Are You Forgetting to Do These Things Before Sending Your Resume?

Your resume is the one document that opens all the doors during a job search. Hiring managers take one look at it and decide whether or not you move forward in the hiring process. In order to make a strong impression, it is imperative that you customize your resume for every job posting you consider. Here are a few essential tips on resume tailoring.

Start With a Master Template

Tailoring your resume to each job doesn't require starting over from scratch each time. Keep it simple by drafting a master resume, which you can then use as a general template. Create an all-encompassing resume that includes every single job you've ever held, as well as all of your accomplishments, skills and information. You may end up with a two or three-page document, and that's okay. Having all the information at your disposal in the beginning makes it much easier to edit later.

Keywords

Most big companies use applicant tracking software to sift through the hundreds of resumes they receive for each job posting. The way to make it past this software is to plump your resume with keywords relevant to the job description. Read over the job description a few times, and jot down the most prominent phrases. Weave these into your professional summary, work history and skills list for a greater chance of being highlighted as a good match by the company's software.

Tailor Your Cover Letter Too

A beautifully customized resume becomes a tragedy if paired with a generic boilerplated cover letter. The cover letter is essentially your resume's opening act, and as such, it should be customized using the same keywords and type of language. Make sure your cover letter is addressed to the actual person who will be reading it.

Check Your Results

Once you've finished customizing your resume to a particular job posting, check your work by uploading the finished product into a cloud generator. The generator will scan your resume and produce a cloud of terms that are most prominent. If the words you see in the cloud are not major skills or relevant keywords, try rewriting your resume to include more of the right terms. Another way to check your results is by using Jobscan, which runs an applicant tracking software simulation against both your resume and the job description, and then tells you how well your resume matches.

Tailoring your resume is one of the most effective ways to ensure it makes a big impact with potential employers. It may seem like a lot of work, but hiring managers expect nothing less from the candidates they recruit. Taking the time to customize your resume for each job offer pays off with more callbacks, more interviews and more chances to land that dream job.

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