/resume-cover-letter

name: resume-cover-letter
description: "Write a resume / CV or cover letter tailored to a specific role. Handles regional format differences (AU/NZ, US, UK), ATS-friendly formatting, achievement-focused bullets, and cover letter structure. Use whenever the user mentions a job application, resume, CV, cover letter, career document, applying for a role, or needs help framing their experience for a specific job."

Resume and Cover Letter Writer

Produces job application documents: a resume/CV, a cover letter, or both. Every output is tailored to a specific role at a specific company — generic documents are not useful.

Before You Start

Gather these inputs. Ask for anything missing:

1. **Target role** — job title, company name, and the job listing or description (paste or URL) 2. **Mode** — "resume", "cover-letter", or "both" 3. **Region** — AU/NZ, US, or UK (affects format, terminology, length expectations) 4. **Candidate background** — current role, years of experience, key skills, education, career highlights 5. **Special circumstances** (if any) — career change, employment gap, overqualified, underqualified, visa/relocation

If the user provides a job listing, extract the key requirements and tailor everything to match them. Mirror the language the listing uses for skills and responsibilities.

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Resume / CV

Regional Format Differences

| Element | AU/NZ | US | UK | |---------|-------|----|----| | Name | CV or resume (both accepted) | Resume | CV | | Length | 2-3 pages standard | 1 page (<10 years exp), 2 max | 2 pages standard | | Photo | No | No | No | | Date of birth / age | No | No | No | | Nationality / visa | Include if relevant (common in AU/NZ) | No (discrimination risk) | Include visa status if applicable | | Referees | "Available on request" is outdated — omit entirely, or list 2 if specifically requested | Omit | Omit | | Address | City/state only (no street) | City/state only | City only |

Section Order

Adjust based on seniority and what sells the candidate best:

**Entry-level / graduate (0-3 years):** 1. Contact details 2. Professional summary (3-4 lines) 3. Education 4. Experience (internships, part-time, volunteer) 5. Skills 6. Certifications / projects

**Mid-career (3-10 years):** 1. Contact details 2. Professional summary 3. Experience 4. Skills 5. Education 6. Certifications

**Senior / executive (10+ years):** 1. Contact details 2. Executive summary 3. Key achievements (optional highlight section) 4. Experience 5. Board / advisory roles (if applicable) 6. Education 7. Professional memberships

Writing Achievement Bullets

Use CAR format: **Challenge** (context/problem), **Action** (what you did), **Result** (measurable outcome).

Every bullet should answer: "So what? What changed because of this?"

**Too generic:** > Managed social media accounts and created content for the company.

**Right approach (CAR):** > Rebuilt the social media strategy for a stagnant B2B account (Challenge), shifting from product-focused posts to customer case studies with a consistent weekly publishing schedule (Action), growing LinkedIn engagement 340% and generating 12 qualified leads in the first quarter (Result).

Not every bullet needs hard numbers, but aim for at least 60% of bullets to include a measurable result. Acceptable result types:

• Percentages (increased, reduced, improved by X%)
• Dollar amounts (managed $X budget, saved $X, generated $X revenue)
• Volume/scale (team of X, X users, X transactions per day)
• Time (reduced from X weeks to Y days, delivered 2 weeks ahead of schedule)
• Rankings/ratings (achieved #1, rated 4.8/5, top 10%)

When the user does not have specific numbers, ask if they can estimate. If not, use qualitative results: "significantly reduced", "consistently exceeded targets", "recognised by leadership for".

Action Verbs

Choose verbs that match the type of contribution:

| Category | Verbs | |----------|-------| | Leadership | Led, directed, managed, oversaw, mentored, championed, established | | Creation | Developed, designed, built, launched, created, implemented, introduced | | Improvement | Increased, improved, streamlined, optimised, reduced, enhanced, modernised | | Analysis | Analysed, evaluated, assessed, identified, researched, investigated | | Communication | Presented, negotiated, facilitated, coordinated, advised, authored | | Technical | Engineered, automated, configured, deployed, integrated, migrated, architected |

Avoid weak openers: "Responsible for", "Helped with", "Assisted in", "Involved in", "Participated in". These describe proximity, not contribution.

ATS-Friendly Formatting

Applicant Tracking Systems parse resumes before humans see them. Follow these rules:

• Use standard section headings: "Experience", "Education", "Skills" — not creative alternatives like "Where I've Made an Impact"
• No tables, columns, or text boxes — ATS reads left-to-right, top-to-bottom
• No headers or footers — ATS often ignores these entirely
• No images, icons, or graphics
• Use standard fonts (Calibri, Arial, Garamond, Georgia)
• File format: PDF unless the listing specifically requests .docx
• Include keywords from the job listing naturally in context — not keyword-stuffed in a hidden block
• Spell out acronyms on first use, then abbreviate: "Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)"

What to Omit

• "References available upon request" — assumed and wastes space
• Objective statements — replaced by professional summaries years ago
• Every job since high school — include only relevant roles (last 10-15 years)
• High school education (if you have a degree)
• Hobbies/interests — unless directly relevant to the role or culture
• Salary expectations — never on the resume itself
• Reasons for leaving previous roles

Professional Summary

3-4 lines at the top. Not a personality description — a positioning statement.

**Too vague:** > Motivated professional with strong communication skills and a passion for tech