Three Tips on How to Tailor a Resume - CareerEnlightenment.com

Three Tips on How to Tailor a Resume It’s your birthday. I’ve bought you a present! Do you want to know what it is?Socks.Happy birthday! WooNot impressed? What? Are you saying I would have made you happier by giving you something you wanted or needed?Well, let me share something with you. It’s the same with sending resumes to recruiters.Writing one resume in response to multiple job offers is the equivalent of giving a recruiter a pair of socks for their birthday. And do you know what happens to birthday socks? You know.Every time you respond to a job offer you need to tailor your resume to that job offer. That means rewriting your resume every time.And while that sounds like a lot of unnecessary work, I assure you that matching your resume to the job description is the only way to make your resume  more exciting than a generic pair of unwanted birthday socks.1. Here’s What Recruiters Really WantThink about this:Recruiters get flooded with an average of 250+ resumes in response to typical a job offer.They only have time to scan each one for a few seconds to see if it has what they want.What do they want?Keywords.Because these “keywords” are the skills and experience that they’ve asked for in the job description.Look at that! They’ve told you what they want.When you base your resume around the keywords, it should be clear to a recruiter that you have what they want.So, grab your trusty pen and mark all of the skills and required experience you can find listed in the job description.2. Three Tips For Tailoring Your ResumeMost of the skills that you’ve marked will fall under one of the following categories.Job-related Skills: Mandatory skills that you need to do the job. Example: DrivingTransferable Skills: Nice to have skills that translate from one job to another. Example: Microsoft OfficeAdaptive Skills: Abstract skills that help you cope with life.  Example: DiscretionTip 1: Find the Job-related Skills Which keywords from the job description are job-related?Hint: are you able t o do the work without it?If you answer no, then it’s a job-related skill. If you are applying for a job as a truck driver and you can’t drive, it’s likely that you are not the droid they’re looking for.Once you’ve located all of the job-related skills, work the ones you have into the top part of your resume. Make sure they also appear at the top of the list in your skills section.You will want to add some of them verbatim. Want to Read More Articles Like This One?Sign up here to receive weekly updates from Career Enlightenment, and never miss another powerful job searching tip! SUBSCRIBE! You have Successfully Subscribed!We hate spam too. Unsubscribe any time. Tip 2: Find the Transferable SkillsYou’ve probably picked up some basic skills from past jobs, such as customer service or the ability to use Microsoft Office. These are all transferable skills that you recycle from one job to another.Most employers need you to have a few of these skills. Some will be required, and some will be “nice to have.” Look at your list of keywords and find the transferable skills.If they are required, make them more prominent on your resume. Also, add transferable skills that you have that are missing from the job offer but that a new employer would find valuable.How do you make a keyword more prominent?First, put it as close to the top third of the resume as possible. Second, add numbers and details.Adding numbers and details makes the keyword more visible and easier to find. Plus, it allows the hiring manager to imagine you achieving the same results for them if they hire you.It works like this:Instead of writing: “Responsible for increasing sales.”Write: “Increased quarterly sales by 10% over 2 years.”Tip 3: Find the Adaptive SkillsIf the job offer asks for an energetic, upbeat, friendly person these are adaptive skills. They are skills that have more to do with your personality.The easiest way to include them is to use them as adjectives to descr ibe yourself.For example:Detail-oriented Sales AssociateOr, you could add a hobbies and interests section to your resume. It’s a great place to show your personality.Add hobbies that require certain characteristics. Do you need to show that you are energetic and friendly? Add a team sport to your interests section.Key TakeawayThe thing to remember is that a resume should give a recruiter what they want.To do that, you must tailor your resume to EVERY job offer.And while that may seem like a pain, it’s one of the few foolproof things that you can do to improve your resume.