This is a guest post from Linda Chase who is joining me at Nurture Life Coaching to offer resume writing and consultations and interview preparation! I’m excited to send clients to her once they have identified what they want in their career transition. She can help close the deal! You can find out more about her here.
During this unprecedented COVID year of 2020 and the first couple of months of 2021, the job environment was discouraging for job-seekers. But there’s GOOD NEWS! As of March, the job market began picking up again not only for on-site opportunities, but also for remote positions as the pandemic has changed the work paradigm. This means that the number of applicants has also increased with the jobs surge. Here’s the important question: how do you make yourself stand out amongst all the other applicants?
It is imperative that your resume hooks the reader within a few seconds. As a Talent Acquisition Manager for many years, I can attest that this is true! First, your resume must be beautiful: well-formatted and well-written (easy to read, articulate, well-constructed and no misspellings or grammatical errors). Second, it must be tailored to be relevant to each individual position you are seeking. In particular, key language and specific skills/experience listed on the job description (JD) must be included so you are immediately put in the “YES!” pile. (More good news: your skills are often transferable! In other words, even if you do not have the specific skill experience–or industry experience– listed in the JD, we will work together to massage your resume showing that your experience IS relevant to the position). In addition, many companies use an ATS (Applicant Tracking System) which ranks your resume on how well it fits with the JD. If your resume is reviewed by a “gatekeeper” or recruiter, you can bet that they will be looking for those key words and skills listed in the JD. My forte is in getting resumes in that “YES!” pile–and getting you to an interview
