Create your resume online, tailored to every job description

Two readers decide whether you get called: the recruiter who skims for a few seconds, and the tracking system that ranks you against the rest of the pile. A resume that works for both is written in plain text, uses semantic headings, and contains the words from the posting.

It goes faster when something else hunts the keywords for you. Our scorer reads your resume against the posting and shows which terms are missing before you submit.

ATS stands for Applicant Tracking System. It is the software every large employer uses to read, index, and rank applications before a recruiter ever opens one.

What gets dropped during the ATS read: tables and text boxes, images with text in them, icons in place of headings, exotic fonts, and content placed in the header or footer. Pretty Canva and Word templates usually trip on exactly that.

CareerForge templates are built for ATS from the ground up. Plain text, semantic headings, no layout that blocks the read. The scorer pulls the missing keywords from the posting and surfaces them as suggestions, not requirements.

The standard order: a short summary at the top, two or three sentences, then work experience in reverse chronological order, education, skills, languages, and certifications. The cover letter belongs in a separate file, never inside the resume.

Each work entry uses the same format: role, company, period, location. Then three to five bullet points describing what you actually achieved, not what you were responsible for. Past-tense verbs (built, led, increased) and a number where you have one. 'Increased conversion by 23%' lands harder than 'Responsible for conversion'.

The same resume sent to fifty jobs rarely works. Each posting uses its own terms, and the system ranks you on how close your text sits to the posting. Tailoring lives in three places: the headline, the summary, and the skills list.

In CareerForge you link the posting to your resume. The AI reads it, picks out the requirements that matter, and suggests which phrasings to sharpen. You see every change as a diff and decide for yourself: accept, edit, or discard. Nothing gets swapped behind your back.

One page if you have under five years of experience, two pages if you are senior, three pages for research roles with a publication list. Anything longer wastes a recruiter's patience.

We adjust template and line spacing so the content fits without looking cramped. The PDF export is pixel-identical to the preview. What the recruiter opens is exactly what you see in the editor.

Six recurring mistakes: a face photo (can trigger bias and ATS does not read it), personal ID numbers (no longer standard, remove them), generic summaries like 'goal-oriented team player', bullet points with no results, dated tech ('MS Office' is not a skill anymore), and typos. Always have someone proofread.

The scorer catches several of these on its own. Weak bullets get a sharper phrasing suggestion, and missing keywords from the posting are flagged before you export.

Yes. You can build your first resume, link it to a posting, score it, and export a PDF without paying. The Pro plan only kicks in when you want to save more versions and generate unlimited cover letters.