How to Rework a Resume for Each Application
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Resumes can be the gateway to a new job or why you didn’t land an opportunity. So it is key to strengthen them as you job hunt. In this post, we examine how to rework a resume for each application.?
Your resume can be a game-changer or a door-closer when job hunting.?
“Seventy-five percent of resumes are rejected before they reach the hiring manager,” thanks to the applicant tracking system (ATS) according to Top Resume . “ATS collects, sorts, scans, and ranks scans, and ranks the resumes it receives for open positions, rejecting the ‘least-qualified’ candidates based on format and content. It also eliminates resumes that don't match up with the job description due to lack of keywords.”
Despite that statistic, you don’t need a full rework of your resume for each application. Minor changes can often do the trick.?
“The condition is you have a strong foundational resume to start with that not only outlines what you have done, but cherry picks what you want to continue doing, ” Chameleon Resumes CEO Lisa Rangel said. “What you are applying to and what you are targeting should reflect what you want to continue doing.”?
“So, you shouldn't have to rewrite [your resume] and redo it every time. In my opinion, if you have one of those kitchen sink [kinds] of resumes, where you have everything you've ever done [on it], you may have to cherry-pick some things out to meet whatever the job needs that you're targeting.”?
It is also a good idea to remove things from your resume you don’t want to continue doing, Rangel said.?
“I think if you have a really good strategy and a foundational document that supports that strategy…[you should just do] small tweaks to customize it.”
I chatted with Rangel, resume writer and personal branding strategist Meg Applegate , and SkillsCamp founder and CEO Bailey Parnell to learn how to rework a resume for each application.?
Self-Assess Before Reworking Your Resume for Applications
Determine what role you want before revamping your resume so you can better structure it to land the job.?
“The pre-work before the resume is having a clear job target,” Applegate said. “So I recommend [narrowing down to] one to three complementary roles. You need to be really clear on where you want to go.?
“Your resume is a marketing document. In the past, it was like an exhaustive list of everything. Now we are curating the information towards your forward career direction. I don't think you should be reworking your entire document for every application. I recommend setting a timer for 20 minutes and tweaking your master resume towards the job you are applying for.”
Doing a self-assessment can give you the clarity you need to identify what to put on your resume, Rangel said, adding if you are struggling with that pre-work, try having exploratory conversations instead.?
“You start to learn about what you want to do a little bit more, what you don't want to do,” Rangel said.?
List Keywords and Soft Skills on Your Resume
Accentuate the soft skills you learned in your positions, Parnell said, adding recruiters often look for those skills.?
Using numbers on your resume also helps, Parnell said. “Anything you can quantify into a literal number, like if you managed an event where 50,000 people attended that might be less relevant to your job in the day-to-day, but it kind of sticks out in the brain.”?
Soft skills are intangible skills like communication, creativity, and emotional intelligence.??
It is also crucial to include keywords in your resume that match the job descriptions you are applying to.?
View your resume as a marketing tool – and a “piece of strategic communication and storytelling” as you make those tweaks, Parnell said.?
“What it says, what it looks like is part of any strategic story,” Parnell said. “It is very important to reflect keywords back to hiring managers…[more than] it is to have a cover letter.”
Keywords help recruiters find you on LinkedIn. They can help identify whether you are a good fit for a job when you have the right ones on your resume.?
Applegate suggested adding those keywords throughout your resume and including them in your skills and summary sections.
“I recommend two lines of a keyword section,” Applegate said. “You are pulling those words from the job description or referencing themes that you heard in a networking conversation.
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“I use customer experience and customer success as examples. Both are the same thing and they are the same job function, but different companies call it customer success and different companies call it customer experience. So if you are referring to customer experience throughout your resume and they refer to it as customer success, just swap that language. You want to feel like you are speaking their lingo.”
In addition, make small changes to your summary.?
“I call it a branding statement,” Applegate said. “It is not an objective statement where it is like, ‘I'm looking for [xyz].’ The branding statement is about you, but it is actually about the company. So you are saying, ‘Hey, this is who I am. This is my unique value promise. This is what I bring to the table. This is how I uniquely do my work.’”
“It is like a one- to three-sentence statement and then a few bullet points below that show the impact you have had. Sometimes, I pair it with a keyword. So we will go with customer success, for example, and then show how you have made an impact in that area with the data like that quantifiable metrics.?
“That top third of the resume is a snapshot of who you are. So, if they don't read any more of your resume, they know who you are, what job you are targeting and what you uniquely bring to the table and the value you bring. It is kind of like the trailer before the movie.”?
Pay Attention to Key Elements in Your Resume and Revamp Them as Needed
Your resume title should reflect the type of job you are looking for, Rangel said, adding job seekers should also look at the top three to five bullet points of job descriptions.?
Those top bullet points are usually the most important aspects of the job, Rangel said. So, it is essential to show how your recent relevant experience matches those job qualifiers.?
Pay attention to the length of your resume as well.?
“A general rule I tend to use is if you have under 10 years of experience, one page is fine,” Rangel said. “If you have over 10 years of experience, two pages is more than fine and totally acceptable. I don't think you have to cram 25 years of experience onto one page.?
“The key is to write in a way that motivates the eye to keep moving through the document. And that includes even a one-page resume.”
You can achieve that by writing a compelling summary and using white space.?
“If they start with the summary and see you worked at a really cool company or you went to a really great school [that can compel them to keep reading],” Rangel said. “Pepper the summary with some of that resume eye candy.?
“Another tactic is use white space, don't cram it. If it is easier on the eye, the eye can move through it more easily.”?
Also, format your promotions differently than your tenure, Nagel said. Write those different dates out to show the progress you made at a company.?
How to Revamp Your Resume for Job Applications When It is Receiving No Responses
It is easy to be discouraged when applying for jobs and not landing interviews.
If this happens to you, reassess, look at job descriptions, and make sure you have matching keywords in your resume, but also ask friends or family members to look at it.?
Ask friends for constructive feedback and specifics about what could strengthen your resume, Parnell said. She also suggested using free online resources like Visual CV , which offers free resume templates and samples, and encouraged not shying away from showing your personality in your resume.?
“It makes it more dynamic for you and for them,” Parnell said. “It can have a little bit of design. Why not add a color? Why not add a font? I've seen photos too.”?
Also, look at resume templates. Search for templates for your field on Canva, Etsy, Pinterest, and via a general Google search.
When job hunting, your entire resume does not need to change each time you apply but making small changes can boost your chances. Start with a self-assessment of the types of roles you want to apply for, include keywords from job descriptions in your resume, and tweak it to make it a more compelling read from start to finish.?
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How to rework a resume for each application??
Nationally Certified Mental Health Counselor
2 年I really do think résumé s are overly rated. If the interviewer has predetermined views of who they want to hire, the resume has little importance. If the people reviewing your resume do not have the integrity to discern those in the hiring process it is a win lose situation. A loss for the applicant and a win for the narcissistic tendencies of people who support cronyism, nepotism, and outright discrimination. Make no doubt about it, black folks are highly engaged in these behaviors. Reminds me of a conversation I had with a older gentleman about voting and Jim Crow laws. When the poll tax was eliminated, blacks were engaged with foolish questions in order to vote, like “How many fish are in the ocean”. The same is true for resumes and potential job seekers. If the people doing the hiring are without integrity the applicant will be left feeling inadequate despite their experience or ability to structure a resume. Just my opinion.
Dynamic, Accomplished and Energetic Change Agent with a demonstrated passion and ability to provide equity to improve our collective quality of life.
2 年Thanks for sharing
Lead Customer service manager at Harmons Grocery
2 年Wow, I really needed this, thank you.