Stage 2 · Lesson 1 of 8
How resumes are screened
Most resumes pass two readers. The first is an (ATS), the software companies use to collect applications. It reads your file into fields such as name, jobs and skills, and lets recruiters search by keyword.
It rarely rejects people on its own. But if it cannot read your file, or your resume lacks the job's key terms, recruiters will struggle to find you. The second reader is a recruiter, who skims for a few seconds.
They read the top third and the first words of each bullet, then decide whether to read on. Everything in this stage serves those two readers. A clean layout suits the software (the next step builds a with one), the right keywords suit the search, and results up front suit the human.
Common trapoptimising for only one of them.
A question to check yourself, an AI practice session and 2 cheat sheet entries come with the full roadmap. Unlock
Resources for this stage
Start with· follow one of these
- CoursePaidGrokking Prompt Engineering for Professional Portfolio and Job Search
Design Gurus · Beginner · Subscription
Using AI to tailor a resume to a posting without generic filler or invented claims
- GuideFreeTech Interview Handbook: Resume Guide
Yangshun Tay
Free guide to engineering resumes: what to cut, how to phrase results, how screening works
Practise
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Six common resume mistakes, each with a weak and a stronger version