Jobseeker’s Guide to Customizing Your Résumé
- Take the time to customize your résumé — it demonstrates your interest in a job and shows you have taken the time to tailor the résumé to the role being sought.
- Make sure your résumé demonstrates alignment between what the company wants in their next hire, and the exact skills, experience, and education you have to offer.
- Customize your résumé so you are more likely to be selected for an interview. Even if the company doesn’t use ATS software, customized résumés are more appealing to human readers.
- Tailor the résumé (and cover letter) to help your documents successfully get through ATS software and into the hands of the recruiter or hiring manager.
- Prioritize quality over quantity. Instead of sending the same résumé to apply for 50 jobs, take the time to research and customize your résumé for 10-15 roles.
- The easiest change to customize the résumé for the position you want is to include the desired job title and company name at the top of the résumé.
- Be sure to customize the Summary section. For human readers, this is often the first section they read. You want to ensure the skills and experience most desired by the prospective employer are highlighted in the top one-third of the résumé.
- Take a few minutes to make sure the job responsibilities and accomplishments listed in your résumé match the needs of the employer, especially those outlined in the job posting.
- Re-order accomplishment bullets to prioritize achievements related to the job being targeted.
- When possible, have the job posting in front of you so you can customize the résumé to the job description. Identify the problems this job is designed to solve and help the prospective employer see how you can help them solve these specific problems.
- Analyze the job posting and identify the keywords and phrases used in the job description. Make a list of key skills, job requirements, and responsibilities desired. Note the qualifications you already possess that are mentioned in the job posting.
- Be sure to incorporate keywords in the Summary, Skills, and Experience sections of your résumé. Keywords can also be used in the Education, Training, and Affiliations sections.
- As important as it is to include targeted information, it’s just as important to remove irrelevant information. Remove information that is not relevant — any education, experience, training, or affiliations that are not relevant to this job.
- Rearrange sections of the résumé, if necessary, to match the priorities established in the job posting.
- Review the company website and/or LinkedIn company page to gain insight into the company’s values, mission, and culture. What values do they highlight? Identify specific keywords to include that indicate cultural fit. When customizing the résumé, give specific instances of these values, such as: teamwork, communication, initiative, honesty, etc.
