Many clients are concerned with having a resume written for them that they consider too focused, feeling that they want to be open to a variety of opportunities. Of course, since the majority of resume clients are either out of work or soon will be, money is a concern and no one really wants to pay for multiple resumes when they don’t have to. But what many people fail to do is look at the process from the other side. Most people think of their resume and cover letter in a vacuum and fail to examine the context in which their resume will be read.
The odds are that the reader of your resume will be a mid-level manager whose day consists of managing several other projects currently in the works, subordinates and supervisors demanding time, and who knows what else going on. This person usually has the mandate to trim down a ghastly number of resumes down to a manageable number. He/she is tired, frustrated, and under the gun. Now, if they are going through 85 resumes to trim that number down to 20, then there is no time for interest in everything you’ve ever done. Many of those resumes submitted by your competition will speak directly to that position’s needs and it will be obvious to our tired and weary reader. When they come across that “broad-n-general” resume, there’s no way he/she bothers to dig through the entire document to hunt down their needs when so many others will make it easy for them to find.
With that said, no respectable resume service should charge a full fee for additional versions of your resume. After all, a good bit of the work is done the front end in producing the first version (we significantly discount additional resumes at The Resume Clinic). In fact, after getting a solid first version, most clients can make adjustments to re-target their resumes and cover letters for additional positions.
Just know that broad resumes rarely bring results. If a position as 20 requirements management is looking to fill and your general resume only addresses 8 of them, you fall in the middle of the pack. And when it comes to the job hunt, middle of the pack means the same as last place “¦ unemployed.
William Mitchell
Certified Professional Resume Writer
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