From the course: Resume Makeover

Tailor your resume based on a job description

From the course: Resume Makeover

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Tailor your resume based on a job description

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- I've answered this question hundreds of times, and that's not an exaggeration. Do I need to tailor my resume for every job I apply for? The short answer is probably yes. The more closely you can show up on paper as a clear and obvious fit, the better the odds are for landing an interview. So as much as you may hope someone will make deductions for you, "Oh, I see she's good at this, "I'll bet she'll be great at that," it's just not going to happen that way. It's not the reviewer's job to make you make sense for the roles you apply for. That's your job, and the easier you make it for someone to see you as a compelling candidate, the more likely it's going to be that they want to know more. So I would absolutely make at least minor tweaks for every job you apply for. Here are four doable steps for tailoring your resume. First, take a very close look at the Job Description and highlight what you feel are key skills or required experience that match up with your background. This is the most important step. Next, if you're using titles or phrases as a subhead underneath your name, customize this area to align as directly as you can to that role. Remember, you can't fabricate who you are professionally, but you can certainly adjust wording to make it easier for a reviewer to understand how you fit. Now, take a look at your Summary section. Does it speak to the key deliverables, both the hard skills and soft, that you are seeing in that job description? If no, make whatever adjustments you need to, so that this first portion of your resume says, "Hey, I'm a great fit," as soon as someone starts reading it. And last spin through and remove anything, whether that's skills or achievements, that aren't relevant to that job. Get the clutter out, so people can see the most pertinent information. Better still, if you free up room and have any additional highlights to share in place of what you've removed, add that. This might feel like a hassle and I get it, but you want to know what will be a bigger hassle? A prolonged job search. Control what you can control to the absolute best of your ability. Tailoring your resume is absolutely something that you can and should control.

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