Customize Resumes and Cover Letters

This section of our journey through Business Communication focuses on Section II of the book “Cha-Ching!” How to Make a Whole Lot More than $100,000 with Your College Degree, which was written by Andrew Grinbaum, M.S. and professor of Business Communications at Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus.  Section II of Cha-Chang covers skills and how to make it to the top ten percent in any field and be a master of your destiny.  Grinbaum offers 20- skills that individuals should master in an effort to earn $100,000 or more with your college degree.  Mentioned number 6 in Andrew Grinbaum’s list of 20 skills to make it to the top 10% is “Customize Resumes and Cover Letters.”

I am intrigued by this topic which I feel should be second nature in the job posting process because responding to a posted opportunity is similar to answering a question.  Your answer would be tailored to fit the question, which was asked so why shouldn’t your resume and cover letter be tailored to match the posting but in an honest manner.  A common mistake for applicants is that in an effort to quickly respond to job postings, the applicants submit generic resumes and cover letters as if in a one-size-fits-all manner.  However, since these resumes and cover letters are generic and does not match or directly answer the questions of the job posting, they are overlooked or dismissed without close analysis of the applicant.

Andrew Grinbaum wrote in Section II of Cha-Ching “I hire a lot of people for my real estate business in New York.  Also as a marketing consultant, I have been involved in hiring people for over a dozen companies.  I can tell you that 99% of resumes and cover letters simply suck.”  Professor Grinbaum lays out the strategy to make sure that yours don’t suck.

First, he states before you begin you should review resume writing books, which can be found at a library of in a bookstore.  Professor Grinbaum advises that you should take what looks good and use similar formatting and design elements in your resume.  Additionally, the professor recommends that you should take your resume with the new design elements and formatting to a guidance or career counselor so that they may critique your resume as they may have seen numerous resumes and are privy to the appearance of an effective resume.

The professor also advises that to stand out from 99% of the resumes and cover letters that really stink, you have to customize each and every one that you post in response to a job posting.  Furthermore, the professor recommends that the key is to customize your resume and cover letter with buzzwords and phrases from the job description.  It is important to speak the same language as the person to whom you are writing – use the same jargon.  Professor Grinbaum states that you should explain concisely why you are specifically the right choice for the opportunity for which you are applying.  The final piece of the puzzle according to Andrew Grinbaum is to include testimonials on your resume or cover letter.

In a Wall street Journal article titled “Generation Jobless: ‘No One Wants to Hire Me’” by Leslie Kwoh, Leslie writes about the difficulty young adults find to in trying to be successful in the job application process.  Leslie discusses how unemployed workers under the age of 24 with little or no college education find it hardest to find gainful employment but that even those with degrees are also having trouble landing jobs.  Leslie chronicled 25 year old Brett Murphy, who hold a BBA, M.B.A and is still unemployed after applying to over 100 organizations.  Leslie indicated in the article that some fresh graduates said they were starting to question the value of their education.  Leslie also stated that Randy McKeen said that he felt like he’d been conned into thinking higher education was essential, only to be offered jobs he could have gotten without the education and the eternal debt.  Leslie discussed how even parents are concerned about sons and daughters who have struggled to find work of any kind.  Leslie shared the story of LeAnn T. Ngo who said she graduates next month with an accounting degree and has been freaking out because she can’t find work.  LeAnn stated that people keep telling her accounting jobs are still plentiful but she thinks that they are lying of no one wants to hire her.

Despite the bleak current economic outlook, companies are still hiring but the pool of applicants is large.  It is important that applicants make a strong first impression with their resumes and customize their resumes and cover letters to answer the questions asked on the job description.  Following the steps outlined by Professor Grinbaum could prove to be helpful as this is a strategy recommended by career counselors.  Should this strategy be utilized, employers will want to hire you.