Solo software engineer · Jan 2026 – present
SikerCV
SikerCV is a CV builder that makes PDFs hiring software can actually read, and checks them to prove it.
- Role
- Solo software engineer
- When
- Jan 2026 – present
- Stack
- Next.js, NestJS, PostgreSQL, Puppeteer, zod, Stripe, Paystack
The problem
What was broken.
Most CVs are read by software before a person ever sees them. This hiring software, called an applicant tracking system (ATS), pulls the text out of the PDF, and if the name, dates or headings come out garbled or in the wrong order, the CV can be filtered out before anyone reads it.
Most CV builders sell "ATS-friendly" as a label, not a result. They build the page from floats, columns and positioned boxes that look fine on screen but come out of the PDF as jumbled text. Their preview is only close to the file you download, so page breaks shift on export. Many also make you sign up before you can type a word.
I wanted a builder where the preview is exactly the file you download, every layout is designed around how parsers read, and a check reads the finished PDF back the way an ATS would, before you send it.
What I built
The product.
01
An editor with two previews.
As you type, a live preview lays out your CV in the browser. A print preview shows the actual PDF the server made, so the page breaks never surprise you.
02
25+ layouts, one set of controls.
Every layout shares the same 45 or so settings: fonts, spacing, columns, photo, headings, dates and page size. Every control works on every layout.
03
An ATS check on the real file.
SikerCV makes your PDF, then reads the text back out the way hiring software would, and reports on your contact details, dates, headings, page count and the job keywords you are missing. It can also check PDFs and Word files made anywhere else, against any job link.
04
Import from PDF, Word or LinkedIn.
Upload an existing CV and SikerCV turns it into an editable one, fixing the jumbled text PDFs often contain and spotting sidebars and columns. It is tested against a collection of public sample CVs.
05
AI tailoring and writing help.
On paid plans, AI tailors your CV to a job ad, showing each change with its before and after, and drafts cover letters and emails. It works with Claude, OpenAI or Gemini. Free users get a weekly preview on free models only, so a free user never runs up a paid bill.
06
Plans, payments and CV reviews.
Subscriptions in euros, dollars and pounds through Stripe, and in naira through Paystack, with the currency chosen from the buyer's country. Users can also book a paid review from an approved reviewer, with the money held until both sides are happy.
Stack
The tools behind it.
- App and website
- TypeScript
- Next.js 16
- React 19
- Server
- NestJS 11
- zod 4
- PDFs
- Puppeteer
- Headless Chrome
- pdf.js
- Data
- PostgreSQL
- Liquibase
- WAL-G backups
- Payments
- Stripe
- Paystack
- AI
- Claude
- OpenAI
- Gemini
- OpenRouter
- Hosting
- Docker Compose
- nginx
- fail2ban
- Hetzner Cloud
- Cloudflare Workers
- Cloudflare R2
- Testing and docs
- Jest
- Playwright
- k6
- PlantUML
Quality
How I know it works.
- About 700 automated tests for the server.
- 42 end-to-end tests that start the whole app with a real database and make real PDFs, with nothing faked.
- A layout check on key screens at desktop and two phone sizes, for overlapping controls, content spilling off the screen and buttons too small to tap.
- A separate test run that checks exported CVs against a commercial CV reader (Textkernel) and the application forms of seven hiring systems, without submitting anything.
- A load test that sends traffic through the same front door real visitors use.
- 18 documents, including one with 45 diagrams covering the design, requests and every main flow.
- 58 versioned database changes, applied the same way in development, testing and production.
- Backups: continuous, so the data can be restored to any moment in the last 8 days; nightly encrypted copies kept for 30 days and locked against deletion for 7; and an automatic test restore every month.
- Security: strongly scrambled passwords and tokens, secure cookies, limits on repeated sign-in attempts, automatic blocking of abusive traffic, and checks that stop job links being used to reach private systems.
Outcomes
Where it stands.
- Built and shipped on my own, end to end: product, design, backend, hosting, payments and documentation. Live at sikercv.com.
- The preview and the downloaded PDF match, lining up to within about one pixel across every layout.
- The app and the website work in English, Hungarian, Maltese and Italian, and take payment in four currencies through two providers.
- Built so one person can run it: the test and live servers share the same setup, backups are tested, and an admin area covers users, bans, reviews and revenue.