Generic applications get generic outcomes, but rewriting a CV from scratch for every role is not sustainable when you are sending fifteen a week. The fix is separating your source material from the document you send.
Keep one master profile
Your master profile is everything: every role, every project, every certification, every language, every metric you can defend. It is deliberately too long to send. It is a library, not a CV.
Then cut, order, and reword per role
- Order — the most relevant experience and skills move up. Relevance beats chronology inside sections that allow it.
- Cut — anything that does not support this application goes. A two-page CV of relevant work beats three pages of everything.
- Reword — the same achievement can be framed for a growth role or an operations role. Same truth, different emphasis.
- Summary — this is the line you should rewrite every single time. It is the first thing read.
The cover letter test
If your cover letter would still make sense with the company name swapped out, it is not a cover letter. Name something specific: a product, a market, a problem in the posting you have solved before.