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What Is A Targeted Resume

Outline Your Skills Under A Distinct ‘key Skills’ Section

What is a Targeted Resume?

Writing a targeted resume demands that your skills are on-point.

Recruiters should not have to play hide and seek with your skills.

They shouldn’t have to look for them.

Your skills should be the first thing a recruiter or hiring manager comes across when they evaluate your resume.

Hiration Pro Tip: Club your skills under a distinct ‘key skills’ section in your targeted resume. Separate your technical skills from your core skills by grouping them under a ‘technical skills’ sub-section within this section.

Your targeted resume will not be a targeted resume if your skills are not visible in the first go.

So make sure that you outline your skills comprehensively.

Adding Absolutely No Value

Mistake number five is probably the worstand the easiest to fall into Mistake number five is writing a statement that basically fills space but doesnt tell the hiring manager anything about the value you bring to the table. This can also be confused with the too vague statement

EXAMPLE: To obtain a position within my chosen field where I can utilize my skills as a hard-working, well-educated employee in exchange for a steady market-fair paycheck.

Congratulations. Youre educated and youre hard working and you want to make money. So what? So are 90% of the people youre going up against. Why are YOU the ideal candidate? What makes the hiring manager want to bring YOU in over everyone else? See what we mean?

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY:

How are you going to fulfill the needs of the company?

When writing your resume objective, you should always have the intention of answering this question.

List Only Necessary Information

You might have a large number of experiences that you want to include in your resume, but it is better to submit a shorter resume, with one to two pages at the most. List only skills, qualifications and positions that are relevant. For example, if you are applying for a computer programming job, include any computer-specific courses you completed in addition to jobs you had in that field. It is not necessary to include your early positions, such as a high school job at a fast-food restaurant, unless you can show how those skills directly relate to the position you are applying for.

If you need help deciding what to include, look at the job description once more to see what skills they are looking for. Always include everything they require for the job on your resume first so that your prospective employer can see that you read the listing.

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Include Relevant Work Experience

Work experience is another resume section that has to be highly tailored to the job you are applying for.

Again, go back to the job description.

Find the key points from the responsibilities and requirements section that match the tasks and accomplishments from your previous jobs.

Emphasize and prioritize these in each of the roles you include on your resume.

Heres how our Restaurant Manager should tackle this:

  • Ensured unfaltering superior service quality over the years.
  • Increased customer satisfaction ratings by 10% across review platforms.
  • Developed and implemented social media ad campaigns generating 120% ROI.
  • Monitored weekly, monthly, and annual revenues and expenses reporting.
  • Organized training to enhance staff performance and productivity.

Impressive, isnt it?

Lets take a look at what could have gone wrong:

  • Instrumental in overseeing the procurement and distribution of cooking supplies profitably.
  • Played a lead role in periodical financial auditing and management.
  • Oversaw employment and training of restaurant staff members.
  • Conducted operations according to all industry best practices, legal rules, and regulations.

What do you think?

Although the second version sounds like a great manager, its not checking any of the major boxes on the job description.

Frame Your Experience Section The Right Way

Targeted Resume example_Page_1

The experience section is the bread and butter of your resume: the majority of recruiters will be looking at it right away.

There are two main things to look for when it comes to tailoring your Experience section to the job opening: keywords and workflows.

Keywords are the gist of the Experience section. These are the pillar words that are specific to every job and when used properly they can instantly boost your resume relevance.

The most common keywords for tech jobs are technology abbreviations such as programming languages, platforms, and frameworks: jQuery, PHP, C++, Scrum, Microservices, etc.

For a sales resume, the keywords might be cold calling, quotas, Salesforce, customer rapport, conversion, CRM, etc.

To identify keywords simply think about the most generic job description ever, and then identify what keywords are making your job description more targeted towards experienced professionals.

Every job description has keywords. Identify them and make sure your Experience section contains a good portion of them.

Example: heres a Sales Manager job description taken from Indeed. Lets identify the keywords that make this job posting sales-specific.

Using these keywords in our Experience section will instantly boost our resume relevancy.

Bonus: by adding some of the keywords from the job description to our resume we also get a higher chance to pass automatic ATS filter systems.

We will use some of these keywords later when we build our Experience section.

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Think About Your Personal Value Proposition

Write down what you have to offer your prospective employer.

Once you have done your research on the company or institution, and gained a good grasp of the work culture, ask yourself, “What can I offer them?”

Once you have the answer, write it down. You’ll want to use this answer when you construct your Career Summary Statement or Resume Summary.

Review your existing resume.

Read through your existing resume. Select only the skills, experience, and qualifications most relevant to the job you are applying for. Next, double-check the job posting to make sure your resume complements it.

Choose the right font.

Choose a simple font like Times New Roman, Arial, or Helvetica. Use black text and font size 1012. You may bold the headings. Do not use color or graphics and be mindful to remove them if you are using a resume builder.

Review your list of keywords.

Go back to your list of underlined keywords identified in the first step above. Where applicable, carefully insert the keywords into your resume. These keywords will help optimize your resume for an Applicant Tracking System , but make sure your resume reads well after you’ve added the keywords.

Be honest.

Do not include false information on your resume or try to hide gaps of unemployment. Your prospective employer may very well uncover anything you’re trying to hide during a reference check.

Edit your resume accordingly.

How To Make A Targeted Resume Using Hiration’s Online Resume Builder

We have spent countless months and years to perfect our online resume builder for targeted resume making. Several iterations later, we have succeeded at making a resume builder we can be proud of.

Today, it enjoys a global user base running in a hundred thousand.

Here is a list of the features you will get our resume building tool:

  • 25+ resume designs
  • Option to save unlimited resumes

We will now discuss those features that will help you make an ATS-compliant targeted resume:

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Study The Job Description

Lets learn through actual practice.

The job description holds the secret to a targeted resume.

Heres a sample job description that we will use to create a targeted resume step by step.

The job posting is for a restaurant manager.

The responsibilities of the Restaurant Manager position are:

  • Coordinate daily Front of House and Back of House restaurant operations
  • Deliver superior service and maximize customer satisfaction
  • Regularly review product quality and research new vendors
  • Organize and supervise shifts
  • Proven work experience as a Restaurant Manager, Restaurant General Manager, Hospitality Manager, or similar role
  • Proven customer service experience as a manager
  • Extensive food and beverage knowledge, with the ability to remember and recall ingredients and dishes to inform customers and wait staff
  • Familiarity with restaurant management software, like OpenTable and PeachWorks
  • BSc degree in Business Administration hospitality management or culinary schooling is a plus

If we study the job description carefully, we will find important keywords, skills, and accomplishments to highlight on our own resume.

We have bolded all that seems like valuable information.

Using keywords on your resume is a must.

BUT…

It is possible to use too many keywords on your resume. Keyword stuffing can easily be detected by both ATS and hiring managers.

Dont try to cheat the system with keywords written in white font or unnaturally repeating keywords. It wont get you very far.

Perfect The Professional Experience Section

How to write a targeted resume

Just like a constitution is the heart and soul of a democracy, the professional experience section is the heart and soul of your targeted resume.

You can’t make an effective targeted resume if this section is not effective and impactful.

This section is important because it consists of some very important career-centric details about you such as:

  • The organizations you have worked.
  • The duration of your career in each organization.
  • the job designations you have held.
  • The sophistication of your work responsibilities.

As such, this section needs to be impactful.

It should burst with flavors.

It should make the recruiters want to hire you.

So here are the top tips to curating an effective professional experience section for your targeted resume:

Would you like to use a tool with pre-arranged resume sections?

One that comes with a free ATS resume scan?

One that gives a resume score of your resume to see if its industry-relevant and ATS-compliant?

If the answer is, use our resume builder to make the best resume for job applications now!

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How Many Resumes Should You Have

The answer is no for most job seekersbut that doesnt mean you should make the common mistake of sending out the same version of your resume for every job. Instead, our experts suggest that you should have one version of your resume with a clear career target, and tailor that resume to every job you apply to.

Include Keywords Used In The Jd Of Your Target Job

Every job description of your target job will have keywords.

The JD of a given job will typically have one, two, or a combination of all of these keywords in the job description:

  • Skill criteria
  • Basic education criteria
  • Work experience criteria

Most job advertisements will have a skill criteria for a given job position. They will outline a list of skills they need in the ideal job candidate.

Some job advertisements will have an education criteria. While some jobs will be open too all graduates, some might come with specialization criteria.

Then there are those job advertisements that have an attached work experience critria. While some are exclusively guarded for professionals with x number of work experience, some would be entry-level jobs open to all freshers.

Does this seem too complicated?

Get your hands on our resume builder.

You can curate a matching resume for job descriptions with our game-changing resume building tool. Make the most of our job-matching functionality now!

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Tailor To The Hiring Manager

No one likes to get emails that say to whom it may concern.

Theyll simply think its just not important.

When youre writing your cover letter and the email itll attach to, address the HR manager by name. Find this from the company page or via LinkedInit takes just an extra minute of sleuthing.

Also, you could add a postscript or another sentence in the email to mention something particular to the hiring manager.

For instance, I noticed from your LinkedIn profile that youre an alumnus of Cornell. I hope you dont hold my being from Yale against me!

See? Its fun, unique, and grabs their attention.

Have a look at our tips for writing cover letters to step up your game.

Expert Hint: Finally, dont forget to check the job ad to see if you have to put something specific in the subject line of your email! All this tailoring will have been in vain otherwise.

Double your impact with a matching resume and cover letter combo. Use our cover letter builder and make your application documents pop out.

Want to try a different look? Theres 18 more. A single click will give your document a total makeover. Pick a cover letter template here.

Edit The Summary Or Profile

Targeted Resume example_Page_2

You don’t necessarily need to rewrite your entire resume to make it targeted for a particular position. Sometimes, a few small updates in key sections of your resume can have a powerful impact on defining your strengths.

  • Review the job description. The first step is to review the job description carefully so that you can be sure the position is a good match for you, and know which qualities and skills to emphasize on your resume.
  • Add a section to your resume. The easiest way to target your resume is to include a Resume Summary of Qualifications, a Profile, or a Career Highlights section at the top of your resume.
  • Make a match. Review the job description and then review your resume. Take the experience, credentials, and education that best match the job posting and include them in the Summary of Qualifications section at the top of your resume.
  • Tweak the experience section. List your experience in reverse chronological order, just like you would on a traditional resume. Be sure to edit your responsibilities, so they also match the job description.

One way to make your skills stand out is to add a bulleted list of your most relevant qualifications for the job to your summary statement. For example:

  • Creating process improvements
  • Ensuring code is scalable and responsive
  • Estimating time and costs for projects

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What Is A Targeted Resume

A targeted resume is a resume written for a specific job opening. It highlights the skills and experience relevant to that position. Each time you apply for a job, you should tailor the resume to be more relevant to that specific position. You have a better chance of getting an interview when you make it clear that you have the skills and experience that are required for the job.

1. Name and contact information2. Summary or objectivec. Description of role and achievement4. Education6. Optional

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Use the following steps to get. People may need letters of recommendation in a variety of situations, such as applying for admission to school, applying for a job or even trying to rent an apartment. When you’re given an opportunity to interview you’ll be concentrating on how to impress the interviewer, what to we. Well, because your dream job awaits you. As you search for a job, it pays to know the terminology used by hiring employers.

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How To Write A Killer Resume Objective

Resumes.

We all know what they are.We all know how important having a good one isand how much a bad one can hurt your ability to get your dream job.

We also know we arent the only ones out there turning in well crafted, carefully targeted resumes to hiring managers

Unfortunately for you, for every available job out there in the real world, there are hundreds, if not thousands of very qualified people applyingand odds are, there are more than a few really knock-dead resumes in that pile.

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Get our resume objective PDF Cheat Sheet that hands you word-for-word sample resume objectives you can use today.

Of course, there are also a mountain of bad ones that wont even make the first cut. But of those that dohow do you make sure yours stands out?

You could always go for the Elle Woods approach. Remember in the movie Legally Blonde when our spunky and upbeat heroine hands her resume off to her professor in the hopes of securing that killer summer internship?

Professor Callahan: Its pink

Elle: Oh! And its scented! I think it gives it a little something extradont you think?

We have to admit, that is one way to make an impression with a hiring managerhowever, outside Hollywood fantasies where the hero always gets their way , odds are your pink scented resume is going to end up either in the trash or on the bulletin board Wall of Shame as an example of what NOT to send in to a hiring manager.

And I promise you, no pink paper.

How To Write A Targeted Resume For A New Position

How to write a targeted resume

In order to save you time on writing a targeted resume for every new position you apply for, follow the three-step approach to quickly adapt parts of your resume to the job: research, frame, and adjust. All the steps are covered in detail in our guide Targeted Resume: 3 Steps To Landing Your Dream Job. The more you follow the approach the faster youll tailor your resume every time.

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Who Should Have A Targeted Resume

Like what we always say, there are no cookie-cutter resumes fit for all positions or scenarios. Often, youll experience a dearth of interview requests if you keep on sending generic and run of the mill resumes that dont really stand out from among your fellow applicants. If they are more skilled or have more experience than you, chances are theyll get invited to interviews or even hired faster than you even if you use the same resume sample or template. Enter targeted resumes.

Targeted resumes are resumes purposely tailored to a specific job. These resumes show that youre the perfect candidate even though you have less skills and experience than your fellow applicants. Generic resumes are just that, generic and unappealing to hirers looking for the candidate best fit for their opening position.

See below for tips on writing a targeted resume.

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