A beginner-friendly walkthrough of everything that goes into one application - not just the resume.
First pass for the general shape of the role. Second pass with a pen: underline every required qualification and every skill/tool named. That underlined list is your keyword list - it's what both the ATS and the human reader are scanning for.
Go back to the Resume tab. Swap your summary's "specialty" line to match this role's emphasis, reorder your bullets so the most relevant ones sit at the top of each job, and make sure the keyword list from Step 1 actually appears somewhere in your Skills or bullets (only if true - don't claim skills you don't have).
Use the Cover Letter tab. Name the company and role specifically, mention one real thing about the company, and lead the body paragraph with your single most relevant achievement. A generic "Dear Sir or Madam" letter is often worse than no cover letter at all.
If they ask for a PDF, send a PDF (use this site's Print/Save as PDF button, not a screenshot or a Word doc). If they ask for specific subject-line formatting on an email application, use it verbatim. Small instruction-following failures are an easy, common reason applications get filtered out before a human ever reads them.
Read both documents out loud - it catches errors silent reading skips. Double check your contact info is current. If possible, have one other person read it too.
Keep a simple running list: company, role, date applied, where you found it, status. A spreadsheet or even a notes file is fine - the point is not relying on memory once you're applying to more than two or three places.
Wait 1-2 weeks after the posting's stated deadline (or 2 weeks after applying if there isn't one), then send a short, polite check-in - ideally to the actual hiring contact if you have one.