Standing Out Helps You Beat Unemployment - Or Are You Screened Out?

Most job seekers realize that it's critical to stand out in order to beat unemployment.

But instead of standing out, are you being screened out?

If you need to start standing out and stop being screened out when you're unemployed, here are a few places to start:

• Formatting Gets You Screened Out (rather than standing out): Resumes with "fancy" formatting don't help you stand out, because they take away from the content of your resume ... and that's what employers care about. Unless you're a graphic designer, all that "fancy" formatting does is get your resume screened out by resume screening databases. Note: If you are a graphic designer, ignore this point - Employers are hiring you for design skills, so you want your resume to be a sample of your design work.
• Heavy Resume Customization: Your resume has zero chance of standing out with minor or no customization. Resume screening databases (Applicant Tracking Systems) are designed to screen these types of resumes out. Even if you get past them, your resume looks like you aren't trying to human reviewers, who will screen you out. No customization resumes include applying with your LinkedIn profile or on your smartphone.
• Do More Than Publicly Available Employer Research: You can't stand out when you use the same information as everyone else, which is why publicly available information gives you zero advantage over your competition. Even worse, publicly available information rarely addresses a hiring manager's current needs. Even the job description is almost always recycled from the departing candidate or generic (written by HR and Law departments, rather than the hiring manager). How will you look like the right fit for today's needs, when you base your resume a standardized or old job description?

Want to learn more ways to stand out, rather than being screened out?

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 2024.

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#jobs #resume #career #unemployment