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. It’s not amazing that you might not know exactly how to put it in action. What does tailoring your resume actually involve? How many changes do you need to make? What content should you focused on? It might sound like a lot work, but it’s really quite manageable. Here are a few tips for tailoring your resume to the job;

REVIEW THE JOB DESCRIPTIONS AND QUALIFICATIONS

Once you’re ready to apply for job postings, review the job descriptions and qualifications and make edits to your resume-including rearranging/modifying your qualifications summary so that your key accomplishments match those required in the job. Next, use the wording the employer uses to describe the ideal candidate to describe your accomplishments. Your end result should be resume that mirrors the requirements the employer seeks.

MAKE SURE YOUR OBJECTIVE FALLS IN LINE WITH THE POSITION

Your resume objective is also one of the major part 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 Equipment Engineer, please make sure your objective does not mention that you are looking for a position to utilize your management skills or something similar off base.

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 passes 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 on key highlights and also create a more detailed portfolio of experience that you can provide in your first interview.

CUT OUT EVERYTHING IRRELEVANT

When it comes to how to fill out the rest of your resume-listing other activities, volunteering, skills and hobbies-you don’t have to make sure everything is catered to just the keywords even though they should be the focus. However, you should omit anything that isn’t in some way relevant to the job in general. Proficiency with various software programs is relevant, as are your volunteer experiences that involve creating ads and online content, so definitely include them. However, your hobbies of cooking and sea glass collecting will not make your resume but could break it, so you should absolutely not include that type of information.

DON’T FORGET TO KEEP IT REAL

Lastly, while I strongly suggest you take the time to tailor each resume to the job you’re applying for, the customization has to be real and reasonably in proportion to the rest of your resume or it will look like you’re trying to snow them. So by all means keep it real, while still making sure they get the suggest picture of how well you do fit. That’s the whole point. Of course, if you don’t really fit, you can customize until the cows come home and you won’t get the job. You’re just working to make sure you maximize their understanding of what a great fit you could be.

NOTE: A Resume is the same as Curriculum Vitae (CV).

SOURCE: Patrick Okunima CV Writing Services

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