Immigration Diary: One Good Resume is not Enough

One Good Resume/CV is not enough. 

I always thought that you just make one resume and list all your work experience, job tasks and achievements and use it while applying for relevant jobs. I assumed that the reader will go through my resume and understand my skills based on the information and assess that I suit the role or not. 

But, in today’s fast-paced world, sadly, no one has time to go through your resume. I recently found out that a company only looked at the 'titles' and put my resume aside even though the tasks below the titles matched exactly with the job description. Most companies, nowadays, do not even have a person going through all the applications. Applications are shortlisted through an automated system that matches WORDS used in the resume against the ones given in the job description. 

You need to customize your resume to suit the job you are applying for. Change the keywords and make sure you use titles, terms and words from the job description given in the job ad. 

This, however, does not mean that you manipulate your resume and add things that are not true or applicable. You cannot say you have done ABC if you have not. So, for example in Malaysia, the term used for sales representative is Key Account Manager, while in Australia the same role is called Business Development Manager. You can change your old title to BDM and tweak the words to match with those in the ad because it is the same role only different way of saying it. You are changing the specific title and keywords but, your resume states the absolute truth otherwise. 

If you have more than one skillset, I have also heard that you can send two different resumes in the same company for two different roles as long as both truly represent your experience but have only been tailor-made to match the terms and words used in the job description. 

**This is a part of a series that I will be doing regarding my journey as a newcomer to Australia. You can see the rest of the posts here: https://bit.ly/2BKi5hB