Resume Digest Blog

A boss scanning through a pile of resumes doesn't really care about your objectives - until it lines up with what their organisation requires. Gone are the days where you could afford to send the same resume to multiple job offers.

Today you have to customise your reply to address specifically the requirements of the ad. Make no mistake about it. It is a competitive world out there and you won't stand a chance of being called for an interview until you are a perfect fit for the position.

Employers do not take any chances. They are not philanthropists. They'd rather steal an employee from a competitor than offer a helping hand to someone who really need a job to keep their house and feed their family.

The key to this impasse is not to blast the same piece of self-marketing to every job post in sight but to target the few jobs you would really like to get and give it your best shot.

You need to reverse engineer the requirements spelt out in the job description and display how your background and experience matches them specifically.

Your last role may not be the most relevant - who said you had to list your work history in chronological order?

Back to the objective statement. In marketing lingo it is your unique selling proposition. If you consider your resume to be your brochure in the job market, then the objective statement (also called the highlight) is the one paragraph after your name and personal details that will sum up who you are in the eyes of that particular employer. Remember also that the job description has a summary statement. It stands to reason therefore that the two must be closely related.

Recruiters will at least be impressed by the fact you read their ad carefully and bothered to customise your resume accordingly.

The next hurdle might be when you have to face up to some aptitude tests to find out if it's worth calling you for an interview. The sad reality is that if people stretch and fudge things to get a foot in the door the only recourse recruiters have is to assess your skills themselves. But do not despair - you can also train yourself for that. You might want to check Aptitude Tests an online service to prepare yourself for aptitude, knowledge and IQ tests which you are sure to encounter before or during the interview.

Add Comment