diff --git a/src/RealCV.Infrastructure/Jobs/ProcessCVCheckJob.cs b/src/RealCV.Infrastructure/Jobs/ProcessCVCheckJob.cs
index 3d206b6..7eebb60 100644
--- a/src/RealCV.Infrastructure/Jobs/ProcessCVCheckJob.cs
+++ b/src/RealCV.Infrastructure/Jobs/ProcessCVCheckJob.cs
@@ -92,6 +92,19 @@ public sealed class ProcessCVCheckJob
                 "Parsed CV for check {CheckId}: {EmploymentCount} employment entries",
                 cvCheckId, cvData.Employment.Count);
 
+            // Validate that the CV contains meaningful data
+            // A CV with no name, no employment AND no education is likely a parsing failure
+            if (cvData.Employment.Count == 0 && cvData.Education.Count == 0 &&
+                (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(cvData.FullName) || cvData.FullName == "Unknown"))
+            {
+                _logger.LogWarning(
+                    "CV check {CheckId} parsed with no extractable data - possible scanned/image PDF or parsing failure",
+                    cvCheckId);
+                throw new InvalidOperationException(
+                    "Could not extract any employment or education data from this CV. " +
+                    "The file may be a scanned image, password-protected, or in an unsupported format.");
+            }
+
             // Step 4: Save extracted data
             cvCheck.ExtractedDataJson = JsonSerializer.Serialize(cvData, JsonDefaults.CamelCaseIndented);
             cvCheck.ProcessingStage = "Verifying Employment";