Answers to the Main Questions / Write a resume
Should a resume say what you did or what you can do?
InsightGuidanceAI amplification
Insight
The reader cares what you can do for them. A traditional resume lists past tasks and leaves them to infer capability. A capability-forward resume names the capability, then gives evidence. Use labeled capabilities on the current or most recent role; keep older roles as proof bullets. Every fact must come from your notes.
When to use this. You have evidence of what you can do, not only a list of duties, and you want the document to read as “here is what I can do next.”
Guidance
- List 4–8 capabilities a hiring manager for this role would pay for.
- Under the current role, pair each capability with one proof bullet from real work.
- Older roles: consequence bullets only, no capability labels.
- Optional: a short first-person growth line on the current role (“This role is where I learned to…”).
- Target a posting by reordering and cutting — not by adding facts.
AI amplification
Optional. Copy this into ChatGPT or a similar tool if you want a first draft. Replace the [PASTE] sections with your own material. The work stays in that tool; we do not save it here.
Prompt to copy
Rules: Do not invent employers, job titles, dates, metrics, team sizes, or outcomes. If something is missing, ask me or write [unknown]. Keep hedges such as "approximately" and "more than" exactly as I stated them. Never turn a qualitative result into a number. Draft a capability-forward resume from my evidence and this job posting. Rules: - Name capabilities, then evidence. Do not write a standalone skills dump as the core of the resume. - Current/most recent role: capability labels plus proof bullets. - Older roles: proof bullets only. - Growth narrative on the current role may be first person and reflective. - Use only facts in my evidence. If the posting asks for something I did not evidence, omit it or mark [not in notes]. Job posting: [PASTE] Evidence (resume, notes, or both): [PASTE]