How much should I tailor my resume for each job application?
Why light resume tailoring beats a full rewrite every time and how to massage titles and bullets without misrepresenting yourself.
We recommend changing very little: basically, just your current or past job titles, perhaps your first bullet point (your "anchor"), and maybe your listed skills in the Skills section (you may even just want to reorder skills depending on which of your skills each individual job prioritizes the highest). Don't change too much from job to job: you'll drive yourself insane.
"Change my title? Is that even legal?!"
Yep – much like the points in Who's Line Is It Anyway?, titles are made up and don't matter. You should make your titles better match the roles you're applying to (without eerily matching it identically). Of course, make sure not to misrepresent yourself.
For example, if your current role is "Software Engineer," and you're applying for a "Front-End Engineer" role, and you do indeed do front-end engineering, perhaps consider changing your title to "Front-End Software Engineer." There is absolutely no harm in doing this, but it will signal to the screener that you absolutely can do (and are doing) this job.
"Don't companies care?!"
No. They won't find out, and even if they do, honestly, as long as your resume title is close to what your title really is – and accurately represents what you do – they're gonna move forward with an offer. They don't talk to your current company's references until they're ready to make an offer at the finish line, and an extra or missing word in your title isn't going to make them balk at that stage.*
(*Disclaimer: 99% of the time. Take the risks you're personally comfortable with.)