When
you’re searching for a job, it is very important what employers look for and
depend upon job it is your duty to prepare CV according to the job. A recent
survey by Careerbuilder.com answers this question — at least based on the
sample of US employers who were surveyed. The survey found that most employers 63
per cent look for resumes that have been customized for the job opening.
Forty-one per cent of the employers said they looked for skills sets being
listed first on the resume, and 40 per cent highlighted the importance of
having a cover letter sent along with the resume.
Having
the application addressed to the specific hiring manager came at 22 per cent,
and including links to the candidate’s blog, portfolio or website was just at
16 per cent.
These
results provide a good insight into what can help your application stand out.
If you’d like to draw broader conclusions from this survey, you probably will
need to focus on customization, relevance and complete picture. Here is how:
Customization
When
employers say that they look for a resume that has been customised for the job
or for a cover letter that is addressed to a specific hiring manager, they are
reading into your interest in the job. The fact that you took the time to look
into the job post carefully and prepare a customised application rather than
sending a stock cover letter and resume shows your interest.
In
addition, customisation helps the hiring manager see why you think you’re a
good fit for this position. Remember, hiring managers receive dozens of
resumes, and you make it easier for them to connect the dots when you become
more forthcoming in explaining why your experience makes a good match for the
job opening.
Relevance
The
emphasis on having skills listed first in a resume shows that hiring managers
are trying to find quickly what they are looking for. Instead of going through
lengthy job descriptions and trying to identifying which skills you have developed
and acquired in each position, they want you to list these skills for them.
In
many cases, hiring managers scan the resumes for particular keywords that are
relevant to the opening. If you make sure that your skills include these
keywords combined with a brief introduction of each, you probably can
distinguish yourself.
Once
again, by reading the job post closely and knowing what the employer is looking
for, your emphasis should be on the skills that make you the right fit. Be sure
that you don’t just list the same list of skills the employer has in the job
post.
Overall picture
In
the Careerbuilder.com survey, employers somehow valued the links that
candidates include to their websites, blogs, portfolios, etc. The reason could
be that these additional resources provide the employer with a bigger picture
of who the candidate is, if needed, without cluttering a resume.
If you add a link to your LinkedIn profile, hiring managers can easily
read your extensive job descriptions, recommendations and endorsements, which
gives you more credibility. Linking to a portfolio of your work also helps
employers see the quality of your work ahead of interviewing you.
If
you decide to go down this road, make sure that you always keep these pages
updated. Having a link to a Twitter account where the last post was months ago
reflects poorly on your social media skills. Similarly, broken links or expired
sites could hurt your image. So before you send a resume that include any links
to online materials, check and double-check to make sure your links are
actually adding value to your application.
Linking
to something that is bound to change without your control is risky. For
example, if you’re linking to a page that contains customer or client reviews,
make sure that it doesn’t reflect poorly on your services. A better choice will
be to link only to those web pages, profiles or sites that are fully managed by
you and display your best work and recommendations.
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