The days of having a generic, all-purpose resume has been replaced by the need for highly developed, targeted resumes. Now you must tailor make your resume to fit into the job description offered by the employer. Targeted resumes aren’t just a necessity, they are critical to you finding long term employment. Targeted resumes put forth your best face and allow HR Managers to see exactly what you bring to the company.
Targeted resumes enable a job seeker to market their skills by addressing a specific concern for the company. It allows them to see how your skills and past experiences will fit in closely with what they require. They also use targeted keywords that closely fit and attract attention to the needed qualifications for the position. You should play up your strengths and focus your attention there, but do not dismiss your past failures, embrace them and take responsibilities in them. But you don’t have to make them the focal point.
Chances are your resume is an all-purpose resume. What everyone likes about the all-purpose resume is that its broad and captures the wide appeal of employers. But saving time is not important, if you really want that job you have to have a complete targeted resume for each position you apply for. But don’t toss that original resume just yet, you still can use it as your base for completing your targeted resume.
Steps to creating a targeted resume
Use your all-purpose resume to build off of, this will save you some time in creating a brand new resume every time you apply for a job. It’s actually fairly easy to take your existing resume and tweak it to fit your needs. So here’s how you proceed:
Create your all-purpose resume
Think of everything that you’ve done in past jobs, experiences, education, clubs, sports teams, anything that you could use as a basis for who you are. Your all-purpose resume is the heart of your resume, employers will never see it but it will allow you to paint a lush picture of your overall capabilities.
Review the job requirements
If you find a job you are interested in, look over the job requirements in the ad. Review the requirements and see how your education and experience stack up with what they are looking for. You want the job to be a good fit and this is an important step of the process. Use the job requirements as your basis for altering your all-purpose resume. Highlight what the job requirements highlight. Tailor make your resume to fit what the company is looking for. Be careful not to overindulge.
Develop your targeted resume
When finished with researching requirements, you need to actually alter your resume. Look over your existing resume to see how you can alter it into the final product you will send to HR Managers. Add secondary keywords, accomplishments, training and skills to round out the resume. Your all set, now you just need to ace that interview.
Finding the right Social Media balance takes more than just knowing how to update your profiles. Firing off quick Twitter updates or Facebook comments will not get you noticed on job boards or help you find open positions.
If you’re not receiving the right kind of attention through Social Media, you should change your strategy. You must be able to connect with your Social Media peers. It’s not as simple as it seems and you must be diligent.
Learning on the fly can be hard, but these tips will help you on your way:
1. Update your LinkedIn profile with the most accurate, up-to-date information.
I cannot advocate this enough – you need to a strong representation of your talents, skills and experience in order to have a fully functional LinkedIn account. Review your Summary and Specialties areas with appropriate keywords, phrases and any information prospective employers look for. Have past coworkers give you quality recommendations. Return the favor with similar recommendations from people who have helped you. Build your network by inviting past colleagues and friends who you want to stay connected with.
2. Post your resume to the right online job board.
You want to be highly visible on job sites so that HR managers can find your resume. Some HR managers search job boards, LinkedIn and niche job sites – you need to have your resume in the right place so that when the opportunity comes along you have your resume where people can find it.
3. Update LinkedIn status bar along with your job board resumes.
LinkedIn sends weekly emails to your connections which gives a summary of the activities their connections are involved in. Updating your status allows these connections to know that you are actively looking for a new position.
Recruiters who browse job sites also get weekly updated resume notifications. Whenever you update your resume or save a new one, it gets posted to the job board, allowing HR managers to see your resume more often. Get your name out there!
4. Network!
Talk to your family, friends, colleagues, or anyone. Talk to anyone who might know of an open position with a company you like. You can have them make introductions through LinkedIn to the appropriate person within their company. Many people find their jobs through networking situations, so it’s always a good idea to talk to people and explain that you are interested in their company or open position. Don’t rely on email. You want to be able to actually speak with the right person – putting a face to a voice or an ear to words will go a lot further than simply emailing someone.
5. Create your professional online identity.
This is a combined effort of Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+ in a coordinated effort to showcase your talents, skills and expertise. Building yourself up online gives you credibility beyond simply seeing a resume. If HR managers can find out pertinent information about you online, it will improve your chances.
We had a recent blog post that asked the question, “What type of resume gets a better response – a chronological resume (that lists out accomplishments from each position) or a hybrid resume (that places accomplishments in one place and list positions under a separate headline–or a mix of that)?” There were a lot of questions about which one we thought was the best, but with so many responses we began to wonder what type of resume is best.
What do you think? What’s your opinion on the matter and do you have any tips for maximizing your resume?
We can look at statistics to see that the average HR manager looks over a resume in about 10-15 seconds. So, a hybrid resume where your accomplishments are listed in one area and job listings in another may work to draw attention since the reader can skim your highlights and skills right upfront. If they like what they see, then your chances of them reading further increase. But, if they have to browse to find your qualifications, they will move on to the next resume. Your choice of resume could change depending on what you type of position you’re applying for. Does your field deal heavily in accomplishments or with experience? Look and see what type of requirements are involved before sending your resume.
Of course there are pros and cons to both. One person responded that they found chronological resumes to be the most requested type by companies hiring, and basing their decision off of that, they believe that it’s the most effective form (this is what I hear often as well). If it’s what the company wants, then that’s what you should give them. Also, they believe that a capabilities resume does not do enough to showcase, specifically, what type of work (or the experience level) you had with your past jobs. Some point to chronological resumes being a little to heavy on text, making it hard to get a clear picture of your past. You want to showcase what you’re qualified to do, so find a way that works with your skills. It’s not a bad thing to combine resume types as well.
The important thing is finding a job. That’s the bottom line. Whatever resume type you choose to use, recruiters will see that you are the most complete choice for the position. A great resume can make it easier to find a job.
Resume Best Practices (at a glance)
Hybrid Resume
• Make sure to mention which company you achieve great results – “Reduced overhead by $X for McDonalds Worldwide, LLC.” It frustrates readers if they don’t know where you did what.
• When you make mention of past companies, include information so that they can get a sense of the company’s size and scale, including how your position affected the company, assuring that your involvement was really meaningful.
Chronological Resume
• If you’ve had a lot of jobs, you may want to summarize your earlier info. You don’t need to put work history from the 1980’s and early 90’s on it. Too many jobs looks like you can’t sit still, plus summarizing some of your earlier stuff adds interest and breaks the monotony of job after job after job.
• Add key accomplishments to grab HR manager’s interest.
There’s a fine line between over using keywords in your resume and having just the right touch. It’s trickier than you think to create a effective and dynamic resume, so what do you have to do in order to get the right about of keywords that balance out the resume?
A lot goes into finding the right way to encode your resume. You need to be able to entice HR managers into reading your resume without rehashing the same old thing. Over the past few years, more and more software programs have been designed in order to minimize the time it takes hiring managers to read through the mountain of resumes they receive. Employers’ are dependent on keywords to find candidates that they want to interview. The key is having the right amount of keywords on your resume. Most companies, including Fortune 1000 companies and smaller companies, know how to use these technologies to assist in finding new hires, so you have to know how to take advantage of the same processes that they do. According to the National Resume Writers’ Association, more than 80 percent of resumes are searched for job-specific keywords.
How do you determine the right keywords?
In most cases, job-specific keywords are nouns. Resume writers have long used action verbs in their resume creation, and that same model is still used. But, what are the action nouns that you need? They depend on the type of position you’re applying for, your field and the type of career you seek. Still, there are many words that will work for a standard, first draft resume.
Say for instance that you’re applying for a customer service job. Some keywords for that job could be “customer database” or “upgrading software”. Review the job description in order to find keywords that match potential employers searches. The typical keywords are often related to the skills and experience each employer will be seeking in new candidates. Other times keywords are precise keywords that HR managers are looking for in order to eliminate a wide swath of candidates. If you do not have “IT Administrative Privileges” as part of your keywords, you will be overlooked for that specific position.
Narrowing down your keyword choices.
You do not want to load up your resume too much with keywords. Instead, sprinkle the right keywords throughout your resume.
One idea to add more keywords is by creating a “Areas of Expertise” or “Core Competencies” section. This way you can add in keywords that represent the bulk of your qualifications in a space that is acceptable to the majority of HR managers. This does not penalize you, but instead enhances what you’ve accomplished.
Because you do not know all of the keywords HR managers will use, it’s a good idea to make use of synonyms or jargon words that will appeal to more specific searches. There are a lot of options available so get some help from a professional resume writer.
Today’s Guest Post is by Medical Sales Recruiter, Peggy McKee
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The era of the thank you note after a job interview is over.
Well, not the actual “thank you,” just the delivery system.
It’s critically important that you thank the interviewer for the opportunity, but it’s also critically important that you get it to him within 24 hours. And a handwritten, snail-mailed note just won’t do that. Send an email.
Many people still extol the virtues of the handwritten thank you note as a way to demonstrate your good manners and set yourself apart in the interview process. But while that’s nice, it’s not necessarily effective. A well-written thank you note already demonstrates your good manners and excellent communications skills. You don’t need to put a stamp on it to do that.
But there’s something else that comes into play here: As a recruiter, I know that many hiring decisions are made quickly. You can’t wait to send your thank you just in case this window of opportunity is one that will close quickly.
What should you make sure you include in your message?
In your thank you email, you should talk about how much you appreciated the opportunity to meet with them, how much you enjoyed learning more about the organization, how you think your x, y, and z skills will really help their company with a, b, and c issues, and how you’re looking forward to talking with them further about this process.
If you meet with 4 people, you need to send 4 thank you emails.
But here’s one note of caution: While I’m all for sending your note quickly, don’t go too far and try to send it with a text from your phone. There are too many opportunities for mistakes-and they have been made. Stick with your email-and spell check it.
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Peggy McKee has over 15 years of experience in sales, sales management, sales recruiting, and career coaching. She has one of the best blogs I’ve ever read and it is jam-packed with information you need to get into medical sales or increase your sales. Go to https://www.phcconsulting.com and see for yourself.
Have you wanted to sign up with LinkedIn but thought it sounded too complicated to begin? Just another profile to maintain? Oh, no. I’m here to tell ya–LinkedIn is a wonderful job search tool and (hopefully) here to stay.
You need to get around your hesitations in order to get your resume to the right people. One way to do that is to register with LinkedIn and develop a well crafted online business profile. If you’re not registered on LinkedIn yet, you are missing an excellent opportunity to get your name out. After you’ve registered, invite all of your friends and colleagues. The more connections you have there, your chances of forming an extended business network of your closest friends and associates rises – including their first and secondary connections.
Once you have your LinkedIn account set up and established some connections, use the search feature to try and learn as much about the different HR managers or corporate recruiters information. You can use the drop down menu to search for people and then type in the company name. Go through the results in order to find the people located in HR or people in leadership roles that you can befriend.
Start contacting these people through the following methods:
- If you see someone that’s a secondary connection (one of your friends is friends with them through a first degree LinkedIn connection), click “Get introduced through a connection” and add this person as a connection. This allows your personal friend to send a message to that person. Also, you can send your resume to your friend and have them forward it on to their first degree connections. Make sure you ask them to put in a good word for you.
- One option is to upgrade your LinkedIn subscription in order to send HR managers or recruiters a LinkedIn “Inmessage”. The cost is relative compared to the insider level it provides.
- See if you can find the HR manager’s email address through Google by searching their name and the company name through Google’s robust search features. If their contact information comes up in the search findings, you can contact them that way. Their information may be listed in a directory so it may take some time.
- If you can not find a valid email address, and the job requires that you apply by emailing a certain name, such as John Smith at jsmith@bigbiz.com, then you all ready know what the email address will look like. So if you’re trying to email Kate Clayton at the same company, then the email address is likely kclayton@bigbiz.com. Use this and send them a personal email with your resume attached.
Another option is to call the company and ask to speak with the HR manager by getting their name and information from LinkedIn. If the information is not available on LinkedIn, then the switchboard operator at the company may provide the email address and phone number.
Being passed over for a job never feels good. You wonder why the company rejected you and you think that maybe you’re doing something, unknowingly, that is causing you to lose out on career opportunities. The good news, if you can look at the silver lining, is that you now have an opportunity to learn from your mistakes and correct them. You just need to figure out where your mistakes were made and how to avoid making them again.
Rejected at the Resume Stage:
Many times you can place the blame on your resume not meeting the keyword search criteria companies look for in submitted resumes. For example, when an HR manager is looking for a Social Media Expert, they will scan the resume for words such as “HTML Proficient” or “Extensive Social Media Experience” in order to see if the candidate’s expertise and career history matches what they’re looking for. If your resume does not contain keywords that relate to the position you are applying for, your resume may be overlooked right from the get-go.
Correct this situation easily by updating your resume using keywords found in the job description. There are different software options that you can use to identify keywords, but you can also do this on your own, or if you are able to, hire a professional resume writer who is trained specifically to create a resume that is rich in keywords to highlight your best skills.
If you’ve been rejected due to having more experience than the position calls for, you can also make changes to your resume to avoid this issue in the future.
- Delete past jobs that do not correspond to your current search.
- Do not list positions that you have had more than 15 years ago. This makes you seem more expensive and narrows your opportunities.
- Add a personal brand statement to your resume that specifically states that how you are qualified for the position.
Rejected at the Interview Stage:
Think back through the interview. Were there any specific areas that the interviewer negatively focused on? Did they show concern for one area over another? How did you answer specific questions related to the position you were interviewing for? A client once told me that an interviewer remarked that he had had a lot of jobs over a short period of time. My client didn’t know how to respond, and even though he thought the interview went well, he didn’t think that the interviewer could get past that part of the interview, as my client didn’t get an offer extended to him. If you think that you’ve slipped up during the interview, then email the interviewer and ask about how the interview went. Meanwhile, take some time and research tips for being prepared for interviews and interview questions to ensure that you are ready the next time you get called for an interview.
Think honestly about the position. Were you truly qualified for that position or was the company a good match for you? Often times, interviewers can see through veiled attempts to just “land a job”. If this is the case, just accept that the position or company was not right for you and move on. Always make sure that you are applying for jobs that are suitable to your skillset and personality. You may not have all of the qualifications required for the position you are applying for, but if you can show that you have some of skills required for the position, you may still have a shot at getting the job.
Having a resume that truly markets all you have to offer and being fully prepared for a job interview will help you land the right career with the right company. The job search process can be frustrating and tireless at times. Keep a positive attitude and always find ways to evaluate your performance and keep on improving!
A recruiter once gave me an excellent tip when she said to change my resume every time I applied for a job. Why I asked? She told me that company recruiters will often use a keyword search to select the candidates that they feel matches the position. This keeps them from having to sort through the hundreds of resumes they receive. She said that if the resume does not have the keywords that they look for, then they typically go into the rejected pile.
Depending on the position you’re applying for, you should use words that will notify HR managers about your qualifications. For example, if you’re looking for a position as the Vice President of an accounting company you might want to include words such as:
- Tax Accounting
- Reconciliations
- Profit and Loss Statements
It can be very difficult to find a job in today’s economic climate, and looking for high level or executive work requires a keen eye, and often, knowing someone whose already in the organization. After updating your resume, send it to your friends in the industry and see if they are able to direct it to the appropriate HR managers.
If you’re looking for a job as an administrative assistant you should use the following words when updating your resume:
- Ability to type 80 wpm
- Microsoft Office
- Mac office
- Reception
- Phone support
No matter the type of work you’re looking for make sure you ask past colleagues or friends if they know of any open positions within their companies. It’s always an excellent decision to put your feelers out and see what kind of work is available. And always change up your resume to meet the requirements of the job. It may be a entry-level position, but as long as you can turn it into something down the road, it may be worth looking into.
Tips for Working with Keyword Search Software
Many companies will use a type of software that identifies keywords in resumes. But what can you do to beat these machines?
Revise your resume so it includes keywords included in the job description during your opening. Take for example, if the job description says, “Coordinate and develop websites and blogs,” your resume must include keywords such as “websites” and “blogs”. But only if you have the experience, of course…
Update your multipurpose resume with frequently used keywords so that you do not have to revise it every time you have another job interview. One idea is to revise it every six months in order to stay current. Newer keywords may be used in the future, so stay current with them.
Add the most important keywords to your cover letter. Don’t over do it though. You just want to have a few of the choice words that HR managers are looking for.
