Do you tailor your resume when you apply for a new position? If you want to get interviews, you really should. If you don’t, your resume is likely to get overlooked, by both the applicant tracking systems and by the humans tasked with deciding who to call in.
Applicant tracking systems are bots that search for things like keywords. The clunkiest of them are the older versions, which look for very A-to-A matches, without much wiggle room built in. While lots of places have replaced these systems with newer versions that are smarter and more able to find similar phrases or simply ask rule-out questions, I like to assume we’re dealing with the least smart of the systems for the sake of caution. Similarly, when humans are the ones looking at your application materials, they are usually people who don’t do what it is you’re applying for. They may be HR people, or they may be from departments that work closely with the one you hope to join. Their work tasks may align closely with yours or not, and if not, they generally must decide who is qualified and who isn’t based on the job description and what’s in the applications. If they can’t clearly see how you are a good fit, they may well move on to the next candidate.
So be sure you’re customizing your application materials! Just tailoring the cover letter is not enough. If you want more, please watch my latest video blog, and feel free to reach out to me with questions.
To watch the video: https://youtu.be/hKuLqOczM4k
