Customizing your resume for the job has a ton of benefits

If your resume is not getting you the kind of results you want for your job search, it is time for a major resume revamp. When rewriting your resume, you must take care to customize it for the specific job description. This will ensure that your resume gets noticed by the ATS as well as the hiring manager.

When you submit the same resume for every job application, you will be ignoring several requirements of each employer. A generic resume can offer only so much information about your skills related to a particular job title. If you want to grab the hiring manager’s attention as the perfect candidate for a particular job, you need to tailor your resume specifically for that employer.

First of all, you must review the employer’s job description. We advise you to print out the job description if possible. This will help you be more productive at spotting and highlighting keywords. If you are viewing the job description on a smart device, use a word processor to highlight the keywords you notice. The keywords will be a set of skills, years of experience, experiences, knowledge of tools, and software familiarity which you will be expected to have to be qualified for the position. Once you spot these keywords, it will be very easy to tailor your resume to the job description.

First, work on your resume headline. Choose one or two important keywords that you would like to mention in your resume headline. These keywords must be impressive, to grab the attention of the reader. Ex: “Project Manager – Engineering Degree and 5 years of Environmental Restoration experience.”

Next comes the resume summary, where you are expected to provide a brief intro of your entire career. This is the place where you must display a few impressive keywords which highlight your skills and expertise. Be sure to draw the hiring manager’s attention to your skills which are the most relevant to the job description. Ex: “Generated over $5M in profits using creative marketing strategies aimed at luxury travelers.”

The career history section of your resume is an ideal place to display a good number of keywords. Highlight your past roles which align perfectly with the scope of the new job. Emphasize the types of relevant skills you have employed to achieve solid results in your past roles. Your work experience section allows you to mention the keywords in context. Ex: “Utilized knowledge of Blender to create over 100 3D applications.”

The key skills section of your resume requires a fair amount of thought and planning. However, it is one of the easiest resume sections for you to customize. All you need to do is make a list of all your skills. Then, compare this list to the set of keywords you identified earlier. You can include the common items of both lists in your resume. Use bullet points to direct the reader’s attention to each individual skill. Ex: “x Python x Software development x JavaScript x Mobile app development x Creativity”