Hard truth: your resume is only half as good as you think it is.
“...individuals end up putting their resumes on a bit of a pedestal...”
Resumes. Over the years we pour a lot of ourselves into these little documents. In many ways, a resume is the embodiment of us in black and white. They have been there handcrafted and created over the years, through good jobs, bad ones, and everything else in between. Through round after round of improvement, advice, suggestions, and targeting, they can become a symbol of our very best. It is therefore unsurprising that the vast majority of individuals end up putting their resumes on a bit of a pedestal. They often feel defensive about them and will remain suspicious of any attempt to give them an overhaul in a meaningful way, preferring instead to tweak or make cosmetic changes. Sometimes you get the sense that these are a type of artwork for the individual, while the frame and the lighting may change, the essence of what it is needs to remain the same.
However, resumes have an important role to play in your career. They are meant to serve as an overview of your experience and expertise, as well as to give your potential coworkers and employer an idea about your style, skills, and temperament. Simply put, they are not works of art. They instead need to be the embodiment of a living document, firmly connected to the individual in meaningful ways. However, in today’s world, they also need to serve a dual purpose, that of a key to get you past the ATS (Applicant Tracking System) gatekeeper. I think in many ways, this is the best analogy for your resume. There are probably ways for you to try game the system, to pick the lock. But the odds are that if you attempt to enter this way, the human gatekeepers (your friendly HR recruiters) will not be so enthusiastic. Instead, time and care must be taken to shape your resume in such a way that it fits the keyhole for this unique opportunity.
“Not a single resume scored over 50%”
During a recent promotion, we offered individuals the opportunity to have their resumes run through ATS software algorithms against job postings in which they were interested. Individuals came from different parts of the country, with varying levels of experience. The one thing that they had in common was that they all felt confident about the current state of their resumes and they felt that they were a good fit for the open positions. The results were striking. Not a single resume scored a match of over 50%. The average matching rate between a resume and the posting was around 34%. The optimum range should be something like 80% or above.
One way to attempt to close this gap is to set aside the buckshot application method. For the past two decades, job sites have become more prevalent, and it is now possible for individuals to create solid applications to multiple organizations within a single day. In fact, ATS software development can be seen as a response by the HR industry to attempt to parse the hundreds of resumes that they typically receive for openings. While this is the prevailing method of applying, some thought must be given to the return on your efforts. Doesn’t it sometimes feel like you are applying into a black hole? A lack of response to applications is often cited as one of the most disheartening parts of a modern job search. The ugly truth is that your beautiful resume was probably never even reviewed by a human.
“What if you only had to apply for one job?”
Instead, focus on crafting and conveying your relevant information in the best way possible for one job at a time. Set realistic goals in the number of applications you should submit each week. If you are employed full-time, maybe that is as low as one or two. If you are full-time searching, that could be as high as five or six. However, the overall goal should be to create and craft a unique resume for each position. What if you only had to apply for one job? How would you that change the effort and time that you put into your application?
If you want a rough DIY analysis of the job description, go old school. Print it out, and highlight what you think the keywords for skills and requirements are. Then tally them up. That should give you a rough idea of how important each phrase is. Work to make your resume mirror that. A similar method would be to copy and paste the job posting into a site that creates a word cloud (there are tons of them). While these methods will not give you a full feel of how the system ranks everything, it will get you a lot closer than merely applying with a standardized resume. Alternatively, if you would like a free analysis report, you can contact us here at Journeymen Resume Review. We are happy to help you gain new insights, and you have no obligation to use any of our other services. By aligning your resume in a more fundamental way to each job, and by targeting only the specific roles that you are most excited about, you can take your job search to the next level. Make sure that it embodies the very best about you and what you can bring to the table.