We all know the feeling – you send out application after application only to find your inbox empty and your spirits dashed. If you find yourself in the endless cycle of few callbacks, the first question to ask yourself is "have I customized my resume to match the exact position I'm applying for?"
Many job seekers make the mistake of thinking an application is all about them — what they've accomplished and what they hope to gain from a new employment opportunity. While your resume is a powerful tool to explain your career story, it should always be written through the lens of what you can bring to a potential employer. For that you'll need to customized resume for each specific job posting you apply for.
The thought of creating a different, customized resume for each target job might seem daunting if you're not accustomed to it. But with a little practice, you'll find that customized resume writing gets easier when using specific cues from the advertised job description. And the extra effort will pay off when hiring managers take notice of your interest in their position.
In this article we’ll answer some of the commonly asked questions about customized resumes:
- What is a customized resume?
- Why should you customize your resume for each job application?
- Can you use the same resume for all job applications?
- Why do you need different resumes for different job applications?
- How do you align my resume for the job description?
What is a customized resume?
A customized resume pinpoints what a particular employer needs and wants from the person being hired for a specific position. It reflects the applicant's efforts to understand and identify with the hiring organization and industry.
Each custom-tailored resume incorporates wording that’s an exact match to the posted job description and requirements. And the content of each resume section — notably the summary, employment history and skills list — is directly relevant to the position being sought. This is the basis for selectively determining what to include and exclude in your customized resume. From the perspective of hiring managers, you provide every possible answer to their question, “Why should we hire you?”
Why tailor your resume?
If you ask any recruiter, “Should I really customize my resume for every single job application?," nine times out of 10, you’ll get an emphatic “yes” as the answer. In other words, you should absolutely customize your resume for each job application — to demonstrate that you are the right candidate for that employer, not for some other employer.
Do not treat your resume as a formality; instead treat it as your career tool and personal marketing instrument. Take this approach and it will pay dividends in the form of great jobs and professional advancements.
Customizing your resume makes sure potential employers see a valuable, well-suited employee and receive information about you that’s relevant to their company. Otherwise, they'd reading a bland, generic document that looks completely out of place for the job opening.
The logic is simple: different employers require different resumes, because (just like people) each has its own needs, objectives and values. That's what you need to emphasize and highlight if you want to win over any recruiter and get the job.
If you’re already applying for the position regardless, why do it half-heartedly? You’re seeking to establishing a long-term relationship with this hiring organization, so start it off on the right foot.
Impressing the hiring manager takes extra effort
The questions “How do I impress the hiring manager?” and “Can I use one resume for multiple job applications?” are intimately connected.
The short answer is: you should never use the same resume for multiple job applications. The reason for this is rooted in recruiter psychology and the simple reality of hiring practices. Hundreds of resumes pass through the hiring manager’s inbox, and most recruiters have a keen eye for copy-pasted and clichéd documents.
As you would expect, employers ought to be looking for the person who is the best fit for a particular job. And you can bet that a key quality in the “ideal” person is extreme enthusiasm about joining the company. Anyone who’s been to a few job interviews knows enough to pump a little extra exuberance into the conversation.
A customized resume is a great way to communicate excitement about joining a particular organization and convince the hiring decision-maker you’re a winning choice. Fill it with plenty of relevant information that tells readers it was crafted specifically for their eyes. Then they’re sure to advance you to the next hiring stage.
After all, there's no need for job seekers nowadays to drive off to the print shop and order a batch of 50 resumes. Typing cover letters on a manual typewriter is also a thing of the past. The ease of updating your resume makes it imperative to do so. Otherwise, hiring managers will see you as lazy.
You should know that for every position you apply for, the employer is likely to receive at least 250 other applications. Only around four to six applicants will be granted an interview. So standing out is always critical.
It's vitally important to know that automatic tracking systems (ATS) software automatically looks for keywords and phrases in your resume that recruiters find important. Tools like Jobscan will rate your resume for relevance to the job post before human eyes ever land on it. These systems overwhelmingly reward custom resumes with terminology that echoes the job description. Be careful, though. Hiring managers are savvy to job seekers who stuff their resumes with keywords.
But what does “customized resume” mean? How can you convey to any given human resources department that the one-pager being seen was tailor-made for this employer?
So glad you asked ...
You need to focus on adding content and keywords relevant to the particular company and role you’re applying for into the text of your resume.
Does ATS really matter?
It's a question you'll likely wonder as you try to place keywords through your resume. How common are these tricky little resume scanners really? It turns out the ATS may be more important that you think: 75% of recruiters and hiring managers across all industries and business types reported using them, according to Capterra.
How to customize your resume to each position
You align, personalize or customize your resume to the job application by making it match the qualifications and requirements in the advertised listing. This should be done by cherry-picking and emphasizing the most relevant achievements, skills and milestones from your professional history.
For an extra-obvious example, consider adding a heading to the top of your resume that says something like “Seeking [Job Title X] at [Company Y]”. This will attract the eye of a human reader. Plus it will tick some of the boxes that those ATS look for.
But you can go more subtle too. Under your work experience bullet points, for example, emphasize the ways that a particular project taught you skills that will be useful in the new position you’re targeting.
For example, “Managed a team of seven accountants, which taught me the time-management skills I’ll need to meet and exceed your expectations for a project manager at Acme Corporation.”
The job description is your best friend when it comes to creating a custom resume. Make sure to look for pesky keywords that might be favored by the ATS and add them to the appropriate sections of your resume.
Advantages of creating a customized resume
Like a new puppy, a resume demands love and attention. Sending one out, unchanged, with an endless stream of applications is the surest way to keep passing around out-of-date information to all potential employers.
One major benefit of customizing your resume for each application is that it gives you a great excuse to give it a once-over at least once a month.
There are three great reasons to do this.
1. Continual resume review
First, I think you’ll quickly realize that chances to add items to your resume occur far more frequently than you might think. Every new class, certificate, volunteer role, freelance project, and personal learning exercise is an opportunity to strengthen your resume and add a new skill. Or, bump some of the less impressive elements off the bottom.
And don’t neglect your social media presence. Update your LinkedIn profile whenever you add or subtract from your resume.
2. Remove outdated information
“Downward resume creep” is the process whereby you do keep adding new stuff to the top — which is good — but you don't delete old, unnecessary information at the bottom.
If you review your resume frequently, you be quick to notice portions that just don’t fit anymore. Far from having some monolithic set of rules, hiring managers' preferences for resumes change over time.
3. Mistakes, I’ve made a few
Unless you’re a top-tier copywriter, there is probably at least one typo in your resume right now. Maybe it’s something big like a misspelling, or small like a strange grammar tense, but reading and rereading your resume will help you spot these.
Creating a customized resume for each job application gives you added opportunities to catch mistakes.
Even if you are among the lucky few with a perfectly-spelled resume, by looking over your document more often, you can usually find ways to save space through tighter writing — perhaps by using action verbs.
Here are some of the top mistakes that hiring managers say will cause them to reject a resume, according to a study by Talent Inc.
- Spelling and/or grammatical errors (79%)
- Incorrect or missing contact information (52%)
- Unprofessional email address (46%)
- Outdated or irrelevant information (hobbies, age, marital status, etc.) (45%)
- Failure to demonstrate and quantify results (33%)
- Annoying buzzwords and/or obvious keyword stuffing (32%)
- Too generalized/not customized to match job listing (32%)
- Repetitive words or phrases used in multiple job descriptions (28%)
- Including a headshot (28%)
- Format and/or design is too elaborate (28%)
View more resume statistics
The start of great organization
Marie Kondo has made a one-person industry out of telling us how to declutter, get organized and stay organized. We really love reading about organizing and watching other people get organized! We’re really going to get organized!
It seems strange, then, that so few professionals organize their job search in a serious way. Sure, it’s a pain to set up a spreadsheet, but you’ll be missing some serious opportunities if you’re firing off resumes left and right without any sort of record-keeping.
For example, many hiring managers love follow-up letters after applications and interviews. But if you’re applying for a lot of jobs, it’s difficult to keep track of when you applied to each, what the name of the hiring manager was, and many more of the little details that could make the difference in your application.
That’s another reason that I strongly advocate building a custom resume for each job application — it’s the starting point to a good organization system.
Before, you could have been sending out barrages of one-size-fits-all applications with a couple of clicks. It’s temptingly easy to do so if you don’t personalize your resume. But now, you’re already sitting down to take the time to review your resume and create a separate file.
So why not take another five seconds to write down some of the application details into a spreadsheet?
Customized resumes are easier using a template
OK, you’re probably thinking, this all sounds great. But how do I customize my resume without spending all my time hunched over a keyboard?
If I apply to literally hundreds of jobs a month, are you saying that I need to be building a resume from scratch for every single one?
Of course, the answer is "no," although it's worth underlining that famous maxim, “Looking for a job is a full-time job.”
The good news is that there’s no need to commit three hours to each and every resume you build — at least not if you spend some time setting up a template to start with. Your objective should be to have a few standard resumes that you can customize for a particular role in five minutes or so.
I’ve seen two great ways to do this.
2. The merge-tag route
Some job seekers prefer the merge-tag route. By that, I mean they build themselves a resume template with a few well-chosen spots to insert a company name or the title of the position they’re applying for. Something like:
I’m extremely interested in the [POSITION] at [COMPANY] because I hear that your coffee machine never breaks.
Notice that I bolded in all caps the places where custom data needs to be entered. That’s to avoid the embarrassing faux pas of sending a resume that's customized, but with the wrong employer name!
You must go to extreme lengths to make sure this doesn’t happen. Check it five times if you have to. A resume that’s customized incorrectly is a death sentence for your application.
A personalized resume isn't just about the writing. The layout, design and formatting elements say a lot about who you are and the job you hope to land. If you're a receptionist, for example, the resume you'd submit to a law firm likely won't have the same look and feel as one you'd create for a marketing agency. By using a resume template, you can easily switch resume styles without having to worry about pesky formatting mistakes.
2. Building blocks
Another common tactic used by applicants for many different kinds of jobs is to split a resume into building blocks. This enables you to mix and match specific pieces of content in different ways.
Rather than keeping a unified template resume, they have a page with the right heading, and then they paste in pre-written job experiences and certifications as they see fit. Think of this as a good way to avoid filling your resume with references to your employment as an underwater welder when you’re applying for a job as a customer service agent.
One subcategory of the building blocks method is simply to match the skill sets listed in the job ad posting when you build your skills section. This down-and-dirty fix is great in a pinch and should always be a part of your tailoring. However, I recommend more extensive personalization.
How do I custom-tailor my resume for a career change?
A career change is one of the moments where it's clear to most job seekers that the same old resume just won't cut it. When it's time to make a pivot, a customized resume shows employers that you are invested in their business and ready to learn any skills you lack. Here are some simple tips to help you stand out when it's time to try something new.
Focus on transferable skills
Transferable skills are those that apply both to your previous positions and to the job you're applying for now. For example, you may not ever have worked as a dental receptionist before, but your time as a server taught you how to multitask, interact with people, answer questions, and keep organized. By pointing out the job similarities — even between two contrasting fields — you can show hiring managers that you have the foundation needed to succeed in the new role.
Add weight to your skills and accomplishments in previous positions by quantifying them with numbers and data. Concrete information is more likely to stand out to a hiring manager and makes it more likely that they'll remember your resume.
Highlight your strengths
Sure, there may be other candidates who have more relevant experience, but you've got the innate qualities that are hard to teach in others. Think about your soft skills like customer service, attention to detail, patience or organization. These strengths show that you have the right character for the job, even if you've never done it before. For a career change, it can also be a good idea to highlight times when you thought on your feet or learned a new skill quickly.
Add certifications
Let's say you've mentioned every possible personality trait and transferrable skill you can, but you're still lacking in some piece of technical knowledge that will set you behind other candidates. One approach in this situation is to obtain a certificate or enroll in a program that can help you show a hiring manager just how committed to the field you are. Check out this blog for more ideas on how to incorporate certifications on your resume.
Key takeaways for creating customized resumes
- The extra effort it takes to customize your resume for each job application is always worthwhile.
- A customized resume tells hiring organizations that you are interested in what they do, and why you would be an ideal fit for the position they need to fill. A generic, one-size-fits-all resume sends the opposite message — that you are applying for multiple jobs simultaneously — and implies laziness.
- Each customized resume should contain wording that’s an exact match to the advertised job requirements, and should focus on directly relevant work experience and skills.
- Creating a template to serve as a foundation for customizing your resume makes it easier and faster each time you apply for a different job.
