Tailor Your Resume, Land Your Dream Job

 Five years ago I began an exciting adventure to find a new career after departing the military. What I believed would be an experience that would generate infinite prospects and copious work offers was anything but that. At this time in my life I was two years in to obtaining a bachelors degree in computer science, had produced a well constructed résumé that translated all of my military experience and training into applicable abilities for the job I was pursuing and had spent hours rehearsing responses for interview questions. In my opinion I had done everything I could to prepare myself to achieve my dream job. But instead I found myself working part-time for an Internet service provider making minimum money and answering customer support inquiries day in and day out.

I wanted more. This was hardly the future I had envisioned for myself after serving five years in the Army. I was tenacious and driven. I had a good foundation and significant achievements. Even so I spent the next year daydreaming between customer service calls of the career that I wish had. The career I should have.

Beginning a job search and finding a new career is a huge endeavor for any job seeker. I found transferring into the civilian workforce after leaving the military to be very tough. Employers are besieged by hundreds of resumes for most employment positions. Therefore, recruiters rate applications by matching keywords and you may be neglected if vital skills and qualifications are lacking from your CV. Your resume must contain the keywords companies are looking for and illustrate the value you would bring to the firm through your accomplishments.

When I began job seeking I wasted numerous hours analyzing positions for skills that corresponded with my résumé and compared my resume to job descriptions. I researched each and every job posting and sent multiple resumes out weekly with no answer. I basically kept sending out the same resume to job after employer without making any modifications and as a result never hearing anything back.

What I ultimately realized is that your CV is THE most significant document in your job search. Customize your resume to stand out. If you want to attract hiring managers' attention, you must take the effort to adapt your resume to each job advertising. Tailoring your CV to a job description is vital to stand out as the ideal candidate. Your resume must be focused, customized to the job posting and professional. You need a fantastic resume, tailored EVERY TIME to the position you are looking for. The work you put in up front can make all the difference to whether you actually get the job you want.

Eventually I learned how to adapt my résumé and connect my qualifications to the role I desired, and secured my dream job at a top-notch software business. My experience led me to create SkillSyncer, a keyword optimization tool meant to help job seekers optimize and adapt their resume. SkillSyncer is driven by machine learning that intelligently matches your resume to a job opening and discovers abilities and keywords that are absent from your resume.