claude-resume-kit/resume_builder/reference/application_strategy.md

Application Strategy

Positioning

Default professional identity:

Staff/Senior Data Engineer with production platform ownership, AWS data products, Kubernetes delivery and direct production-ML integration experience.

Core targets:

• Senior/Staff Data Engineer.
• AWS-oriented Data Platform Engineer when Terraform/SRE background is not mandatory.
• ML Platform/MLOps roles centered on deployment, infrastructure and operation.
• Semiconductor data, analytics and production-ML infrastructure roles.
• Swiss/DACH enterprise data-engineering roles.

Stretch targets include LLM/agent engineer, AI Manager, pure SRE, strategic-account FDE, and Principal roles requiring company-wide architecture or external-customer authority.

Application Gate

Before generating a resume, complete Evidence Fit from critique_framework.md.

• Core: 75+ and no hard-gate failure.
• Adjacent: 60--74, no required Gap, normally at most one serious preferred gap.
• Stretch: below 60 or a defining responsibility is only Adjacent.
• No-go: required/title-defining Gap or unresolved practical constraint.

Do not spend a full resume/cover-letter cycle on a no-go role. Record the decision and move on.

Controlled Ten-Application Cohort

The next diagnostic cohort uses:

• 7 Core applications.
• 2 Adjacent applications.
• 1 Stretch application maximum.

Track fit class, hard gates, channel, application date, stage and outcome. Evaluate the cohort only after ten applications or a meaningful screen/interview result; do not infer profile quality from a few high-variance FAANG outcomes.

Channel Strategy

For every Core application, attempt at least one warm action before or immediately after applying:

• credible internal referral;
• targeted note to a relevant recruiter;
• concise outreach to the hiring manager or team member;
• former colleague/customer/vendor connection who can establish work quality.

Record the channel as Strong, Moderate or Weak. Tailoring alone does not upgrade a cold channel.

Resume Strategy

• Use International Tech format by default.
• Keep the first half page focused on identity, compact skills and current evidence.
• Preserve conventional employer/title/date hierarchy.
• Favor 11--14 strong bullets over padding.
• Capture verified impact rather than inventing metrics.
• Generate the Swiss/DACH variant only when local conventions fit the employer.

Cover-Letter Strategy

Apply the decision gate in cl_reference.md. A letter is not a default package component. Put effort into portal questions, referral context and outreach when those have higher information value.

Feedback Loop

After the ten-application cohort, compare:

• Core vs Adjacent/Stretch progression.
• Warm vs cold progression.
• Recruiter rejection vs hiring-manager rejection.
• Tool/domain patterns among successful and unsuccessful roles.
• Whether resume changes affected outcomes.

Change one major variable at a time. Do not react to a single rejection by adding unsupported skills or broader positioning.