r/Resume

Hi everyone,
I’m currently trying to land my first Help Desk / IT Support role and would really appreciate some feedback on my resume.

This is my current resume and I want to hit 6 figures please help me for what I can do. I have my MBA and PMP that I acquired two months ago

Comparing https://resume.zoevera.com against https://chatgpt.com

And what a purpose-built ATS checker caught that GPT-4 didn’t.

Let me be upfront: I use ChatGPT for everything. Code reviews, draft emails, explaining stack traces at 2am. It’s genuinely useful. So when I needed to tailor my resume for a senior backend role, my first instinct was to open a chat window.

That was three weeks ago. Here’s what I learned.

What ChatGPT actually does well

Ask ChatGPT to “improve my resume” and it will:

• Clean up passive voice (“responsible for” → “led”)
• Suggest stronger action verbs
• Add structure and formatting consistency
• Rewrite vague bullets into something that sounds more impressive

For general writing quality, it’s genuinely good. If your resume reads like it was written by someone who hasn’t slept in 48 hours, ChatGPT will fix that.

What ChatGPT fundamentally cannot do

Here’s the problem: ChatGPT doesn’t know what job you’re applying for.

You can paste the job description into the prompt, sure. But there’s no mechanism for it to:

1. Score your resume against that specific JD — it has no concept of a match percentage
2. Identify which keywords are present vs. missing — it will suggest improvements but won’t systematically audit keyword coverage
3. Know how Applicant Tracking Systems parse text — it will rewrite content without knowing whether an ATS will ever see it

ATS filters work on keyword frequency and placement. A resume that reads beautifully to a human can score 40% on an ATS if the right terms aren’t in the right sections. ChatGPT optimizes for human readers. ATS systems are not human readers.

I ran a test. Same resume, same job description (Backend Engineer, Node.js/AWS stack). I gave ChatGPT the full JD and asked it to optimize my resume for ATS.

The output was well-written. It added “microservices” and “REST APIs” in a few places. But it missed:

• “AWS Lambda” — mentioned 4 times in the JD, absent from my resume after the rewrite
• “CI/CD pipeline” — appeared in the required skills section, never added
• The Projects section — ChatGPT rewrote my experience bullets but left the Projects section untouched, which is where most of my relevant backend work lived

When I ran the same resume through resume.zoevera.com, it flagged all three gaps explicitly, with section-level attribution. The ATS match score went from 54% to 81% after applying the suggested changes.

The core difference: diagnostic vs. generative

ChatGPT is a generative tool. It produces new text. It’s very good at that.

An ATS checker is a diagnostic tool first. It measures the gap between your resume and a specific job description, then tells you exactly what’s missing. The rewrite comes second — and it’s grounded in what was actually identified as absent, not what the model thinks sounds better.

This distinction matters because:

ChatGPT hallucinates improvements. It will add metrics you never achieved (“improved system performance by 35%”), use terminology that
sounds right but wasn’t in the JD, and rewrite bullets that didn’t need rewriting while leaving critical gaps untouched. Every line needsfact-checking.

A purpose-built tool works from the actual gap. The keywords it adds are the ones the JD asked for. The sections it flags are the ones the ATS will score. The output is closer to submission-ready.

A practical workflow

These tools aren’t mutually exclusive. The best result I got came from using both in sequence:

1. ATS checker first: identify the keyword gaps and get a scored rewrite that closes them
2. ChatGPT second: use it to polish tone, tighten sentences, and clean up anything that sounds mechanical

The ATS checker handles precision. ChatGPT handles prose quality. Neither does both well alone.

The cost argument

ChatGPT Plus is $20/month. If you’re actively job searching, that’s a fixed overhead whether you use it or not.

Most people search for jobs in windows — a few weeks of active applications, then nothing for months. A per-session model makes more
sense: pay when you need it, nothing when you don’t. ZoeVera’s pricing works that way — free analysis, one-time payment for the full
rewrite, no subscription.

For a developer audience specifically: if you’re applying to 10–15 roles over two weeks, you’re not optimizing resumes 365 days a year. The math on a monthly subscription doesn’t work.

What I’d actually recommend

• If you just need better writing: ChatGPT is fine and you already have it
• If you’re applying to roles where ATS filtering is real (any company using Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, iCIMS): use a dedicated ATS checker first, then polish with ChatGPT
• If you’re a developer and haven’t thought about this: your resume probably uses technical jargon that means something to you and nothing to an ATS keyword parser. “Built scalable backend” is not the same as “developed microservices architecture using Node.js and AWS ambda” — even if the underlying work is identical

The ATS doesn’t know what you meant. It only knows what you wrote.

Tested against a real Backend Engineer job description. Tools used: ChatGPT GPT-4o, https://resume.zoevera.com. June 2026.

I relocated to the UK earlier this year after working as an Azure Cloud Engineer in India for over 5 years, most recently at an MNC. I have full right to work in the UK and don't need sponsorship, but I've been applying for months now (Azure/cloud engineer, IT infrastructure, cloud administration roles) and haven't been able to land anything, not even many interviews.

A bit about my background: I hold AZ-104, MD-102, AZ-900, SC-900, DP-900 and a few other Microsoft certifications, and have enterprise-level experience with Azure infrastructure. I've rebuilt my CV and LinkedIn a few times already but I'm clearly missing something, whether it's how I'm framing my experience, gaps in specific skills UK employers expect, or something structural in how the resume reads.

Would really appreciate honest feedback if anyone's willing to take a look.

Thanks in advance.

I could really use some outside perspective on my resume because I can’t figure out what is preventing me from getting through the initial application stage.

I’m a marketer with 14 years of experience across both agency and client-side roles. I’ve been a founder, held leadership positions, built and managed teams, owned sizable budgets, and worked across brand, performance, ecommerce, lifecycle, GTM, and digital transformation.

I’m currently applying in the US, primarily for Head of Marketing, Head of Growth, and CMO positions. I’ve also applied to other senior marketing leadership roles where my experience seemed closely aligned with the requirements.

I’ve submitted more than 100 applications so far and have received zero interview invitations. I have never made it from an online application to an initial recruiter or hiring manager interview. Most applications result in an automated rejection, and quite a few of those arrive very quickly.

That’s why I’m starting to think there is something about my resume, positioning, or how my experience is being interpreted during the first screening.

I feel that the resume itself is fairly self-explanatory and focused on measurable outcomes. I’ve tried to show revenue impact, growth, budgets, team sizes, leadership responsibilities, and specific business results rather than filling it with generic marketing responsibilities. Still, zero interviews from 100+ applications tells me I need another set of eyes on it.

I’ve experimented with salary expectations too. When an application asks for a number, I usually choose the lower end of the posted range. I’ve also tried the upper end and, for some positions, around 5 to 10% below the stated range when the application allowed it. None of those approaches changed the outcome.

For actual applications, I submit the DOCX version with the real employer and client names. I anonymized the attached version specifically for Reddit.

I’d really appreciate feedback from people who recruit for marketing leadership positions, hire at this level, or have gone through a similar US job search.

When you look at this resume, is there anything that would cause you to reject the application before speaking with me? Does my experience look too broad? Is the positioning confusing? Am I targeting the wrong seniority level? Is there something about the structure, wording, or presentation that could be causing problems with recruiters or ATS screening?

At this point, my main goal is figuring out what is stopping me at the application stage and what I should change to start getting interviews.

Any specific or candid feedback would be hugely appreciated.

What would I need to improve if I want to go into an analyst role?

Hi! I’m in high school and would like some advice. I know two pages is already way too long for having no working experience but I don’t know what parts to remove or shorten! I’d like to use this to apply for policy related internships and volunteer opportunities (and maybe some jobs) and would love some advice on how to make it look better. Does it need color? A better font?

Any advice is appreciated, thanks so much!

Looking for advice, also wondering if it is too short. I don't have that much to put on it, though, as I am still in undergrad.