Here are three ways to make your job application stand out from the crowd and get the attention you seek.
Align Your Application with the Job Description
Customize your application and your resume to the job description. This can be difficult and time-consuming when applying to numerous roles but this is absolutely the best thing you can do when looking and applying to new opportunities. For every role you are looking to apply to take some extra time to look through the job description and pull out some key requirements that the company is looking for. Use these as a template to highlight those specific skills/projects that answer that need in your resume. Especially in cases where an algorithm is being used to sort through hundreds of job applications, having direct keywords will make your job application stand out.
The added benefit comes when a hiring manager of HR representative does get a chance to look at your resume and is able to see the tangible success you have had in a similar function. They see the immediate impact you could bring to the company. Understanding the company’s goals or hiring needs will allow you to construct a resume that speaks directly to those hiring about how you would be a benefit to the firm.
Make Your Experience Quantifiable
When speaking about your impact to a business always look to include tangible and direct measurements of success. How large of a team did you lead? What was the revenue responsibility you had? Putting your impact into directly measurable statistics allows for easier conversations around your skills and helps make your job application stand out. At the end of the day all companies want individuals who can make an impact and deliver on their skillset. Marketing yourself by quantifiable metrics makes a direct business argument for why you would be a strong candidate for the position.
Of course, make sure to match these statistics as directly to the job requirements as possible. Showing quantifiable impact is great but highlighting your expertise in people management and fitting into the company culture is a huge plus as well. All of these aspects are crucial from a hiring manager’s perspective, but getting the interview is more easily done through the quantifiable business impact perspective.
Add Personality to Your Resume
Adding some personality and character to your resume helps to break up a bit of the monotony for the individuals looking at resume after resume. It also helps to humanize you a bit. Being able to add some personal achievements or interesting facts about yourself can make your job application stand out. Be sure to limit how much of your resume is dedicated to this effort because you want your resume to make a business impact first. An important piece of any team is the fit with the culture and the sense of your match to the human interaction of the day-to-day work. Having some insight into you as a person can help hiring managers understand where you could fit in from a culture perspective just on your resume alone.
This should be no more than a few quick bullet points at the very bottom of your resume to avoid overshadowing the more important aspects of your fit for the position. Having something about yourself could help to build a relationship even before you have a conversation. It at the very least could make your resume and you a bit more memorable overall.
Want some more input on making your job application stand out? Contact Smith Hanley Associates’ Market Research and Consumer Insights Executive Recruiter Daniel Wilberschied at dwilberschied@smithhanley.com.
