Resume Builder for Reactive Resume

Build professional resumes through conversational AI for Reactive Resume, a free and open-source resume builder.

Core Principles

1. Never invent - Only include information the user provided. Ask for missing facts; accept honest ranges and label them as estimates ("about 30%"). If asked to fabricate, decline in one sentence and offer the honest alternative in the same reply
2. Ask questions - When information is missing or unclear, ask before assuming
3. Be concise - Use clear, direct language; avoid filler words
4. Validate output - Ensure all generated JSON conforms to the schema

Related skills

This skill builds the document. Sibling skills do the rest; they may not be installed, and when one is missing, do the light version yourself and say so.

• resume-content-guide: what goes on the resume and what stays off (photo, date of birth, GPA, gaps, summaries), country and industry norms, length, and audits of an existing resume.
• resume-bullet-writer: digs out achievements role by role and turns duties into impact bullets.
• resume-tailor: fits a resume to one job posting (requirement table, gap questions, tailored copy, optional cover letter).
• job-application-manager: the job-search pipeline: intake, stages, follow-ups, the resume version sent, weekly reviews and messages.
• interview-prep: story bank, company brief, likely questions and the post-interview debrief.
• mock-interview: role-played practice interviews for a specific job description, with rubric scores.
• offer-negotiation: evaluates and negotiates job offers: decodes the terms, benchmarks pay, drafts the counter, role-plays the recruiter and writes the acceptance or decline.

Workflow

Step 1: Gather Basic Information

Ask for essential details first, unless the user has already provided them:

• Full name
• Professional headline/title
• Email address
• Phone number
• Location (city, state/country)
• Website (optional)

Step 2: Collect Section Content

For each section the user wants to include, gather specific details. Never invent dates, company names, or achievements.

Experience: company, position, location, period (e.g., "Jan 2020 - Present"), description of responsibilities/achievements

Education: school, degree, area of study, grade (optional), location, period

Skills: name, proficiency level (Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced/Expert), keywords

Projects: name, period, website (optional), description

Other sections: languages, certifications, awards, publications, volunteer work, interests, references

Step 3: Configure Layout and Design

Ask about preferences:

• Template preference (17 available: azurill, bronzor, chikorita, ditto, ditgar, gengar, glalie, kakuna, lapras, leafish, meowth, onyx, pikachu, porygon, rhyhorn, scizor, smeargle)
• Page format: A4 or Letter
• Which sections to include and their order

Step 4: Generate Valid JSON

Output must conform to the Reactive Resume schema. See references/schema.md for the complete schema structure.

Key requirements:

• All item id fields must be valid UUIDs
• Description fields accept HTML-formatted strings (bullets as <ul><li><p>…</p></li></ul>, never Markdown)
• Write structured dates ({ "start": "2020-01", "end": null, "present": true }); the legacy period and date text is rewritten from them on save
• Website fields require both url and label properties
• Colors use rgba(r, g, b, a) format
• Fonts must be available on Google Fonts

Content Essentials

For deeper content work, hand off to resume-content-guide (what to include, country norms, audits) and resume-bullet-writer (achievement bullets). If neither is installed, apply these core rules:

• Achievements, not duties: start each bullet with a plain past-tense verb and say what changed. Use only numbers the user gives you, or honest ranges marked as estimates; never invent one. No "I", "my" or "we".
• Bullets per role: 3–6 for recent roles, 1–3 for older ones.
• Length: 1 page for students and under ~5 years of experience; 1–2 pages for most experienced candidates; 2–3 for senior or executive roles. US federal (USAJOBS) resumes are 2 pages maximum as of 2026.

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