Tailoring Your Resume

Tailor for the Job

One of the many issues that get me up on my soap box is the topic of tailoring your resume for the job you are pursuing.

I am not in any way suggesting you fabricate a resume to match the job opening. What I am saying is, if you have the experience that is being sought, leaving it off of your resume is a huge mistake. Searching for the right job is hard work. Yes, this adds to the work you need to put into the search, but it is definitely worth it.

Assumptions about what can be logically gleaned from your resume are dangerous. For example, assuming the hiring manager will know that because you have 30 years’ experience working with cats; you obviously have worked with dogs as well. Who would know that?

When it comes to technical skills, it’s even less obvious. Because you know C++ does not mean you obviously know Java. Because you’ve spent ten years working in accounts payable, does not mean you know how to work in accounts receivable. The people reviewing your resume are not psychic!

Experience of Others Does Not Make you Qualified

I recently had a conversation with a candidate whose resume had not one single key word match. It had not one single skill, degree, capability or talent that was required for the job. He had never worked in the industry of my client or any industry even remotely connected to my client.

During the course of the conversation he told me he literally spent the last thirty years of his life in that industry. He grew up in that “world.” His father was the vice president of a huge corporation and his entire career was focused on this discipline in this industry. (I hear this one all the time. My father or mother was a brain surgeon; therefore, I am qualified to perform brain surgery. Not quite to that level, but you get the idea. Being related to someone who knows how to do the work does not qualify you to do the work).

I suggested he tailor his resume and put into writing what he knew about the work, the industry and how his skills and talents could be transferred into this field he knew intimately. His answer was: “I tried that once about 30 years ago and it didn’t work. It’s way too much work and I’m not interested in doing that again.”

I’ve also heard: “If the hiring manager is too stupid to know that I can do this work, I don’t want to work there.” That’s good because they don’t want you to work there either.

It’s far too easy to blame someone else for not seeing your worth and to assume your skills are obvious to anyone looking at your resume. It’s a job search and that means there’s work involved.