✂️ Resume-tailoring checklist
Tailor a resume to one job post at a time. Work through this list in order; it mirrors what the Resume Tailor tool does, so you can use it with or without the tool.
1. Read the posting like a checklist
- Copy the full posting — title, duties, requirements — not just the title.
- Circle the repeated words: duties, tools, and requirements the posting names more than once are usually the ones that matter most.
- Note the exact word forms the posting uses (for example "management" vs "managed", "support" vs "help desk"). Word forms matter: a keyword check counts exact words.
2. Match only what is true
- For each missing keyword, ask: "Have I actually done this?" Add it only if the answer is yes — rephrased in the posting's words, with your real example behind it.
- Never claim a title, employer, credential, or achievement you do not have. A tailored resume that invents experience fails the moment an employer checks it.
- If a skill is adjacent but not identical (you prepared expense reports; the posting asks for tracking expenses), do not conflate them — describe what you actually did.
3. Reorder, don't rewrite your history
- Put the bullets that match this posting most strongly first. Your facts stay the same; only the order changes.
- Strengthen weak lead-ins ("Responsible for" → a verb like "Delivered"), then read the result aloud — mechanical rephrasing can read awkwardly, and you edit it.
- Keep bullets short, one achievement each, with the outcome where you have one.
4. Cover letter: fill only the brackets
- Check the name on the letter is yours (a tool that takes the first line of your resume can get this wrong — fix it).
- Write the "why this role" sentence yourself. No tool can guess your motivation, and a guessed one reads as one.
- Quote your own bullets back — two real examples beat a paragraph of adjectives.
5. Check before you send
- Read every line of the draft: does each fact come from your real resume?
- Delete anything the tool added that you cannot defend in an interview.
- Proofread names, dates, and contact details last — they are the lines employers actually call.
This checklist is free to use and print (use your browser's Print command — the page is styled for paper). It is not a promise of employment: no tool or checklist can predict whether an employer will hire you.