Having a well-rounded, eye-catching, captivating resume can be a significant contributing factor to helping you secure your dream job. But drafting a great resume might not be enough. Tailoring your resume to each specific job description may be a powerful tool to increase your chances of getting an interview, and getting hired.
Customizing your resume to highlight what a great fit you’d be for the position you’re interested in demonstrates that you understand the task at hand; that you’re ready to fulfill the organization’s operational needs, and that you have the expertise to make it happen.
Want to take your efforts further? Liberty Staffing Services can advise you on how to put together an application that stands out from the competition, or even refine and focus your job search to help you yield better results. If you’re ready to level up your job search efforts, reach out to us at Liberty Staffing today!
1. Take a Look at the Job Posting
To really tailor your resume to the company, you need to take a closer look at the job posting and examine what the job entails. There might be specific words that stand out about this job description–words that you can add to your resume, as well as highlighting any education or training you’ve had that matches the job posting’s requirements.
You can even take this a step further by taking note of the order of skills listed and the job requirements noted. These not only give you a closer look at the organization’s priorities but can also help you prioritize and reorder what’s on your resume to help the person in charge of hiring see that you’re the perfect solution to check all the boxes on their list of requirements.
2. Do Your Research
After you’ve examined the job listing, it’s time to take a visit to the business’s website, looking specifically at pages like the About Us page. By taking a look at the content they offer, you can see what the company values and what’s important to them.
This kind of information can be helpful when tailoring your resume to demonstrate that you understand and fit in with the company culture.
What might this look like? Let’s say that a company shares that they value collaboration. You can fine-tune the details of your resume to show that you work well in a group and collaborate like a pro.
3. Take a Closer Look at Your Resume
Once you’ve examined the job posting and learned a little more about what the organization is like, you can begin to refine your resume. You might take a look at which elements of your resume are most in line with what the company wants and needs.
For example, if listing your job experience in chronological order doesn’t demonstrate all the ways that you’re the right pick for the job, you might opt to choose a functional resume format instead of a chronological format. Or perhaps you may decide to break your resume into different sections, one based on industry relevance and another based on other experiences so you can let the most relevant parts of your resume stand out.
4. Analyze the Job Posting for Essential and Required Skills
Different positions require different kinds of skills and expertise–and you can tailor your resume to demonstrate all the ways that the experience you have makes you right for the job.
How do you analyze a job posting to determine which skills are essential and required, and which skills are more of a preference?
Essential skills are the skills you must possess to do the job. Preferred skills are those skills that aren’t necessary, but would be a bonus if you had them. You can use this information to emphasize and feature the essential skills that are part of your wheelhouse–and if you also have the preferred skills, you can include them as well.
5. Identify Keywords and Phrases from the Job Posting
Next, go back and look at the job description again, looking specifically for keywords that might outline responsibilities and duties for the position. Many employers today use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to narrow down the list of applicants to the most qualified candidates who will be the right fit for the job.
This means knowing which keywords and phrases can help you get past the ATS and onto the desk of the person in charge of hiring.
Look for specific words the company uses to explain the skills, experiences, and qualifications required for the position. Think of this as sifting through the posting to uncover technical skills and soft skills, as well as education and other certifications, and including relevant details from your experiences. You may also look for repeated words and phrases and include these in your resume as well.
6. Draft a Specific Summary
The first thing employers will see on your resume is your summary (or if you opt for an objective statement instead, your objective statement)--so it’s the perfect place to highlight yourself as the candidate to beat for the position they are looking to fill.
This can mean incorporating the job title for the position you’re applying for, but other noteworthy inclusions for your summary or objective statement like keywords from the job listing.
These keywords and phrases should be seamlessly integrated into the summary. While you want to demonstrate that you’re the ideal candidate, you don’t want to appear as though these terms have been shoehorned in; your specific, targeted summary is only there to show earnestly that you are the right fit.
7. Fine Tune Your Work History
While your previous work experience can’t (and shouldn’t) change, you can finesse the bullet points to demonstrate all the ways you are suitable for the job posting. You can adjust the details and descriptions of your jobs to showcase the experiences and job demands that make you qualified for this potential position.
Additionally, fine-tuning your work history shows the hiring manager reading your resume that you have taken a look at their posted job description and that you pay close attention to detail.
A good example of this would be if you’re applying for a marketing position with a strong emphasis on social media strategy, you might start the bullet points for the different components of your work history with the ways you interpreted data to build a successful plan for your previous employer’s social media accounts–if this is indeed something you did.
8. Share Measurable Results and Data-Backed Successes
Job recruiters want to know what mark you made–and what successes you created–in your past jobs. When you tailor your resume to include quantitative data, you have a concrete way to demonstrate your impact and your potential value as a member of their team. This is especially true for data that aligns with the qualifications listed in the job posting.
For example, if you, as a private tutor, helped students improve their English skills and boost their test scores, share quantifiable data whenever possible. Did you help students improve their test scores by 25 percent? Include this information–as well as any other mentionable, relevant achievements–on your resume.
9. Revisit the Skills Section of Your Resume
There might be some skills that you can’t necessarily fit in with your work experience–but if they’re relevant to the job you’re applying for, you may choose to write them into your skills section, starting with the skills that would be most pertinent to the job posting.
Just like you did with your work experience section, you’ll want to include the same keywords from the original job posting in your skills section.
What kinds of things can you include in the skills section of your resume? These might be technical skills or qualifications you have that are relevant to the job you are applying for, but you may decide to include soft skills that might not otherwise fit into the work experience portion of your resume.
10. Filter and Edit the Content on Your Resume
After you’ve included all the relevant and essential information in your resume to showcase all the ways you’re perfect for the job, you can further tailor your resume based on the job description by filtering through the content to streamline your resume. Think of it as eliminating some of the white noise that might distract from the parts of your resume that hit all the right notes for this job description.
To filter the content of your resume, think of removing or revising the content that isn’t germane to the job description. Either eliminate this information from your resume or rephrase it so that it includes more of the key terms highlighted in the job posting. Not only does this make your resume more targeted toward the job you want, but it also makes it easier for the hiring manager to see what a good match you are for the position.
Liberty Staffing: Your Key to Unlocking Your Job Search Potential in Southern Ontario
Tailoring your resume can be essential to highlighting the experiences that make you right for a job–and getting you the interview to prove it firsthand.
Liberty Staffing Services is eager to support you in your job search here in Southern Ontario, whether you’re entering the job market for the first time, you’re reentering the workforce after a pause, or you’re on the hunt for a new position. We are here for you.
Connect with our team of experienced staffing professionals to find exciting job opportunities that are right for you!
