How to actually update your resume

You want a promotion. Or to apply for that stretch job. But you can’t even describe the job you already have. 

We’ve all been there. You dust off the old resume and break out in a cold sweat. You write what you think you’re supposed to (or have ChatGPT write it for you):

The tools you used. The tasks you completed. The acronyms that you thought were terms of art but now you suspect only made sense inside your company.

Two days or minutes later, the rejection comes. Or your boss tells you you haven’t demonstrated the skills yet.

Not because you’re underqualified. Because you’re too specific and you’re expecting people to see the same depth behind the words as you do.

The whole point of applying for a new role is for the tasks to change. The jargon won’t translate. “Maintained detailed logs” doesn’t exactly scream upward mobility.

If all you list are the tasks, no one will see the signal that you can do more. And it’s not fair to expect them to. Bosses and hiring managers are busy. They’re not here to be your career coach.

The counterintuitive solution is to generalize. Dumb it down. Not by being vague, but by stripping away the jargon and specifics to reveal the judgment, professionalism, and coordination underneath.

Consider this:

→ Manages hundreds of critical client relationships, maintaining a high degree of satisfaction.

→ Anticipates needs to prevent backlogs and make patrons feel “seen.”

→ Remembers complex, highly detailed work orders under pressure in a dynamic, distraction-filled environment.

→ Deescalates conflict and finds opportunities for positive outcomes in customer complaints.

→ Consistently maintains a high-volume output while maintaining tone, clarity, and pace.

What role does this describe?

Customer support lead? Operations manager? Executive assistant? Clinic coordinator? Investor relations manager?

Or it could be a barista. 

But, dammit, that barista seems like they could be qualified for the roles above, don’t they?

If you’re struggling to articulate why you deserve the promotion or the job, start here:

1. Strip away the task language and focus on the decisions and priorities instead.

2. Describe the skills and critical thinking that make you good at the job, not the results.

3. Quantify something. I hate this one, too, but it helps with abstraction.

4. If you need help, ask AI. It’s good at helping you get out of your own perspective.

5. Try to get in front of a human. Not the recruiter, someone who will actually listen because they're not fatigued from reading thousands of resumes.

Once you see the real skill underneath, you can identify the other environments where you’ll thrive.