Jack of All Trades
I saw a resume the other day that reminded me of the old saying "Jack of all trades, master of none." The job seeker definitely has skills - lots of them. However, if I was the hiring manager I'd be wondering what position the person was interested in and qualified for, because there was so many skills listed on the resume. There definitely can be too much of a good thing, when it comes to job searching. Prospective employers want to know why you are a strong candidate for the job and why your skills are a good match, not everything you might be able to do.
Instead of providing all your skills and experience in your resume and cover letter, it makes sense to take the time (and yes, I know it takes time, but, it's worth it) to focus your resume and write a targeted cover letter that specifically addresses how your qualifications match the position you are applying for.
Susan Heathfield, About.com Human Resources Guide, explains why it's so important to make sure that your resume stands out in the crowd in her article Why This Resume Rocks. When a hiring manger reviews hundreds of resumes, your cover letter and resume have to be eye-catching or they aren't going to get noticed. And getting your application materials noticed is what effective job searching is all about.
Related Resources
- Interview Winning Resumes
- Targeted Cover Letters
- Targeted Cover Letter Sample
- Targeted Resume Writing
- Sample Targeted Resume
Photo © Alison Doyle
Someone should also tell recruiters to stop advertising jobs that require 100 specialties and maybe job seekers will stop putting them all on their resumes. For years, especially in the tech industry, recruiters have put ALL programming languages and skillsets, even if they are unrelated, on their job listings. This caused the problem and job seekers are only reacting to that when creating these seemingly un-targeted profiles.
This is a nasty world of certifications and licenses almost every job I find I need a certification ,I run heavy equipment I’m a mechanic welder and truck driver I got my certs the hard knocks way all from experience starting in 1970 so it makes me sick to know that the later generations with the certs are getting the jobs ,there missing so much in that they were not taught the little tricks of the trade as we were and I speaking for millions of guys and women like me so I guess what sums it up is that THE ONES WITH THE CERTS CANT SLAP THERE ASS WITH BOTH HANDS