You must have a clear idea of what you want to
accomplish in your professional life in order to
maximize the impact of your resume for your targeted
audience -- the hiring manager or graduate school
admissions director.
Before you begin, ask yourself these questions. Are
you:
- Making a lateral move?
- Seeking a promotion?
- Career transitioning?
- Pursuing admission into a graduate program?*
For numbers 1-3 above, the most effective way to
begin targeting your resume is to search openings
that appeal to you on job boards (i.e. Monster, Hot
Jobs. CareerJournal), internal company postings, or
newspaper classifieds.
With these in hand, you can highlight the
qualifications you will need to be considered and
the duties you would be expected to assume.
Every match in terms of qualifications and
experience will serve as key words** in your resume,
as well as provide focus so that the resume can be
tailored for your targeted audience. The more
closely the content of your resume matches the
content of these postings, the more likely you will
be asked to interview.
* Resumes provided for graduate school admission
showcase your skills, professional experience,
accomplishments, and academic history in much the
same way as "job" resumes. The difference is that
an admissions resume will focus on what transitions
well to the classroom, not to the workplace.
** Key words include industry-specific jargon or
acronyms (i.e. "generally accepted accounting
principles" (GAAP) for accountants; "Certified
Professional Resume Writer" (CPRW) for resume
writers; "Series 7 licensing" for brokers; "initial
public offering" (IPO) for investment bankers;
"at-risk child" for social workers; "Level 2
Training" for physicians; "intellectual property
law" for attorneys; "triage" for nurses; and nouns
or noun phrases indicating qualifications or
required tasks (i.e. general ledger, word
processing, contract negotiations, benefits,
payroll, closing (for sales people); catering
services, new menu items, capacity planning (for
chefs); logistics, quality assurance, advertising
campaigns, product launches, staffing, training,
orientations. Companies that employ scanners require
a set number of hits on key words before the hiring
manager will personally review the applicant's
resume. It is always wise to incorporate as many
key words as possible into your resume.
