Resume Guide

Best practices for resumes. Many of these tips are drawn from the excellent r/EngineeringResumes wiki, which I'd recommend reading in full. While the source is engineering-focused, these principles apply to any profession.

Stop paying for AI resume builders!

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How resume scoring AI tools work

This is where the scam lives. Resume scoring tools and the "AI optimization" features you're being charged for work by:

1 Parsing your resume into plain text
2 Parsing the job description into plain text
3 Counting how many keywords from the job description appear in your resume
4 Giving you a match score based on that overlap

That's it. A 95% match score just means your resume contains most of the words from the job description. It says nothing about whether your resume is good, your experience is relevant, or whether a human would find it compelling. These tools market this as AI-powered optimization and charge a monthly fee for it.

Build your resume here first

Download your PDF from the builder. The single-column layout is perfectly readable by AI.

Upload your PDF

Go to chat.openai.com or claude.ai (both free), click the paperclip icon, and attach your resume PDF.

Paste this prompt

Please evaluate my resume and tell me:

1. Which bullets correctly follow STAR, XYZ, or CAR format
2. Which bullets need improvement and exactly how to rewrite them
3. Any formatting or content rules I am violating
4. My top 5 highest impact improvements in order of priority

BULLET POINT FRAMEWORKS:
STAR: Situation, Task, Action, Result
XYZ: Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y] by doing [Z]
CAR: Challenge, Action, Result
Every bullet starts with a strong past-tense action verb
Quantify achievements wherever possible
Move metrics toward the start of the bullet
1 to 2 lines per bullet, no personal pronouns

STRONG ACTION VERBS (use these):
analyzed, architected, automated, built, created, decreased,
designed, developed, implemented, improved, optimized,
reduced, refactored, published

WEAK VERBS TO AVOID:
assisted, coded, collaborated, helped, participated,
utilized, worked on, gained experience, exposed to

CORE FORMATTING RULES:
One page only unless 10 or more years of experience
No personal pronouns (I, me, my, we)
No bar charts, icons, or graphics
Standard section names only: Experience, Education, Skills, Projects
Separate skills with commas not pipes or bullets
Use Present for current roles not Current
Include GPA only if 3.0 or above, ideally 3.5 or above
No objective or summary unless career changer or 10 or more years of experience

Here is my resume: [already uploaded above]

Iterate for free

Ask follow-ups like "Rewrite bullet 3 using XYZ format" or "Which of my action verbs are weak?" You're in control.

Core Rules

One page only. No exceptions for anyone under 10 years of experience.
No personal pronouns (I, me, my, we).
Every bullet starts with a strong past-tense action verb.
End every bullet point with a period.
No bar charts, icons, or graphics. ATS can’t read them.
No photos or headshots.
Standard section names only (Experience, Education, Skills, Projects).
Use "Present" for current roles, not "Current".
Put GPA only if 3.0+ (some say 3.5+). Omit otherwise.
Separate skills with commas, not pipes or bullets.

Bullet Point Frameworks

STARSituation, Task, Action, Result

"When the checkout service experienced 500ms latency spikes (S), I was tasked with reducing p95 latency below 200ms (T). I implemented Redis caching for session data and optimized database queries (A), reducing p95 latency to 120ms and improving conversion rate by 8% (R)."

XYZAccomplished X, measured by Y, by doing Z

"Reduced API response time by 40%, as measured by New Relic p95 metrics, by implementing Redis caching and query optimization."

CARChallenge, Action, Result

"Facing a 3x increase in user traffic (C), redesigned the data pipeline using Apache Kafka (A), enabling real-time processing of 2M daily events with zero downtime (R)."

Strong Action Verbs

ArchitectedAutomatedBuiltConfiguredDebuggedDeployedDesignedDevelopedEngineeredImplementedIntegratedLedMigratedOptimizedReducedRefactoredResolvedScaledSpearheadedStreamlined

ATS Compatibility

Applicant Tracking Systems parse resumes as text. Image-based PDFs, fancy tables, and multi-column layouts often get mangled or ignored.

Resume Builder outputs clean, single-column, text-based PDFs where every character is selectable and parseable. No images, no tables, no surprises.

Your Data & Privacy

The resume builder is fully private. Everything you type is saved to your browser's local storage and never sent to any server. The PDF is generated entirely on your device. No account needed, no uploads, no tracking.

You can optionally create a free account to save multiple resume versions for different job applications. Saved resumes are stored securely in the database so you can access them from any device.

If you use the Interview Prep feature, you'll also need an account. Your prep materials will be stored alongside your resumes. Payment info is handled by Stripe and never stored on this site.

Without an account, your resume lives only in your browser's local storage. If you clear your browser data or switch devices, your progress will be lost. Download your PDF regularly to keep a copy.

Start Building

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Please evaluate my resume and tell me: 1. Which bullets correctly follow STAR, XYZ, or CAR format 2. Which bullets need improvement and exactly how to rewrite them 3. Any formatting or content rules I am violating 4. My top 5 highest impact improvements in order of priority BULLET POINT FRAMEWORKS: STAR: Situation, Task, Action, Result XYZ: Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y] by doing [Z] CAR: Challenge, Action, Result Every bullet starts with a strong past-tense action verb Quantify achievements wherever possible Move metrics toward the start of the bullet 1 to 2 lines per bullet, no personal pronouns STRONG ACTION VERBS (use these): analyzed, architected, automated, built, created, decreased, designed, developed, implemented, improved, optimized, reduced, refactored, published WEAK VERBS TO AVOID: assisted, coded, collaborated, helped, participated, utilized, worked on, gained experience, exposed to CORE FORMATTING RULES: One page only unless 10 or more years of experience No personal pronouns (I, me, my, we) No bar charts, icons, or graphics Standard section names only: Experience, Education, Skills, Projects Separate skills with commas not pipes or bullets Use Present for current roles not Current Include GPA only if 3.0 or above, ideally 3.5 or above No objective or summary unless career changer or 10 or more years of experience Here is my resume: [already uploaded above]