resume-tailor

Resume Tailor

Multi-stage skill that transforms a resume into an ATS-optimized document tailored to a specific job description. Supports EN/US and RU/CIS locales. Replaces generic AI resume services with job-specific, strategic tailoring.

Reference Files

Read these files at the appropriate stage — they contain rules, conventions, and templates:

• references/ats-rules.md — ATS formatting rules, keyword strategy, scoring formula, anti-patterns
• references/locale-en.md — English/US resume conventions
• references/locale-ru.md — Russian/CIS resume conventions
• references/section-templates.md — Section templates with slot markers for both locales
• references/html-template-en.html — EN HTML template for weasyprint PDF (no photo, centered header, 170px skills grid)
• references/html-template-ru.html — RU HTML template for weasyprint PDF (photo, flexbox header, 135px/8.5pt skills grid)

Master Profile

Location: docs/resume/master-profile.md

The master profile is a comprehensive data store of the user's career — every role, metric, skill, and transition context. It is NOT a formatted resume. The skill tailors FROM the master profile for each job application.

• If master profile exists: use it as the primary source
• If it doesn't exist: build it from the provided resume on first run
• After each tailoring session: offer to update it with any new information

Master profile structure:

# Master Profile
## Contact (name, email, phone, LinkedIn, location)
## Career Narrative (raw, unformatted — the full story)
## Visibility Schema (enum definitions and known variants)
## Roles (each with: Visibility, Variants, company context, title, dates, team size/structure, responsibilities, achievements with metrics, technologies)
## Education (with Visibility)
## Certifications
## Skills Inventory (comprehensive, not pre-filtered)
## Languages
## Notes (gaps, side projects, consulting arrangements, etc.)

Visibility System

The master profile may include a Visibility field on each role and section. If the master profile has no Visibility fields, treat all roles as always.

Value	Meaning	Behavior
always	Include in all resume variants	Always consider for inclusion
variant-specific	Only in variants listed in Variants field	Include only if target variant matches or user explicitly requests
on-request	Never include unless user explicitly asks	Skip by default
reference-only	Alias/metadata, not content	Never include in any output

Variants are defined in the master profile's Visibility Schema section. Read them from there — do not hardcode.

Visibility Resolution Rules

1. Determine target variant. Infer from user's request, JD domain, or ask if ambiguous. User may also specify constraints like "without variant X" — treat as explicit variant exclusion.
2. Filter roles:
   • always → include
   • variant-specific → include only if target variant is in Variants list AND not explicitly excluded by user
   • on-request → skip unless user explicitly names the role or asks for a full/comprehensive resume
   • reference-only → never include
3. Education, Certifications, Languages — respect their Visibility the same way.
4. User overrides win. If user explicitly asks to include an on-request role — include it. If user excludes a variant — drop all roles where that variant is the only match.

---

Workflow

STAGE 0: Resolve Inputs
    |
STAGE 1: Intake & Analysis (subagent)
    |
STAGE 1.5: Resume Feedback (presented to user)
    |
STAGE 2: Strategic Questions (AskUserQuestion)
    |
STAGE 3: ATS Optimization & Tailoring
    |
STAGE 4: Draft Generation (.md)
    |
STAGE 5: Review & Iteration
    |
STAGE 6: Final Output (.docx + optional cover letter)

---

STAGE 0: Resolve Inputs

Resume Input

IF arguments contain a file path (PDF/MD/TXT):
  Read the file
ELIF docs/resume/master-profile.md exists:
  Read it. Confirm with user: "Using your master profile as the base. Correct?"
ELSE:
  Ask: "Please provide your resume — paste text, give a file path, or attach a PDF."

Job Description Input

IF arguments contain a URL (https://...):
  WebFetch the URL
  Extract: title, company, requirements, responsibilities, qualifications
  If fetch returns insufficient content: ask user to paste the JD text instead
ELIF arguments contain pasted text:
  Parse directly
ELSE:
  Ask: "Provide the target job description — paste the text or give me a URL."

First-Run: Master Profile Creation

If no master profile exists and a resume was provided, build the master profile:

1. Parse the resume into the master profile structure (see above)
2. Save to docs/resume/master-profile.md
3. Inform user: "Created your master profile at docs/resume/master-profile.md. This will be your base for all future tailoring."

---

STAGE 1: Intake & Analysis

Use a subagent for this stage to protect the main context from heavy parsing.

The subagent receives:

• Raw resume/master profile text
• Raw job description text

The subagent must extract and return:

From Resume

• List of roles: title, company, dates, key achievements (with metrics), technologies
• Skills inventory
• Education and certifications
• Career narrative arc (how roles connect)

From Job Description

• Company name and context
• Target role title and seniority level
• Required skills (must-have)
• Preferred skills (nice-to-have)
• Key responsibilities
• Domain/industry
• Implicit requirements (read between the lines)

Gap Analysis

• Strong matches: Resume skills/experience that directly map to JD requirements
• Partial matches: Related experience that can be reframed
• Gaps: JD requirements not covered by resume
• Differentiators: Resume strengths beyond JD requirements (potential value-adds)
• Red flags: Date overlaps, unexplained gaps, title inconsistencies

---

STAGE 1.5: Resume Feedback

Present the analysis results to the user before asking strategic questions. This gives the user context for their answers and surfaces issues that may need discussion.

Format

Present a structured feedback report:

## Resume Analysis for [JD Target Role] at [Company]

### Strengths (what works well for this role)
- [Strength 1 — specific, tied to JD requirement]
- [Strength 2]
- [Strength 3]

### Issues to Address
- [Issue 1 — specific problem with actionable suggestion]
- [Issue 2]

### Gap Analysis vs Job Description
| JD Requirement | Your Coverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| [Required skill/experience] | [Where it appears in resume or "Not found"] | Match / Partial / Gap |

### Red Flags (if any)
- [Date overlaps, unexplained gaps, title inconsistencies — only if present]

### Recommendations
- [Concrete suggestion 1 — e.g., "Your Role X metrics (30% cost reduction) directly map to their 'cost optimization' requirement — should be prominent"]
- [Concrete suggestion 2 — e.g., "Adjacent domain experience at Company Y is a differentiator, not a distraction — reframe as 'distributed systems in adversarial environments'"]

Rules for Feedback

• Be specific, not generic. "Your skills section is too broad" is useless. "CRM and Transformers are noise for this JD — cut them, add Kafka and ArgoCD which the JD requires" is actionable.
• Tie every observation to the JD. Generic resume advice belongs in references/ats-rules.md, not in per-job feedback.
• Flag only real issues. If dates are clean and structure is fine, don't invent problems. No filler critique.
• Distinguish structural issues from content issues. Two-column layout is a structural issue (always fix). Missing a specific keyword is a content issue (fix for this JD only).
• Include the match/gap table. This is the most actionable artifact — the user sees exactly what's covered and what's not.

Excluded Roles Report

After the main feedback, present a separate block listing every role and section excluded from this resume and why:

### Excluded from This Resume
| Role / Section | Visibility | Reason Excluded |
|---|---|---|
| [Role name] | variant-specific | Variant "X" does not match target variant "Y" |
| [Role name] | variant-specific | Variant "X" explicitly excluded by user |
| [Role name] | on-request | Not explicitly requested |
| [Section name] | on-request | Not explicitly requested |

Rules for this report:

• List ALL excluded roles, not just some. The user must see the full picture.
• State the exact reason: visibility value, variant mismatch, user exclusion, etc.
• If a role is excluded because the user said "without X" — cite the user's constraint verbatim.
• always roles are never listed here (they're always included).
• reference-only entries are never listed here (they're metadata, not roles).
• If the master profile has no Visibility fields, skip this report entirely.

After Presenting Feedback

Say: "This is my analysis of your resume against this specific JD. Above is the list of roles I'm excluding and why. If you want to include or exclude anything differently, let me know. Now let me ask a few strategic questions before I start."

Then proceed to Stage 2.

---

STAGE 2: Strategic Questions

Ask 3-5 questions via AskUserQuestion. Adapt based on what the analysis reveals.

Always Ask

Q1: Locale

"Target locale for this resume?"
Options:
  - English/US (no photo, no DOB, experience before education, 1-2 pages)
  - Russian/CIS (photo, DOB, education before experience, 2-3 pages)

Q2: Positioning

"Based on this JD, I see [brief JD summary]. How should I position you?"
Options:
  - Technical depth (hands-on architecture, system design, specific tech expertise)
  - Leadership breadth (team scaling, org design, strategy, stakeholder management)
  - Balanced (let me decide based on JD emphasis)

Q3: Emphasis

"Your strongest matches for this role are: [top 3-4 from gap analysis].
 Gaps I identified: [top 2-3].
 Which roles or achievements should I highlight most? Anything to de-emphasize?"
Options:
  - Use my recommendations as-is
  - [User provides specific guidance]

Conditional Questions

Q4: Date Overlaps (only if detected in analysis)

"I see overlapping dates: [Role A: dates] and [Role B: dates]. How should I present this?"
Options:
  - Concurrent roles (consulting + employment)
  - Transition period (brief overlap during handoff)
  - Part-time / advisory capacity
  - [User explains]

Q5: Domain Scope (only if resume contains domains not in JD)

"Your resume includes [domain X] experience. The JD focuses on [domain Y]. How should I handle it?"
Options:
  - Keep with reduced detail (shows breadth)
  - Reframe to highlight transferable skills
  - Minimize (focus entirely on target domain)

Q6: Cover Letter

"Should I generate a cover letter for this application?"
Options:
  - Yes
  - No, resume only

Assemble Tailoring Strategy

After all questions: compile a tailoring strategy document (internal, not saved) capturing:

• Locale choice and its implications
• Positioning direction
• Which roles/achievements to feature
• How to handle gaps and overlaps
• Cover letter decision

---

STAGE 3: ATS Optimization & Tailoring

Read the appropriate reference files:

• references/ats-rules.md (always)
• references/locale-en.md OR references/locale-ru.md (based on Q1)
• references/section-templates.md (always)

3.1 Executive Summary

Write specifically for THIS role using the template from section-templates.md.

• Mention the target role title (or close variant)
• Include 1-2 headline metrics from resume that match JD priorities
• Forward-looking statement tied to the target company/role
• ANTI-PATTERN CHECK: Does it start with "Seasoned/Dynamic/Results-driven"? If yes, REWRITE.

3.2 Core Skills Section

• Create 3-5 functional categories
• Prioritize categories by JD relevance (most relevant first)
• Each JD required skill must appear here
• Remove skills irrelevant to this role (keep in master profile, not in tailored version)
• Use pipe-delimited format within categories

3.3 Professional Experience

• Recent 2-3 roles: Full detail using the full-detail template
  • Company context line (what they do, size, domain)
  • Scope statement (team size, budget, mandate)
  • 3-5 achievement bullets with metrics using the achievement formula
• Older roles: Condensed using the condensed template
  • 1-2 most JD-relevant achievements only
  • Do NOT eliminate entirely — condense
• Date overlaps: Present as decided in Q4
• Metrics: Every bullet must have a number. Tie each metric to business context.

3.4 Keyword Integration

• For each JD required skill: ensure it appears in at least 2 places:
  1. Core Skills section
  2. An achievement bullet in Professional Experience
• Use semantic variants (not exact repetition) across mentions
• Cap at 3 appearances per keyword (no stuffing)

3.5 Education & Certifications

• Check master profile — education may be omitted per user preference
• If included: apply locale-appropriate ordering (EN: after experience; RU: before experience)
• Certifications relevant to the role should be prominent

3.6 Locale-Specific Adjustments

• EN: Strip photo, DOB, marital status. City + state only. LinkedIn URL.
• RU: Include photo placeholder note, DOB, full city. Languages section mandatory.
• Length check: EN max 2 pages (~800 words), RU max 3 pages (~1200 words)

---

STAGE 4: Draft Generation

Save Draft

Save to: docs/resume/draft-[company-slug]-[YYYY-MM-DD].md

The draft file contains:

1. The full tailored resume in markdown
2. A sentinel marker: <!-- ATS-ANALYSIS-START -->
3. ATS Analysis section (for review only, stripped before final output):

<!-- ATS-ANALYSIS-START -->

## ATS Analysis (review only — not included in final document)

### Estimated ATS Score: [XX]%

### Keyword Coverage
| JD Requirement | Found In | Section |
|---|---|---|
| [skill/requirement] | Yes/No | [where it appears] |

### Scoring Breakdown
- Required skills coverage: X/Y (Z%)
- Nice-to-have coverage: X/Y (Z%)
- Achievement quantification rate: Z%
- Section completeness: Z%
- Keyword distribution: Z%

### Gaps Remaining
- [requirement not addressed and why]

### Tailoring Decisions Applied
- Locale: [choice]
- Positioning: [choice]
- Emphasized: [what]
- De-emphasized: [what]
- Cover letter: [yes/no]

Present to User

"Here is your tailored resume draft. The ATS analysis section at the bottom shows keyword coverage and scoring — it will not appear in the final document. Please review and let me know what to adjust."

---

STAGE 5: Review & Iteration

LOOP:
  Wait for user feedback
  IF "approved" / "looks good" / "finalize" / "done":
    Proceed to Stage 6
  ELSE:
    Apply requested changes to the draft
    Re-calculate ATS score
    Update the draft file
    Present updated version with changes highlighted

---

STAGE 6: Final Output

6.1 Prepare Clean Markdown

Strip the ATS Analysis section (everything after the <!-- ATS-ANALYSIS-START --> marker).

6.2 Generate PDF via HTML + weasyprint

Why not pandoc? Pandoc with xelatex ignores CSS styling and renders photos at full page size. Pandoc with wkhtmltopdf requires a separate binary. weasyprint renders HTML+CSS faithfully — photo sizing, flexbox layout, colors, fonts all work correctly.

Step 1: Create styled HTML

Save to docs/resume/resume-[slug].html. Use the appropriate HTML template as a starting point:

• EN locale: references/html-template-en.html (centered header, no photo, 170px skills grid, 9pt skills)
• RU locale: references/html-template-ru.html (flexbox header with photo, 135px skills grid, 8.5pt skills)

Replace [SLOT_MARKERS] with actual content. Key design rules:

• break-inside: avoid on .role and .condensed prevents page-split mid-role
• RU skills: keep category labels short to prevent wrapping (e.g. "Лидерство" not "Техническое лидерство")
• Photo: docs/resume/photo.jpeg (90x90px, border-radius 6px)

Step 2: Convert HTML to PDF

cd docs/resume && DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH="$(brew --prefix)/lib" uv run weasyprint resume-[slug].html [Name]-[TargetRole].pdf

Requires weasyprint (already in project deps via uv add weasyprint). System deps (glib, pango, cairo) are installed via brew. DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH is needed on macOS for weasyprint to find gobject.

Target page counts:

• EN locale: 2 pages max
• RU locale: 3 pages max
• If 4th page has only languages section — tighten line-height, margins, font sizes until it fits

6.3 Cover Letter (if requested)

Generate using the cover letter template from references/section-templates.md:

• Save HTML: docs/resume/cover-letter-[slug]-[date].html
• Locale-appropriate tone and structure
• Convert to PDF with same weasyprint command

6.4 Report

List all generated files:

Generated files:
- Resume (markdown draft): docs/resume/draft-[slug]-[date].md
- Resume (HTML source):    docs/resume/resume-[slug].html
- Resume (PDF):            docs/resume/[Name]-[TargetRole].pdf
- Cover letter (HTML):     docs/resume/cover-letter-[slug]-[date].html  [if applicable]
- Cover letter (PDF):      docs/resume/cover-letter-[slug]-[date].pdf   [if applicable]

6.5 Master Profile Update

"Would you like me to update your master profile with any new information from this session?"

---

Pre-Output Verification Checklist

Run this checklist before presenting the draft in Stage 4. Every item must pass.

ATS Compliance

• Single column layout (no markdown tables for layout)
• Contact info in document body (not relying on header rendering)
• Standard section headings used (per ats-rules.md)
• Consistent date format throughout
• No skill bars, icons, or visual ratings
• Acronyms spelled out on first use

Keyword Coverage

• Every required JD skill appears in 2+ places (skills section + experience bullet)
• No keyword appears more than 3 times total
• Job title from JD reflected in Executive Summary
• Semantic variants used across mentions (not exact repetition)

Content Quality

• Executive Summary is specific to THIS role (not generic/templated)
• Every achievement bullet contains a quantified metric
• Metrics include business context (not floating numbers)
• Recent 2-3 roles have full detail
• Older roles are condensed but not eliminated
• No unexplained gaps > 6 months (flagged to user)
• Date overlaps explained per user's direction
• Domain breadth preserved (not over-narrowed to JD domain)

Locale Compliance

• EN: No photo, no DOB, no marital status, experience before education
• RU: Photo included, education per master profile preference
• Length within locale norms (EN: ~800 words / 2 pages; RU: ~1200 words / 3 pages)
• Tone matches locale expectations

Anti-Pattern Check

• Executive Summary does NOT start with "Seasoned/Dynamic/Results-driven/Passionate"
• No "References available upon request"
• No skill percentage/proficiency ratings
• Early career NOT aggressively condensed to nothing
• Adjacent domain experience NOT stripped (reframed instead if needed)
• No responsibilities-only descriptions without achievements