Guest Author: Cathy Eng, CARW, Owner of Resume Rocketeer, Inc.
Website: http://www.resumerocketeer.com
In this competitive job market, there are scores of applicants who are perfect for every job, and are willing to spend extra time tailoring their resume and cover letter to each job to which they apply. If you are serious about your job search, it is essential that you do the same.
Why? That’s because hiring managers know the difference between a blind applicant and someone who took the time to individualize their resume to the experience and skills required for the job. The best way to do that is to use the job description to match with the skills you have to offer.
Pulling keywords and key phrases from the job posting is a great way to use a job description to match your skills with those required. Often, hiring managers are looking for these exact words and phrases when they are scanning through resumes, and if you can at least present most of them, you are on the right track.
Here is an example of a way to do that. You find a great job posting that requires at least five years of experience in a comprehensive customer service supervisory role and a proven ability to cut costs.
Your resume current says: In charge of customer service activities for call center.
You resume should say something more like: More than eight years of high-impact customer service experience, having served in multiple supervisory capacities throughout call center environment and delivered bottom-line savings through process streamlining.
It may look a bit wordy to you at first but the hiring manager will be on the lookout for several words and phrases in that sentence, which will send that resume to the top of the stack.
A word to the wise though: Never make up skills to fit a job description! It will eventually come out that you don’t have those skills, whether hard skills (i.e. computer software) or soft skills (i.e. sales savvy). If the job requires a skill you do not possess, either take the time to learn or look elsewhere. This is not a situation where you should try to “fake it ‘til you make it”.
You don’t need to rewrite your entire resume to personalize it to a job you want; you just need to modify your current document to shine among your dull competitors. Using information directly from job descriptions, specifically keywords and phrases, is a great way to stand out!
Our resume will create first impression. Having a good one will give us the opportunity to catch potential employer’s attention. Let’s have no room for error. Proof read. Not once or twice but at least 10 times. Have someone read it for us to check for grammar lapses and spelling misses. Spell check helps though. Make it short and simple. Concise and straightforward. Sell yourself but do not go overboard.
Sharing my thoughts 🙂
Natalie Loopbaanadvies
“Pulling keywords and key phrases from the job posting is a great way to use a job description to match your skills with those required.”
Great advice. This is what I always say to my reader: Extract keywords from job description and use them in your resume. This will create a more targeted resume and increase your chance of getting a call for interview.