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Targeting

Resume Terms and What They Mean

Every industry has its own terminology, and resume writing is no exception. When you are deciding on a professional resume writer, you want to know what the terms mean so that you know exactly what you are being offered.

  • PDF: This is a file format that freezes the content of the resume so that changes cannot be made. You should make sure that you receive a Word version of your resume so that you can modify it if you need to. Also, most companies want to receive a Word version.
  • Objective: The old fashioned objective began a resume with a phrase like “Desire an exciting job with potential to grow.” That vague objective has been replaced at the top of the resume by informative summaries with actual facts, such as “Executive secretary with more than 10 years of experience in the financial industry.”
  • Branding: When your resume shows your “personal brand,” it focuses on your achievements so that hiring managers and recruiters understand both the value you bring to the company and your fit with the company’s objectives and mission (increasing return on investment (ROI), decreasing costs, teamwork, communicating with customers, etc.). Whether or not it is called “branding,” your achievements are what make you stand out from the competition.
  • Targeting: Your resume should be written for (target) the job you want, using the keywords that appear most often in advertisements and postings for that sort of job. Resumes written for “any job” fail to attract the interest of hiring managers and recruiters. They do not have the time to weed through generic information for the specifics that interest them.
  • Keywords: These are the words that are stressed in the job posting or advertisement or that occur most often in your industry to describe the job you want. Keywords should appear naturally in the text as you describe your achievements and skills. If you ignore the keywords, you are much less likely to receive an invitation to interview.

At Robin’s Resumes®, we make sure that your resume is in the most desirable format, with a clear objective, does justice to both your skills and your achievements, and will attract the attention of hiring managers and recruiters offering the job you want most. Contact us today.

How Do You Target a Resume?

I’ve written previously about the need to target a resume for the job you want. But how do you do that?

First, you have to read the advertisement or posting for the job. Read it thoroughly. You want to note both the hard and soft skills the employer is looking for. Hard skills include specific requirements like “knowledge of Excel” or “90% travel.” Soft qualifications are found in statements like “will work closely with engineering department”—what part of your past experience or training shows that you work well with engineers?

Second, make sure that you have the skills listed in the advertisement or posting. Enter them in your resume using the same keywords. For example, if the ad asks for “expert knowledge of Excel,” make sure your resume specifies that you have “expert knowledge of Excel.” It’s also important to show how you used your skills to benefit your former employers. Almost anyone can learn Excel. But what if you used Excel to better manage inventory, saving time and staff? That is an accomplishment that your prospective employer will value highly.

Third, research the company online. Find out if they offer a product or service you have worked with in another situation; or reach out to customers you are familiar with; or operate in countries you have visited. Any connection you can make between the company and your own background will strengthen your resume.

Fourth, remember that a resume is not your life story. You don’t have to “make” all your experience relevant. Without creating gaps in your resume, leave out details that your future employer won’t care about and devote the most space to the most relevant experience. If you’ve had a long career, summarize your very early experience; you’ve moved far beyond that first job as an intern or trainee or assistant to the assistant.

Above all, write your resume for the job you want, not the job you left behind. Phone or email me today and I will put your resume solidly “on target.”

 

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