How to get the job you want - part 2

Now that you know how to take a strengths-based approach to your job search, let’s chat resume prep.

If you missed my rant on strengths-based job searching, you can read more here - LINK

Okay so what’s the most important part of your resume??

Two key focus areas are: 

1. The organization and way it looks is KEY. It needs to be simple and easy to read.

2. Communicating your strengths and relevant skills. You have to make it easy for a recruiter to understand WHY you are valuable to them.

Recruiters spend an average of about 7-8 seconds looking at a resume?? 

Or something crazy fast so you want to be sure you are communicating the most important information in an easy to read way.

My next piece of advice may be controversial…

You don’t have to tailor your resume to every job.

But you should have more than one resume. 

Huh?

Think of all the jobs you may apply to, can you create categories out of these jobs?

For example, I have 3 types of resumes - consulting, coaching, and technical / data-focused.

I’ve also had one for when I apply to teaching jobs too!

So I don’t tailor my resume to each specific job, just the type of job.

This helps to highlight the key skills I have that are necessary for each TYPE of job.

And saves time in the job application process 😉

Finally, don’t get hung up on applicant tracking systems. Do they suck? Yes. 

Do they sometimes have a negative impact on applicants because they get filtered out? Yes.

But remember that both humans and computers can filter you out during the process.

It all depends on the hiring manager and the recruitment team. 

And any company worth working for will have a STRUCTURED and FAIR hiring process.

Want more job searching tips? Download my free job search & resume guide (included a resume template) here.

Stay tuned for How to get the job you want - Part 3.