Avoid One-Size-Fits-All Resumes Frederick MD

You're about to start your job hunt, and you've come up with what you believe to be a masterful plan: You'll put together the best résumé you can, then fire it off to as many companies as you can, in the hopes it will be a good match for at least one job in one organization. It's the classic "throw a bunch of mud against the wall and see if any of it sticks" approach.

It's a strategy that's great for helping you feel like you're really doing something in your job search. Problem is it's far more likely to be a waste of your time, energy and perhaps money than anything else. The one-size-fits-all résumé (and its cousin, the one-size-fits-all cover letter) just doesn't work in most cases. Put yourself in the employer's shoes, and it's easy to pinpoint the reasons why:

Most employers dread going through resume piles (or the online résumés they've received) in the first place. They'd rather be doing almost anything else, especially after they've seen too many of these types of résumés.

So when your one-size-fits-all résumé shows up, along with dozens of others, the employer will likely spot it immediately, and put it in the circular file (aka the recycle bin) or the delete box, never to be considered again.

Managers trying to fill positions in their organizations don't want to hear from applicants who are merely taking a shot at a job. They want to hear from people who really, truly want the job. The people who do are generally the ones who invest the time and energy necessary to customize their resumes and cover letters to the job and company at hand.