You’re looking for a new, high-level job. You’ve got a resume, but you know you need to customize it. Here are the six most effective ways to customize your executive resume and get the attention of any hiring manager.
1. Identify the Right Keywords
Your resume needs to pass through an online application system before it will ever be seen by the recruiter or hiring manager. Online applications use specific searches to find applicable keywords to determine if you’re a worthy candidate for the position you applied to.
In order to make the first pass, your executive resume needs to have the right keywords for the position, and in the right places. You will likely already have industry-specific keywords on your resume, but you also need to incorporate position-specific keywords throughout your summary and employment sections.
To find the additional keywords to include, you can use wordle.net to evaluate the important competencies for each position and tweak your resume to reflect the optimized words.
The key here is to not only include keywords, but being smart about the words you choose and the way you incorporate them. Just like other search engines, online application systems are able to detect keyword “dumps” where your document is so keyword-rich it doesn’t tell a cohesive story — and your resume will be rejected.
Use the right keywords, in the appropriate places and frequency, to customize your resume in a way that will get it picked up.
2. Show Proof of Your Expertise
Too often, resumes default to summarizing your past job descriptions instead of showing how you accomplished various milestones. One of the easiest ways to incorporate the right keywords into your resume is to use them to show recruiters what you’re an expert in.
Using the guidelines above to find the right keywords, deliver key accomplishments and metrics emphasizing your expertise. It will help tell the right story about your experience and candidacy while keeping an SEO-friendly resume.
Start crafting your content with the keyword you want to emphasize and then create your story around the word. Remember that showing the recruiter what you can do will always be more relevant than simply telling them you’re an expert in that area.
3. Tailor Your Heading Title
Your resume has only 6.25 seconds to make an impression on the recruiter or hiring manager. The very first thing they’re going to look at is your heading title — the bold statement at the top that indicates what you’re an expert in and why the recruiter should continue to review your resume.
Your heading title is a great place for you to strongly correlate your experience with the position you’re applying for. Make it as easy for the recruiter as possible by showing them you’re already qualified for the position. (Tweet this thought.)
For example, if you typically use a heading title of “Digital Marketing Executive” but are applying for a Digital Marketing Manager position, update your heading to “Digital Marketing Manager.” There is no guessing left for the recruiter, and you will have piqued their interest from the very beginning.
One important note: if you’re not applying for a specific position, but are seeking general opportunities or an exploratory interview, use your broad title — e.g. Digital Marketing Executive — to be considered for various roles.
4. Check for Spelling and Grammar Errors
Often when you’re customizing your resume for various positions, items get moved around, abbreviated or changed, and new spelling and grammar errors appear. When you customize your resume, be sure to thoroughly review it for these errors before submitting it for application.
Check all of your tenses, particularly in the employment sections. Your current position should be in present tense and your previous positions should be in past tense. Think of it like this: you want to show the recruiter what you’re doing in your current role (even if the project happened in the past), and you want to show them what you did in your previous roles (which all happened in the past).
Be careful about your other verbs, as well – words like “delivered,” “managed” or “created” followed by “including” are not consistent. You should use the same verb tense in every verb of every bullet/sentence structure of a section. For example:
Incorrect: “Delivered various skills including X, Y and Z.”
Correct: “Delivered various skills which included X, Y and Z.”
And for your cover letter, spell the company’s name and the position title correctly! Spelling errors are one of the quickest ways to get your resume thrown into the “no” pile.
5. Remove Internal-Specific Acronyms and Activities
Each company has their own acronyms and abbreviations for various activities, geographies and projects. They become such a part of who we are in our everyday working lives that our resume tends to include insider-speak that makes no sense to the recruiter you’re trying to entice.
The most common references that are overlooked are country geographies outside of the U.S., metrics used and expertise identifiers. Scrub your resume clean of these items and replace them with the correct industry keywords or spell them out fully.
The last thing you want is a recruiter scratching their head trying to figure out if what you wrote is as cool as it sounds or if it’s fluff. Don’t let them decide that — expand on the various activities and abbreviations to ensure your true intent comes through.
6. Eliminate Graphic Components When Applying Online
Applicant tracking systems (ATS), the software that is behind all of your online applications, have come a long way, but they still don’t work well with graphic components. Items such as tables, special character bullets or shapes do not come through well when you apply online.
To get around this, you can apply using a PDF version of your resume, but know that you may lose the keyword optimization strengths going this route. You could also have a graphic-free version to use when you apply online. You can easily create a graphic-free version of your resume in Word by removing the elements and saving it as a .txt file. This file is as stripped down as you can get, and it will show you if any additional items need to be removed from your resume.
Similarly, when you apply to a position via email, minimize the graphic elements. You never know how the recruiter or hiring manager will be opening/viewing your resume, so it’s best to be on the safe side to ensure a visually appealing resume, instead of a garbled mess.
Once you incorporate these six steps, your executive resume will be customized for the position you’re applying for and will stand out to the recruiter — getting you noticed and through to the next round.
Which of these tips will make the biggest difference for your job search? Share in the comments!
This post originally appeared in two parts at Chameleon Resumes.
Image: Photobucket
