Customizing your resume and cover letter

You've developed what you think is the perfect resume. It even gets you a few interviews, so you think your resume is the best it can be. But then the calls dry up. You're still sending out that great resume, so why is it not drawing the attention it used to? Well it's not because your resume has "gone off" - it's simply because you are not customizing your resume and cover letter to the company you are applying to!

Every job hunter will have heard before how important it is to tailor their resume to the company and position they are applying for, but few put in the effort required to craft a customized resume and cover letter for each application (some good news on that later!).

It makes common sense - every job demands a certain set of skills, and every employer has their own idea of how important each of those skills are relative to each other. Focusing your resume on leadership skills if the employer wants someone strong in analytics might cost you your chance!

So how do you go about customizing your resume?

Firstly, make a list of all the skills you have demonstrated in your career to date. Remember to focus on action words - use "led", "achieved" and "developed" rather than "responsible for".

Secondly, understand what skills the job requires. You will be able to find this by talking to people already in the industry, at recruitment fairs, on industry websites etc.

Thirdly, scrutinize all possible company literature to get a good idea of the kind of person your chosen company is looking for. Be creative - look at their website and annual reports, and even scan newspapers for interviews with senior leaders at the company - there's a fair chance that the attributes they show and value are the same attributes the company will look for when scanning your resume.

Lastly, filter. Focus your resume (and your cover letter) on the skills which you possess, are important to the industry you want to work in and are important to the company you are applying for.

Now also include on your resume (but with less emphasis) those skills which are important to the industry but which the company doesn't appear to pay high regards - this is your "insurance" against a someone screening your resume or cover letter against criteria which are not aligned with the company's public statements of the kind of person they are looking for - unfortunately it happens.

So, how do you keep writing new resumes and cover letters for every job application - it seems so much work!

Well I promised some good news on that front - there is a software package that could help you called the Amazing Cover Letter Creator and it takes a lot of the work away. If you click on the link and order the Amazing Cover Letter Creator, you will also be given the option to buy Amazing Resume Creator for an additional $10 or so, which I think is well worth the money. This really is the only resume and cover letter software product which I would recommend.

With your customized resume and cover letter, your phone will be ringing off the hook with all those job interviews!