Why tailoring matters
Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both compare your resume with one specific job. A general resume makes them do the work of finding the match. A tailored one makes the match obvious in the first few lines.
1. Read the job post twice
On the first read, understand the role. On the second, mark the requirements: the job title, the must-have skills and tools, the level of experience and the results the team cares about. Anything the post mentions more than once is usually important.
2. Match your title line and summary
If your experience fits, use the job post's title, or the closest honest version of it, in the title line under your name. Then rewrite your summary in two or three lines that connect your background to what this role needs.
3. Lead with your most relevant experience
Within each role, move the bullets that match the job to the top. Your most recent role deserves the most detail, because it is the one recruiters read most closely.
4. Add missing keywords where they are true
Compare the requirements you marked with your resume. If you have a skill but never wrote it down, add it to a bullet that shows you using it, or to your skills section. If you don't have it, leave it out.
5. Show results, not duties
Rewrite bullets so they start with a strong verb and end with an outcome. "Responsible for onboarding" says what you were assigned. "Redesigned onboarding, cutting first-week drop-off by 18%" says what you achieved. If you don't know the exact number, estimate honestly or describe the scale, such as the number of users or the size of the team.
6. Cut what doesn't serve this job
Older or unrelated roles can shrink to a line or two. Keep bullets short enough to fit on one line where you can, and keep the whole resume to one or two pages.
7. Save a version for each job
Name each file for the company and role so you always know which version you sent, and keep a copy of the job post with it.