This isn’t Your Dad’s Resume

A lot has changed in hiring practices since your father put together a resume to embark on a job search. To be honest, a lot has changed in resume writing best practices over the last 5 years. From time to time, I’ll work with a client who recognizes they need help because their job search is not resulting in interviews.

The Importance of a Job-Focused Resume

I work closely with the client to deliver a resume and accompanying documents that match their skills, strengths, and achievements to the type of job position they’re targeting. Most clients can see that the documents better align them to meet their job of securing a promotion, transitioning into a new career, or simply securing  a better paying job. However, there are some clients that express anxiety over how different the new resume is from the original. Some even refer to friends and family for feedback, unfortunately much of the feedback they receive is now considered obsolete in today’s job market.

Take Dad’s Feedback on Resume Writing Best Practices with a Grain of Salt

In many cases, the people you turn to for feedback and advice have the best intentions, but they may not know much about things like ATS compliance, current hiring practices, how to strategically navigate job boards, and how to access the “hidden job market” (available jobs that are not publicized to the public.

Years ago, resumes were pretty simple. All that was really required was a standard objective, a list of the job positions/companies you’ve worked for and employment dates, and your education/training information. Today’s job landscape is much more complex and competitive, and your resume needs to be customized to perform multiple functions; most importantly, getting through AST algorithms and capturing the interest of potential employers.

Applying this information to your resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, and other career communications will give you a competitive edge in a constantly shifting hiring landscape.

Image Credit: Dereck Tomson

Now be honest… is the resume and cover letter you’ve been submitting for jobs getting you noticed? How about your LinkedIn profile? Are you getting interviews? If not, we should talk! Contact me by phone: 1-866-562-0850, email: info@topresumewriting.com, or text:
(256) 690-0564 to schedule a NO COST, NO OBLIGATION 15-minute consultation.