Do you have the one CV or a Résumé that you keep up to date by adding the latest job, latest courses or achievements, then submit with EVERY application you make?
If you do, it’s time to change your habits! Your résumé might be factually up-to-date but it is not ready to submit.
Each new job opportunity has different requirements including skills, knowledge and experience, but if you are offering them the same résumé for each job you are severely reducing your chances of an interview.
Target your resume for each application
If you went into a fruit shop and asked for cherries and the shop keeper said, “There’s a big box over there with lots of fruit in it, have a look around and see if you can find some cherries” would you bother?
Probably not.
But that is what you are doing when you give every employer the same old résumé.
Think of the employer as your customer and if your customer wants cherries, you need to sort out the cherries from all the other fruit and offer that particular customer only cherries.
So target your résumé on just what this particular employer wants.
Don’t confuse the employer with lots of irrelevant information about other skills or experiences; just focus on what this specific employer needs for this specific job.
Back in the “old days”, it was assumed that an employer, or recruiter, had the time to sit down and read through all the many pages of your CV and find the relevant information. If that ever happened, it doesn’t now.
It’s your job to sort out what your employer wants and present it in a clear, uncluttered way.
It takes a little time to sort your resume out, and you will probably end up with several different résumés if you are applying for several jobs, but at the very least each résumé will show how suitable you are for each particular job.
About 80% of your résumé will be the same, but you must change the other 20% to target it on the job you are applying for right now.
Do it any you have a much better chance of being rewarded with an interview. Wouldn’t that be a nice change?
Write a Winning Job Application has a full explanation of how to target your résumé so you have a better chance of winning an interview.
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Write a Winning Job Application has a full explanation of how to target your résumé so you have a better chance of winning an interview.
