How Ashby handles your CV
When you apply through an Ashby job page, you fill in a form the employer has built. It usually has a resume field, plus contact details, location, education and custom questions such as yes/no, multiple choice or long answers. A LinkedIn URL you type into a short-answer field is copied onto your candidate profile.
Ashby uses your uploaded CV for two things: filling in application fields automatically and full-text search. Its documentation says CV files must be 16 MB or smaller to be processed for both, even though uploads of up to 50 MB are accepted. A CV that is too large, or that is an image, can be stored without its text being searchable.
Employers can set auto-reject rules, but Ashby documents these as rules on application form answers (for example a location question), checked when you submit. Some employers also turn on AI-assisted review, which checks your CV and long answers against criteria the hiring team writes and marks each one as met, not met or undecided.
Do
- Keep the CV file well under 16 MB, ideally a text-based PDF or DOCX of a few hundred kilobytes, so Ashby can autofill your form and recruiters can find you in full-text search.
- Answer every screening question carefully and truthfully. Auto-reject rules in Ashby run on these form answers, not on your CV, so a careless click on a location question matters more than CV wording.
- Write real answers to long-form questions. Ashby's AI review flags blank or unrelated answers as not meeting the criteria.
- Mirror the job's must-have qualifications in plain words on your CV, such as the exact tool, licence or language, because AI review criteria are written from what the hiring team says they need.
- Check the autofilled fields, especially location and education history, before you submit, as these populate your profile directly.
Don't
- Don't upload a scanned or image-only CV: if there is no readable text, there is nothing to search or autofill.
- Don't leave optional long-answer questions empty if they relate to the role; an empty answer can be marked as not meeting a criterion.
- Don't put your LinkedIn link only inside the CV when the form has a field for it; the form field is what lands on your profile.
- Don't rely on clever formatting to stand out; reviewers see your profile fields and answers alongside the file.
Example companies on Ashby
- Bjak3,069 open roles
- OpenAI794 open roles
- Airwallex508 open roles
- Air Apps499 open roles
- LILT (Production)451 open roles
- Alpaca Health402 open roles
- Renuity387 open roles
- Harvey358 open roles
Company list from the LastRound AI ATS Company Directory, CC BY 4.0. Board counts come from SikerCV's own check of public career boards on 26 Oct 2026.
Open roles as counted on 26 Oct 2026.
Questions
Does Ashby automatically reject applications?
Only if the employer sets it up. Ashby's auto-reject feature works on answers to application form questions, checked at the moment you submit, for example rejecting applicants outside a required location. Its documentation describes these rules as based on application questions, not on CV keywords.
Does Ashby use AI to screen CVs?
Some employers turn on Ashby's AI-assisted application review. It compares your CV and answers with criteria the hiring team defines and records whether each one is met, not met or undecided. Ashby's documentation says candidates can opt out of automated processing, in which case the AI evaluation is skipped.
What size should my CV be for Ashby?
Ashby accepts uploads up to 50 MB, but only files of 16 MB or less are processed for full-text search and autofill. A normal text CV is far below that.