There are two main attributes that every resume needs – authenticity and specificity. Specificity (i.e., tailoring a resume to the employer/ industry/ function you are targeting) is particularly important because it enables your resume to be found when recruiters search and noticed when recruiters screen.
There are two main attributes that every resume needs – authenticity and specificity. Specificity (i.e., tailoring a resume to the employer/ industry/ function you are targeting) is particularly important because it enables your resume to be found when recruiters search and noticed when recruiters screen.
Recruiters search for resumes on job boards, on social networks such as LinkedIn, in articles and in white papers (especially at senior levels), and in their own database. When a search kicks off, recruiters filter through the resumes from these sources by keywords and criteria. If you don’t have those keywords or criteria in your resume, you may not get picked.
However, the variety and number of keywords and criteria changes per search. Sometimes it is very specific: for example, when I did a search for an animator who knew Aftereffects (as well as other things), I searched only for Aftereffects as a keyword. It was specific enough that I knew I could rule out many people and then do a more careful search with just the resumes that had Aftereffects. Sometimes searches are more criteria-based: for example, a single job might require several years in the range of experience, good financial analysis skills, and experience in turnaround situations. It is hard to adequately filter for these with just keywords so in this case, I would be likely to do a broader keyword search, such as finance, and review resumes from there. The end result? When you have a very specific skills (e.g., software, languages, etc) definitely list them. But remember that keywords are just a guide for the beginning of the screening process.
After the broad resume search, the resumes are screened further to look for the rest of the job requirements. This is the more subjective process because invariable we weigh the overall package. Most candidates have some but not all of the requirements. It is not just who has the most requirements matched. It is more important to have the dealbreakers matched. So in the case of the animator, Aftereffects was a dealbreaker. It wouldn’t matter if you had everything else in the job description if you didn’t have that. Some with Aftereffects and a few of the other requirements had a better chance than someone with all of the other requirements but no Aftereffects.
Is Your Job Search Flexible or Just Unfocused?
As a recruiter, I’ve seen lack of flexibility on the recruiting side with employers clinging to every last detail in their ideal spec while perfectly good candidates get overlooked. As a career coach, I see jobseekers prematurely dismissing possible targets waiting for that perfect job. It’s true that you want to be focused in your job search (otherwise you dilute your efforts and come across as scattered and possibly desperate).
5 Questions to Test If Your Resume Is Recruiter-Proof
After recruiting in search and in-house for over ten years, I have read thousands of resumes. Due to sheer volume of resumes received and all the other things that vie for the recruiter’s attention in the hiring process – scheduling, interviewing, networking, reference checks, client debriefs, and more – the resume review process is ruthlessly quick.
Why Conventional Wisdom On Work Flexibility Is Always Wrong
In a previous post, I wrote about why employment statistics are always wrong. In a similar way, conventional wisdom on work flexibility is always wrong. It is impossible to generalize something that is inherently case-by-individual case. Therefore, any boilerplate advice or conventional wisdom is bound to omit a key consideration, underweight or overemphasize other considerations, or take too long-term or short-term of a view.
