Customize Each Resume for Best Results

The days of creating one resume and storing it on your desktop is no longer an effective way to get your resume reviewed. Today 99% of Fortune 500 companies use ATS products or Applicant tracking software. This helps companies track many candidates as well as weed out candidates based on the lack of critical key words. 

Keywords are typically terms or words used to describe the job role. It is critical that you digest each job role for these terms and use them as often as possible in your resume. This will effectively give you the best opportunity to be viewed and selected for the interview process. 

It is a good strategy to print out the job description and place it side by side with a previous resume. Look for keywords used in the job qualifications, skill requirements and background. The software will calculate how often these critical keywords appear on your resume allowing them to pass to the next stage. The sheer number of resumes that are submitted for roles (especially from job boards) is just too overwhelming for recruiters and HR professionals to review. 

Finally, it is important to understand that most resumes are reviewed in an average of 6 seconds. Your resume must be easy to read, highlight your skills that are required for the role and any previous experience that can be leveraged in this new role. These critical pieces must be displayed along with the critical keywords on the top third of the page and no resume should be longer than a single page.