Our 3 Part Resume Strategy That Works
There are three parts to our resume strategy here at Work Wonders Careers.
When clients consistently use all three of these tactics, they land interviews - 100% of the time.
And I'm not just talking generically, I'm talking even in this market that we're in right now. They always, and I mean always, land interviews.
Lately, given the turbulence in the job market, I’ve received a lot of questions that remind me that people don’t understand what a resume is supposed to to - and why it has the potential to work.
I’ve seen so many people saying that they’ve applied for hundreds of jobs.
I don’t want to minimize the stress of being unemployed or the challenges in some functions/industries right now. What I do want you to know is that no client of ours has ever applied to hundreds of jobs a month to get traction.
That is not the resume strategy that we take - ever.
There are two reasons for this.
Most of our clients are simply not willing to accept any job.
While they have moments where they’d rather join the circus than show up to their job the next day, for a variety of reasons, they need and/or want to make an intentional move for themselves.
The second reason that we don’t have clients apply to hundreds of jobs is because I don’t think it’s a particularly effective strategy.
Even when we have clients who are searching more urgently and more flexible on what the next role looks like, it’s still worthwhile to focus on the alignment of your experience and the target job in order to get results from your job search.
I want to share the three elements of our resume strategy that consistently drive results for our clients. The overwhelming majority of our clients land interviews applying cold online. It’s not the only strategy, obviously - but it can absolutely be an effective one.
But you have to know how to really use your resume.
Step 1: A strategic and optimized resume
This is the step you probably hear me talk about (or write about ;-)) the most.
Your resume needs to be written with the reader in mind.
That means, it’s critical to have clear target roles so that we can make sure your resume is demonstrating your qualifications for those roles. This is especially important if you are making some kind of pivot or transition.
I have spent the last 10 years sharing my ideas of what makes a resume great so I won’t spend too much time here.
A few things that I will say again because they bear repeating:
A resume should be easy to read - and easy to read quickly. Taking up more than one page and adding healthy margins and white space is a good idea. You do not need a one page resume unless you have very few years of experience.
I don’t think about applicant tracking systems (ATS) at all. Ever. I’ll spare you the details to say this: it’s not that important in the scheme of things. Write your resume for a human reader, please!
Most of our clients tailor their resumes. This is one of my most controversial takes but it is mine nonetheless. More on that in a minute!
If you don’t have a clear sense of what your target roles are, you should start there. It will make everything else much easier!
Most resumes I see focus on the applicant at the expense of the job, aren’t specific or clear enough about the qualifications of their target roles, and spend too much time on design rather than the content of their resume.
Step #2: Our clients are well-qualified for the jobs at hand
This is what has been coming up more and more in webinars and Q + A’s lately. Especially for those making a pivot or transition, job seekers want to know how they get around job qualifications that they don’t meet.
But your resume can’t really demonstrate qualifications if you don’t have them.
(At least not with any sense of integrity - which is a core value over here!)
One of the main reasons that our clients consistently generate interest and land interviews using their resumes is that they are applying primarily for jobs that they are well qualified for.
I know that can be a bummer to hear - but I want to be clear:
We simply can’t write a top-notch resume for a seriously unqualified applicant.
Do our clients occasionally throw a Hail Mary? Yes!
Do they sometimes hear back? Yes, they do.
This can be a particularly good approach for our clients who are more passive job seekers who are very particular and clear about what they’re willing to leave their current job for.
It’s not the best strategy for people who are eagerly, and somewhat urgently, looking for their next opportunity.
It’s good to assume that there are a lot of applicants right now.
There are a lot of people looking for jobs and that increases the likelihood that there are a lot of qualified people in the applicant pool right now.
Being well qualified is going to make your life so much easier, in general, and in this kind of tight market in particular.
Being underqualified and being unqualified are not always deal breakers.
But if you want your job search to end sooner rather than later, applying solely to jobs or primarily on jobs that are a reach for you may make your job search a lot longer.
If you are someone trying to make a pivot or transition right now, I want you to think about the skills and experiences that you can really leverage in this process (i.e. your transferable skills) and consider how you can pivot based on the experience you do have. You can make a pivot or transition a multi-step, multi-job process.
(On the flip side - there are people who take themselves out of the running because they assume they’re unqualified or feel intimidated or unclear about the qualifications. If this is you, please consider booking in so we can chat. There’s a good subsection of folks who are actually more qualified than they think!)
Step #3: Giving your resume ample opportunity
This next step in the process is just as critical as the other two.
When people aren’t landing interviews, it’s usually because of what’s happening (or rather, not happening!) here.
A lot of folks come to us either applying to very, very few jobs or using this “spray and pray” approach of applying to as many jobs as possible.
Here's what we want our clients to do instead:
We ask our clients to aim for between four to eight, targeted, tailored applications a month for two months jobs.
What does a targeted job mean? It’s a job you might actually want, you're curious, you're intrigued. (Note: this is not you committing yourself to accepting the job. But it is a sincere interest in learning more).
You most likely want your resume tailored to the job at hand. This might be controversial, but a lot of our clients have very dynamic backgrounds and are making some of kind of pivot or transition.
Tailoring their resume allows them to put the most relevant experience in front of the people doing the hiring and consistency, especially in a volatile market. We typically use a Summary of Qualifications strategy that both helps resume readers see their qualifications quickly - and helps our clients see just how qualified they are for their target roles (a real confidence booster!).
Time. Your resume - and your job search - needs time. I know you probably want to spend as little time as possible but impatience and leaping to conclusions after one or two applications is not strategic.
Jobs are posted and taken down. Hiring managers could be out of the office unexpectedly. There could be hundreds of applicants for the role.
There are lots of reasons you’re not getting an interview in a timely way. And most of them, individually, don’t tell us much about your resume.
The hiring process and the application process both need time to play out.
Giving yourself at least 8 weeks and at least 8 attempts at landing an interview allows you to focus on output initially - which is the most strategic way to spend your time.
If you have the capacity to apply for more roles than 4-8, great. Go for it!
If you’re struggling to get applications out the door, hopefully, this lowers the bar for you.
I recommend tracking the roles you’re applying for and the resume you’re using to apply. Most of the time when people aren’t getting traction at this stage, they are:
Not applying to the minimum amount of jobs to see results (may be okay for more passive job seekers but probably not for active job seekers!)
Not tailoring their resume as well as they could be (this can be fixed!)
Your resume isn’t going to work for 100% of the jobs you use it for. That’s okay!
I like to see our clients in the 20%-50% range. But I’ve seen people land jobs with a 10% return!
Conclusion
I am not sharing these details to be glib or obtuse.
There are a lot of job seekers right now. It’s tough for a lot of people, across a lot of industries. I don’t think what’s happening to working people is just or fair.
But…in my little corner of the world, I am seeing people make progress.
I am seeing people revise their resumes, refine their approach, and land interviews.
I believe that this is possible for you, too!
If you’d like support, here are some resources we offer here at Work Wonders Careers that I’m happy to invite you to consider:
Free - subscribe to our podcast.
Low cost - hop on our mailing list to hear about our regular workshops and retreats, priced to be as accessible as possible.
Paid - We also have paid services for a variety of budgets, including a full range of Resume Strategy Services, our Job Search Club, and traditional career coaching and strategy options. Complete an assessment to learn more about which option is best for you.