Targeting Your Resume

When you target, you're more likely to hit the bull's-eye and get what you want. To target, analyze what you're good at and what working environment is most compatible with your needs:

  • large, medium, small
  • formal, informal
  • high-rise or industrial setting
  • indoors, outdoors
  • hours of work, overtime, shifts
  • travel
  • style of supervision you best respond to
  • high pressure, tight time lines and variety, or structure, routine, slower pace and stability.

Note: Targeting can be a difficult step. If you are not sure what type of job you want or what your job target is, spend some time doing the exercises under "What You Are Looking For" or visit a Career Development Centre counsellor

Now start collecting data about companies/ organizations that belong to your target market. If you feel you're marketable in two or three different occupations, you'll likely need to make the adjustments in your cover letter (generally not your resume if you have a properly prepared resume), each emphasizing different skills strengths. For example, John Doe may want to target jobs as:

1. A firefighter
2. A telecommunications technologist
3. A foreman (of telephone installers)

In each case, he'll want to emphasize different skills.

As a firefighter:

  • physical strength and agility
  • knowledge and understanding of role
  • team-player skills
  • attraction to adventure/adaptability
  • sports and athletic involvement
  • commitment to helping others
  • volunteer fireman experience
  • background in naval cadets

As a telecommunications technologist:

  • telecommunications technical skills and competencies
  • Telecommunications Technologist Diploma
  • special employment-related project assignments
  • interpersonal skills
  • problem-solving skills

As a foreman:

  • leadership skills
  • ability to motivate
  • ability to delegate
  • ability to hire, train, coach
  • ability to give developmental feedback
  • ability to listen, organize, plan, make decisions
  • telecommunications technical expertise
  • supervisory or management training
  • leadership roles in volunteer, sports and community activities
Myth: If you have a general resume and you're willing to take any job, that's the best approach to getting employment.

Reality: Your resume and total strategy should be targeted to a specific kind of work within a specific type of organization. Employers are quick to differentiate between the person who is looking for just a job and the one who is genuinely interested in a specific job or company.

In each case, John Doe must anticipate what the reader needs to know to assess his suitability for the job. When you respond to a career ad, search the content for clues as to what the employer is looking for in the ideal candidate. From your skill inventory compare employer (buyer) needs to your (product) features. It all comes down to marketing yourself with "cost" to buyer (employer) and "benefit" of product (you). Keep every ad you respond to in your manual for future reference.


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