Use job-description keywords where they help describe your work. Start with relevant projects and responsibilities, then use the employer's terminology when it means the same thing. A list of matching terms is a useful editing prompt, but it cannot tell the whole story of a candidate's experience.
Put a skill in context
Consider a posting asking for React components and testing. Compare these lines:
React, testing, dashboard, teamwork.
Built reusable React components for an analytics dashboard and tested its main user flows.
The second line uses the same vocabulary while explaining the work. A separate Skills section can still provide a concise list of tools; the Experience and Projects sections are where you explain what you did with them.
Review terms individually
| Term in the posting | What to consider |
|---|---|
| A tool you used | Name it in the project or role where it was used. |
| A familiar abbreviation | Use the recognizable form, adding the expanded term if it helps clarity. |
| A broad responsibility | Describe an example of the work rather than repeating the responsibility alone. |
| A preferred skill | Include relevant use when it adds value to this version. |
| An unfamiliar requirement | Consider whether the role fits your background before changing the wording. |
Avoid repeating a keyword in every bullet. If three sentences describe the same skill, use that space to explain a different contribution or project.
Understand Pursyn's coverage display
Pursyn can show how many extracted posting terms appear in the current resume. The implementation checks keywords and skills against rendered resume text. That is a wording-coverage calculation. It does not reproduce an employer's ATS, assess seniority, or estimate interview chances.
Use a missing term as a question: is relevant work absent, described differently, or simply outside this resume's scope? The right action may be to select another project, clarify a sentence, or leave the resume as it is.
Finish with a reading pass
Read the resume without looking at the keyword list. Each bullet should be understandable on its own and contribute something to the application. Then check the exported layout.
For a complete example, see how to tailor a resume. For the earlier selection step, see how to read a job posting.