How tailoring works
The three things tailoring may do to your resume, the one thing it never does, and the order of the screens from job ad to file.
Tailoring changes the resume you already have to fit one job. It can do three things. There is a fourth thing it will never do.
The three things it may do
- Change the order. Your jobs and bullet points are moved so the proof this employer asked for comes first, where readers look.
- Change the wording. If your line describes the same work in different words, we use the words from the job ad. This happens in your browser.
- Bring back things you wrote elsewhere. For example, bullet points removed to fit the page, answers you typed when a job asked about something, and points you added by hand.
The fourth thing, which it will never do
It never makes anything up. If a rewrite adds a number, an employer, a product name or a date that is not in your own text, we throw it away and tell you. See when the fabrication guard blocks a change.
Added for you, or offered to you
What happens depends on where the sentence came from.
| Change | What happens | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A bullet point from your own resume that was left out | Put back for you, and we tell you | It is your own sentence, in the job it belongs to |
| An answer you typed before | Offered to you, with the date you wrote it | It is new text about your history, so you decide where it goes |
| A skill you confirmed by name | Added to your skills | You said yes to that skill yourself |
| A reworded bullet point | Shown before and after, with a reason | It is your work in the employer's words, and you should be able to undo it |
The order of the screens
- Open the job ad. From the board, or paste a description you found somewhere else.
- Tailor for a role. We compare your resume with the job and list the changes.
- Read the changes. Each one names the job ad's word and your word. Keep or reject each one.
- ATS compliance. Checks your resume the way hiring software will read it, and lists anything that could cause problems.
- The last read-through. One final check before the file is made.
- Download, or use it to fill in a form.
No change goes into a file until step six, and step six never happens without you.
What tailoring cannot fix
A low Fit. No wording turns four years in one field into six years in another. A tool that pretends otherwise gives you a resume you cannot defend in the interview.
If your numbers are low and you are not sure which one is the problem, read Fit vs resume readiness. If Fit is the low one, look for a different job instead of spending longer on this one.
A useful habit
If three tailored resumes in a row push the same bullet point down, the problem is in your main resume, not in those three jobs. Fix that bullet in the editor, and every future application starts better.
Questions about this
Does tailoring change my original resume?
No. Your main resume stays as it is, and each tailored version is a new document. You can tailor the same resume for twenty jobs and still keep the original.
How long does it take?
A minute or two of reading. We work out the new order and the wording changes in your browser. Two buttons on this screen send text out, both on a paid plan: the sentence rewriter sends the line being rewritten, and translating your resume sends every sentence of it. Also, when you approve or download, the tailored text is saved to your account.
Can I tailor a job that is not on the board?
Yes. Paste the job description into the tailoring screen. We read it right away, the same way we read jobs on the board.
Why did it only change a few lines?
Because only a few lines were relevant to that job. If a tool rewrites everything, it has stopped paying attention to the job.
Tailor for a job ad you have read
The result is only as good as the job ad you give it. A full description gives us plenty to work with. A two-line summary does not.
Open Involve Resume