7 reasons why you're not getting interviews

Most people write one resume and send it everywhere. That worked ten years ago. It doesn't work now.

Today, most companies run your resume through an ATS (Applicant Tracking System) before a human ever sees it. The ATS scores how closely your wording matches the job description. If your language doesn't line up, you're filtered out before a recruiter spends their six seconds on you.

01You're sending the same resume to every job

This is the root cause. Tailoring your resume means rewriting it for each role. Not from scratch, but adjusting the phrasing, emphasis, and keywords so your existing experience reads like a direct match for that specific job.

Here's what that looks like in practice.

02You're not reading the job description like a recruiter

Read the job description twice. The first time, read it normally. The second time, highlight every skill, tool, qualification, and responsibility they mention. These are your keywords.

Pay attention to what appears more than once. If they mention “stakeholder management” three times, that's what they care about most.

Split what you find into three buckets:

Your tailored resume needs to hit as many of these as possible, using their language, not yours.

03You're sprinkling keywords instead of rewriting

The biggest mistake people make is sprinkling keywords into their existing bullets. Recruiters can tell. ATS systems are getting smarter too.

Instead, rewrite the bullet to lead with the relevant skill or outcome:

Same experience. Completely different impression. The second version uses the job's language and leads with impact.

04Your top third is wasting the recruiter's 6 seconds

Recruiters spend an average of 6 to 7 seconds on a resume before deciding whether to keep reading. The top third does most of the work.

Your headline, summary, and skills section should be the most tailored parts. If the job asks for “data-driven marketing manager with B2B SaaS experience”, your summary should reflect exactly that, not “experienced marketing professional seeking new opportunities”.

05You're keeping irrelevant experience in

Tailoring isn't just about adding the right things. It's about removing the irrelevant ones. Every bullet that doesn't relate to the role is noise that makes the recruiter work harder to see your fit.

Applying for a backend role? Your part-time retail job from university doesn't need four bullet points. One line is enough. Give that space to something that matters.

06Your formatting is breaking the ATS

If the job description emphasises metrics, your resume should be full of numbers. If it focuses on collaboration, emphasise how you work with others.

Some formatting rules that help with both ATS and human readers:

• Single-column layout. Multi-column resumes break in most ATS systems.
• No tables, graphics, or icons. They look nice but get parsed as gibberish.
• Start bullets with strong verbs: led, built, reduced, launched, designed.
• One page if you have less than five years of experience.

07You're not tailoring because it takes too long

This is where most people give up. Tailoring one resume takes 20 to 30 minutes manually. Multiply that by 10 applications a week and it becomes a second job.

That's exactly why generic resumes are so common. Not because people don't know they should tailor, but because the effort doesn't scale.

Tools like Reframed can help. It checks how well your resume aligns with a specific job description for free, shows you where the gaps are, and can rewrite your resume for the role in about fifteen seconds if you want to go further.

Whether you tailor manually or use a tool, do it. A tailored resume is up to three times more likely to land an interview than a generic one.

The bottom line

You don't need a new resume. You need the right version of the one you already have. Every role should get a version that speaks directly to what that company is looking for, using their words, emphasising the experience that matters most to them.