After a layoff

The first week after a layoff: scan the resume before you send it anywhere

The resume in your downloads folder is the one from the last job hunt, and it is about to go to thirty companies. Read it first. An hour of fixing today beats thirty applications into a wall, and the job you just left is still fresh enough to write down properly.

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The first week, in order

step 1Scan what you already have before you rewrite it. Rewriting from memory means redoing the parts that were fine. Get the Resume Readiness Score on the existing file, then spend the morning on the sections it names and leave the rest alone.

step 2Close out the job you just left. Add the end date, move the bullets to past tense, and write down the numbers while you still have them. Nobody reconstructs a quarter from memory four months later.

step 3Replace every "responsible for" with a result. That phrase is what survives from an old resume, and it describes a job description rather than you. Say what changed and by how much.

step 4Leave the layoff itself off the page. A resume is not where it gets explained. An end date already says the job ended, and one line in the cover letter or the first screening call covers the rest.

step 5Re-scan after each pass. Each scan takes about a minute, so you can watch the score move instead of guessing whether the rewrite helped.

What the AI rewrite does to a typical bullet

Responsible for keeping client reporting running during the restructure

Kept 14 weekly client reports shipping through a restructure that took the team from 9 people to 4, with no missed deadline

Every new account starts with 14 days of Pro, no card.

What the scan checks

The scan does not know you were laid off, and it does not need to. It reads structure, wording and quantification, which is what an old resume quietly loses. The layoff advice above is this page talking, not a check the scan runs.

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