-sounding proficiency label.

Try reviewing each major skill claim by asking three questions: where did I use this, what did I do, and what could I explain if someone asked about it? If you cannot answer yet, use a more accurate description of your level. Your learning potential is easier to believe when the current starting point is clear.

Are you leaving university experience out because it was not a job?

Limited work experience does not mean you have no useful evidence.

Henkel's November recruiters explicitly suggested highlighting projects from your studies when discussing how graduates can stand out. Forvis Mazars explained that a cover letter could be useful when the CV showed little relevant professional experience: it could connect an interesting university course to the wish to gain practical experience in that field.

The mistake is to treat a university project as either worthless or equivalent to years of professional responsibility. Describe it for what it was. Explain the topic, your contribution and what you learned that connects to the opportunity.

A group assignment might demonstrate organising work, presenting a recommendation or checking an analysis. A student society might provide evidence of communication or coordination. Which example you choose should follow the vacancy, rather than the assumption that every extracurricular activity is automatically relevant.

Our practical suggestion is to keep a small evidence list before writing applications. Include studies, paid work and activities together, then select the examples that help a particular employer understand your readiness. This is an editorial preparation exercise, rather than an employer requirement.

Is your cover letter just your CV written in paragraphs?

A cover letter earns its space when it explains something the CV cannot make clear on its own.

Forvis Mazars addressed this directly in its December 2025 session. Recruiters described letters that repeated a candidate's entire career history without explaining why the advertised work interested them. Their advice was to be compact and focus on motivation.

Its January session made the same distinction. A letter could explain a particular interest, a transition or an aspect of the background that otherwise raised a question. It should not simply reproduce the CV.

EY Germany also described a cover letter as a chance to explain your personality, motivation and expectations of the role. Its February 2026 recruiters suggested keeping it to a maximum of one page.

If you choose to submit one, make each paragraph do a job. Explain the responsibility that interested you, connect it to an experience or interest, and show why this employer makes sense for your next step. General praise about an international reputation gives the recruiter much less to work with.

Are you assuming every employer wants a cover letter?

The recordings disagree here, and that disagreement is useful.

Henkel's November 2025 recruiters put the CV first and described a cover letter as additional material. In the February 2026 technology session, the recruiter said a motivation letter was not needed for the application route discussed.

EY Germany's February session described cover letters as mostly voluntary but helpful for explaining motivation. Forvis Mazars likewise said a letter was not compulsory, while explaining why it could be useful when the connection between a candidate's background and the role was not obvious.

There is therefore no universal answer that you should always write one or never write one. Follow the current application instructions. Where a letter is optional, decide whether you have something relevant to add.

The same principle applies to other document choices. Henkel's November recruiter preferred candidates to upload a CV because a LinkedIn profile could be less detailed. Its later technology session allowed a LinkedIn application while asking for clear descriptions of responsibilities. Check the route you are actually using and make that material informative.

Are you using AI to replace your own motivation?

AI can help you review an application, but it cannot supply the personal reasons that make it yours.

Forvis Mazars's December session suggested using tools for grammar checks, alternative formulations, ideas and critical feedback. The recruiters still wanted the result to sound authentic and fit the applicant. Complicated sentences that you would never naturally use do not necessarily make a better impression.

Henkel's November recruiters were particularly sceptical about generic AI-written cover letters. Combined with their emphasis on the CV, this suggests that a polished letter with little personal substance may add less than you expect.

The BASF Azure OpenAI session was about workplace technology rather than recruitment. It nevertheless adds a useful principle: its speaker distinguished AI assistance from delegating decisions, and described the need for people to check outputs in contexts where accuracy matters. Applying that idea to your application is our synthesis, not a BASF hiring rule.

Start with your own experiences and reasons. Use a tool to ask where the writing is unclear or repetitive, then review every change. Check that the final version contains no invented experience and that you can explain every sentence in an interview.

Are you designing around an imagined screening robot?

Clarity matters even when a person reads your application.

Students repeatedly asked Henkel whether AI reviewed applications. In the November 2025 and February 2026 sessions, recruiters said applications were reviewed by people. The February speaker connected this to choosing information that could be understood at a glance.

That is an account of Henkel's process at those dates, rather than evidence about every employer's systems. It also does not make relevant terminology unimportant. Henkel still recommended matching the wording of a vacancy where it accurately described your experience.

The practical mistake is treating keywords as a substitute for evidence. A list of tools is less informative than a description of how you used them. Repeating a desired skill several times does not explain your level.

Build the application for a reader who needs to understand your fit quickly. Consistent formatting, relevant descriptions and a clear timeline help with that task regardless of what technology sits around the process.

Are you hiding gaps or adding unnecessary personal details?

A clear timeline is useful; an application does not need to contain your entire private life.

Henkel's technology recruiter said gaps were normal and encouraged candidates to address them transparently. EY Germany also said gaps in a CV were not automatically a problem and suggested briefly stating what you did during the period.

Forvis Mazars's January discussion included a question about health-related gaps. Its advice was factual, confident communication without medical diagnoses or detailed health information. That distinction matters: explaining a period and disclosing private details are different decisions.

Henkel's November session described CVs containing extensive family milestones and children's birth dates as too personal. Those details did not help the recruiter assess professional fit.

Review whether each item helps someone understand your background or relevance. A short, truthful description of a break can make a timeline readable. Extra personal information may only make the document longer.

What should you check before pressing submit?

Treat the final review as a test of whether your application can be understood and discussed.

1. Read the current vacancy and confirm the requested documents and language.
2. Check that the most relevant experience is easy to find.
3. Replace vague skill claims with accurate examples where possible.
4. Remove repeated career history from the cover letter.
5. Review AI-assisted wording for accuracy and your own voice.
6. Check dates, formatting and the documents attached to the application.
7. Save the vacancy so you can prepare from the same information later.

Henkel recommended reverse chronological order, consistent formatting and concise descriptions in its technology session. Its November recruiters also advised saving the job advert as a PDF because it could disappear before an interview. These are small practical steps that help preserve clarity beyond submission.

Frequently asked questions about application mistakes

Is it a mistake to apply without internship experience?

No. Henkel and Forvis Mazars discussed how students can use projects, studies and motivation to explain their fit. Select honest examples that connect to the role.

Should I describe myself as advanced in Excel?

Only if that accurately describes your ability. EY's Excel presenters did not expect every intern to be an expert. Explain what you have actually done and what you are learning.

Do recruiters always expect a cover letter?

No. Henkel, EY Germany and Forvis Mazars described different preferences. Follow the vacancy and use an optional letter when it adds relevant context.

Can I use AI to check my application?

Forvis Mazars suggested grammar checks, formulations and feedback, while emphasising authenticity. Review the output and retain your own facts and reasons.

Is a gap in my CV automatically a problem?

EY Germany and Henkel said gaps were normal. Briefly explain the period truthfully without feeling you must add extensive private details.

Should I apply to lots of roles at the same company?

EY Germany allowed relevant parallel applications but discouraged blind applications to many positions. Choose roles whose connection to your background you can explain.

Want to understand the work before writing your next application? Explore CareerFairy Live Streams and bring your questions to employees and hiring teams.

Live Streams behind this guide

This article draws on the following CareerFairy recordings. Programme details and recruitment processes reflect the dates of the conversations.

• EY Germany: Bewerbertraining für deinen Berufseinstieg (2026-02-04)
• EY (Ernst & Young): From Zero to Excel Hero - Tricks, die du im Studium & Job brauchst (2025-04-08)
• Henkel: Henkel wants you! And this is how you're guaranteed to stand out (2025-11-26)
• Henkel AG & Co. KGaA: Persil, Loctite & Schwarzkopf: When Tech meets Chemistry at Henkel (2026-02-09)
• BASF: Azure Open AI in Action (2025-11-04)
• Forvis Mazars: 🚀 KI als euer Karriere-Booster: Einblicke & Bewerbungstipps von Forvis Mazars (2025-12-10)
• Forvis Mazars: Bewerbungstraining und Praxiswissen: Dein Karrierestart mit Forvis Mazars (2025-01-15)
• Grant Thornton Schweiz/Liechtenstein: Ask the Recruiter: Was Du schon immer über Bewerbungen bei Grant Thornton wissen wolltest (2025-04-29)

Want to ask employers your own questions? Explore upcoming CareerFairy Live Streams to hear directly from recruiters and employees.