Before you write your resume, you should think about what you want in your career, your idea of a great company or industry to work in, and what accomplishments, education, and skills will get you where you want to go. But when you know what you want, you have to switch gears and think like an employer because your resume must align with:
- The specific job an employer wants to fill
- The industry-standard skills and education expected of any applicant for that job
- The company’s culture and mission
- The contribution you will make to the company in terms of skills and achievements
- The company’s expectations around teamwork and leadership qualities
- The company’s involvement in a particular industry or type of work.
When you think like an employer, you realize that employers have good reason to search your resume to determine if you have:
- Made frequent lateral changes in your career, been frequently reassigned to a lower position, or left huge gaps in employment years—yet, the resume fails to address any of these potential issues.
- Written your resume with no clear objective in mind—the resume aims at “any job with any company anywhere.”
- Do not understand the job requirements or the industry—your skills and education do not line up with those expected by an applicant, or you have not read the job posting accurately.
- Made contradictory statements in your resume—for example, you gave yourself a title out of line with your experience or listed the identical dates for working at two entirely different companies.
Errors like those above would make any employer hesitate. Frequent shifts or gaps may indicate a lack of skills, teamwork, and understanding of company goals. An utterly generic resume may suggest that you have confused career goals and may not be happy in the offered position. Information that shows a lack of understanding or contradicts itself may indicate poor job training or insufficient care over details.
A professional resume writer can help you avoid those problems and think like an employer so that your resume stands out among the competition by meeting and exceeding company expectations. Contact Robin’s Resumes® to find out how we can help.