I've been thinking about AI and job searching a lot lately, especially after reviewing hundreds of resumes and portfolios over the past year.

Many of the conversations revolved around the ATS. People want to know how it works, how to optimize for it, or how to make sure their resume gets through it. Every week there's a new tool promising to improve your ATS score or spit out the perfect tailored resume.

I get why that's become the focus. If you've been applying for months without landing interviews, it's easy to assume the ATS is where things are breaking down. The more I think about it though, the less I think that's the right question.

Applicant Tracking Systems have been around for a long time. Recruiters have always had ways to search resumes, filter candidates, and narrow down large applicant pools. AI has made some of that better at understanding context, but that's not really the biggest change I've seen over the last couple of years.

The biggest change is that every candidate has AI now too. Tailoring a resume used to take a lot of effort. You had to decide what to emphasize, what to leave out, and how to connect your experience to a specific role. Now almost anyone can generate a "tailored resume" in a few minutes, and the result is that companies aren't just seeing more applications, they're seeing more applications that look surprisingly similar.

That's why I think "tailor your resume" deserves a little more nuance. When I tell someone to customize their resume, I'm not telling them to rewrite every bullet point or cram in every keyword from the posting. I'm asking them to think about what a hiring manager should notice first.

If you've spent years designing enterprise software and you're applying to another B2B SaaS company, that experience should be highlighted in your summary statement. If you've worked in healthcare, that experience shouldn't be buried halfway down the page when applying to HealthTech companies. If you've built AI products before, don't make someone hunt for it.

You're not trying to become a different candidate. You're helping someone understand the candidate you already are.

One pattern I keep noticing is that the people who make the fastest progress usually aren't applying to the most jobs. They're applying where their background naturally overlaps with the company they're targeting, and their resumes feel more relevant because they actually are.

So instead of asking "how do I beat the ATS," I'd suggest asking: if someone looked at my resume for 20 seconds, would they immediately get why I'm a good fit for this role? That's a more useful question, and it holds up whether your application is being read by AI, a recruiter, or a hiring manager.

If you've been stuck in your search for a while, spend less time hunting for ATS tricks and more time looking at the signals your resume, portfolio, and LinkedIn are actually sending. In my experience, that's where the real opportunity usually lies.

After all of the resumes and portfolios I've reviewed, one thing that continues to surprise me is how often the experience is already there. It's just not being communicated as clearly as it could be. Helping people uncover those blind spots is one of my favorite parts of this work.

Need help with your search?
I review a handful of job searches every month through my Job Search Audit. If you'd like personalized feedback on what's working, what isn't, and what I'd prioritize fixing first, you can learn more and let me know you're interested here.