Resources
Why a tailored resume invents facts
A model asked to match a job posting will fill gaps with plausible employers, dates, and numbers. Those tokens read well and are still false. The fix is a publish check against the source resume, not a better prompt.
Key takeaways
- Keyword coverage and truth are different jobs. Covering a requirement you do not have is fabrication.
- RoleCandid extracts dates, money, percents, and proper names from the Word file and from the source resume. A new token blocks publish.
- In a controlled grading packet, a resume that names Nimbus Analytics when the source only has Harbor Systems is blocked as fabrication. That packet is synthetic. It is not a person.
- A Word file whose text lives in text boxes is a photocopy, not a tailored resume. Publish calls that photocopy-docx.
How invention happens
Job descriptions list tools, metrics, and employers. A rewrite that is scored on overlap will insert those strings. The sentence still sounds like work history. The candidate never did that work. This is the usual failure of unconstrained resume tailoring, not a rare edge case.
Dates are the quiet version of the same bug. Stretching 2021 into 2021-2024, or adding a headcount the source never stated, is a new number. It often survives a human skim because it is small.
What the publish rule actually compares
At publish, RoleCandid is not scoring prose. It extracts years, year ranges, money, percents, and proper names from the download and from the attributed source resume. If a token in the download is absent from the source, the File record is not written. The user does not get a download that introduced that token.
The in-repo decide task uses that rule on synthetic Word bytes. The source fact base names Harbor Systems in 2021. The finished file names Nimbus Analytics. Expected verdict: passed false, failure type fabrication, blocked tokens proper:nimbus, proper:analytics, and proper:nimbus analytics. Rewrite the same experience without the new employer and the produce task expects a pass.
Photocopy files fail for a different reason
Some Word files look like resumes and store every line in a text box. There is no body text to parse, so there are no section headers and no tokens to compare. The diagnose task expects failure type photocopy-docx. RoleCandid will not treat that file as a tailored resume.
What a pass does not mean
A pass means the download did not introduce dates, numbers, or names missing from the source. It does not mean the posting is a fit, that an ATS will rank the file, or that anyone will reply. Those outcomes are outside the product.
FAQ
Invention, publish, and photocopy files
Why do tailored resumes invent employers?
A model that is asked to match keywords will fill a gap with a plausible company, title, or date. That reads well and is still a false claim.
What does RoleCandid check at publish?
Dates, money, percents, and proper names in the Word file are compared with the source resume. A token that is new blocks the download record.
What is a photocopy Word file?
A file whose text lives in text boxes instead of a readable body. It looks like a resume and cannot be parsed as one. Publish treats that as photocopy-docx, not as a tailored resume.
Does a pass mean the resume will get interviews?
No. A pass means the file did not introduce dates, numbers, or names that were absent from the source. Screening outcomes are outside this product.
Start in the workspace
Tailor the posting you actually have.
Sign in or create an account. Starter is US$19 per month. If the posting asks for a qualification your resume does not support, that requirement stays a gap.