Clara had been getting a lot of job rejections. 30 job applications in one month and all came back with the same sad love story: “Thank you for applying for this position.” “We reviewed your application, and we didn’t find a match with our needs, so we will not be moving forward with you.”
She decided she was going to get a professional to review and rewrite her résumé, and here’s what they found.
- She used a generic résumé for all the job applications.
- Her résumé didn’t list her achievements in her previous role.
- The skills and professional summary were not good enough to catch a recruiter’s attention.
Like Clara, you might have gotten rejection emails, or maybe you’re just starting your job search and you don’t want to experience as much rejection as she did. Fitting your résumé to job vacancies can set you apart from a lot of people and increase your chances of getting a job.
What is a résumé?
A résumé is a document that shows your skills, professional objectives, and accomplishments. It is the first thing a potential employer sees—even before they see you. Remember the saying about first impressions? Your résumé is the first impression you give a potential employer, and its effectiveness and impact determine whether you will be called for an interview.
One thing you need to understand as you craft your résumé is that it’s not about you but the employer, and you have to deliver what he wants or else you won’t be considered. It is an advertisement detailing who you are and what you can offer. and like advertisements, it has to appeal to the target audience (potential employers).
Tips for crafting a fitting résumé for job vacancies in Nigeria
Before writing
Prior to writing your résumé, you must do the following:
- Go over the job posting to note key terms, phrases, and values they will need.
Before you start writing, you need to critically examine the job posting and requirements. Understand the skills, qualifications, and experience the employer is looking for and equally Identify the keywords and phrases used in the job description.
- Assess your own credentials and work experience.
This is where you get to ask yourself if you really fit into this role. What experience do you have? Do you have the needed skills? If you are the recruiter, can you hire someone with your skills and experience to fill that position?
- Brainstorm the value you will bring.
The next step is to brainstorm the value you will bring to the company based on your specific credentials, work experience, and/or skill set.
Writing your résumé
Your résumé content is divided into six parts (sometimes it could be more). The parts include:
- Contact information
Your contact information provides a way to reach out to you or even do research on you. It should include your name, phone number, email address, digital profile link (preferably LinkedIn), and address (optional).
Expert tip: If you are applying for a job in Lagos and you stay in Port Harcourt, put Lagos as your address instead of Port Harcourt.
- Headline section
This is the billboard of your résumé, and like billboards, it doesn’t require many words. Examples of headlines include “customer success manager,” “growth marketing lead,” “content marketing specialist,” and “logistics officer.”
It is important to note that your headline has to match the one on the job posting. A job can’t say they are looking for a growth marketing lead, and your résumé shows content marketing executive.
- Professional summary section
Have you ever seen a trailer that got you so hyped about a movie that you desperately wanted to see that movie? Think of your summary section as the movie trailer of your résumé, highlighting your skills, accomplishments, and qualifications. It should also be tailored to the job posting and show just how much value you can bring.
- skills
Your skills section should use phrases from the job posting so a recruiter can match the job to your skills. If a job posting highlights communication as a core skill, you should list effective communication as a skill.
- Experience section
This is one of the most important sessions, and you shouldn’t make the mistake of listing your job duties; instead, you should show your achievements. When crafting your résumé for a job posting, use high-impact statements to show what you can do and what you’ve done. Let’s see an example below.
Statement 1: I oversaw a team of designers and developers,
Statement 2: I led a team of designers and developers to build a website that improved the user experience and increased the conversion rate by 50% in three months.
If you were a recruiter, which of these people would you consider hiring? Obviously, the second one is better, as it shows depth.
- Education section
Your primary and secondary school experience has no business here. Highlight your university experience, and if you did anything peculiar like led a team or won an award, use a high-impact statement to fix it in. Your education section should include the name of the school, the degree, the course you studied, and the completion date. It should also highlight any course you must have taken to increase your knowledge base and skills.
Example
Bachelors in Management, January 2023
University of Ilorin
Relevant coursework is in project management, leadership, and business structure.
Business Analysis and Process Management
Via Coursera
December 2022
After writing
After writing, you have to make sure it is:
- concise and relevant to the role
- The document is properly formatted with a professional font with a size between 11 and 12, and the layout is simple and clean.
- properly checked and edited for grammatical errors and typos.
In conclusion, matching your résumé to job vacancies in Nigeria is essential for increasing your chances of securing your dream job. Research the job requirements, highlight your skills and experiences, customize your professional summary, show your achievements, keep it concise and relevant, use a professional format, and proofread and edit your résumé. By following these tips, you can tailor your résumé to meet the specific requirements of the job and stand out from other applicants.