The government built a free CV tool: 20,000 CVs through Work Hub — and how to use it
On 25 September the DWP published the first results from Work Hub, the free job-search platform it calls a “jobcentre in your pocket”. The CV builder is open to everyone, not only people on benefits. Here is what is inside, where to find it and what not to expect.
The Department for Work and Pensions published the first figures for Work Hub on 25 September. The free online employment service launched as a pilot in June 2026, and since then around 20,000 people have used its “Build a CV” tool and around 16,000 the “AI Work Assistant”. The department calls the platform a “jobcentre in your pocket”: it opens on a phone, tablet or computer at any time.
Where do you find Work Hub, and what is in it?
The short address is gov.uk/work-hub, which redirects to the service itself (jobs.service.gov.uk). It has five areas: AI work assistant, Find a job, Build a CV, Action plan and For employers, plus a link out to National Careers Service courses. The interface is in English and Welsh. The site itself carries an “experimental service” label — it is new and is being developed on the basis of user feedback and performance data.
Your ad could be hereAdvertise hereIs the CV builder only for people on benefits?
No. The DWP release says it plainly: the Build a CV tool can be used by everyone, DWP customer or not. You do not need Universal Credit, a jobcentre appointment or a work coach. The service is free and was designed as a universal one — to help anyone get into work and get on at work.
What do the tools actually do?
Build a CV turns your skills, experience and achievements into a CV aimed at the roles you want and, more importantly, formatted for the online recruitment platforms that read it. The AI Work Assistant gives personalised guidance on job searches, applications, interview preparation and career development. The DWP stresses that guardrails keep the assistant focused on employment support.
Why does CV format matter more than experience?
The release gives a telling example. A jobseeker called Hugh had extensive experience and a strong set of skills but was getting no responses, because his CV format was not suited to modern recruitment processes. After a DWP recruitment consultant introduced him to the CV builder, he started passing application sifts and was offered a job within a few weeks. “Before, I was struggling to get a response from the employer, let alone a job,” the department quotes him as saying.
Does this replace the jobcentre?
No, and the DWP says so separately: the digital tools do not replace career support in jobcentres, and requirements for people in the Intensive Work Search group for Universal Credit are unchanged. Work coaches continue to provide face-to-face support — this adds another route to advice rather than removing the old one.
What is in it for employers?
Companies get a dedicated space to advertise vacancies, access recruitment advice and connect with local labour markets. Shazia Ejaz, Director of Campaigns at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, says technology should make hiring faster and fairer and open the job market to the widest possible range of people.
Why does this matter right now?
The labour market is tight: ONS data published on 15 September showed vacancies at their lowest level of any year since 2014 — we covered those figures separately. When more applications chase each post, sifting gets harsher and CV quality starts to decide things before experience does. Minister for Innovation, Fraud and Data Lilian Greenwood puts it this way: the world of work is changing, so support must change with it. It all sits inside a £2.5 billion package promising almost one million work and training opportunities for young people.
What changes for people who have recently moved to the UK?
More than it might seem. A CV in British format is one of the first barriers a newcomer hits: the CV you were used to in another country — with a photograph, a date of birth and a full biography — simply does not survive automatic sifting here. A free, government-run builder closes exactly that gap, and you do not have to pay an agency for it.
Two points from us. First, Work Hub does not check your immigration status and does not replace a right to work check — the employer does that before you start, and we have set out how those checks work. Second, the service is labelled experimental, which is a sensible reason not to type your National Insurance number or passport, BRP or eVisa details into a chat with the assistant — a CV does not need them.
What else is worth reading while you look?
On the same subject: what jobs in England pay, what you take home and how to get a work visa, and if you are being let go — what you are owed and what it means if you are on a work visa.
