How to Adjust Your resume to Better Fit the Ad

Have you been arduously searching for a job for months or even years? While many people are in a similar situation, certain ways exist in which you can get ahead. Instead of submitting the same resume and cover letter for every job application, these are some tweaks you need to make to ensure you are submitting the right information for the job.

Changing the Date

This might seem as a basic thing and it really is but it is so often that details like this are forgotten. Potential employers do not want to see that you’re just recycling the same cover letter time after time. Always be sure to adjust this part to reflect the current date. Even if all of the information is still the same, adjusting the date brings it up to the present.

CV vs. Resume

You also need to consider whether the job is asking for a resume or a resume. In the educational field, you are often going to be submitting a CV, which stands for curriculum vitae. This document is generally longer than a resume, and it goes into more length about your own education, your teaching experience and any research you have performed or publications you have created. A resume is a briefer synopsis. Failure to submit the proper requested documents is almost a certain guarantee that you will not receive the job.

Updating the Job Posting Location

In many cover letters, people write that they are responding to a job found on a specific website or in an advertisement. The rest of the cover letter, when you are applying for all very similar jobs, tends to stay the same. However, if you write to a school with a letter stating that the position was found on another school’s website, the reader is going to know you are not paying any attention to your work and simply handing in the same copy time after time.

Related Experience

Now, maybe you are applying to an array of different jobs, and you have a related experience section in the resume. If the jobs require different skills and are in various industries, you need to start moving around information on your resume. You want to be sure that your related experience actually has to do with the specific job to which you are applying. This task is sometimes as simple as copying and pasting.

References or Not

In some job postings, it will state whether or not the employer wants to see references included on your resume. No matter what the case is, you want to do exactly what the advertisement is calling for. If the ad does want you to include references, be sure to have contact details, such as the phone number and address, listed for each of the people. If the posting says nothing about references at all, you may want to include them or note at the end of the cover letter that references are available upon request.

Tailoring the Cover Letter

When you’re writing the cover letter, you want to hit the key notes in the job description. For example, if the posting says the job requires someone with five years of experience in the educational environment who can speak fluent Spanish and organize a club, show how you have background and experience in all of these fields.

Crafting your resume and cover letter to better fit the ad is really important. Even if most of the information is the same for many jobs, employers want to see that you put effort into the application materials.

Author Bio:

Victor is a consultant and business blogger. His witting is aimed at preparing young people, especially first time job find job seekers for hard task that is finding a dream job. For more information about jobs in Australia he recommends this site.