Free resource · Before You Zhuzh

Before you zhuzh
your resume, figure out
why the job exists.

This started as a LinkedIn post: before you go zhuzhing your resume for another job, try to figure out why the job exists. Someone commented to ask whether people skip that step because it's hard, or because they don't like the answer. Honestly, I think it's mostly because it's hard. So I wrote out how I'd actually do it after 14 years in recruiting and hiring, including plenty of job searches of my own. Five steps, from reading the posting to checking your work.

Each step opens an AI prompt you can copy in one click, if you want it. Take what's useful, and if it helps, share it with a friend. · Rachel 🎣

Tip before you start: Use one role and one step at a time. Stay in the same chat so the context carries forward. Any AI chat tool that can read your resume and the job description should work. If it can open links, you can share this page. If it can't, copy the prompts.

The five steps, at a glance
1Figure out why the job exists2Be honest about the fit3Find your evidence4Make it easy to find5Check your work
1
Figure out why the job exists
A job description tells you what a company wants someone to do. It doesn't always tell you what they need solved, or why they're hiring for it right now. Try to answer that before you change a single word on your resume. It's the hardest step on this page, and everything else gets built on it.
Ask why now. A new team, someone who left, a growth push, a mess that needs cleaning up. Each one points to a different kind of hire.
Ask what should be better in 6 to 12 months. That's what the person in this seat will be measured on, whether the posting says it or not.
Look past the posting. Recent company news, the hiring manager's LinkedIn, what the team has shared publicly. The clues are usually spread around.
Here's a prompt to get you started

Paste the job description into a new chat in whichever AI tool you already use. If you know anything else about the company or the team, add that too:

I'm considering applying for [role] at [company].

Here's the job description: [paste]
Here's anything else I know about the company, team, or hiring manager: [paste, or "nothing yet"]

Help me figure out why this job exists right now. Don't write anything for me yet.

1. What are the three most likely problems this company needs this person to solve? For each one, quote the clues in the description that support your read.
2. Why might they be hiring for this now? Give me a few possible reasons and what each one would mean for the role.
3. What would need to be better 6 to 12 months after this person starts for the hiring manager to call it a great hire?
4. What evidence would make a candidate credible for each problem?

Tell me which parts are guesses. If the description is vague, say so, and tell me what I could ask or look up to find out more.

End with a short "Carry this forward" section: the three likely problems, the best evidence needed for each one, and what still needs to be confirmed. Keep it brief enough to paste into the next step.
2
Be honest about the fit
This is the step that's easy to skip. Once you know what they need solved, ask yourself whether you've solved it before, or something close to it. Sometimes the answer is an obvious yes. Sometimes it's a partial fit that's still worth going after. And sometimes the answer tells you the role isn't right for you, which saves you time and energy for the ones that are.
Don't invent a fit that isn't there. You're looking for the overlap that's real, so you can make it easier to see.
A partial fit can still be a strong one. If you have real proof for two of the three problems, that's often worth a shot.
A no is useful. Every role you rule out sharpens your picture of the ones worth your time.
Here's a prompt to get you started

Bring the problems from step 1 and your resume. Ask for honesty, not encouragement:

Here are the three problems I think this role is hiring to solve: [paste from step 1]
Here's my resume: [paste or upload]

Be honest with me, not encouraging. For each problem, sort your read into one of these:
- Visible evidence: my resume already shows I've done this or something close to it.
- Needs a follow-up: the experience may be there, but my resume doesn't give you enough to know.
- Real gap: the evidence shows I haven't done it.

Don't treat something missing from my resume as proof that I haven't done it. If you need to clarify anything, ask me up to three short follow-up questions, one per message, before you give me your final read.

Then tell me whether I'm a strong fit, a partial fit worth pursuing, or probably not right for the role. Explain why in a few sentences.

Rules: don't stretch my experience to make it fit. Don't invent experience, numbers, or results.
3
Find your evidence
If it's a fit, go find the proof. The strongest examples usually live in the specific details only you know: the call you made, the thing you noticed before anyone else did, what changed because you were there. It reminds me of interviews. You give the polished answer, hang up, and replay the whole thing.. "did I say enough?" The less polished, more specific example is often the one that actually connects the dots for the person on the other side. Same goes for what you write down. This is the one part your AI can't do without you. It can ask the questions, but you have to give it those details. Answer one question at a time. Don't worry about making the answer polished yet.
One or two real examples per problem. What was happening, what you did, the judgment involved, and what changed.
Specific beats impressive. "I rebuilt the intake process after we missed two deadlines" tells someone more than "drove operational excellence."
Use real numbers or none. If you don't have the number, describe the change in plain words.
Here's a prompt to get you started

Let AI interview you, one question at a time. This is where the good stuff comes out:

I'm applying for a role that needs someone to solve these problems: [paste from step 1]
Here's my resume: [paste]

For each problem, interview me one question at a time to find my strongest real example. Ask what was happening, what I personally did, the judgment call I made, and what changed because of it. Push back when I'm vague, and ask follow-ups when something sounds bigger than I'm making it sound.

After each problem, write the example back to me in a few plain sentences, using my words.

Rules: never invent numbers, scope, or results. If a number would make it stronger, ask me if I have one. No "leverage," "spearheaded," or "results-driven."
If talking is easier, try dictation for this step. I use Wispr Flow constantly.. more than 600,000 words so far.. and pay for it myself. If it sounds useful, my referral link gives you a free month of Pro. If you use it to dictate 2,000 words, I get a free month too. If not, typing or whatever dictation tool you already use is completely fine.
4
Make it easy to find
This part is bigger than bullet points. The person deciding whether to talk to you might see your resume, your LinkedIn, your answers to the application questions, or a note you sent someone on the team. Usually it's a few of those. Put the evidence everywhere they're likely to look, so wherever they land, the connection to their problem is easy to see.
On your resume, move the bullets that speak to their problems to the top of your most relevant role, and rewrite them to say what changed.
On LinkedIn, make sure your headline and the top of your About section point to the same kinds of problems. Someone will probably check.
In application questions and notes, say it directly: here's what I think you need, and here's when I've done something close to it.
Here's a prompt to get you started

One prompt, a few places. Use it once you have your examples from step 3:

Here are the problems this role needs solved: [paste from step 1]
Here are my real examples for each: [paste from step 3]
Here's my current resume: [paste]
Here's my LinkedIn headline and About section: [paste]

Help me make this evidence easy to find, without rewriting my whole story to match the posting.

1. Resume: which bullets should move up, which should be rewritten, and what's missing? Rewrite only the ones that need it, in my voice.
2. LinkedIn: do my headline and About section point to these kinds of problems? Suggest small edits, not a rewrite.
3. If the application asks something like "why are you interested in this role," draft a short, direct answer that names their problem and my evidence.
4. Draft a note under 90 words I could send to someone on the team. Make it specific enough that it couldn't be sent to any other company.

Rules: don't copy the job description's language back at them. Never invent experience. Make it sound as much like me as possible. When you have enough context, use words and phrasing I've actually used instead of generic professional language. If you don't have enough context, ask rather than guessing at my voice.
5
Check your work
Before you send anything, read your bullets out loud. Do they sound good, or do they say something? A bullet can be polished and still tell the reader almost nothing about what you'd do for them. Then read the whole thing as if you were the one hiring, with a stack of other applications open and not much time to decide.
The out-loud test. If a line could be on anyone's resume, it isn't doing much for you yet.
The quick-skim test. After a quick read, could someone explain what problem you're equipped to solve and what in your background supports that?
The friend test. Ask someone who's worked with you, "Does this sound like me?"
Here's a prompt to get you started

Ask AI to be the skeptical reader. That's a lot more useful than asking whether it's good:

Act as the hiring manager for this role. You're busy, you have a stack of applications, and you'll give mine a quick read.

The job description: [paste]
My resume: [paste]
Anything else I'm sending (application answers, a note, my LinkedIn): [paste]

After a quick read, tell me:
1. In one sentence, what problem do you think I'd solve for you?
2. Which lines actually told you something, and which ones just sounded good?
3. Where did you look for evidence and not find it?
4. What's the strongest evidence that I'm qualified, and what remains unproven?

Be direct. Don't rewrite anything yet. I want to see it the way you would first.
Keeping it real

I always want to keep it real with you: none of this guarantees a person sees your application.

Your resume still has to get in front of someone, and you still need the interview to get the chance to talk. A lot of that is outside your control right now, and it's a real problem. What you can control is choosing roles where the fit is real, and making it easy for whoever does read your application to see why.

A referral or a real conversation with someone on the team is still the most reliable way in. Move 4 of the Search Map is all about that, and everything on this page makes that conversation easier, too.

And a note on AI: paste your real context into every prompt, edit everything until it sounds like you, and only upload what you're comfortable sharing.

Here's the short version of what I recommend thinking about

Five steps, all of them within your control.

1Figure out why the job exists.. the problem behind the posting, and why they're hiring now.
2Be honest about the fit, and let a no save you time.
3Find your evidence in the specific, less polished details.
4Make it easy to find on your resume, your LinkedIn, and anything else you send.
5Check your work: do your bullets sound good, or do they say something?

A great application doesn't repeat their language back to them. It makes it easy to connect what you've done to the problem they need solved. Start with step 1, and the rest gets a lot easier.

Pass it on

If this was useful, please share it with a friend.

If you'd rather do this together

You bring the story. I'll connect the dots and build from there.

A Reel Conversation is one hour with me about what you've done, what's been hard to explain, and what you want next. I take everything we talk about and turn it into positioning and materials you can use throughout your search: your resume, LinkedIn, interview prep, and the words to talk about your work.This page is yours either way.

One conversation. Built with you, owned by you. Details and pricing at hirereel.io.
Not ready for a conversation yet?

Stay in touch. I'm building a small library of these, each one with the "here's how" behind something I've written about, and I test them all myself. I'd love to send each one as it's ready, plus what I'm seeing and hearing in hiring.