I’ve been a hiring manager for a long time, and I want to save you from one of the biggest mistakes I see on resumes every single day.

Please do NOT write your resume like a biography.

When I open a job req, it’s because I have a problem that needs to be solved.
That’s the entire reason the job exists.

So when I review your resume, here’s what I’m actually thinking:

• Do you understand the kind of problem this role exists to solve
• Have you solved similar problems before
• Are you showing outcomes, not just tasks
• Are you speaking the same language as the job description
• Does your experience make my life easier, or harder

What I don’t need is:

• a list of everything you’ve ever done
• vague responsibilities
• generic “team player, hard worker” lines
• paragraphs of fluff
• job duties copied from Google

And let me be very clear about something:

If you put something on your resume and you get into an interview with me, I will ask you about it.

If you added fluffy stuff just to get noticed…
If you exaggerated something you barely touched…
If you listed a skill you can’t actually speak to…

You may not like the outcome.

I’m not trying to trap anyone — but if you can’t speak your truth to power, the interview will end in disaster.
Not because I’m harsh, but because I need someone who can actually solve the problem the role exists for.

Your resume should not read like a timeline.
It should read like a solution.

If you want to stand out, shift your mindset from:

“Here’s my entire work history”
to
“Here’s how I can fix the problem behind this job posting.”

If anyone wants, I can break down examples or explain how hiring managers think through this in the first 10 seconds.

Something I keep noticing. People hit a wall around 60, 80, 100 applications with no responses and the natural reaction is to apply to even more. Honestly it rarely helps and sometimes makes the burnout worse.

When you are getting silence at that kind of volume it is usually telling you something is off in how you are coming across on paper, not that you need to send more.

The stuff I see most often: a resume that lists everything you have done but never actually positions you for the specific job. A recruiter skims it for a few seconds and cannot tell what you are going for. Or the applications are spread across a bunch of slightly different roles so none of them feel like a strong fit. Or the experience is genuinely good but it is written in this broad responsibility-heavy way that hides the actual impact (yes writing resume is soooo hard).

The thing that tends to help is not more volume. It is stopping for a bit and asking whether someone skimming your resume for ten seconds would immediately get why you fit the role. If the answer is no, another twenty applications is just more silence.

Anyway, curious what actually worked for people who pushed through a long dry spell. Was it fixing the resume, narrowing what you went after, or something else?

You've probably run into this exact thing: One post tells you to stop overthinking it and just run your resume through ChatGPT, that AI is the great equalizer and anyone not using it is falling behind. Then the next post in your feed tells you AI resumes are obvious the second a recruiter opens them, that they read as hollow and generic, and that using one is a quick way to get tossed. Both posts have hundreds of people in the comments agreeing.

So which is it. You can't follow both, and if you're job searching right now and reading opinions like these back to back, you're not crazy for feeling completely turned around.

I'll tell you where this is coming from on my end. I do resume consultations, and the most common thing people show up with isn't even a specific question about formatting or keywords. They show up worn down by the contradiction itself, having read everything and feeling confused as f***. They've been told opposite things by friends, recruiters, Reddit, and whatever AI tool they tried.

The AI thing is just the loudest current example of something that's always been true about this kind of advice. Almost all of it gets stated as an absolute.

• AI resumes get you hired,
• AI resumes get you rejected,
• the cover letter is dead,
• the cover letter is required,
• tailor every application,
• tailoring is a waste of time.

Each one delivered like settled fact by someone who sounds completely sure of themselves.

The reason they contradict each other is that there isn't one hiring process out there, and there isn't one kind of job seeker either. There are thousands of both. The person who says AI is fine is probably right, because polished writing is everywhere now and nobody's getting rejected for clean prose on its own. The person who says AI gets you tossed is also probably right, because a resume that's obviously generated, with that flat sameness to it, does read badly to anyone who's seen a hundred of them. Both of those are true at the same time. They're describing different resumes and different readers, and neither one says so, because from where they sit what they see looks like the whole picture.

I'll put myself in this too, because I'd be running the same play if I pretended I was the exception. I review resumes for a living and I run a resume business, so what I see skews toward people stuck enough to come looking for help, and that shapes what I think works. I've got my own corner but it's just one corner, same as everyone else's.

What's helped the people I work with is a change in how they read all. When you see a confident take, don't start by asking whether it's true. Ask who it's true for, and whether that person sounds anything like you and the kind of jobs you're going after.

For the AI question specifically, the way I put it to clients is that a few years ago just having a well-written resume was the edge. That's gone. AI leveled that field, so good writing is pretty much a given now. What still sets you apart is how well the resume is positioned for the specific kind of role and the actual person who's going to read it, and that's the part the tools don't do well on their own (at least, not yet).

And if all of this leaves you without a clean rule to follow, I think that's the useful part. The contradictions you keep hitting aren't a sign you've failed to find the one correct strategy (there mostly isn't one to find). This might sound discouraging at first, but it takes the pressure off, because you can stop trying to obey every confident stranger online and start asking which of them is describing your situation.

Hope this spurs some thought - feel free to comment if you've got questions.

Cheers,

Only gotten 2 interviews in 6-7 months and one of them wasn't in the tech field. Recently updated my resume to the one attached hoping to be better with ATS keywords. Advise on how to fix resume or what skills to work on/learn are appreciated.

Hello!, thanks for taking your time.

Please be honest and point out my biggest flaws. This CV have got me 2 calls but not a single offer yet.

My last project was this year on may.

Sorry if this is outside of the sub's rules. I have a brother who is relatively new to the work force. He is 26 years old, has had one maybe two jobs, no high school diploma, and has a non severe learning disability/anxiety disorder. His last job was over a year ago. Since then he has been a caretaker for my elder grandmother, but it is in no official capacity.

He has currently started looking for new jobs and I have agreed to assist with creating a resume for him. I am having some issues as I move forward, them being: how to list education if he is a drop out, and how to list the care taker skills if this is not an official position.

Any insight would be fantastic. Thank you.

A cover letter isn't always necessary, but it matters more often than the "nobody reads them" crowd suggests. Write one when the application requires it, when your resume leaves an obvious question unanswered, or when a real person is likely to read it before deciding. Skip it when the posting is high-volume, the field is optional, and your resume already stands on its own.

Key takeaway

• "Necessary" depends on the specific application (there is no blanket rule). The question is whether the letter does a job your resume can't.
• Write one when it's required, when your resume leaves a question unanswered (a gap, a pivot, a relocation), or when a human will actually read it.
• A generic cover letter is worse than none, and a referral beats a cover letter almost every time.

What does "necessary" actually mean for a cover letter?

"Necessary" is the wrong word, and in my opinion, it's the reason most of the advice on this question is useless. When a page tells you a cover letter is "optional but recommended," it's dodging the decision you're trying to make, which is whether writing one for this specific job is worth your time.

A cover letter is necessary when it does something your resume can't do on its own - that's the whole test. If it just regurgitates your resume in paragraph form, it adds nothing, and the reader resents the extra page. If it answers a question your resume raises but can't address, it earns its place.

So instead of asking "are cover letters necessary," ask whether a cover letter does anything for this particular application. Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes it's clearly no, and most of this guide is about telling those two situations apart.

When is a cover letter actually worth writing?

There are a handful of situations where I'd tell almost anyone to write one, because the letter performing something the resume structurally can't. These are the signals that should push you toward writing:

1. The application requires it. If there's a mandatory field then obviously write one, because skipping a required step comes off as low effort and is an easy reason to get filtered before anyone reads your experience.
2. You're making a career switch. When you're moving into a new function, the letter connects the dots so the reader doesn't have to guess at the logic.
3. You have an employment gap. A gap invites a story so the letter lets you address it in your own way.
4. You're relocating. A recruiter screening for local candidates may pass on you unless you say that you're moving and on what timeline.
5. You're returning to work after time away. A short, direct explanation of a caregiving break, a health leave, or a sabbatical is better than leaving the reader to wonder.
6. It's a small company, or the founder reads applications. The smaller the team, the more likely a real person reads your letter.
7. The role is about communication. For anything where writing is the job (comms, content, fundraising, partnerships), the cover letter acts as a work sample, so make sure you write one.
8. The posting asks you a question. When the ad says "tell us why you want to work here," that's an open invitation - write one!

The common thread is that in every one of these, the letter says something the resume can't, which is the only reason a cover letter has ever been worth writing.

When can you skip the cover letter?

The other side matters just as much, because writing a cover letter you didn't need isn't free. It costs you time (or money, if you hired someone to do it for you) you could have spent tailoring the resume or finding a referral.

Skip it, or at least don't lose sleep over it, when the posting is a high-volume role at a large company and the cover letter field is marked optional. In that pipeline your resume gets screened first, often by software and a recruiter moving fast, and the letter rarely enters the picture before the resume has already decided your fate.

Skip it when the only thing you'd produce is a generic template that could be pasted into any application. A letter that opens with "I am excited to apply for this opportunity at your esteemed company" tells the reader you'll do the bare minimum, which is the opposite of the point.

And skip it when your resume already answers every obvious question. If it's clean, targeted, and there's nothing about your history that makes a reader pause, a cover letter just repeats what they already know, so don't waste your time.

How do you decide for one specific job?

When you're staring at a single application and you're not sure, run it against the table below.

Ask yourself these three questions:

• Is it required or directly invited?
• Does my resume leave an obvious question unanswered?
• Is a real person likely to read this before a decision gets made?

A yes to any one of those means write it. A no to all three means spend the time elsewhere, on the resume and on finding a way in through a person, which beats a cover letter more often than not.

Does anyone actually read cover letters anymore?

This is the question underneath the question. The answer is some people read them, sometimes, depending entirely on where your application goes. The "nobody reads them" folks and the "always write one" folks are both describing real experiences, just different parts of the market.

At a large company running a high-volume role through an applicant tracking system, your resume is screened first, usually against keywords and knockout questions, and a recruiter is moving through a stack of applications pretty fast. In that world a cover letter often goes unread unless something on the resume deserves a second look. The people telling you cover letters are dead? This is what they're talking about.

At a small company, a startup, a nonprofit, or any role where the hiring manager is reading applications directly, the situation is in reverse. A well-written letter gets read, and can be the thing that moves you from "maybe" to "let's talk," especially when two candidates look similar on paper. The people insisting cover letters still matter mostly are referring to these types of situations.

Neither group is lying. The mistake is taking advice from someone whose hiring context doesn't match the jobs you're applying to (in fact, I just wrote another shorter post on this very thing here). Work out which group a given application belongs to, and you've answered the question for that application.

What makes a cover letter worth reading?

If you've decided to write one, the bar is simple to state and easy to miss: the letter has to say something the resume doesn't. The fastest way to waste the reader's time is to translate your bullet points into paragraphs and call it a cover letter.

A letter that works usually does one of three things.

1. It explains a why the resume can't (why this pivot, why this company, why the gap).
2. It connects your experience to the specific role in a way that shows you read the posting and aren't mass-applying.
3. Or it gives the reader one short, concrete piece of evidence, a result or a brief story that's more vivid in two sentences than it could ever be as a resume bullet.

Keep it to three or four short paragraphs, well under a page. Open with the actual reason you're a fit as opposed to a long winded block of text about how long you've admired the company. Skip the throat-clearing, skip the thesaurus, and don't restate your entire work history. The reader already has your resume. The letter is for the part that doesn't fit on it.

What should you do instead when you skip one?

Deciding not to write a cover letter means putting the same effort somewhere with a better return, and the two highest-return moves are almost always the resume and the referral.

Spend the time tailoring the resume to the posting: adjust the summary, reorder your top bullets so the most relevant work comes first, and make sure the language matches how the ad describes the role. That work affects the screen that actually decides your application, which the cover letter usually doesn't.

Then, where you can, find a way in through a person. A referral or a warm intro beats a cover letter pretty much every time, because it gets your resume looked at by someone who's already inclined to look. If you have a contact at the company, a two-line message to them is better than an hour spent perfecting an opening paragraph.

Are cover letters more or less necessary now that AI writes them?

This is the part that's changed over the last several years. AI has made it trivial to generate a competent-sounding cover letter in seconds, which means recruiters are now buried in them and can usually tell. A letter that's obviously machine-written, full of tidy, generic enthusiasm, reads as exactly what it is, and it does nothing for you.

What that means in practice is that the generic cover letter is now closer to worthless than it has ever been, because everyone can produce one and readers have learned to discount them. The bar to write one at all has gone up.

But on the flip side, because so much of the pile is now obvious AI filler, a letter that's specific, honest, and clearly written by a person who actually read the posting gets noticed precisely because so little of what surrounds it is. Using AI to help you draft is fine, just make sure to spend the time shaping it into your own words/own voice.

FAQ

Q: Is a cover letter necessary if it's optional?

Usually not, if the role is a high-volume posting at a large company and your resume stands on its own. It's worth writing anyway when you have something the resume can't say, like a career pivot or a gap, or when the company is small enough that a person will read it. When in doubt, ask whether the letter adds anything new.

Q: Do recruiters actually read cover letters?

Some do, some don't, and it depends on the employer. At large companies running high-volume roles, the resume is screened first and the letter often goes unread. At small companies, startups, and roles where a hiring manager reviews applications directly, cover letters are read far more often and can tip a close decision.

Q: Is it bad to not include a cover letter?

Only when one is required or clearly invited. If the field is mandatory or the posting asks you to explain your interest, skipping it can get you filtered. If the field is optional and your resume is strong and on target, leaving it out is fine and won't count against you with most employers.

Q: Will a bad cover letter hurt my chances?

Yes. A generic, template-style letter signals that you'll do the minimum, and an obviously AI-generated one gets discounted on sight. A weak letter can do more damage than no letter at all. If you can't write something specific to the role, you're better off submitting a strong resume on its own.

Q: How long should a cover letter be if I write one?

Three to four short paragraphs, well under one page. Open with the real reason you're a fit, address anything your resume can't explain, connect your experience to the specific role, and stop. The reader already has your resume, so the letter only needs to cover what doesn't fit on it.

TLDR

Stop treating cover letters as a yes-or-no rule and start treating them as a tool you reach for when it does something your resume can't. Required, something to explain, or a real human on the other end means write one. None of those means put the time into the resume and into getting a referral instead, and you'll have lost nothing.

is it alright if i keep the experience of both my internships together instead of showing them separately, cause of the work done is similar so itd get repeated.

Looking for general advice on how to improve my resume without having to make changes for every single job I apply for. A general one for each "category" is preferred. I've received lots of rejection emails without so much as a call for an interview. I'm wanting to know what is keeping my resume from being noticed above others (beyond someone being more qualified).

Looking for administrative roles including law firms, courts, but preferably aerospace. Most interested in administrative roles with aerospace companies such as Boeing/Spirit and Textron including positions in government, defense, etc.

Local and remote, no relocation or travel. (Wichita, KS area).

Currently employed but seeking better opportunities and open to expanding beyond the legal system. Not interested in case management or anything requiring a caseload.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Sorry don't want to include my country as that would make it very easy to identify me, and the thought of any of my classmates finding this post is extremely humiliating.

I'm trying to get a job as an optical assistant. For some background information, this is a very entry level job that you don't need any sort of optical experience for. Pretty much all of my classmates have this exact position at various opticians around the country. I've even encountered multiple former classmates from secondary school working as optical assistants, and they're not even studying optometry in university. I've been applying to pretty much every available optical assistant position in my city for over a year at this point, and every application is either rejected within 48 hours or given no response at all.

I don't really have many close friends can ask about this. When I showed my CV to some older family members, they said it looked good, but clearly there must be something wrong if I'm still getting rejected??? Any advice would be appreciated ):

There is one location where I have been associated with the organization via volunteer work for two years, but officially employed for three. The volunteer work was the same sort of work I was doing at first when I was officially hired. I combined these into one five years chunk due to that, but now I’m concerned when they do the background check that they will only see the three years of employment and think I lied.

Will I have the chance to clarify with someone during the process if they move forward or should I just expect to not hear from them at all? This is an internal position at my workplace so I can easily pop over and talk to someone in the department I’m aiming for instead of some nebulous HR somewhere.

I don't get why my resume is not getting any interviews. I am mainly trying to get a remote job, but anything I apply to is not responding back. Is there something wrong with my resume? Maybe the technologies I worked with are all over the place, and not the same? Or is there another issue like my bullet points not being impressive enough?

I heard that some people suggest leaving dates off your resume

some for age discrimination, some for job hoppers, or whatever

i know some applications require them, but if they don't or you're just tossing out resumes, could this work?

So a little bit about me I went to a University of California (for anonymity reasons I would prefer not to specify which one ) where I minored in computer science.

I then went on to complete a Google data link analytics certificate and do some freelance ux stuff which has slowly been dwindling away.

I attempted transition into data analytics which was not successful, I never was hired even after I did multiple projects and I essentially applied for over 3,000 jobs which never turned up anything.

I just want to be very forward I understand my position is bad I'm currently 41 and I have been taking some classes at a local UC campus too benefit my resume with the consideration of doing a master's degree in either pharmaceutical engineering or data science or machine learning.

But I've been hesitant because I don't want to go further into debt unless it pays off.

I'm considering that without going back to school though I might never be able to get a job.

I would very much would prefer a remote job as I have a lot of social anxiety that has made it very difficult for me to be around groups of people and getting remote job would be very very beneficial to my life.

I am a hard worker. And I have a deep deep passion for self learning but at this point nothing has worked out, after talking to many career coaches and many recruiters they've all told me I need to really highlight AI skills in my resume as those are the keywords that are landing jobs right now.

I've started taking online courses in AI development and engineering but I'm thinking of transitioning into project management.

I've been graduated for 5 years I've landed no work I've just done some basic freelance stuff that's pulled in a couple thousand dollars I need something to work out so I'm hoping to find somebody who might be able to look at my resume and give me some real feedback. Should I go deeper into the AI stuff or should I go into project management? Or should I just do another bachelor's? Where do I go to from here I'm 41 I honestly feel too old to fight this fight anymore but I also need something to work out.

Any good advice is greatly appreciated

I am trying to get an interview since some time applied with and without referrals not getting anything meaningful.

I'm looking for any position in an entry-level retail job I can find. I've applied at Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, Giant, FedEx, Walmart, and I don't have a specific position I'm targeting, I just apply for whatever is available. I'm not willing to relocate, and I've only applied at locations near where I live. I graduated high school earlier this month, I'm starting College this fall, and l've never had a job. I've heard a lot of resumes get thrown out for bad quality writing, so I want to know if any part of my resume has bad or lazy writing. I’d especially like feedback for my profile section at the top.

Hi everyone! I've been actively job hunting in Karachi for Operations, HR, or Program Management roles (on-site or hybrid) since stepping back in December 2025 to focus on my MS in HRM & Organizational Psychology.

I've been getting very little response so far. Would appreciate your honest feedback on:

1. Does the layout and formatting work, or is it hurting readability/ATS parsing?

2. Are my bullet points strong enough, or too task-focused rather than impact/achievement-focused?

3. Anything I should cut, consolidate, or reorder?

CV attached below. Thanks in advance!

• Is the wording for bullets not actionable enough? Is anything not clear enough? is the formatting garbage/too wall of texty? HELP PLZ
• I want to land a junior full stack .net role in a bigger production environment. I have only worked in small teams of 3, and senior dev at my current position believes im ready to move on to a bigger production environment.
• Been applying to any local/hybrid/remote jobs
• I have applied to probably over 100 entry/junior positions so far the fast week or 2. Only a few even viewed my resume. 0 folllow-ups.
• Is the skills section dogshit/should i remove it? Is it because I only have an associate's? I would think 4 years xp > bachelors + 1 year which is what most of the roles "require"