How we build your resume and cover letter

When you generate a resume for a match, we compare that job posting with your profile. We select and order the experience and skills most relevant to the role. We may use language from the posting when it accurately describes your background.^{[1], [2], [3]}

Experience bullets lead with the contribution or outcome most relevant to the role. For your strongest achievements, we use the XYZ pattern (accomplished X, measured by Y, by doing Z) when your profile supports each part.^{[1], [2], [7]}

The summary runs two or three sentences, and we vary bullet structure rather than forcing every line into one shape. Those are our choices, not rules from the sources below.

We include numbers only when your profile supports them. We do not invent metrics, dates, employers, credentials, or other facts.

Relevant skills appear early and in context. We use standard headings and natural keywords rather than repeating terms solely for applicant tracking systems.^{[3], [4]}

The ATS file uses a single column, standard section headings, and no graphics or tables.^{[3], [4]} Most current parsers read other layouts correctly, so this is a conservative default rather than a hard requirement.^[5] The PDF uses the template you choose. The template changes presentation, not content.

We write from your real profile. We reorder, rephrase, and emphasize, but we never fabricate experience, credentials, dates, employers, or numbers. If a fact is not in your profile, it does not appear on your resume.

The cover letter is directed at the specific role and draws on two or three relevant parts of your experience instead of repeating the resume. It stays near one page and closes by inviting a conversation and thanking the reader.^{[2], [6]}

We aim for a confident, human voice and avoid AI-sounding filler. Like the resume, it uses only facts from your profile.

These references describe the practices behind this approach:

1. MIT Career Advising and Professional Development: five steps to writing a great resume Choosing what to include from the position description, and recording accomplishments rather than responsibilities.
2. Harvard Mignone Center for Career Success: guide to creating a strong resume Specific, fact-based language, reverse chronological order, and cover letters kept to a single page.
3. MIT Career Advising and Professional Development: make your resume ATS friendly Avoiding graphics, tables, and text boxes, and using posting keywords without spamming them.
4. Robert Half: getting past the applicant tracking system Conventional section headings the parser can categorize, and simple formatting without tables or columns.
5. Enhancv: the state of resume parsing Parser testing on how applicant tracking systems handle columns and file types.
6. MIT Career Advising and Professional Development: how to write an effective cover letter One page, directed at a specific role, citing a few examples instead of repeating the resume.
7. Inc.: Google's XYZ resume formula Accomplishment bullets that state the result, measurement, and method.

Sources last reviewed September 3, 2026.