Field Notes · Job search

Does your résumé fit this job?

A polished résumé is not automatically a good match for every role with a familiar title. The posting may require a particular licence, tool, location, or industry background. Compare those requirements with evidence you actually have before tailoring a document or spending an afternoon applying.

Start with requirements that can block an application

Read the full posting, not only the title or the short summary on a job board. Mark requirements described as required, must have, or mandatory. Separate them from “preferred” experience. A required credential you do not hold is different from a skill you have but have not yet mentioned on your résumé.

Requirements can be written loosely, and an employer may make exceptions. The point is to notice a hard gap early, not to let software make the final decision about your career.

Look for evidence, not keyword repetition

For each important responsibility, ask: where does your résumé show that work, its scale, and its result? A manager who led remote field teams may have useful evidence for an operations role even if the posting uses a different title. A résumé that merely repeats “stakeholder management” without an example does not make the case as clearly.

If the experience is real but absent from your focused résumé, bring it forward. If you have not done the work, do not add the term just to improve a match score. Aptly's suggestions should help identify wording gaps, never invent credentials.

Decide whether to apply, watch, or pass

• Apply: the main requirements are supported by your experience, and you can tailor a few concrete examples to the posting.
• Watch or investigate: the posting is unclear about a credential, location, pay, or a requirement you might meet through equivalent experience. Check the employer's full page or ask a recruiter if practical.
• Pass: a genuine mandatory licence or domain requirement is missing, or the role is materially outside what you want. Save the time for a better fit.

This is especially useful when you are applying across different career levels or seeking immediate-income work alongside a longer career search. The same master history can support a focused résumé for each goal without listing every role in every application.

How Aptly can help

Load your résumé, paste the full posting into Job Match, and review the strengths, gaps, and recommendation. Aptly's AI match asks the model to weigh required credentials and specific domain experience heavily. It can also surface relevant experience from your archive when available. The analysis depends on the posting text and résumé you provide; an omitted requirement or a mistaken model interpretation can change its result.

The percentage is a guide to review, not a hiring probability. Read the named gaps before acting. If a credential appears missing, verify whether you truly lack it or simply left it off a focused résumé. If a posting has no salary, Aptly should not invent one. For more on the base document, see what the résumé score measures.

AI matching sends the résumé and posting text needed for analysis to a model provider. Aptly keeps your saved board and résumé in your browser; see how optional AI processing works.