career path | Robin's Resumes (r)

Resume Q&A: How Do I Target My Resume for The Job I Want?

Jun 21 2020

Q. I recently graduated with a bachelor of science degree in biology, with a minor in finance, and I could go anywhere with that combination. I could be a research assistant, technical writer, benefits manager in a pharmaceutical company—the job opportunities are wonderful. Right now, I do not have a clue where I will be applying for a job. So how can I possibly target my resume for the job I want?

A. The answer to your question is right in the question itself: you need to figure out what job you want before you can write a resume for it. You list three out of many career paths open to you. Which has the most appeal? The companies you apply to will not look at your resume and figure out where to place you in their organization. Instead, they want to know where you want to be placed.

So before you target your resume, you have to target your career path. Ask yourself these five questions:

What courses did you enjoy the most or excel at? Maybe you excelled more in finance or biology or an entirely different field. Most of us choose careers based on our strengths.
What do you want out of a career? What is most important: a chance to progress, high salary, specific location (not all jobs are available in all locations), or something else?
Which careers appeal most to you? Research specific job opportunities in biology and finance, read advertisements and job postings, and talk to people in the field. Does the reality match your idea of the right career?
What further education, licenses, or certifications would you need for the career? Do you have the financial resources, time, and interest to meet those criteria?
What types of companies appeal to you most? Are you committed, for example, to environmentally sensitive companies or developing new drugs or showing a company how to become financially sound? Do you prefer large companies or small ones?

When you have a handle on what you want, you will be able to target your resume for positions that meet as many of your criteria as possible. You might need two resumes: one for your science-focused preferences and one for your financial-focused preferences. But having more than two resumes is a clue that you have not really answered the five questions.

Robin’s Resumes® provides career coaching as well as professional written, targeted resumes. If you need help in focusing both your career and your resume, please contact us.

What Job or Career Are You Qualified for?

May 11 2014

If you are searching for your first full-time job or if you were recently laid off, you may be suffering from doubts about your qualifications. You may not even know if you want to continue on the career path that your education best fits you for or that you have been following so far. How do you know what direction to take now?

Your first step should be to search through employment websites, online job postings, and print job advertisements looking not for job titles but for skills. If you begin with your skill set, you may find that you qualify for more jobs than you thought possible. For example, the following job titles may all involve the same exact skills: executive secretary, executive assistant, office manager, office administrator, and project coordinator.

Your second step is to think about geography and industry. Find out what companies are available in your preferred region and/or industry, and monitor their websites for openings that might match your qualifications. You might also contact these companies to let them know about your interest.

Your third step is to talk to people in the industries and companies you are considering. If you are shy about making personal requests, LinkedIn and similar online sites are excellent ways to connect. In general, people are delighted to talk about their profession and share their expertise. By asking questions, you may find out that you have more transferrable and valuable skills than you thought. You might even find a lead to a job.

When you have a better idea of your career goals, it is time to write your resume for the job you want. As I have often stressed in these blogs, you cannot write a strong resume for “any job.” If you have taken these steps and are still struggling, please contact me. As a Master Career Director and certified Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC) as well as a professional resume writer, I am ready to help.

Updating Your Resume

Mar 30 2014

When you update your resume, mistakes may easily happen. For example, in every resume achievements in old jobs are described in the past tense (“Managed 15 accountants”); achievements in current jobs are described in the present tense (“Manage 15 accountants”). You must be careful, when updating your resume, to make sure that all your old jobs are now described as being in the past, not the present.

Another common error in updating a resume is to keep the information that is already there, even if it is no longer relevant to your current career path. When you were first starting out, your achievements in your first job or your grade point average in college were relevant. After a few years, such details are less important to recruiters and hiring managers; they can be summarized or eliminated altogether, especially if they do not relate to your current career path.

In writing an update to your resume, make sure you keep the format consistent (if the format is modern and appropriate). It is easy to create inconsistency in the style of bullets; to suddenly omit the comma before “and” even though you use it every other place; or to forget what version of a common abbreviation you used previously (such as U.S. versus US versus USA).

Finally, and most important, it is not enough to simply paste new information onto an old resume. You want to look at the impression made by the entire updated resume. Does it show a progression in your achievements and skills? Does it focus on the qualifications most mentioned in current job postings and advertisements? Will hiring managers and recruiters be able to easily find the information that convinces them to give you an interview?

Updating your resume requires the type of care, professionalism, and attention to detail that Robin’s Resumes® is known for. Contact us today.

The Hardest Part of Resume Writing

Jan 29 2012

Everyone has their own candidate for the hardest part of resume writing but I often find that clients come to me because of two problems:

(a) They cannot figure out what the marketplace wants—their resume is not leading to interviews and they don’t know why.

(b) They do not know how to explain their accomplishments—they are reluctant to boast about themselves, their career path is unusual, or their background does not seem to fit the traditional resume.

In fact, these two problems are the same problem. You cannot give companies what they are looking for unless you are confident in describing your skills, accomplishments, and experience. Your resume will not lead to job interviews unless it clearly describes your background and the value you would bring to the hiring company.

I belong to the top professional organizations in the country for resume writing and career marketing. I have 10 years of experience and am a sought-after speaker at resume writing and career management conferences. If you have run into your own hardest part of resume writing, let me help you over the hurdle with professional advice and a professional resume.