It is human nature in job search – as in dating – to want to keep your options open. Many job seekers, whether early-career and fairly inexperienced or 15+ years in and heralding a plethora of different functional strengths, feel they will limit their opportunities by narrowing their job search target.
In fact, just the opposite will happen.
Broad Resume Nets Don’t Work. By casting a broad net, job seekers drown out their unique voice and alienate their ideal audience. They do this by splattering a variety of talents, many which do not relate, into one mish-mash resume that says, “Here I am; I will take ANY job – hire me!” Or, perhaps it conveys your message in a more boastful way, “Here I am; I am great – you don’t want to miss out on my results-oriented, innovative fantastic-ness.” But, the common thread is that you have no direction, and therefore, no destination.
If you create a resume that is all about you and about keeping your options open, you are proving that you don’t really care about ‘them!’ And by ‘them,’ I mean a well-defined, specific hiring audience looking to invest in that special someone who can stamp out their pain, stem their revenue bleeding, create marketplace distinction, reverse customer service decline, or whatever the problem.
The more narrow you get in defining YOUR audience/customer, the more likely you will hit the bulls eye and land an interview. What this means is becoming clear on the type of company, industry, sector, position at which you want to aim your sharpened resume arrow.
For the rest of the article on crafting a focused career message that lands interviews, please visit Glassdoor: Why Keeping Your Options Open May Harm Your Job Search.
[…] “It is human nature in job search – as in dating – to want to keep your options open. Many job seekers, whether early-career and fairly inexperienced or 15+ years in and heralding a plethora of different functional strengths, feel they will limit their opportunities by nar…How to Hit the Bull’s-Eye and Land an Interview […]