5 Reasons Why A Different Resume For Every Job, Sets You Apart!

Jul 13, 2016
6 min read

A client recently asked me if they really needed to do a different resume for every single job they were applying for?

My quick and simple answer... With no hesitation was:

YESS!!

If you want to stand out, prove yourself and ultimately get the job! The answer is yes, you MUST tweak, alter, and customize your resume to align with the requirements of the job you're applying to. I'll explain why:

Research the company and industry.
Some industries/companies also prefer your resume to be a certain length.
What keywords, traits and competencies they highlight for the role?
Aligning your descriptions, qualifications, certification and experiences.
Every job is different and so is the role you're applying to.

Are you having an 'ah ha' moment yet? Maybe? No? Ok I’ll continue...

1. Research the company and industry. What does that mean? Remember when you were in school? Maybe you still are; you studied hard to pass your exams, if you wanted great grades? That's what researching the company is about.

Studying the organization, getting information not only on the service or products they produce, but the culture of the working environment, the working hours that's expected of you, the values and beliefs of the company, and even what other employees are saying about the company.

It's about really digging deep into the company and analyzing whether you would be happy working and representing the company. A simple search on www.glassdoor.ca/com or LinkedIn can give you an inside scoop on the company.

Past and current employees write reviews on the organization and it’s out there for you to be more informed. So you can't say you weren't warned!

So to the next point; the look of your resume... If you're in the 'corporate' field your resume should look different from someone who's in 'Web-Design'; would you agree? You'll say yes. But as sited by CareerBuilder:

"36% of resumes are generic and don't seem personalized for the position"

See! So we know our resume should look different; but do we actually put in the work to ensure our resume match the requirements, qualifications and competencies of the role we're applying for? Hmmm good question right? If you weren't serious before... Get serious and #StaySerious!

And as a bonus! Click here for a great article that will give you more suggestions on where you can continue your snooping, for more in depth knowledge! Knowledge is power, if you're well informed about the company you're interested in, then you automatically are one step above your competition.

2. Some industries or companies also have a preference for the length of your resume. So, contrary to popular belief, the length question regarding your resume is specific to your intended industry, it does not or should not pertain to what phase of your career you're in.

I won't break the Internet with this, but I too once believed that resumes should be approx. 1 page for university graduates and entry-level job seekers, 4-6 pages for experienced or senior level managers.

However; the truth is; the length of your resume should coincide with the industry you're in or intend to go into.

For instance, if you're interested in transitioning to a role focused on health from a consulting position; you will need to express in depth, the level of experience you have in this field and show your knowledge and exposure to the field. In depth means, to go in great detail on your experiences related to that field, rather than simply writing one sentence of what your tasks were.

Understanding the role you're applying to, will help you grasp how much industry related experience they are looking for, from the successful candidate.

3. What keywords, traits and competencies do they highlight for the role? Why is this important? Think of it this way, how can you show the company that you are the one they need in the role, when you yourself don't know what they are looking for?

Maybe you're like me... when I go to a restaurant that I'm not familiar with, I tend to search through the menu, looking for foods I recognize; I don't read every description of a dish. I just look for the keywords that I am already familiar with. My focus is finding 1, 2 or a range of those words on the menu.

You know something? Hiring managers aren't any different. Well, they probably won't look at your resume with the same feelings I had when I'm scanning a menu. But! The fact is that they too are looking for keywords.

With the era of advanced technology, we now have applicant tracking systems to combat with. According to CIO from IDG, they observed in this article that:

"75% of resumes submitted, are rejected because the resume does not contain the right keywords or phrases."

Now, I'm not suggesting that you slaughter your resume with every single keyword listed within the job posting, no. I'm trying to help you understand the importance of truly understanding the role you're applying for.

This will help you draft your resume specific to the job you're applying for.

Stay with me here; for e.g. the role requires that the candidate have in-depth knowledge on a particular software, this could be as simple as listing the name of the software in your 'Skills' section; but how do you show the company your in-depth knowledge of the software? I'll take you through it...

Reflection time!

We're going to take this 'simple' skill and magnify it to show how epic you are! Think about the role you had when you worked with the software, ok, are you there yet?

Now you're going to think about how working with that software impacted the company, in whatever capacity; monetary, product promotion etc., then put a quantifiable value to your involvement.

So the result could be something like this; 'managed and maintained the company's system database, implemented and made recommendation to increase productivity that saw 25% decrease in report errors'.

This shows that you not only have an in-depth knowledge of the software but you can identify areas for improvement; it shows that you're an innovator, you exercise creative thinking, take initiative and most importantly... you save the company money!

See? Just with one 'simple' skill, you've shown your undeniable value to the company.

4. Aligning your descriptions, qualifications, certification and experiences to show how you match what they are looking for. This is where I have a lot of fun, it's like going undercover and finding out deep hidden awesomeness about yourself that you didn't know you had. I LOVE it! Hopefully you'll get the same thrill out of this part like I do... maybe, maybe not!

So, you've read the job description and responsibilities right? Or do you just skim over them trying to identify and spot keywords that you're familiar with? Yeh, I use to do that too. But that's not going to help you if you're trying to prove that you are truly different and unique.

I'm sorry, but you have to actually put in some work when applying for a job... well, that’s if you really do want a job.

Here's how you do this:

Read the job description and responsibilities with a purpose. That purpose is to identify the employers 'Buying Motivators', Buying Motivators are the necessary requirements you need to meet, before the employer will invite you to an interview.

I'll explain it this way... e.g. When you're going out to shop for a house or car etc., there are certain features the house or car MUST have before you would even consider going for a view or a test drive...right?

For me the house HAS to have a space I can use for an office and the car HAS to be manual transmission... Yep! That's the only way to truly experience driving a vehicle!

Do you see where I'm going? So relate that to the employer. The employer is shopping for someone to fill the 'position'; you have to show the employer that you have all the MUST haves, no matter what!

5. Every job is different and so is the role you're applying to, you should highlight different strengths specific to the job you're applying for. Each vacancy advertised will have different sets of 'MUST HAVES' so you have to alter your resume each time to highlight the relevant information.

No one reads a generic letter, that's a given. So doing a tailored resume shows that you've taken the time to ensure that you do meet the requirements and it makes you a stronger candidate that stands out, compared to your generic-one-resume-fits-all competition.

So go through the job description and responsibilities with a pen and a highlighter. Highlight all the skills, competencies, and abilities they've identified and start tying those into your resume and cover letter.

This is how you tailor your resume to meet the specific requirements of each individual positions you're applying for. Yes, it’s a lot of work, yes it takes time, but will you get THE job you want at the end of it? YES! So it's a no brainier.... put in the required work for the required results.