cv-tailor

name

cv-tailor

description

Tactical sub-skill that takes one job description and produces a complete tailored application package — 1-page CV PDF, 250-400 word cover letter PDF, ≤60-word LinkedIn cold DM, 3-bullet "why I fit" summary. Triggered by user pasting a JD URL/text or saying "apply to this", or invoked by the job-hunt orchestrator skill in Phase 2. All outputs land under applications/<company>-<role>-<date>/. Reads writing rules from memory/feedback.md before generating.

CV-Tailor (Generic)

You are tailoring application materials for one specific role. Always read the user's memory files first:

• memory/project.md — user profile + target market + eligibility (visa, location)
• memory/feedback.md — accumulated writing rules (what to do, what to avoid)

These encode hard rules that override your defaults.

Workspace expectations

${WORKSPACE}/cv_master.tex             ← canonical 1-page CV (never modified by this skill)
${WORKSPACE}/build.sh                  ← Tectonic-based build script
${WORKSPACE}/experience-bank/*.md      ← per-project bullet variants by role type
${WORKSPACE}/templates/                ← cover_letter / linkedin_dm / why_i_fit templates
${WORKSPACE}/applications/<company>-<role>-<YYYY-MM-DD>/   ← output target

When to invoke

Trigger when user:

• Pastes a JD URL (Ashby / Greenhouse / Lever / Workable / careers page)
• Pastes JD text
• Says "apply to this", "tailor for this role", "/cv-tailor"
• The orchestrator skill (job-hunt) routes Phase 2 here

Required inputs

At minimum:

1. JD source — URL or pasted text
2. Company name (extract from JD if not given)
3. Role title (extract from JD)

Optional but useful:

• Application deadline (sort priority)
• Whether user has a referral / warm intro

If JD is a URL, use WebFetch to pull it. If WebFetch fails (LinkedIn / Workday often block), ask the user to paste the JD text.

Step-by-step algorithm

Step 1 — Analyse the JD

Write to applications/<company>-<role>-<date>/analysis.md:

# JD Analysis

**Company:** ...
**Role:** ...
**Location:** ... (in-person / hybrid / remote?)
**Stage:** ... (seed / Series A-D / public)
**JD URL:** ...

## Role type (pick ONE primary, optional secondary)
- [ ] Growth / Marketing
- [ ] Product / APM / PM
- [ ] BizOps / Operations / Founder Associate / Chief of Staff
- [ ] Solutions Engineer / Customer-facing technical
- [ ] Engineering / Founding Engineer
- [ ] Data / Analyst
- [ ] Customer Success / Support
- [ ] Other: ___

## Top 5 keywords / required signals from JD

## What this employer cares about most (read between the lines)

## Visa / sponsorship language in JD

## User's strongest matching evidence
(pull 3-5 bullets from experience bank that match)

## User's weakest gaps for this JD
(honest list — informs cover-letter "why I'd grow into this" angle)

## Recommended angle for cover letter
(one sentence describing the narrative thread)

## CV tailoring decisions
- Tagline: ...
- About variant: ...
- Project bullets selected: ...
- Skills section reorder: ...

Step 2 — Tailor the CV

1. Copy cv_master.tex → applications/<company>-<role>-<date>/cv.tex.
2. Edit ONLY these blocks (do not restructure):
   • Tagline: adjust to match the role (e.g. for Growth: ... | Content / Distribution / Growth | ...).
   • About paragraph: rewrite using the variant from memory/project.md defaults or experience-bank/about-variants.md matching the role type. Tweak final sentence to name the role / company. Keep ≤4 lines.
   • Project bullets: for each project, swap in 1–3 bullets from experience-bank/<project>.md that match keywords from the JD. Keep total page = 1.
   • Skills section: reorder so technologies most relevant to the JD appear first.
3. Build with cd ${WORKSPACE} && tectonic --chatter minimal applications/<company>-<role>-<date>/cv.tex (or use build.sh).
4. Verify 1 page: pdftotext -bbox-layout cv.pdf - | grep -c '<page' — must equal 1. If 2, trim one bullet from the longest project section.

Step 3 — Cover letter

Use templates/cover_letter.template.md or write fresh. Fill placeholders:

• {{COMPANY}}, {{ROLE}}, {{HIRING_MANAGER_OR_TEAM}} (use "Hiring team" if unknown)
• {{HOOK}} — opens with the most JD-relevant accomplishment, NOT a generic intro
• {{WHY_THIS_COMPANY}} — 2–3 sentences citing something concrete you can verify (a launch, blog post, feature, recent funding). Never write generic praise.
• {{WHY_ME}} — 3 bullets max, each starting with a verb, each tied to one JD keyword
• {{CLOSE}} — short, no "looking forward to hearing from you" filler

Length target: 250–400 words. Cut ruthlessly.

Save as applications/<company>-<role>-<date>/cover_letter.tex (matches CV style) or .md if using pandoc. Build PDF with Tectonic or pandoc.

Step 4 — LinkedIn cold DM

Use templates/linkedin_dm.template.md. Hard rules:

• ≤60 words
• Opens with one specific, verifiable thing about the company / founder (not "I love your mission")
• One sentence on user's strongest signal
• One sentence ask: "Could I send you my CV?" or "Open to a 15-min chat?"
• No emojis. No "hope this finds you well."

Save to applications/<company>-<role>-<date>/linkedin_dm.txt.

Step 5 — "Why I fit" 3-bullet summary

Use templates/why_i_fit.template.md. Three bullets, each ≤25 words, each tied to a JD requirement. For pasting into application form free-text fields like "Why are you interested in this role?".

Save to applications/<company>-<role>-<date>/why_i_fit.txt.

Step 6 — Hand off

Print to user:

• Output directory path
• 1-page CV preview command (open <pdf>)
• One-paragraph summary of choices made: which bullets selected, which About variant, what cover letter angle
• Anything ambiguous in the JD that needs user confirmation before sending

Always proceed to Phase 3 (Pre-submission Review) of the orchestrator. Don't push to Submit.

Hard rules

1. Never invent metrics. If a JD asks for "experience scaling X to Y users" and user only has Z, say Z — do not inflate.
2. Master CV is canonical — never modify it directly. Always work in a per-application copy.
3. 1 page always for the CV (default; respect config.yaml if it overrides). If overflowing, drop the weakest bullet, not the strongest.
4. Cover letter must cite something verifiable about the company. If you cannot find anything specific, use WebFetch on the company's homepage / blog before writing — do not write generic praise.
5. Visa line stays in About if user's memory/project.md says they need it (e.g., "UK Graduate Visa eligible — no sponsorship required"). Drop it only if the JD explicitly invites either path.
6. Tone: terse, factual, builder voice. No "passionate", "thrive", "fast-paced environment", "leverage synergies". Cut these on sight.
7. Read memory/feedback.md before writing. It contains rules the user has already taught you. Apply them preemptively.

Output structure (final state)

${WORKSPACE}/applications/<company>-<role>-<YYYY-MM-DD>/
├── analysis.md             # JD analysis
├── cv.tex / cv.pdf         # Tailored 1-page CV
├── cover_letter.md or .tex / .pdf  # 250-400 word cover letter
├── linkedin_dm.txt         # ≤60-word DM
└── why_i_fit.txt           # 3 bullets for application form

Reference files

• Master CV: ${WORKSPACE}/cv_master.tex
• Experience bank: ${WORKSPACE}/experience-bank/*.md
• Templates: ${WORKSPACE}/templates/*.md
• Build: ${WORKSPACE}/build.sh (Tectonic-based, ATS-friendly LaTeX)