Why the first pass should not rewrite anything
A hiring manager skims. If the top of the résumé could belong to three different jobs, a polished rewrite hides that problem instead of fixing it. The useful first question is what a stranger thinks the target role is, and which bullets are only tasks or buzzwords.
The guide’s fictional before-and-after starts from “Responsible for creating reports for the team.” The revised line names the tool, who used the report, and what it replaced, and only because those facts were already written down. The prompt below is how you get that diagnosis on your own draft.
The copy-ready prompt
Replace the bracketed lines with your target title and your résumé text. Leave the rules in place.
Review my résumé for the target role below. Do NOT rewrite it yet. Diagnose only. TARGET ROLE: [TITLE] MY RÉSUMÉ: [PASTE TEXT] DO THIS: 1. In 6 seconds of skimming, what does a reader think my target role is? Is that the role I want? 2. Flag each bullet as STRONG (action + scope + result), OK, or WEAK (task-only, vague, or buzzword). Show the first 8 words of each weak bullet. 3. List claims that are unsupported or unclear and would make a hiring manager ask "how do you know?" 4. List formatting issues likely to hurt readability or text extraction (columns, text boxes, icons, tables). Say "some systems" not "all systems". 5. Give me a prioritized fix list: top 5 changes, most impact first. OUTPUT: sections 1-5 with headers. No rewritten bullets. RULES: Use only facts I give you. Label claims FACT (from my input), ASSUMPTION (your inference), or QUESTION. Never invent employers, titles, numbers, dates, tools, or credentials. If you cannot browse the web, say so and do not present anything as current or verified. If missing information would change your answer, ask up to 3 short questions first. No motivational filler.
Then ask
Rank your top five fixes by effort (minutes) versus impact. Then tell me which fix I should do first if I only have 20 minutes today.
How to read the reply
- FACT means it came from text you pasted. Keep it.
- ASSUMPTION means the assistant inferred it. Delete it unless you can prove it.
- QUESTION means a missing detail would change the bullet. Answer it before you rewrite.
If the assistant rewrites bullets anyway, send the follow-up and tell it to undo any line that is not labeled FACT.
The prompt page in the toolkit. The full library has 30 prompts in this format.
What you still do yourself
You choose the target role, you supply the facts, and you decide what is true enough to send. The prompt does not apply to jobs for you, and it does not promise interviews. Assistants differ, and a later model may ignore an instruction. Read the reply before you paste anything into an application.
Questions
Should the assistant rewrite the résumé in the first reply?
No. The first pass is a diagnosis. A rewrite before the weak bullets are named tends to invent scope, tools, and results.
Can this prompt add a job title or a metric I did not write?
No. It may use only the text you paste. Anything it infers has to be labeled an assumption, and it may not invent employers, titles, numbers, dates, tools, or credentials.
Is this the full toolkit?
No. This is Prompt 4 of 30 in The AI Job Hunt Cheat Code. The paid toolkit also includes the other prompts, outreach scripts, an interview workbook, a 30-day plan, and an Excel tracker.