When it comes to job application, a piece of advice echoed by countless career experts is to tailor your resume to each job description. They insist that customizing your resume by aligning it with the specific requirements of the role will boost your chances of landing an interview.
Well, according to James Hudson, a seasoned HR Executive who’s led talent acquisition at companies like Nike and Levi Strauss & Co., this popular piece of advice is not only overrated but could also be a complete waste of time. Here's his ONE reason:
THE PERSON WRITING THE JOB DESCRIPTION MAY NOT BE THE PERSON HIRING
Job descriptions generally outline the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills required for a specific position within an organization. However, depending on the person writing the job description, there might be a slight mismatch between what's ACTUALLY required and what's detailed in the job description.According to Hudson, this mismatch occurs because job descriptions are commonly managed internally by the compensation team. The compensation team in an organization is responsible for designing and managing employee pay structures, including salaries, bonuses, and benefits.
What this means is that the person writing the job description will not necessarily be the person doing the hiring, and therefore may not know exactly what a hiring manager or recruiter is looking for (although the basic qualifications in the description are always going to be right).
WHAT HUDSON SUGGESTS YOU DO INSTEAD OF TAILORING YOUR RESUME TO EVERY JOB DESCRIPTION
Hudson advises that you only need one powerful resume that encapsulates your authentic and unique career journey.Beyond that, all you can do is to hope that your skills and experience align with what the recruiter is looking for.
SHOULD YOU TAKE HUDSON'S ADVICE AND NOT TAILOR YOUR RESUME TO EVERY JOB DESCRIPTION?
While Hudson's remark/suggestion is right and outright factual, it MAY NOT cover the reality of your entire career.For one, Hudson's advice may not be the most appropriate if your career path is characterized by a transition between two or more unrelated industries.
For instance, if being a teacher is the highlight of your career journey to date, and you'd like to apply for the role of an accountant, how would you present yourself to the recruiter if your resume is not tailored to the job description?
Even though you have a stellar resume at hand for the teaching role, there's a need to tweak this 'stellar' resume (a little bit, maybe) to showcase some of the specific skills stated in the job description for the accounting role. You may have to edit your professional summary, your skills section, and ensure that your resume bullet points showcase you actually possess some of these skills (if not all).
Related: How to craft compelling resume bullet points
Having said that, Hudson's advice works perfectly well if your transition is within the same industry, or different industries as long as the roles are similar.
So, if you're an auditor at KPMG who's looking to take up the same role at PWC, you don't have to craft a separate resume for the PWC role since the two firms are in the same industry.
Likewise, if the transition is from being a lawyer who works in a law firm to a lawyer who works in-house for a company, you MAY not need to present another resume for the in-house job.
You need to constantly update your resume as you assume new roles or take on new responsibilities.
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PS This post is a response to another post on CNBC website where I first read about Hudson's opinion
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