With over 14.5 million Americans receiving unemployment benefits right now, many people around the country are working hard to update their resumes. Whether it’s been a few years or just a few months, updating your resume can be a daunting task. It’s very easy to update it once and submit your “masterpiece” with every job application you complete. However, not tailoring it is one of the biggest resume mistakes you can make. If you want to elevate your job search in today’s competitive job market, you must tailor each resume you submit.
You don’t have to rewrite your entire resume
Let us clear something up when we say you should be tailoring your resume for each position; we don’t mean you need to completely overhaul it. Rather, you must customize it to match each position. Chris Villanueva, Founder and CEO of resume writing company Let’s Eat, Grandma, articulated this well. In a recent interview on LinkedIn’s #GetHired Live, he suggests having a universal resume with all your basic information and positions but making “micro tweaks” for each job.
In other words, build a basic copy of your resume with your contact information, education, experience, and all of your other essential responsibilities. That will be your template. Then, before you apply for a new position, make these small tweaks to better match your resume to the position. Tailoring it will help you attract the eyes of hiring managers and recruiters, helping you avoid one of the biggest resume mistakes out there!
How to tailor your resume
Tailoring your resume to each new position may sound cumbersome. But with a resume template that you have thoughtfully crafted, it’s actually pretty easy. If you find a job that you would like to apply for, carefully review the job description and highlight the most critical skill sets, needs, or qualifications. Then, take a look at your resume and see what you need to add, remove, or tweak to make it better fit this position. It’s hard to customize a resume if you don’t understand what the hiring manager or recruiter is looking for in a potential candidate!
Looking to avoid more resume mistakes?
If you are looking for more resources for crafting the perfect resume, check out our candidate resources. We have dozens of blogs with helpful resume advice to help you secure your next opportunity!
