Sending your resume without adapting it in response to every job you are interested in is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.
Just as a tailor makes clothes to fit each client, so must job seekers adapt their resumes to make themselves the best fit for each job they apply for.
Taking the time to tailor a resume to a specific job description is time well spent!
Why? A well-tailored resume, displaying required skills and a work history that closely matches the job description, will stand out against any other generic resume.
In this article, we’ll explore the following so you can tailor your resume with confidence:
- Why you need a tailored resume
- How to adapt your resume to a job description
- Why keywords are important
- Examples of how to tailor your experience to different roles
You’ll have all the explanations and details you need to know to create your own targeted resume.
Using a tool like our AI-powered resume builder can also give you a boost. It can provide concrete examples for each section, easily tailoring your experience to the job you are applying for and our resume checker service is the cherry on top to be confident on it.
Why Do You Need a Tailored Resume?
Remember, hiring managers might only scan each resume for six or seven seconds, so it’s imperative that you make yours stand out.
Our main reasons for advising you to tweak your resume for every job application are five-fold:
- A tailored resume helps show that you’ve taken the time to familiarize yourself with the job as well as with the company.
- It reflects skills such as attention to detail and critical thinking.
- It establishes you as a hard-working individual willing to go the extra mile.
- Adapting your resume for each role allows you to incorporate all important keywords into your document, which is beneficial when a company uses an applicant tracking system (ATS).
- Finally, and importantly, you are more likely to be invited for a job interview if you tailor your resume.
How to Target Your Resume Step-by-Step
Now you know why you should target your resume to a job description: It’s all about making you the best candidate for a specific position.
But how do you do so? Here are the first three important steps you should take.
- Read each job description carefully, noting the skills, experience, and qualifications required. Then, consider how to highlight those attributes in your resume.
- Dedicate a little time to researching the company you are applying to work for. Their company culture and values might mean you need to change what you focus on in your resume. Take a look at their website and social media channels and look at the kind of language they use. Try to reflect the tone in your resume.
- You may need to tweak your resume headline to reflect your target title. If you are a Back-end Developer who has recently trained in full-stack development but is now applying for a role as a Full-stack Developer, you will need to include this job title in your headline.
💡top tip
We are not talking about a major overhaul of your resume each time you send it out in response to a job post. It’s merely tweaking some information you have to reflect details found in each job description.
Tailor your resume summary, experience, and skills sections
Arguably, your resume summary is one of the most important sections when grabbing a recruiter’s attention, and you need to tailor your resume summary for each role. This short paragraph outlines your most impressive achievements, experience, and skills.
Below this may come your skills section or your experience section, depending on which you want to emphasize. New-collar or skills-based hiring is on the rise, so you should paste your skills list below your summary, especially if the job ad emphasizes these.
Your skills section should also be tailored to reflect the abilities sought by different companies; if one job description lists “strong written communication and creative skills” and another “excellent critical thinking and leadership skills,” then adapt the order of your skills list.
Next, tailor your experience section to show professional achievements that match the job description. You should leverage your relevant experience as best you can to show how you meet the specifications of the role you are applying for.
A word on keywords: are they key to your targeted resume?
A tailored resume should contain industry-specific keywords that are important for getting a resume through an applicant tracking system. An ATS is designed to scan resumes and select those that contain relevant keywords.
Therefore, pulling keywords from the job description will be crucial in getting your document recognized by an ATS and, thus, into the hands of a recruiter.
Let’s see an example. First, here is a sample job description.
Digital Marketing Specialist
Our dynamic company is seeking a creative and analytical Digital Marketing Specialist to join our growing team. In this role, you’ll play a pivotal role in crafting and executing innovative social media campaigns that build brand awareness, drive website traffic, and generate leads. You’ll also leverage your SEO expertise to optimize our online presence and improve organic search rankings.
You should be sure to include keywords such as “creative,” “analytical,” “brand awareness,” “SEO,” and, of course, “digital marketing” in your resume.
It’s not only about using the keywords themselves but often how you applied those skills or any achievements linked to when you implemented them.
For example, you can add “creative” and “analytical” to your list of soft skills, but you can also show you were creative and analytical by adding a bullet point in your work history like this:
Experience
- Oversaw social media accounts and website content creation for an online food delivery company, analyzed key performance indicators (KPIs), and created strategies to reinforce brand voice, resulting in a 30% increase in engagement.
💡top tip
Avoid keyword stuffing on your resume. If you don’t honestly have the skill or work experience reflected in a keyword, do not use it.
Tailored Resume Examples
Now that you have seen step-by-step advice on how to tailor your resume, let’s look at an example job description and how you can adapt your resume summary and experience sections to cover all the key points.
Digital Marketing Specialist
Our dynamic company is seeking a creative and analytical Digital Marketing Specialist to join our growing team. In this role, you’ll play a pivotal role in crafting and executing innovative social media campaigns that build brand awareness, drive website traffic, and generate leads. You’ll also leverage your SEO expertise to optimize our online presence and improve organic search rankings.
Qualifications
- Expertise in brand management, social media content, and marketing campaign development
- Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Marketing Communications, or Business
- At least 5 years of experience in marketing, promotion, or public relations
- Excellent people-management, communication, and project-management skills
- Data analysis and reporting.
Now, here’s a targeted resume example based on the above description. We’ve bolded the parts that have been specifically included to tailor the resume for this role. But you shouldn’t use bold text in yours in the same way.
Summary
Proven, creative Digital Marketing Specialist with 10+ years of experience in building brand awareness for various sporting goods manufacturers. Track record of successfully implementing strong social media campaigns leading to an average of $30K per month in sales and an average 40% increase in sales leads. Experienced in analyzing market trends to optimize online sales.
Skills
- On page optimization
- Google Search Console
- GA4
- Data Analysis
- People management
- Project management
Experience
Digital Marketing Specialist
08/2019 to Current
HomeRun Bats, Canton, OH
- Led marketing team of 8 members to create and implement inspired social media campaigns, increasing overall sales by 38%.
- Devised online brand awareness campaign in November 2019 that increased website traffic by 35% and sales leads by 23%.
- Oversaw monthly market analysis meetings to ensure optimal company positioning in online sales and repeat business.
- Restructured company website for SEO optimization, realizing a 10% improvement in search rankings.
This resume summary and the achievements outlined in the experience section align with what was required in the job description. They have demonstrated team leadership experience, successful campaign history, qualifications in SEO, and strong analytical and reporting skills.
💡top tip
Potential employers love to see measurable accomplishments, i.e., “increased website traffic by 35%”, so incorporate those details wherever you can.
Tailoring the same experience to a different job description
Here’s another targeted resume example using the same job title but a different job description and keywords:
Digital Marketing Specialist
Leading brand management company seeking to fill a Digital Marketing Specialist role in our fast-paced environment. Strong writing, analytical, and graphic design skills required in order to create effective social media campaigns to increase brand recognition and sales. Ability to use excellent collaborative skills to work closely with our Marketing Director. Experience in Google Analytics is strongly recommended.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in marketing or a similar area
- Experience in building brand awareness
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
- Strong technical and analytical skills
Your tailored resume might look like this:
Summary
Experienced, driven Digital Marketing Specialist. 5+ years building online campaigns to enhance social media presence and increase brand awareness. Proven ability to work closely with marketing executives and staff to create and implement successful online and print campaigns. Implemented campaigns leading to an overall 28% increase in brand recognition for the top five clients.
Skills
- GA4
- Google Search Console
- Ahrefs
- Social Media Marketing
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Time management
Experience
Digital Marketing Specialist
08/2019 to Current
HomeRun Bats, Canton, OH
- Collaborated with Marketing Director and marketing staff to create and implement inspired social media campaigns, increasing overall sales by 38%.
- Devised online brand awareness campaign in November 2019 that increased website traffic by 35% and sales leads by 23%.
- Reviewed website performance using Google Analytics and A/B testing, resulting in a 40% increase in conversion rates.
The same candidate has adapted their resume to focus on relationships with executives, the use of specific SEO tools, and their success in building and implementing digital marketing campaigns. It just took a little tweak!
Remember, our resume builder is available to help you every step of the way. This AI-powered tool can make suggestions for each section of your resume if you are feeling lost for words.
Is Tailoring Your Resume Worth It?
We wholeheartedly say that it is always worth adapting your resume for each role you apply for. Remember: You only have seconds to grab the attention of a hiring manager, and they need to see that you are a perfect fit.
Key points to keep in mind when creating your targeted resume:
- Read the job description carefully and pick out the key requirements.
- Research the company and its culture, and think about how you can adapt your resume to it.
- Incorporate some keywords from the job description into your resume summary, skills, and experience sections.
- Include measurable achievements that align with the job requirements.
- Use keywords wherever appropriate without overdoing it—and be sure they are truly skills you possess.
Finally, why not try out our resume builder and review our resume examples to create the polished document hiring managers like to see?
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