Why must modern resumes speak to both algorithms and humans.
What a Resume Really Is
The most important aspect of a resume is not the format, the layout, or even the list of roles you have held. It is whether the reader — human or machine — can form a clear and credible picture of who you are, what you can do, and how you create value.
A resume is a self-portrait.
The words and sentences you choose are the brushstrokes of your painting. Together, they should allow the reader to reconstruct your professional identity: what you have done, how you have done it, and what kind of professional they are dealing with.
This is why a resume should never be treated as a simple inventory of past jobs. Lists are useful, but they are not the point. The point is representation — creating a mental image that feels coherent, credible, and internally consistent.
When that image is blurred or distorted, the resume fails its purpose.
Two Audiences You Cannot Ignore
Once you submit your resume, it is almost immediately evaluated by two very different audiences.
The first is not human.
The second is.
Understanding this distinction is no longer optional — it is fundamental to how hiring decisions are made today.
How Machines Read Your Resume: The Elimination Game
In most recruitment processes, resumes are first screened by machines. This may be a traditional Applicant Tracking System or, increasingly, AI-assisted tools used by HR teams and hiring managers.
Their task is not to identify the best candidate.
It is to eliminate the majority.
When a role is posted, it is common to receive well over a hundred applications. Up to 90 % clearly do not match the requirements. Technology exists to reduce that volume to a manageable long-list.
At this stage, keywords matter. Titles, tools, systems, sector language, and functional terminology all help the system determine whether your profile aligns with the role.
But there is a hard rule here: don’t lie.
Keywords should describe what you have actually done — not what you aspire to do next. A resume is not a projection of ambition; it is a record of evidence.
Layout and visual creativity matter very little at this stage.
How Humans Read Your Resume: The Selection Game
Once technology has done its filtering, the process changes fundamentally.
Now, humans read your resume.
At this point, the resume stops being a matching exercise and becomes a potential and risk assessment.
More importantly, humans cannot stop themselves from forming mental images. As they read, they imagine what you would be like as a colleague, how you might behave in meetings, how you solve problems, and how you would contribute to the organization.
They look for structure and narrative coherence so they can begin to form an image of you as a potential solution for their needs.
Consciously or not, they look for three things:
- Your tools: experience, sector exposure, functional capabilities, and education.
- Your human application of those tools: how you communicate and how you have used those tools to achieve results.
- Signals of risk: short tenures, unexplained gaps, inflated titles, or vague achievements.
Together, these elements allow them to assess the risk of non-performance that you represent, for both the organization and the individuals involved in the hiring decision.
Paradoxically, the more senior the role, the greater the uncertainty: scope widens, consequences increase, and past performance becomes harder to translate into future outcomes.
Related articles in this series
• Your Digital Footprint – shows how inconsistent online visibility can undermine even a strong resume.
• The Essential Components of a Solid Resume – focuses on structure, evidence, and consistency.
- When and How to Apply? Application Tactics for Success
