Your resume isn’t broken. I say that to clients every week and most of them don’t believe me until we get into the work. This week I want to hand you the same reframe, because the advice circulating right now is sending good candidates in the wrong direction.
THE MOVE
Stop optimizing for the scan. Start writing for the story.
Keyword stuffing was a hack that worked when the system reading your resume was dumb. It isn’t dumb anymore. Generative AI now reads your career the way a hiring manager does, looking for a throughline: what you did, why it mattered, and where it’s going next. A resume that is a pile of matched keywords with no throughline reads exactly like what it is, a resume that was written for a machine instead of a career.
Here is the one-move test. Open your resume and ask, does this read like a story arc or a list of duties. If it reads like duties, that is the fix, not more keywords.
FROM THE FIELD
I had a client come to me after months of applying with no response. Her resume read fine on the surface, accurate, professional, quiet. Quiet is the problem. We rebuilt it around outcomes instead of duties, gave it an actual story instead of a list of responsibilities, and she landed three interviews in three weeks. Same background. Same person. Different story on the page.
THE QUESTION
If a recruiter read only your work experience section and nothing else, would they know what you actually accomplished, or just what you were assigned to do?
Sit with that one before you touch your resume again.
WHAT’S ON
Free Webinar, Thursday July 23, 3:00 to 3:30 PM ET
Busting Resume Myths, Your Resume Isn’t Broken, Your Strategy Is. I am walking through exactly what changed in how AI reads resumes and what to do about it, including the one-trick pony problem with AI-written resumes that recruiters spot instantly. Reserve your seat here.
The Resume Intensive, $250 till July 31st, One Slot a Day
If your resume needs the story fix I described above and you want it done for you, fast, this is the offer. One round of edits, one slot a day so every resume gets my full attention. Book your resume intensive here.
Career Momentum Program, Cohort Starts August 3
Twelve weeks, Strategy and Brand through Labor Day, Job Search Momentum after. Early Bird pricing runs through July 21st. If your resume is only part of what feels stuck right now, this is where we fix the whole system. Learn more about the program here.
Jaime Chambron | Career Catalyst & Visibility Architect | Career Coach & Personal Branding Strategist | Career Agility System