--- name: resume-job-hunter description: Run a job search like a campaign - ATS-proof resume, tailored variants, portfolio proof, outreach that gets replies, interview prep and negotiation, all without inventing experience. version: 1.0.0 license: MIT tags: [career, resume, ats, interview, job-search, negotiation] --- # Resume & Job Hunter Volume does not get jobs. Specificity does. This skill builds one strong narrative and aims it precisely. ## When to use this skill - Applying for a role and getting no callbacks. - Switching domain, level or country. - Preparing for interviews and negotiating an offer. - Reviewing a resume for someone else. **Honesty rule:** never invent a title, employer, date, degree, certification or metric. Improve the framing of true work; do not manufacture work. Fabrication fails at reference check and is career-ending. ## Stage 1 - Target definition Before touching the resume, define: 1. **Role title** exactly as the market names it (not your internal title). 2. **Seniority** - the level you can defend in an interview, not the one you want. 3. **3 target companies** and 10 more like them. 4. **The one sentence** that makes you interesting for that role: domain + skill + proof. 5. **Constraints** - location, remote, visa, notice period, salary floor. Write them down; they end up in negotiation. Applying to 5 well-matched roles beats 100 generic ones, and the data has said so for a decade. ## Stage 2 - ATS-proof resume structure - **One page** under 8 years of experience, two pages maximum after. - Format: `.docx` or a text-based PDF. No tables for layout, no columns, no text boxes, no headers/footers, no images, no icons. - Contact line: name, city, phone, email, LinkedIn, portfolio. No photo, no date of birth, no marital status, no full address. - Sections in order: Summary (2 lines, optional) → Skills → Experience → Projects → Education → Certifications. - Dates right-aligned as `MM/YYYY – MM/YYYY`. Gaps: one line of explanation if over 6 months, none if under. - File name: `Firstname-Lastname-Role.pdf`. ## Stage 3 - Bullets that survive screening Format: **Action verb + what + how + measurable result**. > Weak: "Responsible for improving the checkout page." > Strong: "Rebuilt checkout in React, cutting step count from 5 to 3 and lifting completion 12% over one quarter." Rules: - Start with a verb: built, led, reduced, migrated, automated, negotiated. Never "responsible for" or "worked on". - One metric per bullet where it truthfully exists: %, ₹, time, count, users, latency. - 3-5 bullets for the current role, 2-3 for older ones. Most recent gets the most space. - Mirror the job description's vocabulary for skills you genuinely have (ATS matches keywords literally; "JS" does not match "JavaScript"). - No adjectives about yourself ("hardworking", "passionate"). Show it. ## Stage 4 - Tailoring per application For each application, change exactly four things: the summary line, the skills order, 2-3 bullets to emphasise the matching work, and the file name. Twenty minutes per application, not two. Keep a `master.md` with every true achievement and its metrics. Cut from it per role; never rewrite from scratch. ## Stage 5 - Portfolio proof The resume says it; the portfolio proves it. For each target role, one artefact: - Engineer: a deployed project with a README that states the problem, the approach, the trade-offs and the result. - Designer: 3 case studies in problem → process → decision → outcome form, not a gallery of screenshots. - Marketer: one campaign with numbers, one writing sample, one teardown. - Analyst: one dashboard or notebook with a clear question and a defensible answer. Live link > screenshots > claims. Never link a dead URL; check every link a week before applying. ## Stage 6 - Outreach that gets replies - Find a person, not a portal: the hiring manager or a team member, not `careers@`. - 90 words maximum: who you are (one line), a specific reason for *their* company (one line, must be un-fakeable), the proof (one line with a link), the ask (a 15-minute call, or "is this the right person?"). - No attachments on first contact. No "I am passionate about". - Follow up once after 4 working days, then stop. - Track: company, contact, date, channel, status, next action. A spreadsheet beats memory. ## Stage 7 - Interview prep 1. **The 6 stories.** Prepare STAR stories that cover: a hard technical decision, a conflict, a failure and the lesson, a delivered result with a number, leading without authority, and learning something fast. These cover 80% of behavioural questions. 2. **Company research** - product, business model, recent news, the team's public work. Two specific observations you can offer. 3. **Role-specific drills** - 10 problems in your domain, out loud, timed. 4. **Questions to ask** - about the team's biggest constraint, how success is measured in 90 days, and what happened to the last person in this role. 5. **Mock once with a person**, recorded if possible. Watching yourself is unpleasant and effective. ## Stage 8 - Negotiation - Never give the first number if you can avoid it; if forced, give a researched range with the floor at your true floor. - Research: levels.fyi, Glassdoor, peer conversations. In India, also check the band the role is posted at and the city differential. - Negotiate the whole package: base, variable, equity, joining bonus, notice-period buyout, remote days, learning budget, title, review date. - Script: enthusiasm → the ask → the reason (market data, scope) → silence. Do not fill the silence. - Get the final offer in writing before resigning. Always. ## Quality checklist - [ ] One page, text-based, no tables or columns - [ ] Every bullet has a verb and, where true, a number - [ ] Keywords mirror the job description honestly - [ ] Four things tailored per application - [ ] Portfolio link live and relevant - [ ] Outreach under 90 words, one follow-up - [ ] Six STAR stories rehearsed - [ ] Salary range researched, offer in writing - [ ] Nothing on the resume that cannot be defended ## Copy-ready agent prompt > Read the skill at the URL above. I will give you my current resume and a target job description. Rewrite it to the Stage 2 structure, convert every bullet to the Stage 3 format using only facts I give you - ask me for the missing metrics instead of inventing them - and produce the tailored version plus a 90-word outreach message and the six STAR stories you would expect to be asked. Flag every claim you cannot verify.