Down with Generic Resumes!
One popular strategy for job hunting is to build a nice generic resume (or have some resume agency build it for you), then blast it out to all the employers that you can find. If you think about it for a moment, you’ll realize that this is about the worst strategy you could adopt. Think about it:
- the hiring manager has a particular job in mind
- that job needs a particular skill set
- he or she gets 10-20 resumes per day for the job
- they’re all generic resumes that sort of address his job, but not well
- why should he choose yours over any of the others?
Instead, try building a semi-custom resume that has the boilerplate stuff like your work experience and education in place, but leaves blank the “career highlights” section. Now, read each job description carefully and ask yourself,
“What problem is the hiring manager trying to solve with this requisition, and how can I make myself look like the perfect person for that job?”
Try to think like the hiring manager and try to imagine the resume that would make him or her sit up and say, “At last! I’ve found a 10-for-10 match!” Now you know what to write in the rest of your resume and in your cover letter. Believe me, this will get your resume to the top of the manager’s stack and make all the other generic resumes fade into obscurity.
So stop thinking that one size fits all when it comes to resumes and become efficient at writing resumes that are custom-tailored to fit the job you’re applying for. Trust me on this, it’ll work much better than blasting out your luke-warm generic resume.
About the Author
Bruce Taylor is the Owner and Principle of Unison Coaching, and provides corporate and executive coaching to a wide variety of businesses including engineering, human resource, consulting, and recruiting firms. Mr Taylor has extensive background in Psychology, Human Resources, and Software Engineering. He holds a Masters degree in Computer Science from Duke University, a Masters in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, and a Certificate in Job Stress and Healthy Workplace Design from the University of Massachusetts. He can be reached at http://www.unisoncoaching.com or bruce_taylor@unisoncoaching.com
Tags: hiring, job, job description, job search, manager, recruiter, recruiting, resume