Do you keep hearing how important it is to customize your resume to every job ad?  

Have you read that it’s important to include keywords from the job ad in your resume and cover letter?  

Not sure what that means and how much work it will require?  

Here’s one concrete example that illustrates what is meant by customizing your resume with keywords.

The following resume excerpt illustrates significant experience with financial analysis–and frequently refers to financial projections:  

Here are two job ads for a financial analyst. Note the references to financial forecasts:  

The fix is simple–change the resume to match the ads:

That’s not all the work you’d have to do to prepare your job search documents in order to be ready to apply for a position, but it gives you a clear idea of the kind of changes that are required to customize your resume to specific job ads.

Darcy Lear is a career coach specializing in job search documents, professional school applications, and interview preparation. For one-on-one support in preparing for your job search or to set up a campus workshop, contact Darcy: darcylear@gmail.com