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How To Customize Your Resume

Businesswoman works to customize her resume.
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Sometimes there's the thinking that stuffing a resume with a wide range of skills and experience will do the trick. But an overstuffed resume can dilute the message of how you're a perfect fit for the job you're applying for.


To captivate a hiring manager's attention, you need a customized resume that is specific to the job. Here are some great ways to customize your resume.

Utilize Keywords

@j.t.odonnell

NEVER DO THIS ON THE TOP OF YOUR RESUME ##resume ##resumetips ##jobsearch ##jobsearchtips ##career ##careertips ##careers ##careercoach ##careeradvice ##work ##1

♬ original sound - J.T. O'Donnell

Think of your resume as a search engine with results

The key is not to bombard your resume with information that is irrelevant to the job, but to be as specific and relevant as possible. The most relevant information always comes up at the top of the search engine and that's what you have to do on your resume.

The top fold of your resume should contain 6-8 major skill sets that you have that also relate to the job you're applying for (just like keywords in a search engine).

Make it easy for a hiring manager to identify why you're a perfect match for the job.

Narrow Your Focus

Young professional works on her resume.

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You want your resume to showcase that you're a specialist and expert in the field of work, not a generalist. As hard to believe as it may be, that's the truth in the case of resumes. Remember, your resume is there to help get your foot in the door of the employer.

You have to first understand what the employer is looking for and specifically address that need for them to want to talk to you. If you come off saying you can do everything else, it can impact your message from getting across in those quick seconds that a hiring manager takes to review your resume.

Carefully review the job posting to really understand what the employer is looking for and focus your resume to address those specific points.

Think Like An Employer

Professional attempts to think like an employer when putting together her resume.

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Put yourself in the employer's position to answer the key questions they have, like:

  • "What can you do for me?"
  • "How is your experience relevant to the job?"
  • "Do you have examples to demonstrate how you've succeed in your career?"
  • "Are you able to achieve those results again on this job?"

You can expect better results with your resume when it's tailored to an employer's specific need. And remember, employers receive more resumes than they need to go through, so when your resume requires digging for relevant information, you've already lost them.


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This post was originally published at an earlier date.

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