It’s time to realize how important it is to tailor your resume to the job you are applying to. I can’t begin to tell you how many resumes I have received over the years with off subject objectives or long, lengthy resumes that leave me wondering what key expertise a candidate brings to the table.
Elli Sharef offers advice in an article on Mashable about the importance of a focused and concise resume. Before submitting your resume for a particular posting, be sure to review your objective, pay attention to the focused skills throughout your resume, and stay concise.
Objective
Your resume objective is the first thing on your resume, other than your name and contact information. The objective gives your future employer an idea of what your desires are in your next position. Make sure that your objective falls in line with the position you are applying to. For instance, if you are applying to an individual contributor role such as an Equipment Engineer, please make sure your objective does not mention that you are looking for a position to “utilize your management skills” or something similarly off base.
Skills Focused
Always make sure that your resume is geared towards the skills required for the job you are applying to. As mentioned on Mashable, it’s very important that you focus on one or two specific skills versus including a hodgepodge of many different skills into your resume. This makes it very difficult to the hiring manager or recruiter to determine your key expertise. Believe it or not, everyone is not looking for a Jack of all Trades.
If you are applying to a position that requires experience in compliance, make sure that your resume clearly highlights your experience in compliance.
Keep it Concise
There are few things more painful for a recruiter or hiring manager than receiving a 5 paged resume. If your resume is longer than 2 pages, you may likely be passed by for a shorter, more concise resume. No one has time to read pages and pages of your experience when weeding through hundreds of resumes. Center your resume around key highlights and also create a more detailed portfolio of experience that you can provide in your first interview.
By creating a portfolio, this touches on the suggestion of “show versus tell”, as mentioned in the article on Mashable. A portfolio will allow you to provide work samples or quotas and achievements, backing up the concise overview of experience you have provided in your 1 – 2 page resume.
By paying attention to resume objective, focus, and conciseness, you have a better chance of attracting attention from potential employers and recruiters. Remember, less can be more at times.
Have you tried tailoring your resume toward specific jobs? If so, have you noticed an increased interest from potential employers?
these are great, thanks.
i just wanted to add that using the right keywords in resume’s is very important as most recruiters use management software to search for candidates with relevant skills. i actually just wrote an article on this at http://bit.ly/XcPtER if anyone is interested :)