From the course: Resume Makeover

Determine a target job

From the course: Resume Makeover

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Determine a target job

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- Before you start writing or editing your resume, it's crucial that you have at least a ballpark idea of what you're aiming towards. What does that ideal next job look like? What types of organizations or specific companies are you targeting? What are the likely titles or jobs you'll be applying for? It's going to be hard for you to build a compelling resume if you don't understand who you're talking to or what they'll be looking for. So here are two exercises that will help you clarify your target job. The first exercise works really well if you know what strengths or skills you want to leverage in your next job, but maybe you're not sure what job titles to explore. Head to your favorite job board. LinkedIn is a wonderful tool for this, but there are plenty. So pick one. Now, in the search box, key in words or phrases that describe the skills and attributes that you possess and want to use in your next job. You know, plenty of people think that you have to put job titles in that search box, but you don't. The search tool will review the entire job description, not just the job title. So here's an example. Let's say that I want to put my problem solving, business operations and Spanish speaking skills to use. I will enter all three skills into that search box and then see what jobs pop up, and there will be patterns, and the titles that appear the most frequently, these are the job ads you want to pay attention to. Now, assuming you narrow in on a couple of job titles that seem like they'd be a likely fit, you can then use those job titles to conduct another search. This time, you will plug the job title into the search box and maybe another keyword or two to help you narrow in even more. For example, maybe you've realized that a great next job might be called member services manager or office manager, and it'll likely be within a company that serves a Spanish-speaking client base. In this instance, try plugging in office manager and Spanish and see what comes up. The goal here is for you to find five job descriptions that seem interesting, relevant, and ideally aligned with your skills. Now, don't worry about setting a location for this exercise. We're really just trying to find a short handful of job descriptions that'll help you define your target job. This will make writing your resume a lot easier.

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