Job Hunting Tip #12: Customize Your Resume

I am sure that you have heard that posting your resume on every Internet job board is not the way to land a job and that cover letters should be customized to the specific person and company with whom you would like to work. You might want to think about customizing your resume as well to meet the specific job requirements of a single job.

Most jobs include a detailed job description outlining the responsibilities and requirements to be a competitive candidate. If your resume addresses these specific attributes you will have a much greater chance of an employer reaching out to you to interview you. For example, if you have been working in the commercial real estate industry and have experience working with office and retail properties and you are applying for a position with a company who develops and acquires industrial buildings, you should deemphasize your retail experience and emphasize other items that are required to do this job (i.e. excellent Excel skills, underwrote $XXX million of commercial real estate transactions, expertise in the markets where the company currently owns properties, etc…).

A good rule of thumb is if another candidate can write the exact same sentence on their resume, you should change your resume!