Tailored Suits Fit Better. Same For Resumes.

Yes.

But I didn't ask a question yet...

That's how confident I am in that you SHOULD be making some tweaks to your resume for every job you are APPLYING for. Let me explain.

When you are apply to a role on a job board, while there are no "ATS bots", recruiters will use an ATS to sift through resumes. They will likely review every resume, but for large applicant pools, logically, they will need to find ways to increase efficiency... this will most commonly be done by search through the applications with a Boolean String and keywords.(most ATS programs will then highlight these keywords on a resume making it easy to see where the skills are... and more highlights, the better.)

What keywords will they be using?!

The answer will almost always be found in the job description. As you look through the posting, keep in mind some specific details you are noticing.

• Are there skills that are listed as mandatory? Include them.
• Are there skills that are listed as assets? Include them.
• Are there certifications listed as desirable? Include them.

(this is assuming you have said skills and certifications)

If you are applying for similar roles in your search, a lot of these keywords will likely be scattered throughout all the postings. Making a conscious effort to modify and review your resume for every application will ensure a couple other things...

• Maybe there was a typo you didn't notice on your first application.
• Maybe as you reviewed more and more job postings, you found some other commonalities that you didn't originally include.
• Maybe you realize that your resume had too much information or was difficult to read.

To modify a resume does not mean you are going to be rewriting it for every post. It simply means that you make some minor changes to an existing resume to slightly tailor it for the posting your are applying to. When you buy a suit and get it tailored... do they make a whole new suit? Of course not. Does it fit much better after the changes? Absolutely!

I've been on the job seeker side and can understand how daunting and time consuming the job search can be... but if you can make some minor steps to land a job quicker, does it not make sense to do so?

Something that I personally did when I was applying to jobs, was have a master resume saved as a Word Doc. I would make changes to this resume and resave it as a PDF and title the file as Name - Job Title - Company Name. This adds a little personal touch to the application and I am CONFIDENT it will help your profile stand out just a little bit more.

As always, this post is based off personal experience from being a Recruiter for 4 years. While I believe with high certainty, many Recruiters in the industry will agree with these points, there is no perfect process to the job search. It's always best to try new strategies, especially if your original is not working.

Signed,

Jesse.