Target, target, target. Focus.

If you don’t know what you want to do with your career, you’re not ready to write your resume. A resume is NOT a history of your career. It is a sales pitch. You MUST tell your “customer” what h/she wants to hear. How will you solve the prospective employer’s problems? How will you ease his pain? In the private sector, you can’t help him make money in some way, whether directly or through support, you have little value.

Read each job announcement you apply to, pull out the key words and target your resume to that job. Yes, every resume may have to be tweaked a bit, but you’ll enjoy much more success.

I’ve been getting a lot of calls lately from people who insist they want a generic resume. “I don’t care what kind of job I get. I just need a job” or “I’m going to be applying for all kinds of jubs. Do I have to have a different resume each time I apply?”

Yup. ‘Fraid so. Maybe not a totally rewritten resume, but certaining a targeted focus. Can you imagine how many resumes employers are getting for each job posting? Do you think those employers have the time, the energy or the inclination to read between the lines as they skim over your qualifications? You’ll be lucky if they spend as much as 15 seconds on your resume initially.

Therefore, you’ve got to make that resume prove that you are the answer to all their employee dreams. Make the resume focused on the employer’s needs — not your history.

Sure, this all takes work. What? Did you think the job search process should be easy?

At today’s H.R. forum sponsored by the Resume Writers Council of Arizona, I was energized by the comments of the 3 H.R. professionals who reinforced much of what I’ve been telling my clients for years.

One of the biggest things for them is the lack of research and preparation. Candidates can’t just slap a resume together and expect a recruiter to get excited. Find out what the recruiter is looking for and persuade the reader that you can meet the requirements.

Recruiters are getting 750 resumes over a weekend for ONE JOB! How can you stand out? A professional resume writer knows how to highlight your strengths. Give me a call.