Improve Your Résumé Before You Apply
Pasting your résumé in and asking for a rewrite gives you the same generic bullets as everybody else. Decode the job first, audit your evidence second, and only then rewrite the bullets that are actually weak.
- 1
Decode the job description
Find what the employer actually values before touching your résumé.
- 2
Audit your evidence
Where is your proof strong, moderate, weak, or missing entirely?
- 3
Rewrite only the weak bullets
Leave the strong ones alone. Rewriting everything is how you lose your voice.
- 4
Read it like a recruiter
Six seconds, skeptical, scanning for reasons to move on.
Read this job description and identify: 1. The 5 most important responsibilities 2. The 5 most important skills or capabilities 3. The problem this employer is really hiring someone to solve 4. Which requirements are essential vs. nice-to-have 5. The vocabulary they use for the work Job description: [PASTE]
Compare my résumé with that job description. For each key requirement, tell me: - What evidence my résumé already provides - Strength of that evidence: strong / moderate / weak / missing - Whether the bullet should be revised Then identify: 1. My 5 strongest areas of alignment 2. My 3 real gaps 3. The bullets that undersell work I actually did Résumé: [PASTE]
Rewrite only the bullets you marked weak. Format: [Action verb] + [what I did] + [scope] + [measurable result]. No adjectives like "dynamic" or "results-driven". Keep my voice — match the register of the text I wrote. If a number is missing, write [NEEDS NUMBER] instead of inventing it.
Weaker
Responsible for building reports for leadership.
Stronger
Built 12 executive reports used weekly by 3 department heads, cutting manual reporting time by 6 hours per week.
Read my résumé as a skeptical recruiter with 6 seconds. Tell me: what is immediately clear, what is compelling, what stays vague, what may create concern, and what I should be prepared to explain in an interview.
Never let it invent numbers
Fabricated metrics fall apart in the interview — the exact moment you can least afford it. You should be able to explain every bullet out loud.
before you send it
Common mistakes
- Rewriting the whole résumé when three bullets were the problem.
- Mirroring the job description's fluff instead of its vocabulary.
- Leading with the tool instead of the outcome.
- Keyword stuffing to beat a filter, then failing the human read.
- One generic résumé sent to 40 roles instead of one tailored per role.
Next guide
Turn Your Résumé Into an AI Career App