I stopped sending the same resume to every job

David Chen — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 15:53:19 +0000

For a long time, my resume was one file. Maybe the filename changed, but the content stayed mostly the same. I would send it to a backend role, a data role, and something in between, then wonder why I kept getting rejected.

The problem was not always my experience. It was that my resume described everything I had done, instead of answering the specific job post.

Here is the simple process I use now.

1. Copy the job post into plain text

Not the company page. Not the recruiter summary. The actual job post.

Then highlight the parts that repeat. If "API", "SQL", "incident response", or "stakeholder communication" shows up three times, that is a clue. The hiring team probably cares about it.

2. Separate facts from wording

I make two columns:

What the job wants
What I have actually done

The goal is not to force a match. If they want Kubernetes and I have only used Docker, I will not pretend otherwise. But if I have deployed containerized services and the post says "cloud deployment experience", that is worth surfacing.

3. Rewrite only the relevant bullets

Most resume bullets are too general.

Before:

Responsible for improving backend performance and supporting business features.

After:

Reduced API p95 latency by 38% by adding caching and removing N+1 queries for a service used by 12k daily users.

The second one still has to be true. But it gives the reader something concrete to remember.

4. Keep the master resume sacred

I keep one long version with everything: older projects, internal tools, conference talks, smaller achievements. Then I create a shorter version per application.

The master resume is for me. The application resume is for one job.

5. Check for obvious machine-readability issues

I do not obsess over ATS scores, but I avoid silly blockers:

put work experience in real text, not an image
use standard section names like "Experience" and "Skills"
keep dates consistent
export to PDF after checking the text still selects properly
remove graphics that hide important information

Where this got easier for me

I work on Vitaeo, which came out of this exact annoyance. You upload a resume, paste a job description, and get a match analysis, suggested improvements, and a tailored version you can edit and download. It also keeps each optimized version organized by job, so you do not end up with ten files called "resume_final".

It does not remove the need to review the result. If the AI suggests something you cannot defend in an interview, delete it.

What I avoid

I do not keyword-stuff. I do not add skills I have not used. I do not hide text to trick a parser. That might get a resume through one filter, but it creates a bad conversation later.

A tailored resume should make the real overlap more obvious, not invent overlap that is not there.

If you are applying to several kinds of roles, start with one job post and rewrite only five bullets. It usually takes less time than rewriting the whole resume, and it makes the application much clearer.

DEV Community: David Chen