Writing Your Resume for Multiple Positions

Writing Your Resume for Multiple Positions In some cases, it makes sense to create a more generalized resume than one pointed towards a specific job title. An example of this is  how to position yourself effectively for job opportunities across multiple skill areas and still keep a cohesive storyline to connect the different pieces of their career. You might have expertise across different areas of marketing and communications, including promotions, digital marketing, public relations, and event planning. Yes, these go hand-in-hand, but there may be times when you apply to positions requiring specialization in one of those areas. A role focusing on creating online digital marketing strategies for an e-commerce company might not have an interest in your expertise in planning corporate marketing events, outside of the diversity of your experience. So how do you construct a resume that conveys the full range of your expertise, but also give you the flexibility to position yourself as a subject matter expert? Create a Strong Resume to Work From When you create a generalized resume, you may need to tailor it moving forward to highlight or remove certain skills or experience that are most/least relevant to the role youre applying to. Start with a resume version that includes: A strong general summary statement that highlights your top 3-4 core competencies A skills section (if applicable) outlining additional areas where you excel A professional experience section that gives a brief description of each of your roles with a couple of supporting bullets around your primary responsibilities and contributions Any additional sections for your education, training, memberships, and affiliations, etc., that may be important to include This is your foundation document.  It likely contains too much information about everything youve ever done in your career, but it provides a starting framework for you to add and whittle down as necessary so that youre left with a strategically tailored document. What you leave in and what you take out will depend upon the job description, but here are a few tips to keep in mind. Tailor Your Resume Effectively Pay Attention to Job Titles Job titles are one of the easiest elements of your resume for hiring managers to scan through. Theyre often the core criteria upon which they will formulate their decision around your qualifications. You dont always have the flexibility to change your job title, and its important also to be accurate and honest. But sometimes you can make some small modifications that can help get your message across more clearly. For example, your title is Manager of Marketing and Special Promotions:  If youre going for a marketing job that has less to do with promotions, perhaps it makes sense to shorten it simply to Marketing Manager. Ensure Youre Communicating the Right Level of Expertise Another example pertains to the level of expertise that you want to convey about yourself. Its not uncommon for the title and the actual level of the role to be mismatched, which can send the wrong message around your qualifications. You might have 5 years of marketing experience, but in a small company of only 3 staff, youve been granted the title of VP of Marketing. In a large firm, however, this title refers to something completely different, and realistically, youre at the manager, or perhaps even associate level. While again, its important to convey accuracy, you have to position yourself in line with the skills and levels of expertise of the roles youre going after â€" not necessarily the role you currently have. While your official title might be VP of Marketing, if youre targeting a more mid-level position with a bigger agency, you might think about modifying that to Marketing Manager/Director. This also goes for folks who own their own companies or are self-employed, and refer to their title on papers as CEO. Unless youre aiming for the C-Suite, your job titles could be hurting your resume and sending the wrong message. Create a Summary Statement You Can Tailor as Needed A summary statement is one of the easiest ways to custom tailor your resume to fit the needs of a particular role, without having to rewrite all of the content. A strong summary statement gives that initial brief overview of your most relevant skills, strengths, level and areas of expertise, and helps to set the tone for the rest of the document.   And you can easily modify this to fit the expectations of your audience (in addition to tweaking the other sections as needed). Think of your summary statement as your introduction, and it should be tailored just so. While your job responsibilities may not change extensively, you can give your resume a completely new perspective by changing up the summary to address the key points of the job description right off the bat. Evaluate. Edit. Repeat. Edit down your resume moving forward by looking at the job description. Isolate out the top skill and experience requirements List them in a separate document Go through your resume and identify key areas where you can illustrate your qualifications in those areas, and speak to those skill sets Make sure youve covered as many areas from that list as you can Identify any skill sets, perhaps industry-specific jargon or tasks, that may not be relevant to the role, and which should be omitted You can also employ these strategies to fit your cover letter. Each one should also be targeted to the distinct needs and interests of the role and the organization to which youre trying to appeal. Looking for a custom career portfolio? Contact us. Photo Credit: Prentice Wongvibulsin of Flickr Google