Resume Builder

ATS-Optimized Resume Builder

Your goal is to produce a resume that does two things well: (1) pass ATS (Applicant Tracking System) filters at big tech companies, and (2) compel a human recruiter or hiring manager to pick up the phone. These goals are complementary — a keyword-rich, achievement-dense resume wins on both fronts.

ATS-first principles (understand these before writing a single word)

ATS systems at Google, Meta, Amazon, and similar companies parse resumes before a human ever sees them. A resume that looks beautiful but fails ATS is invisible. The rules:

• Single-column layout only — multi-column, tables used for layout, and text boxes confuse parsers
• Standard section names — use exactly: Summary, Experience, Skills, Projects, Education, Certifications
• No headers/footers for content — ATS often ignores header/footer regions entirely
• Standard fonts — Arial or Calibri, 10–12pt body, never embed fonts as images
• No graphics, icons, or images — including profile photos, skill bars, rating dots
• Keywords must appear in context — "Java" in a bullet about what you built beats "Java" in a skills list
• Bullet points, not paragraphs — ATS scores keyword density; short bullets score higher than prose
• Dates in consistent format — "Jan 2023 – Present" or "2021 – 2023", never mixed

Step 1: Read the input files

The user points you to a folder. Read every file in it — performance reviews, self-assessments, award nominations, project write-ups, previous resumes, anything. Extract:

• Job titles, companies, employment dates
• Responsibilities, achievements, projects
• Quantifiable results (numbers, percentages, scale, time savings)
• Technologies, tools, frameworks, methodologies
• Certifications, courses, awards

Step 2: Gather targeting information

Ask these questions — they directly determine keyword strategy and positioning:

Batch 1 (required):

• What specific role are you targeting? (e.g., "Lead Software Engineer", "Staff Backend Engineer", "Principal Engineer")
• Which companies are highest priority? (This shapes keyword emphasis — Google loves "scalability" and "distributed systems"; Amazon loves "ownership" and "impact at scale"; Meta loves "growth" and "infrastructure")
• Do you have a job description you'd like to optimise against? If yes, paste it or share the file — this is the single highest-leverage input for ATS optimisation.
• What's your preferred output format — .docx, .pdf, or both?

Batch 2 (fill gaps from files):

• What's the most impressive project that might not be obvious from documents?
• Any open source contributions, public talks, or published writing?
• Preferred resume length — 1 page or 2 pages? (For 8+ years of experience targeting senior roles, 2 pages is standard and expected at big tech.)

Step 3: Keyword strategy

Before writing, build a keyword list from two sources:

1. From the job description (if provided): extract every technical term, tool, methodology, and soft-skill phrase that appears. These become required keywords.
2. From big tech job patterns for Lead/Staff roles: regardless of JD, these clusters consistently appear in ATS filters:

• Backend: distributed systems, microservices, system design, high availability, fault tolerance, scalability, low latency
• AI/ML: LLM, AI agents, machine learning, model deployment, inference, embeddings, RAG, prompt engineering
• Infrastructure: Kafka, Kubernetes, Docker, AWS/GCP/Azure, CI/CD, observability, Prometheus, Grafana
• Leadership: technical leadership, cross-functional, mentorship, architecture, roadmap, stakeholder

Map these keywords to specific experiences in the user's background. Every keyword should appear in a bullet, not just in the Skills section.

Step 4: Rewrite bullets for maximum impact

This is where most resumes fail. Transform every bullet using this formula:

Formula: [Strong verb] + [what you built/did] + [scale/context] + [quantified result]

Weak: "Worked on backend services for the AI team" Strong: "Architected event-driven Kafka pipeline processing 2M+ daily AI agent interactions, reducing end-to-end latency by 40%"

Weak: "Improved debugging process" Strong: "Built AI Thread Analyser tool reducing agent debugging time from 45 minutes to <5 minutes; adopted by 3+ teams, cutting L2 escalations by 60%"

Strong verb bank for senior engineering roles: Architected · Designed · Led · Owned · Drove · Scaled · Optimised · Reduced · Eliminated · Launched · Delivered · Migrated · Automated · Standardised · Mentored · Enabled

Rules for bullets:

• Start with a past-tense strong verb (even for current role — ATS prefers consistency)
• Include at least one number per bullet (users, requests, %, time, $, team size)
• Keep to one line where possible; two lines maximum
• If you don't have exact numbers, use informed estimates with context: "~2M daily", "50% reduction", "10+ engineers"
• 4–6 bullets per role is the sweet spot for senior roles

Step 5: Build the resume structure

Use this exact section order and naming:

[FULL NAME]
[City, Country] · [Email] · [Phone] · [LinkedIn URL] · [GitHub URL]

SUMMARY
[3–4 lines maximum]

EXPERIENCE
[Role Title] · [Company] · [Start – End]
• bullet
• bullet

SKILLS
[Grouped by category, comma-separated, no ratings or bars]

PROJECTS  (include if projects are notable and distinct from work experience)
[Project Name] · [Tech stack] · [Date/duration]
• bullet

EDUCATION
[Degree] · [Institution] · [Year]

CERTIFICATIONS  (if any)

Summary section

The summary is the only prose section. It should be 3–4 lines that:

1. State the role you're targeting and your years of experience
2. Name 2–3 specific technical domains you're strongest in
3. Include one standout achievement with a number
4. End with what you're looking for

It functions as an executive summary for the recruiter and as a dense keyword block for ATS. Don't make it generic — make it specific enough that it could only describe this person.

Skills section

Group skills into 3–4 categories. Keep it flat — no ratings, no bars, no icons:

Languages: Java, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, SQL
Backend & Distributed Systems: Spring Boot, Apache Kafka, Elasticsearch, Redis, Microservices, System Design
AI / LLM: LLM Integration, AI Agents, Prompt Engineering, MCP (Model Context Protocol), RAG, Azure OpenAI
Cloud & DevOps: AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, ArgoCD, Prometheus, Grafana, CI/CD

Step 6: Generate the document

For .docx output

Use docx npm package. Install with npm install docx in the output directory if needed.

Critical ATS formatting rules for docx:

• Single section, no columns
• No tables used for layout (tables for data only, if needed at all)
• No text boxes
• No headers/footers
• Font: Arial or Calibri, 10.5pt body, 11pt for role titles, 13–14pt for name
• Margins: 0.75 inches all sides (gives space while staying ATS-safe)
• Bullet character: use LevelFormat.BULLET with • — never unicode manually
• Name: bold, 20–22pt, left-aligned
• Section headers: bold, 11pt, ALL CAPS, with a bottom border line for visual separation
• Line spacing: 1.0–1.15, with modest spacing between sections
• No color except black/dark gray (some ATS strip color; keep it safe)

For .pdf output

Convert the .docx to PDF using LibreOffice:

python /path/to/scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pdf resume.docx

File naming

Name output files clearly:

• [FirstName]_[LastName]_Resume_[TargetRole].docx
• [FirstName]_[LastName]_Resume_[TargetRole].pdf

Step 7: ATS self-check before delivering

Before handing the resume to the user, mentally verify:

• [ ] Every section uses the standard name (Experience, not "Work History")
• [ ] All dates are consistent format
• [ ] At least 8–10 of the target keywords appear in bullet context (not just Skills)
• [ ] No bullet starts with "I" or "We" or "Responsible for"
• [ ] Every role has at least one quantified achievement
• [ ] No graphics, tables-as-layout, or multi-column formatting
• [ ] Skills section is complete and grouped

Tone guidance

Be assertive. The user wants maximum reach — don't hedge or soften. If a bullet is weak, rewrite it strong and explain why. If a section is missing something important for big tech, say so and add it. The resume should read like the work of someone who is clearly ready for Lead/Staff — decisive, ownership-oriented, impact-focused.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: sriram789
• Source: sriram789/agentic-skills
• License: Apache-2.0

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.