Customizing Your Resume For Each Job Application

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

A Resume for Each Job? Won't That Take Forever?

When applying for jobs, customizing each resume is one way to help you stand out. Unfortunately, it’s easy to spend a lot of time and effort updating your resume. Let's look at shortcuts for customizing your resume that take less time and improve your results.  

Identifying Your Target Role

When applying for jobs, an important first step is to know what specifically you are looking for in your next job--your target role. This includes details like your desired job title(s), industries, core work responsibilities, geographic location, day-to-day responsibilities, pay rate, and work arrangements (onsite, remote, hybrid).

​If you don't have a clear idea of what your target job looks like, it makes everything else harder. I encourage you to dedicate time to figuring out what you want. This action alone will help you be more efficient as you search for open positions, determine what to apply for, create your target job resume, and apply for specific jobs.

During a previous job search, these were key components of my target role:
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• Full-time Learning Consultant role at a company in the fields of software/healthcare/finance
• 100% remote or hybrid in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area
• Managing learning projects, completing needs assessments, designing comprehensive training programs for customers and employees 

Create a Target Job Resume

Start by creating a resume aligned with your target job. To be clear, this IS NOT the resume you submit each time you apply for a job. Instead, this target job resume is the one you start with and customize just a bit for each job application. You could also share your target job resume with those people who say, "Can you send me your resume?" who may not have a specific job description to share.
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Overall, this resume should be a solid representation of your skills, the type of work you do, and the unique value you would bring to a new role. Your target job resume should also include keywords commonly appearing in job descriptions for the type of work you do.

Target Job Resume: Professional Summary Section

Start your target job resume with a professional summary. The goal of this section is to give the reader a quick overview of the value you bring to the position. This summary includes a few sentences that summarize who you are, what drives you, and how those factors align with an available role. This is also an opportunity to highlight important keywords that will resonate with employers.

During a previous job search, this was my Professional Summary:

Proactive learning consultant driven to help organizations succeed. Thrives when partnering with leaders and stakeholders to improve performance. Able to think strategically and execute tactically while managing multiple projects. Committed to constant learning, continuous improvement, and delivering training that drives results.​
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Target Job Resume: Relevant Skills Section

Think about the skills employers typically ask for in your area of expertise. Make a list of those commonly used skills that keep popping up in job descriptions that interest you. Prioritize the ones that you really want the hiring team to know about. Include those in your Relevant Skills section near the top of your target job resume. 

During a previous job search, I listed these keywords as my Relevant Skills: 
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​Blended Learning, Coaching, Collaboration, Communications, Consulting, Facilitation, Instructional Design, Needs Analysis, Onboarding, Project Management, Relationship Building, Strategy, Video Production

Target Job Resume: Work Experience Details

For each of your previous roles, be sure to outline specific projects on which you worked and the results of your efforts. In those bullet points on your target job resume, use the words you’ve seen in job descriptions. Be sure to include a wide variety of keywords to help even the least experienced recruiter see the tie between what you describe and the skills the employer wants.

During a previous job search, I included these keywords in my description of core responsibilities for my previous roles:
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• Implemented a knowledge management strategy for a fast-paced B2B company. Drove platform adoption, standardized training materials, leveraged best practices, and managed a remote team of 5-8.

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• Developed a blended learning solution to onboard new SaaS customers. Incorporated virtual instructor-led training (VILT), eLearning, hands-on practice, and post-class assessments. Decreased instructor classroom time, customer wait time, and implementation project length.

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• Managed enterprise-wide training initiatives: producing a library of best-in-class microlearning videos, implementing a Digital Adaption Platform (DAP) for in-tool software support, and creating online user communities based on personas. 

The words in bold are keywords pulled from relevant job descriptions. 

Throughout my resume, I use as many variations of industry-standard words as I can. For example, the terms learning experience design, instructional design, and curriculum design are often used to describe the same set of skills. Instead of using the same term all the time, I alternate between these three to include a company's preferred term. ​

When You Might Share Your Target Job Resume

Once you have your target job resume completed, save a copy of it as a .pdf with a file name that includes your first and last name and the word "resume." For example, I would save mine as Brenda L. Peterson Resume. Now, if someone asks you for "your resume" with no specific job title in mind, you have a resume that is a good representation of you. In most cases, though, you will share a slightly different version of your resume for each job that interests you.

Creating an Application Resume: Save As 

Now that you have a target job resume in good shape, make sure the editable copy of your target job resume with a file name that includes your first and last name and the words "target job resume." For example, I would save mine as Brenda L. Peterson Target Job Resume.

Now, when you apply for a new role, you’ll start by opening your editable job target resume document and then saving it under a new file name that specifies the role for which you are applying. For example, I would save my application resume as Brenda L. Peterson, Lead Learning Consultant at Super Cool Company. This way, I still have my target job resume and a specific application resume to use for this job application. 

From Target Job Resume to Application Resume

Now you have a solid target job resume with the right sections and a wide variety of relevant keywords. When you are ready to apply for a specific job, start with the editable version of your resume. Remember, your resume is 80-90% ready. Now, you will focus on customizing two key sections before submitting an application: Professional Summary and Relevant Skills.

Application Resume: Professional Summary Section

From here, use the language in the job description to tailor your resume for this role. Since you already have a framework in place for how you write this section, now you can modify the exact wording to make it even more applicable to the job. In this example, I will customize my Professional Summary Section to align with the language used in the job description for a Lead Learning Consultant role. 

Here is the Professional Summary section from my target job resume:

Proactive learning consultant driven to help organizations succeed. Thrives when partnering with leaders and stakeholders to improve performance. Able to think strategically and execute tactically while managing multiple projects. Committed to constant learning, continuous improvement, and delivering training that drives results.​

Here is the updated Professional Summary section for my application resume for the Lead Learning Consultant role:

High-performing lead learning consultant who thrives when delivering engaging employee performance solutions. Thrives when partnering with internal and external stakeholders to design innovative talent management programs. Able to think strategically and execute tactically while managing multiple projects. Committed to constant learning, continuous improvement, and delivering talent initiatives that drive engagement.

The sentiment is similar, but now I'm conveying my value add using the employer’s words to describe this position. Note the bolded words were pulled directly from the job description. 

Application Resume: Relevant Skills Section

Now, its' time to customize the Relevant Skills Section to align with the words used in the job description. In this example, I will update my language to align with the terms in the Lead Learning Consultant role job description. 

Here is the Relevant Skills section from my target job resume:
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​Blended Learning, Coaching, Collaboration, Communications, Consulting, Facilitation, Instructional Design, Needs Analysis, Onboarding, Project Management, Relationship Building, Strategy, Video Production
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Here is the updated Relevant Skills section for my application resume for the Lead Learning Consultant role:

​Blended Learning Solutions, Employee Coaching, Collaboration, Communication Skills, Consulting, Facilitation, Curriculum Design, New Hire Onboarding, Project Management, Relationship Building, Strategy, Talent Management Programs

To mirror language the company used, I added "solutions" to blended learning, changed "instructional" to "curriculum", and added a few terms emphasized in the job description to this list. Realize these skills are also included in bulleted points for each role. This is just another opportunity to help the recruiter align the skills needed with the words listed in the job description. 

Finalizing Your Application Resume: Save As .pdf

Once you have your application resume completed, save a copy of it as a .pdf with the same file name, in my example, Brenda L. Peterson, Lead Learning Consultant at Super Cool Company. Now, you can submit your application resume to the company along with other details they request. 

What Do You Think?

Do you customize a resume for each role? What are your tips, tricks, and strategies? Include your thoughts in the comments. 

Learn More

• The Layoff Lady: Career Planning - Figuring Out What You Want To Be Next 
• The Layoff Lady: Prioritizing Job Applications
• The Layoff Lady's Ultimate Guide To Answering The Question, "I Just Got Laid Off--Now What Do I Do?"​
• The Layoff Lady Book: Seven Lessons From Seven Layoffs: A Guide​