After years of climbing the corporate ladder, you’d think a job search gets easier with experience, but that’s not totally true. Our recent “Ask a Recruiter Live” episode tackled that misconception with Amy Miller, who has spent 25 years recruiting inside companies like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon and now leads Talent and People Ops at Portal Space Systems. Her core message: most job seekers don’t have a resume problem. They have a mindset problem, and the fixes are more within your control than they seem. Here are Miller’s dos and don’ts.
1. Submitting a single master resume for every role
Don’t submit one all-purpose resume trying to represent everything you’re capable of. Miller, who now oversees recruiting, HR, and people ops broadly, keeps several versions of her own resume: one for a leadership role, one for an individual-contributor role, one leaning into hands-on sourcing. She leads with whichever matches what the market is hiring for.
Do treat your resume like a movie trailer. “You want someone to buy the ticket to come see the whole thing,” she says. Build a version for each persona you’ve held and pick the one that matches the job in front of you, not the one that flatters you most.
2. Relying on mass applications instead of targeted fit
Don’t treat volume as a substitute for fit. Miller recalled a colleague applying to a thousand jobs he wasn’t qualified for, hoping numbers alone would trigger a callback. It didn’t — recruiters who didn’t know him just saw noise.
Do spend a few extra minutes tailoring your title and framing to each role. “If I’m applying to a role that’s looking for a senior recruiter, guess what I am? I’m a senior recruiter,” she said. Small, honest adjustments take minutes and prevent the mismatch that makes strong candidates look unqualified on paper.
3. Using resume tricks that backfire
Don’t use hidden white-font keyword stuffing or prompt-injection text aimed at AI screeners. Asked what hiring trend needed to die immediately, Miller didn’t hesitate: “Any kind of white font, prompt injection nonsense that makes you look so silly on your resume.”
Do stick to what’s relevant, and don’t feel obligated to disclose everything. As she put it, an acceptable omission is simple: “I don’t need your whole life story, I need to know what’s relevant.”
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