Generic resumes don't work. Virtually any career coach or HR professional will tell you that to stand out from the piles of applications, you need to customize your resume to the job you want. Most job hunters will protest that they don't have an unlimited amount of time to spend crafting their resume. True, but customizing your resume doesn't have to be an arduous, time-suck. What follows are eight simple steps to creating a resume that will stand out.
Identify the key phrases. Print out that job posting, or save it to your desktop. Then highlight the key phrases: "High energy environment," "Work with key leadership and clients," "Frequent travel,'' "HTML Experience."
Make your language match. Now go through your resume and replace what you've written with these key phrases where it makes sense. Note! This is not lying. This is about careful word choice. Your resume says, "Met regularly with key leadership teams," but the job posting says, "Interfaces with senior management," so use their language instead. Both mean the same thing. Studying the job post's key phrases may also remind you of important skills or experience you may have left out. "Oh--they want someone with Six Sigma Experience? I have that!"
Make every word count. Items that aren't directly relevant to this job should be deleted, or moved to the bottom of each section. That temp job in another industry? Gone. Likewise, look to condense and reduce the clutter. You don't want the recruiter or hiring manager to spend so much time reading about things that don't matter that they gloss over the things that do matter.Those three jobs at Brand X should be lumped together or highlight only the most impressive job. Remember: What you edit out for one application may prove useful for another.
Give the right skills top billing. If you're applying for...