7 Secrets to a job winning resume

In this article we will tell you how to write a Job Winning Resume. Research has shown that a typical hiring manager or recruiter will only look at a resume for approximately 13 seconds.

If you want to end up in the YES pile and not the NO pile, following these suggestions will help improve your chances of landing an interview.

1: Tailor Your Resume to the Needs of the Employer

More important than anything else is that you understand that an employer is looking for a person to fit a specific position. The employer isn’t interested in hearing about everything you have ever done.

All the employer wants to know is that you are the best candidate for the vacant position.

2: Only Apply to Positions You Are Qualified For

It is quite common that job seekers apply to just about every job opportunity that comes up, regardless of their skills level.

However, if you instead only apply to jobs where the job description matches your own skills and qualifications, you stand a much better chance of landing the job.

How do you determine if you are qualified for a specific position?

Here is how: Read the job description thoroughly and make a note of what skills, duties, and qualifications the employer is requesting.

If your skills, your employment background, and your qualifications match up with the job description, and you can demonstrate this in your job application, you stand a much better chance of convincing the employer that you are the best person for the job.

3: Optimize Your Keywords

Use specific Keywords that are relevant to your work history and achievements.

When a hiring manager or recruiter does a search in the candidate database, the keywords they search for need to be in your job winning resume.

4: Don’t Use a Job Objective

Using a job objective that describes your wants and needs is generally not a good idea. The recruiter predominantly wants to know what you can give to them and how you can contribute to their success, so instead use all your energy on convincing them that you are the right person for the position.

5: Include a Professional Profile

Your professional profile should be placed on top of the resume, just below your name and the title of your present position. This profile – or statement – needs to be as powerful as you can make it, as it will the first thing the hiring manager will be reading.

It needs to contain that WOW factor that makes the hiring manager want to read the rest of your resume.

How do you achieve that? You simply make sure your professional profile is a 100% match to the position you are applying for!

Here is an easy technique to achieve exactly that:

You use keywords from the job posting and discretely make these keywords a natural part of your profile. You simply tailor-make your professional profile to the job posting.

Using this simple technique, you TARGET the job posting and consequently give the hiring manager the impression that you are the right person for the job.

P.S. Only use this strategy when your credentials indeed DO match the job description, so only apply to positions you are qualified for, as mentioned above.

6: Include Your Skills

Clearly identify that your skills match the required skills in the job posting. Also here use keywords from the job posting when applicable. The skills section is a natural follow-up to the claims and statements you make in the professional profile sections, so make every item count.

7: Repeat Related Keywords

Use keywords from the job posting throughout the whole resume.

When you use the right keywords, you achieve two things:

1. Your resume becomes ATS-friendly.
2. You convince the hiring manager that you are a good fit for the position.

[Sidenote: ATS (Applicant Tracker System) is software used by companies to scan and rank online job applications. You stand a much bigger chance to pass the ATS test by optimizing your resume keywords.]

A word of warning though: Remember you do not only write a targeted creative resume just to use the right keywords. Keywords are great to impress the ATS software.

The most important aim is to impress the hiring manager, so avoid just filling the resume with all the keywords in the job ad. You need to make sure there is a natural flow to the way the resume is worded.

Conclusion

A resume focusing on a specific target job, but with the hiring manager/recruiter in mind and built on these 7 steps, will get you more job interviews and ultimately help you land your dream job.

To see examples of how the Target Resume team of professional resume writers incorporates these resume writing tips into our work, take a look at our website’s Job Winning Resume Sample Page.

Here, we have sample resumes from a variety of industries.

You can also find lots of good resume writing tips to help you write your resume, as well as general career advice, on our blog.

The team of professional resume writers at the Target Resume team resume writing service has worked with many job seekers over the years, helping them achieve their career goals with professional resumes and other career documents. If you’d like to work with a professional resume writer on your resume and cover letter, or even your LinkedIn profile, and jump-start your job search, get in touch with us today.

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