We’ve all heard of the book, but what a great principle to apply to our resumes, cover letters, and job searches.  Instead of utilizing a generic or jack of all trades (and master of none) resume, we should be using (and with great success) a purpose-driven, focused, and customized resume.  In fact, if you have expertise in more than one area, then you should be broadcasting more than one resume.

After working recently with a client who had an extremely unfocused, all-over-the-place resume, I was prompted to sit down and write about how important a focused, customized, and branded resume really is.  This particular client had his resume nicely written, and to tell the truth, it wasn’t half bad.  It contained great wording, had an appealing format, and even included some great accomplishments.  The problem was that this resume had multiple personalities—ten different job titles and no clear direction.  It was not a surprise the client didn’t even receive one call back.  Hiring managers were probably reviewing the resume and thinking, “I have no idea where to put this person or what he really wants to do.”

If you have experience and expertise in several different areas it certainly is not a negative, but blasting everything you have ever done all over your resume—where it looks like job titles and keywords just threw up all over it—is not going to get you an interview … or a call back for that matter.  Here are three points you should consider in order to clean up your resume, communicate your purpose, and customize it:

1. Focus. Pick one position, one role, one industry.  Then convey your achievements, contributions, experience, expertise, talent, passion, and vision for that one key role.  This does not mean you can only apply to that one position; this is where the technique of employing multiple resumes which are focused in different areas comes in to play.
2. Don’t just develop a resume with any old content.  Create your personal branding statement, and then tie in all of the other elements of your resume to support that statement.  If you are an amazing sales manager in the XYZ industry, then what makes you so great?  How do your talent, passion, and vision play into that?
3. Customization is crucial.  Form an appropriate branding statement and relevant career summary to industry specific keywords and pertinent accomplishments.  They should all relate back to the exact position to which you are applying at that very moment.

Everything about your resume should address the key points of the job description and answer the question: “Are you a perfect fit for this job?”  If you can review the description and honestly answer, “I addressed all of their requirements—either through my branding statement, career summary, keywords, or accomplishments,” then you can be assured you’re the perfect fit for the position and you have a purpose-driven resume.

For a free resume analysis send your resume to info@greatresumesfast.com.  You can visit them online at http://www.greatresumesfast.com to view sample resumes and find information about professional resume writing services.

Jessica Holbrook is an expert resume writer, career and personal branding strategist, author, and presenter.  She has written more than 100 articles that are featured on some of the best career advice Web sites today.  In addition, her writing has been included in Launch pad, a career search strategy guide featuring exclusive information by the top career experts in the industry.

As CEO of Great Resumes Fast, Jessica enjoys collaborating with forward-thinking professionals and executives, identifying their personal brand and value proposition and leveraging their unique talent, passion, and vision to position them as a leader in their industry.  Her passion is helping professionals and executives uncover what makes them stand out in the crowd.

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Return address of the letter writer:

1600 Main Street
Somewhere, Kansas 12345

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Date: December 1, 2008

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Complete name, title, and address of the recipient.

Use “Mr.” for a male recipient. If you do not know how a female recipient prefers to be addressed, it is best to use “Ms.”

Ms. Jane Doe, Chair
Department of Linguistics
Right State University
1415 University Drive
Anywhere, OH 45435

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Salutation with a colon: Dear Ms. Doe:

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Body of the letter:

A cover letter should be one page with three to six paragraphs. The body of your cover letter should highlight your experiences and accomplishments without repeating your resume.

Be sure to focus on the needs of the employer to whom you are writing. You want the reader to believe that hiring you will improve services, bring ideas, increase efficiency or productivity.

In closing, state how you plan to follow up with the employer. Your closing should briefly summarize the body of the letter, and leave the reader with an important thought to remember you by. Finally, have someone else proofread and critique your cover letter, and look closely for mistakes in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. (double space)

Closing: The most common closing is “Sincerely.” Follow this with a comma. Skip four single lines after the closing and type your name. Sign your name in the space above.

Sincerely,

(four single spaces)

[Signature]

John Doe

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Enclosure: If you are enclosing additional information with your letter such as a resume or a curriculum vitae, skip two single lines after your typed name and type “Enclosure” or “Enclosures.” If you use the plural, you have the option of stating the number of enclosures in parentheses.

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