The awkwardly termed 'Target Job Deconstruction (TJD)' is a way to set a laser focus on what employers are buying and hence what you need to sell when building your Resume. It means taking the job apart from employers' perspectives.
For every Job Title there's Selection Criteria that should provide valuable clues as to the specific problems an employer is seeking to resolve by appointing you. A scan of online listings for positions you are interested in will reveal generic Skills / Responsibilities / Requirements / Deliverables etc.
This enables you to examine the skills, knowledge and experience you may bring to meet an employer's specific needs, and customize your Resume pitch accordingly.
The more senior the position, the more likely your interview will resemble a visit to the Shark Tank.
Employers, like investors, want to know how you will help them financially. This is equally true if profit is not the declared aim of the enterprise. Public sector and not-for-profits have finite budgets and need to continuously find ways to 'do more with less'.
How do these sharks decide who they should spend time interviewing? Put another way, what does your Resume pitch need to achieve?
No Resume gets read, and nobody gets interviewed, unless an employer can see that an applicant is able to solve a problem: that may be a lack of sales growth, a failure of service, inefficiencies in making things or delivering services, poor morale and productivity or any other challenge that's costing them money or threatening their viability.
In very simple terms, your Resume should demonstrate your critical thinking abilities to make money, and/or save money, and/or save time and improve productivity for the enterprise. Extra points for giving quantified examples of how you have done this previously.Your Resume must show that you can add value
If you focus on the problems that you encountered in your role(s) and how you figured out new and innovative ways to solve them, you'll likely pass the first screen of the selection process.
Yes, I know, sprucing up your Resume is like going to the dentist. You know you need to, but you really don't want to. Yet having a great Resume is the foundation of every successful job application; if you're suitably qualified but not getting to interview then it's your Resume, stupid.
Since your Resume is the most important financial document you'll ever create are you guilty of filing it in an 'important but never urgent' procrastination folder? Over a lifetime, almost every facet of your life will be governed by what you earn.
"Your Resume is the most important financial document you'll ever create"If your current Resume dutifully lists and gives equal priority to everything that you have ever done, then it's almost certainly not working for you.
An employer's interest is only piqued when you speak to their problems, opportunities and challenges. To ignore this is to attempt to sell something that your client doesn't want to buy.
In advertising circles, succinctly pitching a value message is called a 'single minded proposition'. In a Resume, this is the venn intersection where what an employer is interested in intersects with qualities that you possess or achievements that you can boast.
Developing a reputation takes time and a plan, but can open doors otherwise firmly closed.
It's plainly easier to get interviews if you're known and well-regarded within your profession or industry, and investments in building networks and goodwill through positive PR are part of every effective career strategy.
But with Resumes, it's very often won't you don't do that gives you a negative brand rating.
Common issues include a Linkedin profile that's inconsistent with a Resume, or an unrestricted Facebook account showing a 'side of you' that may not fit with an employer's expectations or culture.
Google yourself and see, because employers surely will.
From an employer's perspective most recruitment is a chore. That's why early stages of the process are handled by junior staff or outsourced to agencies. They have to kiss many frogs before they find a prince(ss).
The sheer volume of applications for many jobs, mean that the initial filter is either electronic (very common) or by a quick human scan. There is a very brief encounter for you to stand out from the crowd.
The absence in your Resume of keywords (needed for robot scans) and / or any emphasis upon what you can offer to meet the employer's needs (to solve problems) means your Resume will likely never be read fully. "Your Resume / CV has to be written from the employer's perspective"
Like any effective strategic planning document, your Resume is a living, breathing, dynamic thing, and is never really finished. Markets change, skills go out of fashion, terminology reflects current practices and you're likely to have to demonstrate that once rock-solid skills are transferable.
Since a Resume is built around a Job Role, a change in career direction demands a wholesale rethink. It must evolve every time you customize it for a new job application so that it speaks clearly and purposely to the needs of that role.
Now we're talking best practice here and the majority of job applicants don't adhere to that. Therein lies the opportunity for you: by being consistently more relevant than other candidates to an employer's needs in each of your applications, you dramatically improve your chances of getting to interview.
In most management and C-Suite positions, a Linkedin version of your Resume is these days essential. Keeping it up to date, refining it and building your contacts network around it are equally important.
An expert discipline is to keep a Master CV that contains all key aspects of the knowledge, skills, achievements, experience, job record, references and qualifications updated. This provides everything that you need to select and prioritize each element for an opportunity as it arises. Short notice without preparation is the kiss of death for job applications
It is very common for people to START the Resume building process a week out from a closing date. Ask yourself, is that a reasonable investment in your future career and perhaps why you're stuck in a rut of your own making?