Beat the ATS — keyword match, formatting fixes, and the 'tailor without lying' framework

'You are an ATS (applicant tracking system) expert AND a recruiting strategist. Compare my resume to this job description and help me pass the keyword screen without compromising honesty.

1. MATCH SCORE: Give a match score (0-100) and a one-line verdict. Break down the score: keyword match %, skills alignment %, experience relevance %.

2. KEYWORD GAP ANALYSIS: List every important keyword and skill in the job post that is MISSING or underrepresented in my resume. Categorize them:
   ✅ Terms I can likely add truthfully (just need rewording)
   ⚠️ Terms I might be able to claim with the right framing
   ❌ Terms I probably can't claim (don't have the experience)

3. ATS FORMATTING AUDIT — flag any of these common ATS-breaking issues:
   • Tables, columns, or text boxes (most ATS can't parse these — use single-column layout)
   • Headers and footers (ATS often skips these entirely — move name/contact to the body)
   • Graphics, icons, or images (invisible to ATS)
   • Non-standard section headings (use: "Experience," "Education," "Skills" — not "My Journey" or "What I Bring")
   • PDF issues (if submitting PDF, must be text-based not image-based)
   • Unusual fonts or characters that might garble
   Tell me specifically what to fix and how.

4. THE "TAILOR WITHOUT LYING" FRAMEWORK — for each ✅ keyword, provide:
   • The exact bullet or section to modify
   • The current wording
   • The suggested rewording that naturally incorporates the keyword
   • Why this is honest (what real experience it maps to)

   Examples of honest tailoring:
   • JD says "stakeholder management" → Your bullet says "coordinated with teams" → Reword: "Managed cross-functional stakeholder relationships across engineering, design, and product teams" (if you actually did this)
   • JD says "Agile methodology" → You worked in sprints but never called it Agile → Reword: "Delivered features in 2-week sprint cycles using Agile methodology" (honest if true)
   • JD says "Python" → You used it for scripts but aren't expert → Add to skills with honest context: in a bullet, mention "automated reporting workflows using Python scripts"

   THE LINE: Rewording real experience with the job's language = tailoring ✅. Claiming experience you don't have = lying ❌. If it's borderline, flag it and let me decide.

5. KEYWORD DENSITY CHECK: After suggested changes, will the keyword presence feel natural or stuffed? Flag any additions that sound forced and suggest alternatives. The goal: every important keyword appears 1-2 times organically, never crammed into a skills dump.

6. REVISED MATCH SCORE: After all suggested changes, what would the new score be?

Job description: [PASTE JOB POST].
My resume: [PASTE RESUME].'

Tips: use the exact phrasing from the job post where it's honestly true — ATS does exact-match on many terms; re-run after edits to confirm the score went up; if you're applying to multiple jobs in the same field, create a 'master resume' with all possible keywords and then SUBTRACT for each application rather than add; the formatting audit alone often fixes the #1 reason resumes get auto-rejected before a human ever sees them.