Five steps
- Read the posting for requirements. Split it into what is required (“must have”, “required”, years of experience) and what is preferred (“nice to have”, “bonus”). Note the exact names of tools, skills and titles.
- Find the true matches. For each requirement, find where your experience shows it. Those are what the resume should make easy to see.
- Use the posting's words. If the posting says “stakeholder management” and your resume says “worked with partner teams”, and those are the same thing, use the posting's phrase. Recruiters search for the exact terms.
- Reorder. Put the most relevant bullet first under each job, and the most relevant skills first in the skills list. Cut or shorten what has nothing to do with this role.
- Rewrite the summary in two or three lines for this role: the title you are applying for, your years in the work, and the one or two things that make you a match.
What never to change
- Titles, employers and dates. They are checked in a background check, and a mismatch is an easy reason to drop you.
- Skills you do not have. A recruiter or interviewer will ask about them.
- Numbers. Rephrase how a result is described, never how big it was.
Keep a master resume
Keep one long master resume with every role, project and result, and make each tailored version by cutting and reordering from it. Save each version with the job's name, and note in your tracker which one you sent, so you know what the interviewer is holding.
How much tailoring is enough
For most applications, the summary, the order of bullets and the skills list are enough, about fifteen minutes. Rewrite more for the jobs you want most. Check the result with a keyword scanner: the posting's required skills that are true for you should all appear.
