--- name: staff-resume description: Build and refine staff-level engineering resumes through interactive coaching, research-backed best practices, and per-job tailoring. Use when building, improving, or tailoring a resume for Staff/Principal engineer roles. argument-hint: " [--job-url URL] [--mode coach|tailor|full]" user-invocable: true allowed-tools: AskUserQuestion, Edit, Glob, Read, WebFetch, WebSearch, Write context: fork agent: general-purpose --- # Staff Resume Builder ## Arguments Parse from `$ARGUMENTS`: - **resume-path:** Path to LaTeX or markdown resume file (required — ask if not provided) - **--job-url:** Optional — URL of specific job posting to tailor for - **--mode:** Optional — `coach` (default), `tailor`, `full` (both) ## Scope Build and refine staff/principal-level engineering resumes. Not designed for non-technical resumes, cover letters, junior/mid-level roles, or academic CVs. --- ## Phase 1: Load Context ### Read Resume 1. Read the resume file at provided path 2. Parse sections: summary, skills, experience, education, activities, open source 3. Identify current structure, bullet points, metrics, scope language ### Read Job Posting (if --job-url provided) 1. Fetch job posting URL 2. Extract: title, level, requirements, tech stack, team description, company info 3. Identify keywords, scope signals, archetype match --- ## Phase 2: Research Best Practices Read [references/staff-resume-patterns.md](references/staff-resume-patterns.md) in full before starting this phase. ### Web Searches (3-4 searches) Use WebSearch for each query: 1. `"staff engineer resume" best practices {current_year}` — latest trends 2. `"staff software engineer resume" quantify impact examples` — bullet point patterns 3. If job-url provided: `"{company_name}" engineering culture interview process staff` — company-specific intel 4. `ATS optimization resume {current_year} software engineer` — latest ATS advice ### Synthesize Research Combine fresh findings with the patterns from the reference file. Note any new patterns or changes from prior research. --- ## Phase 3: Gap Analysis Evaluate the current resume against these staff-level criteria. For each criterion, mark as **present** or **missing/weak** with specific evidence. ### Structural Gaps | Criterion | Check | |-----------|-------| | **Summary/positioning** | Present? Positions as Staff, not Senior? | | **Skills organization** | Categorized by domain or flat list? | | **Section order** | Summary → Skills → Experience → OSS/Leadership → Speaking → Education? | | **Length** | 1-2 pages? Every line adds value? | | **ATS friendliness** | Single column? Standard headers? No graphics? | ### Content Gaps | Criterion | Check | |-----------|-------| | **Scope language** | Uses "org-wide", "cross-team", "company-wide"? Or weak: "helped", "worked on"? | | **Decision authority** | Uses "Architected", "drove", "established"? Or weak: "contributed to", "participated"? | | **Impact metrics** | Every role has quantified business impact? Revenue, scale, reliability? | | **Cross-team signals** | Evidence of influence beyond own team? | | **Technical strategy** | RFCs, architecture decisions, roadmap influence? | | **Mentoring/leadership** | People grown, teams built, hiring bar set? | | **Open source framing** | Prominent or buried? | ### Archetype Alignment (if job-url provided) Determine which archetype the target role maps to (see reference file for definitions). Assess whether the resume's emphasis aligns with the target archetype. ### Present Gap Analysis Show results as a clear table of present/missing/weak findings, then use AskUserQuestion: > "Here's how your resume maps against staff-level criteria. Which gaps should we tackle first? Or should we go through all of them systematically?" --- ## Phase 4: Interactive Coaching Session Skip this phase when `--mode tailor`. Re-read [references/staff-resume-patterns.md](references/staff-resume-patterns.md) Senior vs Staff Language section before rewriting bullets. **This is the core of the skill.** Go deep on each role, one at a time. ### For Each Role (most recent first) #### Step 1: Challenge Current Bullets For each bullet point, ask probing questions: - "This bullet says you 'drove X initiative.' How many teams were involved? What was the business outcome?" - "You mention 800% throughput improvement. What was the business context? How many users did this affect?" - "This reads as team-level scope. Was there any cross-team or org-wide impact you're not mentioning?" #### Step 2: Mine for Hidden Achievements Ask these questions systematically: **Scope expansion:** - "What's the biggest technical decision you made that affected teams beyond yours?" - "Did you write any RFCs, ADRs, or design docs that became org standards?" - "Were there times you influenced the product roadmap through technical insight?" **People impact:** - "How many engineers did you mentor? Any get promoted?" - "Did you establish any hiring processes, interview standards, or onboarding programs?" - "Did you run any guilds, working groups, or cross-team initiatives?" **Business impact:** - "Can you connect any technical work to revenue, cost savings, or reliability improvements?" - "What would have happened if your work didn't exist? What was the counterfactual?" - "What scale numbers can you attach? Users, RPS, services, data volume?" **Open source / community:** - "How many external contributors did you coordinate with?" - "What companies use the project in production?" - "What was your specific architectural contribution vs general maintenance?" #### Step 3: Rewrite Bullets Together For each bullet, propose a staff-level rewrite using the XYZ formula from the reference file. Before: "Improved Kafka pipeline performance by 800%" After: "Architected event-driven pipeline redesign processing 2M events/day, reducing p99 latency 800% across 12 downstream services — adopted as org-wide messaging standard" **Power verbs (Staff-level):** ``` architected, drove, established, influenced, defined strategy, evaluated trade-offs, owned end-to-end, scaled from X to Y, founded initiative, shaped roadmap, designed, led, pioneered ``` **Verbs to eliminate (Senior-level):** ``` helped, assisted, worked on, participated in, was responsible for, involved in, contributed to, basic knowledge of ``` Show before/after for each bullet and use AskUserQuestion for confirmation or additional context. ### Summary Section After processing all roles, draft 3 summary options: 1. **Platform/Infra Focus** — for Stripe, Databricks, traditional infra roles 2. **AI Infra Pivot** — for Anthropic, OpenAI, AI-adjacent roles 3. **Open Source Emphasis** — for CNCF-adjacent companies, community-valued orgs Ask user to pick one or customize. ### Skills Section Propose categorized skills layout: ``` Systems & Languages: [primary], [secondary] | [learning] Distributed Systems: [patterns, not just tools] Cloud Native: [tools with (contributor) tags where applicable] Data & Messaging: [tools] Observability: [tools with (contributor) tags] Cloud Platforms: [platforms] | [patterns like multi-cloud] AI/ML Infrastructure: [honest representation of current skills] ``` Rules: - Remove anything assumed at Staff level (Git, SQL, basic tools) - Never say "basic" — either you know it or don't list it, because "basic" signals a hobbyist level that undermines Staff positioning - Add "(contributor)" for OSS projects you maintain - Categorize by domain, not alphabetically --- ## Phase 5: Job-Specific Tailoring (if job-url provided) Skip this phase when `--mode coach`. Re-read [references/staff-resume-patterns.md](references/staff-resume-patterns.md) ATS Optimization and Staff Archetypes sections before tailoring. ### Keyword Mapping 1. Extract all technical terms and requirements from job posting 2. Map to user's experience (exact match, partial match, gap) 3. For exact matches: ensure resume mirrors exact language from JD 4. For partial matches: suggest how to frame existing experience 5. For gaps: honestly flag them, suggest how to acknowledge adjacent experience ### ATS Optimization Apply ATS rules from the reference file. Ensure both acronyms and spelled-out terms appear naturally. ### Archetype Alignment Reorder and emphasize bullets matching the target archetype (see reference file for archetype → bullet mapping). ### Tailored Summary Generate a role-specific summary that mirrors the JD language while maintaining authenticity. --- ## Phase 6: Generate Output ### Resume Output Generate the tailored resume preserving the user's original template/style but with: - Restructured sections per recommendations - Rewritten bullets from coaching session - Updated skills section - New or revised summary - Properly ordered sections ### Companion Analysis Save a markdown analysis alongside the resume: ```markdown # Resume Tailoring: {Company} — {Role Title} **Date:** {date} **Job URL:** {url} **Archetype:** {archetype} ## Keyword Coverage - ✅ Exact matches: [list] - 🟡 Partial matches: [list] - ❌ Gaps: [list] ## Key Customizations Made - [bullet changes] - [summary choice] - [skills emphasis] ## Interview Talking Points - [3-5 points connecting resume to role] ## Honest Assessment - Strengths for this role: [list] - Weaknesses to prepare for: [list] ``` --- ## Phase 7: Final Review ### Quality Checklist Before delivering, verify: - [ ] Every bullet has a quantified metric or concrete scope - [ ] No "helped", "assisted", "worked on", "responsible for" language - [ ] Summary positions as Staff, not Senior - [ ] Skills organized by domain, no assumed-skills listed - [ ] Open source work has its own prominent section (if applicable) - [ ] Speaking/community has its own section (if applicable) - [ ] 2 pages max, every line adds value - [ ] If job-tailored: keywords from JD are present naturally - [ ] No "basic knowledge of" anything — to prevent diluting the Staff-level signal - [ ] Career progression shows increasing scope ### Present Final Output Show: 1. The complete resume 2. Summary of all changes made 3. Tailoring analysis (if job-specific) 4. Suggested next steps (networking, referrals, cover letter points) --- ## Error Handling - **No resume path:** Ask user to provide file path - **Can't parse resume:** Ask user to paste raw text content - **No job URL in tailor mode:** Ask for URL or switch to coach mode - **Job URL fetch fails:** Ask user to paste job description text - **User unsure about metrics:** Help estimate with probing questions ("roughly how many?", "order of magnitude?") - **User pushes back on rewrite:** Respect their voice — offer alternatives, don't force --- ## Sources - [Tech Interview Handbook — Resume Guide](https://www.techinterviewhandbook.org/resume/) - [StaffEng.com — Staff Archetypes](https://staffeng.com/guides/staff-archetypes/) - [Enhancv — Staff SWE Resume Guide](https://enhancv.com/resume-examples/staff-software-engineer/) - [CVOwl — Staff SWE Resume Tips](https://www.cvowl.com/blog/staff-software-engineer-resume-writing-tips) - [Toptal — ATS Trends 2025](https://www.toptal.com/techresume/career-advice/the-perfect-tech-resume-in-2025-key-trends-ats-keywords-and-formatting-tips) - [Columbia Career — Strong Bullet Points](https://www.careereducation.columbia.edu/resources/resumes-impact-creating-strong-bullet-points) - [Interview Kickstart — FAANG Resume](https://www.interviewkickstart.com/blog/software-engineer-resume-for-faang-companies)