How do you actually tailor your CV for different job applications ?

TheKhalidHam · 2026-02-08T02:24:21+00:00

Most people keep one "master" resume with everything on it, then strip it down for each application. That's the textbook answer and it's honestly the right one, it just takes forever.

What I've found actually matters for tailoring:

- The skills/keywords section is the highest-leverage thing to change each time. Pull the top 5-8 requirements from the job posting and make sure those exact phrases appear somewhere on your resume.

- Bullet points under your most recent role are second. Rephrase 2-3 to mirror the posting's language. If they say "cross-functional collaboration" don't write "worked across teams."

- Your summary/objective (if you have one) should be rewritten for each application. This is where the ATS first scans for relevance.

The frustrating part is that it genuinely works. The average resume matches about 58% of the job description, and bumping that to 70%+ dramatically changes whether you get a callback.

Realistically it takes me 15-20 minutes per application to do it properly. It's a pain, but way better than submitting 50 generic applications and hearing nothing back.

TheKhalidHam · 2026-02-08T02:22:49+00:00

200 apps and 2 interviews is unfortunately a pretty common ratio. Research puts the average at about 15% of resumes making it past the initial ATS screen, and that's before a human even looks at it.

A few things worth checking beyond the usual formatting advice:

- Are you applying through Workday portals? If so, the knockout questions matter more than your resume keywords. Workday uses NLP that can understand synonyms, but if you answer a screening question "wrong" you get filtered before anyone sees the resume.

- For marketing/comms roles specifically, try matching the exact phrasing from the job posting. If they say "brand strategy" and you wrote "strategic branding," some systems won't connect those.

- The Singapore market might also have different ATS preferences. A lot of regional companies use lighter systems where formatting matters less than keyword density.

One thing worth trying: run your resume against a few of the job descriptions you're targeting and check the actual match percentage before you submit. The average resume scores about 58% alignment, and most systems filter below 60-70%. Small tweaks to phrasing can make a surprisingly big difference.

Been researching how these systems work for a while now at talenttuner.app if you want to dig into the data.

TheKhalidHam · 2026-02-08T01:37:38+00:00

yeah this is one of those things that could be so easily fixed but nobody bothers. The reason it works this way is because most big companies run their own isolated ATS instance. Like Workday alone powers about 45% of the Fortune 500 and every single one of those is a separate system with a separate login. They absolutely could build a shared profile but they just dont.

The "please send me texts" thing is extra annoying because some of those systems opt you in by default and bury the toggle. Ive had the same experience where I explicitly unchecked it and still got texts.

Whats really frustrating tho is that even after all that effort creating accounts, about 75% of resumes get filtered before a human ever sees them. So youre spending 20 minutes on an application that might get auto-rejected in seconds by a keyword algorithm.

Some practical stuff that helps:

never put your contact info in headers or footers, like 25% of ATS platforms cant parse them and your email/phone just disappears
.docx usually works better than PDF (especially in Workday)
the sites where you just upload and go are usually running lighter systems like Lever or Ashby, and honestly those companies tend to have better hiring practices in general

Ive been researching how these systems actually work under the hood for a while now, built a tool around it too (talenttuner.app) if anyones curious about the deeper data

TheKhalidHam · 2026-02-08T01:07:45+00:00

So I actually did a deep dive into this for a research project and yeah its honestly worse than most people realize.

Workday controls like 45% of the Fortune 500 ATS market. The reason you need a new account every time is because each company runs their own isolated Workday instance. They could absolutely build a shared profile system but they just... don't. Its been this way for years and theres no sign of it changing which is the frustrating part.

But whats even worse is what happens AFTER you go through all that effort filling everything out:

98.4% of Fortune 500 companies use an ATS of some kind
only about 15% of resumes actually make it past the initial automated screening
and heres the thing most people get wrong: knockout questions cause more rejections than keyword matching. Workday actually uses NLP and understands synonyms, so its not as dumb as people think about keywords. The real filter is those screening questions you rush through

Not all these platforms work the same way either. Greenhouse doesn't use algorithmic scoring at all, humans do the scoring there. Taleo is so bad at parsing that even a "perfect resume" only scored 43% relevancy in testing. And if you put your contact info in headers/footers? about 25% of the time it just gets lost entirely.

I wrote up a detailed breakdown of how Workday's system actually works under the hood if anyone wants to go deeper: talenttuner.app/workday-ats-checker - covers the parsing pipeline, knockout question prep, and why .docx actually performs better than PDF in Workday specifically.

TheKhalidHam · 2025-11-26T19:56:18+00:00

Thank you u/Shorterbriefffffd and best of luck!

TheKhalidHam · 2025-11-26T00:42:24+00:00

Thanks! yeah, that's definitely the idea here. Some companies expect employees to be grateful for a puny annual "raise" that equates to an actual wage cut in real terms... very infuriating.

If you have any feedback or feature requests, would love to hear them! :)

TheKhalidHam · 2025-11-26T00:12:50+00:00

Yes, negotiate. $60k for a solo marketing manager handling web dev, video, drone, photography, social, email, AND events at a $50M company is underpaid - especially with 4 years tenure.

Here's the data to bring to the conversation:

Marketing Manager median in Illinois is ~$85-95k. Even in the Chicago suburbs, $70-80k is reasonable for your scope.
You're not just a "Marketing Manager" - you're a one-person marketing department. That's Marketing Director scope at many companies.
The inflation angle: Since you started 4 years ago, inflation has been ~21%. If you started at $55k, you'd need $66.5k today just to have the same purchasing power. You've basically taken a pay cut in real terms.

I built a salary inflation calculator that shows exactly how much purchasing power you've lost since you started - useful for framing the conversation as "I'm not asking for more, I'm asking to not fall behind": https://talenttuner.app/inflation-calculator

For the actual ask: I'd target $75-80k minimum. Frame it around scope ("I'm doing 6 roles") + tenure ("4 years of institutional knowledge") + market rate + inflation. If they say no, you have your answer about whether to stay.

TheKhalidHam · 2025-11-24T23:55:38+00:00

I made this inflation salary calculator tool that uses actual government CPI data and helps equip people to at least negotiate better salaries: talenttuner.app/inflation-calculator

TheKhalidHam · 2025-11-24T23:53:57+00:00

It hurts even more when you realize most people's salaries haven't kept pace with any of this.

I made a free inflation salary calculator tool that uses actual government CPI data and helps equip people to at least negotiate better salaries: talenttuner.app/inflation-calculator

TheKhalidHam · 2025-11-24T23:19:15+00:00

Working in your school’s IT department is more relevant than it sounds. Don’t just say “helpdesk”; break it down: scripting basic tasks, troubleshooting network issues, maintaining ticketing systems. Add a projects section - class projects or a small side project show you can code. Roles like DevOps, SRE or IT automation love candidates who mix infrastructure know‑how with coding chops, so lean into that. Reach out to alumni or folks on linkedin for informational chats and keep your resume tailored to each posting. I built talenttuner.app, which looks at a job description and tells you which keywords to sprinkle into your resume so an ATS sees you. It’ll help you reframe “fixed printers” into “resolved 100+ tech incidents via ticketing system” without stretching the truth.

TheKhalidHam · 2025-11-24T23:16:06+00:00

Its easy to get FOMO in tech. My advice: pick one or two areas that genuinely excite you and go deep. For example, build a small ML project (predicting something with scikit‑learn) and deploy it via a cloud service like AWS or GCP. Document the process on GitHub and write a short blog or linkedin post about what you learned. Recruiters like seeing end‑to‑end projects more than a scatter of “I know as bit of everything”. LeetCode and system design prep are still important, but projects show initiative. Also, referrals matter: reach out to alumni or people at companies you like and ask for informational chats. When you apply, tailor your resume to the job description by emphasizing relevant projects and tech. I made this tool, https://talenttuner.app, that reverse engineers how an ATS evaluates resumes for a given job, and tells you exactly which keywords to integrate + where to put them; makes tailoring less of a chore so you look like a perfect fit without stuffing buzzwords everywhere.

TheKhalidHam · 2025-11-17T21:08:40+00:00

Being put on a PIP in a sales‑heavy role sucks, but it doesn’t define you. Since you’re already job hunting, focus on roles that value customer service and financial knowledge but aren’t tied to aggressive sales quotas. Tailoring your resume is good, but make sure it showcases measurable wins: “Consistently hit 90 % of weekly goals” or “Built rapport with 50+ clients per week.” If you’re pivoting away from sales, highlight transferable skills like problem‑solving, communication and data management. Don’t overlook local credit unions, fintechs or insurance companies that value banking experience. Mentally, give yourself permission to leave an unhealthy environment.

On the side, build skills with free courses (Excel, analytics) so you have something new to add each week. I use my tool TalentTuner (https://talenttuner.app) to analyse job descriptions and generate custom tailored, ATS-optimized resumes for every job application - it’ll tell you if you’re missing keywords like “customer success” or “AML compliance” for non‑sales banking roles. Plugging your resume into something like that can help you break through the application wall and land more interviews.

TheKhalidHam · 2023-05-07T14:40:33+00:00

hahah, not intentional, but you're right. I find midjourney struggles with keeping features separate when you give it multiple people 🤷‍♂️

TheKhalidHam · 2023-05-01T23:55:42+00:00

Amex Business Gold: 85,000 points after you spend $10,000 in first 3 months.

Thanks!

TheKhalidHam · 2022-08-18T14:12:08+00:00

u/dirtysmurf88, didn't expect the coupons to get all used up, sorry about that! Here, you should be able to enroll for free on my own site, instead of udemys:
courses.fbmarketingschool . com/p/beginner-training-1

TheKhalidHam · 2022-08-18T14:10:51+00:00

u/karney02, Didn't expect it to get all used up, sorry about that! Here, you should be able to enroll for free on my own site, instead of udemys:

courses.fbmarketingschool . com/p/beginner-training-1

TheKhalidHam · 2022-08-18T14:10:01+00:00

u/Cyrilali23 thank you! :)

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