There are many times that I interact with clients and part of what we need to do is refocus or completely redesign their resume. Why does this happen? Why isn’t it just a quick fix or a few minor changes to the content and the job is done.

In my experience the reason this happens is because we are developing the resume before we know what we want to do or understand the scope of the jobs that we are pursuing.

Therefore, our recommendation is to do the job search first! Take this crucial step prior to writing or hiring someone to write your resume professionally. Analyzing the jobs that catch your eye will provide you with the tools you need to develop a targeted resume to secure these positions. When assessing these descriptions, it is key to look at the following:

Competencies needed for the role.

Key words that can be inserted into your resume.

Key tasks that they need you to perform that align to your experience.

This approach is not only crucial to making your resume more targeted, it will allow you to address that age-old problem of knowing what to cut from the resume so it’s not too long.

Lastly, I want to directly address how this helps in ensuring that you are beating the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that are out there. We have all come across those dreadfully long online applications that make you include anything from your favorite food to your grammar school education (Well, not really, but it feels like it).  These applications are part of a system that can sort resumes based on key words and more times than not those key words align to terms used in the job description.

So, I make one last plea. Do the job search first, get some clarity on what you are looking to achieve and have a resume that aligns to those goals.

John Greenblatt

CEO/Founder

Five Star Resume LLC.