If you have been reading up on information about resumes, then you will not have failed to notice that same sage advice being given out by many career sites – tailor your resume to target the job you want. While this is good advice in itself, who really wants to spend their precious time writing and re-writing their resume over and over again for every single job they apply for.
Yes, it may seem tedious to have to do this, but remember that no potential employer is going to be attracted to a generic resume that reads as if it has been written for any job available.
Save Time by Using a Resume Template
Fortunately, you can have an advantage here. You don’t need to spend hours every day writing out completely new resumes each time you see a job you like. You can tailor your resume to suit each position you apply for without wasting your precious time.
By using a resume template that already has your section headings set out and empty fields set up ready to take your information, you don’t have to waste hours messing about with layouts and formatting headings and text boxes.
There are a wealth of free resume templates available to use online that can save you a lot of time and effort as well as a lot of frustration too! For example, take a look at the wonderful selection of professionally crafted resume templates offered by Freesumes.com. You simply cannot go wrong with these. Each one is completely customizable and in MS Word format to make it easy for you to amend and what’s more – they are completely FREE for you to download.
Start With Your Basics
Just about every resume will contain certain sections that do not change, such as the area where you list your name, address and contact details. These are standard sections which all potential employers and recruiters will expect to see so make sure they can be easily found and read.
Pretty much the same can be said about section headings. These rarely change on resumes and this is why using a good quality customizable resume template makes your life so much easier. There will already be areas set out for you to list your education, qualifications, work experience and your ‘about me’ or ‘profile’ section, so all you have to do is fill these areas in with your information.
Tailor Your Section Headings
Although the sections of your resume may stay the same, sometimes you have to decide whether to put your education section first or your work experience nearer the top. This depends on the particular job you are applying for. Some positions will be heavily biased towards your work experience and job history so will be basing their preferred choice of candidate on that. In this case you would be wise to place your work history above your education section so you should tailor your section headings to reflect this choice.
Prepare for the skim!
Most recruiters will only give resumes a quick 30 second skim over before deciding whether it meets with their requirements and makes it to the yes pile or it hits the reject pile. This is why you should make the best use of bold headings to attract the eye and highlight the skills you possess that the company is looking for. Use keywords in your resume that the company will be looking out for. These keywords are usually to be found in the job description, so make sure you carefully weave these in and make them flow naturally within your text.
Once you have set up your resume template you can send a copy off with your job application. You will keep your resume template on file and can then easily go back in to customize it to suit the next position you apply for without the need to start all over again from scratch. What a time-saver!
