You spent a lot of time crafting the perfect resume, making sure every job included measures of quantifiable success and every experience had industry-applicable keywords.

So why isn’t anyone calling you in for an interview?

“It doesn’t matter how perfect you think something is if it’s not applicable to the job at hand. Your resume might as well have the words to “Goodnight Moon” scribbled in crayon if you don’t take the time to customize it every time you send it out,” says David Campbell, a resume consultant in Little Rock, Arkansas. “You may think your resume is focused on getting a job in pharmaceutical marketing but unless you actually take a thorough look at the job application, the job description and the company’s website, you’re probably only hitting about 75 percent of their touchpoints. And when companies have precise programs that pinpoint the talents and characteristics they’re looking for in candidates, 75 percent isn’t going to cut it.”

“I think sometimes the public and media perception of bots controlling today’s hiring is a little overstated but it would be hard to deny the impact that these programs have had on candidate selection,” says Joan Kohler, a Chicago-based career coach and former HR specialist for Wells Fargo & Co. in San Francisco. “If you think the same resume is going to get you on the shortlist for five different companies, you are mistaken.”

Get small

Campbell says the best advice he can give job seekers is to forget about large-scale and grandiose moments on their resumes.

“Companies are looking for people who achieved great things so yes, they are definitely interested in your current and previous successes, but what they’re mostly interested in is how those successes can be duplicated with their business,” he says.

Campbell says that’s why it’s important to include training and industry-specific terms if you’re moving from one field to another. “People like to hire highly qualified individuals with strong skills but they also want that person to already be knowledgeable of their field,” he says. “No one wants to train someone for weeks on end before they start showing signs of success.”

Make the cut

Sometimes, the delete button is your best friend. “Get someone else involved. It’s very hard to look at your own resume and see what should be taken out.” says Kohler.

Kohler mentions a client who was applying for a director-level job at a prominent insurance company and despite having incredible qualifications and an MBA, she didn’t even get a second look. “When we looked at her resume, the majority of it was filled with bullet points of operational tasks.” Kohler says.

The problem was that the company was looking for someone to take a big-picture, analytical approach to the future.

Kohler helped modify the resume into something that included small “forecast summaries” instead of “qualifications.” “We took the most important tasks and put them in paragraph form. We used them as a springboard to showcase her strong yet untapped planning and development skills,” Kohler says./Tribune News Service