Get the Quiet CV Workbook here, free for personal use!
Over the last week, I’ve heard from strangers, friends, and readers who told me the Quiet CV workbook made them cry—in a good way. One total stranger wrote:
“I was not expecting to cry while making a CV… Thank you for this hope.”
That response alone made the whole project worth it. But it wasn’t alone. On Substack, Kevin E. shared:
“I loved working on my Quiet CV—it was a meditative and empowering exercise in giving myself permission to acknowledge my inner value, the hard work I put into getting where I am today, and who I’m thankful for by giving me love, support, and emotional grounding.”
If you missed it, The Quiet CV is a payment-optional printable workbook built around a simple but powerful question:
What would you put on your CV if you weren’t trying to impress a stranger?
We spend so much of our lives flattening ourselves into bullet points, trying to impress hiring managers and AI filters—only to hear nothing back.
It’s easy to confuse our self-worth as people with our economic worth to companies. This exercise flips that. It asks: what’s valuable about your life—not just your labor?
The truth is, curriculum vitae means “the course of your life.” But modern CVs don’t reflect a life. They reflect a role. And yet, we often treat them as a mirror for who we are.
The Quiet CV isn’t anti-achievement—it’s pro-human. And part of being human is recognizing that our deepest value can’t be captured in bullet points or job titles.
Whether you’re between jobs, quietly burned out, or simply trying to remember who you are beneath all the noise, I hope this helps. Unlike a traditional CV which forces you to loudly say how great you are at providing to others, the Quiet CV lets you quietly and deliberately re-discover your own value.
We want this to be available to everyone, regardless of their financial circumstances. So individuals can download it for free for personal use. There’s a suggested donation of $10 if you have the means—and if you find it meaningful, I’d love if you shared it.
Thank you to the users who have already made a donation—your generosity helps keep the resource free for jobseekers who would not otherwise be able to afford it.
Thank you again to everyone, your responses have made the whole project worth it.
And if you missed the original article where I talk about my own journey and what inspired the workbook’s creation, here is a link:
What would you put on your CV if you didn’t have to impress a stranger?
A curriculum vitae—or CV—is a beautiful concept. In Latin, it means “the course of your life.”
Get the Quiet CV here, free for personal use.
✨ Poetry Culture is quietly expanding. We’re about to launch new creative tools and resources for subscribers ($50/yr) and founding ($99/yr) members. I hope you’ll consider joining us on this journey! ✨ More on that in future posts <3