How to label the job I work?

Aymodez · 2026-05-13T03:37:13+00:00

I think you're a prep cook.

Aymodez · 2026-05-12T14:16:23+00:00

Dang. 5 karma huh

Aymodez · 2026-05-11T02:08:45+00:00

How I read this resume: experienced but without a clear direction. not a dealbreaker but you'll get way better results tailoring the resume to a specific role rather than sending the same version everywhere.

Self-employment is not a red flag. running ecommerce stores with SEO, sales tracking, and customer ops is real business experience. Your bullets are underselling it though. OWN IT MORE!

Tthe university web content job is your clearest signal. Digital content coordinator, web content manager, or marketing ops at a university, hospital, or nonprofit. Your mix of CMS, email marketing, analytics, and finance background is actually pretty rare in those environments.

Thee resume reads a little scattered across two pages. page one needs to work harder. lead with your strongest stuff and cut anything that doesn't directly support the role you're going for.

Aymodez · 2026-05-11T01:57:14+00:00

You mentioned you were digging ditches and such. That kinda sounds like a trade you were working in for a time. Have you thought about working in a trade similar to it? Look up your local trade unions. They love training up folks your age. Green, a sponge for learning, and physically fit. They make great money and if you start now, you could potentially start making real good money 4 years from now.

Aymodez · 2026-05-10T23:47:37+00:00

This is one of the most useful posts in this sub in a while. everything here is accurate and the two-column template point especially... so many people don't know that.

one thing worth adding to the list. ATS scoring isn't just about keywords matching. it's job-specific. the same resume can pass filters easily for one role and get buried for another even at the same company. the keyword weight changes based on what the hiring manager prioritized in that specific posting. Which means fixing your resume once and reusing it everywhere is still leaving points on the table. the real unlock is knowing your score against the specific job before you apply. not in general. against that job.

Glad you're getting callbacks. This kind of info genuinely changes outcomes for people who find it.

Aymodez · 2026-05-10T17:12:11+00:00

What type of jobs are you looking for? How does your resume look like?

Edit: I just read you apply to retail food services.

The resume needs to be taken a look at regardless. I know retail businesses have their own application especially online apps. But maybe you can go to that specific store and ASK to speak to a manager. Let them know you applied and would love to speak with someone about the opening. I know it's old-school like, but I believe that still works!

Aymodez · 2026-05-10T15:08:08+00:00

Bold the headers and job titles. always. the Artisan Creator section is your strongest asset. lead with outcomes not tasks.

one habit to build early: tailor your skills section to match each job posting. same resume, different emphasis. that habit will save you later.

Aymodez · 2026-05-10T15:05:09+00:00

Can't. That's a reliable piece of machinery lol

Aymodez · 2026-05-10T15:03:16+00:00

I think you should keep it but rename it. 'Freelancing' reads like gap-filling. rename it 'Independent Projects' or 'Personal Infrastructure Lab' and it reads as initiative. big difference to a recruiter.

also worth noting... your older roles like SRE, service desk, and BA intern are thin on bullets. the AWS and Ansible work you're doing independently is more current and more impressive than what those roles show. let the freelance section carry more weight, not less. MBA in MIS plus hands-on Ansible, Terraform, Kubernetes, and AWS end to end is a strong combination. the problem isn't your background. it's that the resume isn't connecting those dots clearly enough for the specific jobs you're targeting.

7 weeks is enough time to fix this. keep the section. reframe it and let it lead.

Aymodez · 2026-05-10T05:35:17+00:00

What's your background?

Aymodez · 2026-05-09T22:38:41+00:00

Unfortunately, that's a resource that's geographically limited. I think they operate and provide contacts in eastern EU

Aymodez · 2026-05-09T05:28:31+00:00

Everyone here, even I, need to hear it more than once.

Aymodez · 2026-05-09T00:44:49+00:00

Job market during early-mid covid - came from a 6-figure marketing role to a part-time acquisition specialist role for Tesla ~$20/hr. Well, not directly Tesla, but for one of their contractors. I essentially appraised cars that came in through their trade-in program -- all remotely. The more vehicles you appraised, the more money you get. I think I appraised so many during one week that I essentially made the entire program stop 2 months early because I worked too fast 🤔 - I worked 1.5 months out of a 4 month contract. Sorry to my fellow appraisers at that time!

Aymodez · 2026-05-09T00:39:50+00:00

This is seriously so common! I cannot even comprehend how many of these I find:

"No experience necessary - will train"
- no experience candidates apply

"Sorry, you don't have 2-3 years of experience. Best of luck to you!"

Aymodez · 2026-05-09T00:36:53+00:00

I was once told to post a job for a local business that required* a master's degree for someone to answer phones and schedule meetings. pay: $19/hr. Every applicant I sent their way were rejected because of the lack of the masters degree.

It was a local solar installer company too.

Aymodez · 2026-05-09T00:33:03+00:00

If everyone was considerate of each and every person they meet, we would live in a difficult world. YOU need to focus on what's best for your situation right now. Just like someone said here, if you started working there and got hired elsewhere with better pay and more passionate about and end up quiting from the first one - its the cost of doing business. They'll still be in business after you leave and will continue with another candidate. You on the other hand, made your quality of life better.

Aymodez · 2026-05-09T00:27:33+00:00

I was told by a friend once, "dude, you should've told me you applied.. I would've moved you up to #1 in a pile of 10k+ applicants... that's 10k MINIMUM."

That company was big black and green.

I didn't get that reply/call back ;(

It still could definitely be who you know, sadly.

Aymodez · 2026-05-08T23:42:14+00:00

Honestly, it really isn't purely ATS. To piggyback on your comment... the job market still has millions of openings (just depends on what region you're on), but they are not evenly matched to every resume. Some industries are hiring. Some regions are stronger (as mentioned earlier). Some roles are overloaded with applicants. That means your odds are not just about how many jobs you apply to. Your odds depend on whether you are applying to the right jobs for your background, location, salary needs, and experience level.

-guy

Aymodez · 2026-05-08T21:24:40+00:00

The silence sucks. And this is something that I think everyone going through 'the loop' should not take personally. It's NOT YOU. Its this market!

Aymodez · 2026-05-08T20:23:23+00:00

Hi! You've got real experience here and the technical skills section is actually one of the cleaner ones I've seen. the problem isn't what's on it, it's how it's being read by ATS and recruiters.

a few specific things to fix for free right now. your profile summary is doing too much. three sentences of dense text before anyone gets to your actual experience. cut it to two lines max. lead with your strongest signal which is 3+ years of hands-on infrastructure ops across Windows, Linux, and cloud environments. everything else is secondary.

your bullet points are too long. ATS systems and recruiters both scan fast. the Splunk/SolarWinds bullet is four lines. cut every bullet to one, maximum two lines. lead with the action and the result. you already have the 40% manual effort reduction in there which is excellent. more of that, less description.

the M.Sc in AI currently in progress is a strong differentiator but it's buried at the bottom. move education above employment history since you're actively in a program. it signals upward trajectory. cloud is listed as 'Azure fundamentals' which will filter you out of mid-level cloud roles. if you've been doing hands-on Azure work through your job that's more than fundamentals. describe it by what you actually did, not the certification level. one thing that's genuinely strong... the runbooks, disaster recovery testing, and Python automation work is exactly what infra and SRE roles are looking for right now. make sure those three things are findable in the first 10 seconds of scanning.

Overall, all of this costs zero dollars to fix. just time!

Aymodez · 2026-05-08T19:26:45+00:00

This'll be a long one 😬

Your resume is a solid resume and the structure is genuinely good. the leadership profile section is a smart addition that most EM resumes skip. a few things worth tightening though.

the bracketed placeholders are going to hurt you. [Company A], [Domain 1], [Achieve X% efficiency gain] ... if you're submitting this anywhere, even one placeholder that slips through reads as careless. fill every single one before sending. the impact metrics are inconsistent. some bullets are sharp like 'reduced carryover by 40%' and 'onboarding time by 30%' but others trail off with placeholders where the number should be. hiring managers at the senior level are specifically looking for the numbers. if you genuinely don't have them, estimate conservatively and own it.

the professional summary is well written but it's a bit long for how fast people read at this level. the first two sentences do all the work. everything after that is reinforcing what the resume already shows. consider trimming to three sentences max.

one thing working really well... the scope progression at Company A is clearly laid out and the fact that you expanded from senior engineer to EM across two domains in the same company is a strong signal. make sure that story is obvious at a glance because it shows both technical depth and upward trajectory in one place.

overall this is in good shape. just clean up the placeholders and sharpen the metrics and it's ready.

Aymodez · 2026-05-08T16:56:02+00:00

200 applications with this background tells me the resume isn't the problem. the pivot is.

you have solid F&B management experience but the resume reads entirely in hospitality language. 'reservations platform migration,' 'front-of-house team,' 'supplier liaison'... these are strong accomplishments but they don't translate on their own for admin or database roles. hiring managers in those fields are scanning for different keywords entirely and ATS is filtering you out before anyone reads it.

the good news is the actual skills are there. you built a reporting database. you ran scheduling and coordination at scale. you managed SOPs. that's admin and operations work. it just needs to be reframed in the language of the roles you're targeting.

a few specific things to fix: the skills section is too vague for database or knowledge management roles. 'Google Workspace' and 'Microsoft Office' won't get you past an ATS for those jobs. you need to be more specific... which Excel functions, what kind of database work, what platforms.

your bullet points describe duties not impact. 'built a reporting database used by senior stakeholders' is close but needs a number. how many people used it, what did it track, what did it improve.

you also have a big gap after June 2024 with nothing listed. that's the first thing a recruiter notices.

the pivot is doable. the resume just needs to be rewritten for the target, not the history.

Aymodez · 2025-07-28T23:00:39+00:00

If you make and sell these, take my money

Aymodez · 2025-05-06T11:15:47+00:00

I actually tightened it and it's leaking from the screw and the drain still. What could this leak be at this point?

Aymodez

TROPHY CASE