Betcha' Didn't Realize Tailoring Your Resume To Job Descriptions Slows Your Search

The other day I posted a poll on LinkedIn, and it's always fascinating to read what you say as an audience.

In the poll, I asked "What’s Your #1 Way To Make Your Personal Job Search Faster?".

65% of you answered?...?"Tailor resume to description."

I realize this is what you've been taught by outplacement firms, career coaches, friends/mentors and other career resources. But it's also one of the best ways to slow your job search to a crawl.

Here's why tailoring your resume to job descriptions slows your search, rather than making it faster:

• Job descriptions never reflect the current needs of an individual hiring manager.
• Hiring managers rarely write the job description.
• Job descriptions are usually written by the HR and Legal departments, and are generic, standardized to cover many roles, in different departments, for different hiring managers, at different divisions/business units/locations, all with different needs.
• The role of job descriptions are not given to help you customize your resume to fit the hiring manager's needs ... their purpose is to provide legal safety to the employer's hiring, shielding them from HR lawsuits and government compliance actions.
• HR/recruiters search criteria rarely match the criteria in the job description, instead matching an individual hiring manager's current needs.

So why do you think it would speed up your job search, by?customizing?your resume to match a job description that doesn't describe the job or current needs of an individual hiring manager? Why would trying to fit your resume into a generic description that describes the generic needs of many hiring managers in different departments/divisions/business units/locations help you get your resume through ATSs, recommended by recruiters, and interviewed by hiring managers?

You've seen this happen in your own search, when you were told you didn't get the interview, didn't advance or didn't get the offer, because you lacked something that was never on the job description. Remember how frustrating that felt?

That's proof that job descriptions don't reflect an individual hiring manager's current needs, instead a generic description.

Why wouldn't you do a little more work to discover that individual hiring manager's current needs (that aren't on the job description) to gain a big advantage in your job search?

You would, if you knew how, and your job search would be progressing much faster now, with more interviews, more hiring process advancements, more finalist interviews, and more job offers.

I help people solve the most difficult job search problems, including job search acceleration, getting past ATSs, ageism, remote positions, product/job function/career/industry/ geographic change, unemployment, "bouncy" recent career path, job search turnaround, seeking raise/promotion, industry in decline/consolidation, long term gaps, family leave, or other of the most challenging job search issues.

Join me for my next free Resume Webinar (enroll at https://x.resumewebinar.com/register for no charge) and learn how to accelerate your job search, so you can find your next job faster in 2023.

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