The Art of the Resume
Step One: Targeting Your Career & Audience

In order to maximize the impact of your resume for your targeted audience — the hiring manager or admission officer — you must have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish.

Before you begin, ask yourself these questions. Are you:

• Making a lateral move?
• Seeking a promotion?
• Career transitioning?
• Pursuing admission into an academic program?

For numbers one through three above, the most effective way to begin targeting your resume is to search openings that appeal to you on job boards (Monster.com, Yahoo! HotJobs, CareerBuilder, Jobs.com, etc.), internal company postings, or newspaper classifieds.

When you look at a job listing, highlight the qualifications that are required and the duties that you would be expected to assume. Every match in terms of required qualifications and your experience should serve as a keyword in your resume.

Knowing how you match up to a potential position will provide focus, so that your resume can be tailored to your targeted audience. The more closely the content of your resume matches the content of these postings, the more likely you will be asked to interview. Be careful, though, not to simply repeat phrases found in a job listing. Your goal is to demonstrate your understanding of the role and your applicable experience.

Resumes provided to admission officers showcase your skills, professional experience, accomplishments, and academic history in much the same way as "job" resumes. The difference is that an admission resume will focus on what transitions well to the classroom, not to the workplace.

Keywords can include industry-specific jargon or acronyms, such as the following:

• Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), for accountants
• Series 7 licensing, for brokers
• Initial public offering (IPO), for investment bankers
• At-risk child, for social workers
• Level 2 Training, for physicians
• Intellectual property law, for attorneys
• Triage, for nurses

You should employ other nouns or phrases that indicate your qualifications and knowledge of required tasks. Such words might include:

• General ledger, word processing, contract negotiations, benefits, payroll, closing (for sales people)
• Catering services, new menu items, capacity planning (for chefs)
• Logistics, quality assurance, advertising campaigns, product launches, staffing, training, orientations (for a marketing position)

Companies that employ scanners require a set number of hits on keywords before the hiring manager will personally review a resume. For that reason, it is always wise to incorporate as many keywords as possible into your resume.