When Resume Optimization Misses the Point
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
After a layoff, most people respond the same way. They update their resume. They add more detail. They try to make it appeal to as many roles as possible. Given the uncertainty, that reaction makes complete sense.
The problem is that resumes built this way often work against the outcome jobseekers want.
I recently worked with a Comprehensive Resume Review client who had just been laid off and was eager to get back into the market. Their background was strong. Years of leadership, programs, initiatives, and real responsibility were all there. On paper, the experience was accurate and impressive.
What the resume didn’t do was make one thing clear: what this person should be hired to do next.
When resumes try to show everything at once, experience competes with itself. Different strengths pull attention in different directions. The reader is left to decide what matters most. In a fast-moving hiring process, that decision usually doesn’t happen.
From the recruiter’s side, that creates friction.
Recruiters aren’t evaluating resumes as full career histories. They’re scanning quickly to determine fit for a specific role. They’re asking whether the experience on the page clearly aligns with the problem the open role exists to solve. When that alignment isn’t obvious, the resume requires interpretation, and interpretation rarely happens at scale.
The work in this review wasn’t about changing the client’s experience. It was about changing how that experience was presented. The resume needed a narrower lens.
Once the focus was clarified, the structure changed. What mattered most for the target roles moved to the front. Supporting experience reinforced that direction instead of competing with it. Skills stopped being listed and started being demonstrated. Initiatives were no longer named in isolation, but explained in terms of why they existed and what changed as a result.
The resume didn’t become more accurate. It became more effective.
That distinction matters. Accurate resumes document experience. Effective resumes help someone decide to interview you.
After that shift, the client landed a fully remote role, in the industry they wanted, with a pay bump. Not because the experience suddenly improved, but because it became easier to understand.
If your resume contains good experience but doesn’t clearly point to what’s next, especially after a layoff, the issue is often focus, not qualifications. Resumes work best when they function as decision tools, not full career archives.
If you’d like help reviewing or restructuring your resume so it aligns with how hiring decisions actually get made, you can learn more about our resume services here:
