Happy Friday!

Welcome to your daily dose of curated early-career opportunities! Your job search shouldn’t feel confusing, late, or based on luck.

Stop applying to jobs you're not qualified for. Runway shows your match % for every role so you can focus on the ones you'll actually land.

If you want clarity on today’s roles (and thousands more), check your matches here:

Here's what nobody wants to hear:

You need to customize your resume for every single job you apply to.

Not every 5 jobs. Not "just for the important ones."

Every. Single. One.

I know. It's exhausting. It's tedious. It feels like busywork.

But here's the reality:

Your generic resume is getting filtered out by ATS before a human ever sees it.

You could be the perfect candidate. Doesn't matter. The algorithm doesn't care about your potential.

Here's what's actually happening:

You apply to two "Software Engineer Intern" positions. Same title. Same level. You send the exact same resume to both.

Job A says: "Seeking intern with Python experience, strong debugging skills, and familiarity with React"

Job B says: "Looking for intern proficient in Python, experience with testing frameworks, and knowledge of Node.js"

Your resume mentions Python once. It says "web development" but doesn't specifically mention React OR Node.js. It talks about "problem-solving" but never uses the word "debugging" or "testing."

Result? Both companies' ATS systems rank you low. Your resume never reaches a human recruiter.

But you ARE qualified for both jobs. You just didn't speak their language.

The painful truth:

Even if two jobs have the EXACT same title at different companies, the job descriptions are different. The required skills are different. The keywords the ATS is scanning for are different.

Company A might care about "React" and "debugging"
Company B might care about "Node.js" and "testing frameworks"

Same role. Different priorities. Different keywords.

If your resume doesn't mirror THEIR specific language, you lose.

"But Ford, customizing every resume takes forever!"

I know. It sucks.

Here's how to make it less painful:

Step 1: Create a "master resume"

Include EVERYTHING you've ever done. Every skill, every project, every accomplishment. This is your source document. (It'll be 2+ pages. That's fine. You're never sending this version.)

Step 2: For each job, pull keywords from the description

Read the job posting. Highlight 8-10 key requirements or repeated phrases.

Example keywords for a Software Engineer role:

Step 3: Mirror their language in your resume

If they say "debugging," don't say "troubleshooting" or "problem-solving." Say "debugging."

If they mention "Agile" three times, make sure "Agile" appears in your experience bullets.

If they want "REST APIs," write "Developed REST APIs for..." not "Built APIs for..."

Step 4: Reorder bullets to match their priorities

Put your most relevant experience at the top of each section. If they care most about Python, lead with your Python projects. If they emphasize teamwork, start with your collaborative experiences.

This takes 15-20 minutes per application.

Yeah, it's annoying. But you know what's more annoying?

Sending 100 generic applications and getting 0 responses.

The math:

Option A: Send 50 generic resumes in 5 hours. Get 0 responses.

Option B: Send 15 tailored resumes in 5 hours. Get 1-3 responses.

Same amount of time. Wildly different results.

"What if I'm applying to similar roles?"

Doesn't matter. Tailor it anyway.

Two "Marketing Intern" positions at different companies will have different priorities:

Your resume needs to reflect what THAT specific company cares about.

The uncomfortable truth:

There's no shortcut here. The ATS doesn't care that you're tired or that customizing resumes is tedious.

Either you tailor your resume to match their keywords, or you get filtered out.

Do this today: Pick one job you applied to recently with your generic resume. Pull up the job description. Count how many of their key requirements appear word-for-word on your resume.

If it's less than 70%, that's why you didn't hear back.

Now redo that application with a tailored resume. See if you get a different result.

I know it sucks. But it works.

Ford

Here are today's fresh opportunities for Friday, January 9th:

See you in your inbox tomorrow morning,

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