Hearing crickets after sending your resume? This is why

How to tailor your resume for each job

How to tailor your resume for each job? Created with Adobe Express

Tired of sending tenths or hundreds of resumes for jobs you are perfectly qualified for just to hear crickets? Make sure you are not making the mistake I did.

I have been there.

You craft your resume.

You read it again.

You are so proud of yourself! You managed to convey how good you are for the job. And in your own words!

Anyone reading it will be able to tell, right?

Right?

Well, that would be the case if someone was reading it… let me tell you what I mean. I dropped you a hint.

This is something I learned when I was looking for my first job after academia. To understand job applications better, I attended a career advancement webinar where an HR specialist was speaking.

This is what I learned after attending her webinar. And a month later, I had a job offer on the table, after being invited to multiple interviews.

HR specialists can receive anywhere from a handful to tenths, hundreds, or even thousands of applications for a single job.

Back in the day, the advice was simple: just be the first to apply. They wouldn’t read more than 10-20 back then.

But things are quite different nowadays. And HR specialists have the help of multiple technological tools.  

AI is taking over, but it hasn’t been spread so well as to have a tool that “reads” all resumes and tells you which candidates look like a better fit. But I’m sure they are working on it.

Instead, these “tools” rely on keywords. Think of it in an SEO context.

Oh no, we are at a loss then, right? How do I know the keywords they are looking for? 

Well, THEY give you them right away, right on their ad. 

The same keywords that they will be using in their search, are the ones that LinkedIn or Indeed used on their algorithm to put that job ad in front of you, or right on your email. 

And of course, why doing the work twice? Those keywords are spread across their job ad. You just have to find them. And knowing this truth will make it easier for you to find them.

So, don’t get creative, and don’t reinvent the wheel. Put the keywords you identify in your resume, exactly as they appear in their ad. Just don’t plagiarize entire sentences. 

Are they looking for someone with “natural resource management” and “experience with multidisciplinary teams” and do you meet those requirements? 

Then add it to your resume EXACTLY like that. You can add extra words before and after. But NEVER, in between words. 

Remember, they will be searching, in these cases, for: “natural resource management” & “experience with multidisciplinary teams”.

Anything that doesn’t fit this exact wording, may be overlooked.

Will it always be the case? Not necessarily. 

They may be looking for “management” or “multidisciplinary”, but it’s better to play it safe. After all, they are telling you the keywords that matter most to them. 

They may also be applying AI, as mentioned above. But again, play it safe!

Some job search engines, like LinkedIn, have tools that tell you how good your profile is against any ad, including the internal data that the interested organization provided.

Disclosure: I’m NOT affiliated with LinkedIn, I just think they have an amazing platform.

 But this is a conversation for another day.

So consider adding that to your toolbox. 

And good luck with your job search!