You are looking for a new job so you start trolling the job sites and job ads. There are multiple roles you want to apply for because they sound great, they pay more and they're closer to home (which will save you hundreds of dollars per year in fuel) so you drag out your old resume from 2018, you hastily add your most recent job details and voila !!! You send out 20 copies of your 'new' resume to 20 different employers for 20 different jobs.
And then you wait .....
And wait ...
You get a few rejection letters but no good news.
Why ????
I'll tell you why. Because your resume sucks !!!
By sending the same old outdated resume to multiple employers for different roles you are doing 3 things;
You are showing a lack of respect and laziness which are definitely not qualities employers look favourably on.
By not tailoring your resume to qualities the employers are looking for, you will never stand out as someone they want to meet let alone hire.
You risk sending old irrelevant information eg. Referees incorrect contact information or your school records from 1986 which have no relevance to the position you are going for.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg !! If I have said it once, I'll say it a hundred times .................. make an effort with your resume. It's the first impression the hiring manager will get of you and you only get one chance !!
So how do you do it ??? Ok, I'll give you some tips ........
Tip number 1 - Have a look at the job ad and highlight some key words in there. I usually suggest starting at the part where the ad describes the person they are looking for in detail. Usually there are phrases like 'our next dedicated team member' which I would highlight the word 'dedicated' or, 'someone who loves working with spreadsheets and knows their way around MYOB' in that case I would highlight the words 'loves spreadsheets' and 'MYOB'. Can you see what I'm doing here ??? I would then go through my resume and ADD THOSE KEYWORDS IN !!!!! That way, when the hiring manager or the computer program they use to read resumes goes through yours, you actually reflect the qualities they were advertising for !!
Tip number 2 - Although I love your tenacity and the fact you want to be a manager for a Fortune 500 company, but if you don't have the experience, don't apply for the job !! You need to stay in your lane !! I'm definitely not saying you shouldn't try to progress your career at all but you need to stay realistic. If someone wants 3 years of managerial experience and you have never even worked in the industry, go and get some training first. Same goes with a Boilermaker/Welder applying for an Office Manager role ............. ummm ....... you can give it a go but you reeeeaaaallly need to reflect on your resume that during your time on the tools you managed people and budgets and scheduling and costing which is what they need managers to be doing.
Tip number 3 - Formatting !!!!! The text needs to be the same font throughout. It sounds like an easy thing to do but you'll be surprised. Pick one font and one size and stick to it. I'm not saying you can't bold the headings, italic your job title or underline your employers names but make sure you do the same thing throughout the entire document. It looks neater and it shows you have taken the time to make sure the little details are sorted. I would suggest researching resume templates 2022 and see what is circulating at the moment then give that basic template your own little twist but I am serious .......... I said a 'little' twist !!! Don't go all colours and Comic Sans on me. You need to stay professional.
Tip number 4 - Speaking of professional ......... please change your call69foragoodtime@gmail.com email address to something a bit more formal. Even if you make a secondary email address exclusively for your job searching. A lot of employers will judge you on what you are projecting so unless you are looking for your next Only Fans gig, make a new email account. They're free so there's no excuse !!! And while I'm on this subject, Facebook, Tiktok, Instagram, LinkedIn will all be socials your new prospective employer will check out during the hiring process. Trust me, I have seen some things while screening potential candidates and call me judgy-judgy but I definitely did not hire the girl with the picture of the marijuana leaf and the bong on her facebook profile for the office manager role. I'm sorry but I didn't !!!
So, what I'm trying to say is, before you send out your resume for a job see what you are projecting to each business and for each role individually before you press the send button. It is seriously better to go for quality over quantity which will give you the best results. Project the best version of you for that role. If you're going for the bicycle mechanic role, show them in your resume how good you are at fixing things and how well you fit into a team of bike lovers. If you are applying for the stablehand role at the racecourse, mention all those years of cleaning and your attention to detail. The details matter and the time you take to show this will go a long way. Impress the person who is hiring you and your pay check will reflect your efforts !!!
You are looking for a new job so you start trolling the job sites and job ads. There are multiple roles you want to apply for because they sound great, they pay more and they're closer to home (which will save you hundreds of dollars per year in fuel) so you drag out your old resume from 2018, you hastily add your most recent job details and voila !!! You send out 20 copies of your 'new' resume to 20 different employers for 20 different jobs.
And then you wait .....
And wait ...
You get a few rejection letters but no good news.
Why ????
I'll tell you why. Because your resume sucks !!!
By sending the same old outdated resume to multiple employers for different roles you are doing 3 things;
You are showing a lack of respect and laziness which are definitely not qualities employers look favourably on.
By not tailoring your resume to qualities the employers are looking for, you will never stand out as someone they want to meet let alone hire.
You risk sending old irrelevant information eg. Referees incorrect contact information or your school records from 1986 which have no relevance to the position you are going for.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg !! If I have said it once, I'll say it a hundred times .................. make an effort with your resume. It's the first impression the hiring manager will get of you and you only get one chance !!
So how do you do it ??? Ok, I'll give you some tips ........
Tip number 1 - Have a look at the job ad and highlight some key words in there. I usually suggest starting at the part where the ad describes the person they are looking for in detail. Usually there are phrases like 'our next dedicated team member' which I would highlight the word 'dedicated' or, 'someone who loves working with spreadsheets and knows their way around MYOB' in that case I would highlight the words 'loves spreadsheets' and 'MYOB'. Can you see what I'm doing here ??? I would then go through my resume and ADD THOSE KEYWORDS IN !!!!! That way, when the hiring manager or the computer program they use to read resumes goes through yours, you actually reflect the qualities they were advertising for !!
Tip number 2 - Although I love your tenacity and the fact you want to be a manager for a Fortune 500 company, but if you don't have the experience, don't apply for the job !! You need to stay in your lane !! I'm definitely not saying you shouldn't try to progress your career at all but you need to stay realistic. If someone wants 3 years of managerial experience and you have never even worked in the industry, go and get some training first. Same goes with a Boilermaker/Welder applying for an Office Manager role ............. ummm ....... you can give it a go but you reeeeaaaallly need to reflect on your resume that during your time on the tools you managed people and budgets and scheduling and costing which is what they need managers to be doing.
Tip number 3 - Formatting !!!!! The text needs to be the same font throughout. It sounds like an easy thing to do but you'll be surprised. Pick one font and one size and stick to it. I'm not saying you can't bold the headings, italic your job title or underline your employers names but make sure you do the same thing throughout the entire document. It looks neater and it shows you have taken the time to make sure the little details are sorted. I would suggest researching resume templates 2022 and see what is circulating at the moment then give that basic template your own little twist but I am serious .......... I said a 'little' twist !!! Don't go all colours and Comic Sans on me. You need to stay professional.
Tip number 4 - Speaking of professional ......... please change your call69foragoodtime@gmail.com email address to something a bit more formal. Even if you make a secondary email address exclusively for your job searching. A lot of employers will judge you on what you are projecting so unless you are looking for your next Only Fans gig, make a new email account. They're free so there's no excuse !!! And while I'm on this subject, Facebook, Tiktok, Instagram, LinkedIn will all be socials your new prospective employer will check out during the hiring process. Trust me, I have seen some things while screening potential candidates and call me judgy-judgy but I definitely did not hire the girl with the picture of the marijuana leaf and the bong on her facebook profile for the office manager role. I'm sorry but I didn't !!!
So, what I'm trying to say is, before you send out your resume for a job see what you are projecting to each business and for each role individually before you press the send button. It is seriously better to go for quality over quantity which will give you the best results. Project the best version of you for that role. If you're going for the bicycle mechanic role, show them in your resume how good you are at fixing things and how well you fit into a team of bike lovers. If you are applying for the stablehand role at the racecourse, mention all those years of cleaning and your attention to detail. The details matter and the time you take to show this will go a long way. Impress the person who is hiring you and your pay check will reflect your efforts !!!