By Cheneyere Williamson and posted to LinkedIn on January 7, 2018
Let me guess? You’ve been applying to tons of jobs online, and the only response you get is the automatic reply that essentially says “Don’t call us, we’ll call you!”
BUT
You are expertly qualified, have all the skills they are looking for, and possess the education they need. What gives?
Well I’ll tell you, chances are, your resume sucks.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but in today’s job market your resume is the only calling card you have. Its the business card of the 90’s. Its the way you would show up to a company in a shiny suit in the 80’s and be able to sell your self on the spot.
In today’s technology driven millennial market, your only option is your RESUME.
If you don’t have a good one, its time to find one!
Lets take a look at some statistics, according to data gathered by Workopolis.com, 98% of applicants are immediately screened out by the online application systems. Leaving only 2% of applicants ever having their resume seen by a human.
Now lets put these stats into numbers.
According to this same data, on average 250 applicants submit their resumes to corporate job postings, if 98% are automatically rejected, that means 245 are immediately turned away, leaving ONLY 5 resumes that will move to the next stage, 5 RESUMES!!!
Now you’re probably thinking so what do I do to make sure I’m in the 5%?
Unfortunately there is so much information about resumes out there that many people are unsure of what information even applies to them.
As a professional career counselor and resume writer, the most important thing you need to know is this:
YOUR RESUME NEEDS TO SPEAK TO YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE.
When applying to the job of your dreams you need to ask yourself the following questions:
Is my resume being uploaded online into the dreaded applicant tracking system?
- If so, ask yourself is your resume optimized for the ATS system?
Is my resume being sent to a direct email?
- If so, ask yourself is your resume complete, will it lose formatting once sent? Are you planning on sending it as an attachment or within the body of the email?
Lastly, is my resume being submitted in person?
- If so, what does this document look like? Is it a visually appealing document that highlights my experience in one page or less? OR Is it just the all purpose resume I have been sending out everywhere with no rhyme or reason.
There are many questions that need to be answered when it comes to resumes, we’ve unfortunately only scratched the surface here, and there’s a limit to the amount of characters I can publish.
If you are interested in getting down to the nitty gritty of all things resume and how to apply to jobs successfully, especially to those mystifying jobs online.
Then join me as I discuss, analyze and dissect how to BEAT THE BOTS in my upcoming webinar on Jan 25th, co- hosted by my good friend Alexandria Bellivan.
For more info or to register your spot follow the link below:
https://alexandriabellivan.clickmeeting.com/beat-the-bots/register
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