10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Sending Your Resume

10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Sending Your Resume
Jobstreet content teamupdated on 10 March, 2022
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questions to ask before applying for job

Your resume is the most essential tool you need when hunting for a job. When your resume is well-crafted, you will confidently get the upper hand over the other candidates. Thus, you need to ensure that your resume is comprehensive and well-thought out before sending it to your prospective employer.

Before submitting your resume, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Am I really qualified for the job?

It is somewhat preposterous to think that you, as a candidate, meet all the qualifications and requirements for any job, especially nowadays when companies or employers are loading their job posts with ridiculously unnecessary demands. However, you need to meet at least 75% of their requirements; otherwise, both you and the hirer are wasting your time.

2. Does the summary of my skills match the job post?

At this point, you may have already ditched the old resume objective statement and had it replaced with a career summary. If you did, always see to it that the summary matches the requirements of the job posting. For instance, if a job is for a marketing manager, ensure that your summary underscores your marketing expertise, and not your teaching or journalism experience.

3. Have I proofread my resume?

"I'd still be happy to consider your resume in spite of all the grammatical errors," said no hiring manager ever. So even if you have gone through editing your resume a hundred times already, you may still have overlooked something. You really have to meticulously edit and proofread your resume, or better yet ask the help of another person or an expert to go over it.

4. Have I addressed it to the right person?

When sending your resume via email, make sure that you address it to the right person. If you cannot find the name of the hiring manager, check the job posting again and look at the lower portion of it. You can usually find the complete details of the hiring manager below the job post. If not, then do your own research.

5. Are clichés or unnecessary buzzwords found in my resume?

Although you may need to apply some shoe polish to your resume to make it look a little extra, terms like "strategic thinker," "results-oriented" and "team player" won't really help you land a job. These buzzwords don't hold any water these days especially to veteran hiring managers. It's best to always keep it clear and accurate by using simple yet strong action verbs ("increased," "created," "negotiated" etc.) to get your point across and showcase your accomplishments.

6. Have I mentioned my achievements?

Speaking of achievements, check your resume again. Have you enumerated them? Or did you simply provide a detailed description of what your duties and responsibilities were in your previous job. Remember that more than anything, your prospective employers will want to see that you excelled in your previous job, not acquaint themselves on what your previous roles were.

7. Have I followed the instructions provided in the job advertisement?

Did the job ad require you to address a particular individual? Did it ask you to answer a set of questions in your cover letter? Did it require you to attach sample works or submit your portfolio. Details are significant. If there any special instructions included on the job post, then make sure you follow them.

8. Have I used the proper keywords?

A number of giant companies and even job portals are actually utilizing some kind of applicant tracking system that will automatically scan your resume for the proper keywords and consequently reject or save your resume even before it reaches the eyes of the hiring manager. That being said, you have to make use of keywords from the job advertisement. There is a long list of keywords you can use to give your resume a little facelift and this Forbes article will be a good starting point for you.

9. Did I provide my contact details?

Yes, this is pretty basic. However, the number of candidates that submit their resume without any contact information may surprise you. So make sure you provide your contact details (home phone, mobile, email and even Skype ID) and more importantly, make sure they are updated.

10. Will the HR Manager call me for an interview?

Finally, before submitting your resume, place yourself in the shoes of the hiring manager. If you are going to be on the receiving end of your resume, will you consider it? Is it engaging enough to make you read it in its entirety? Or is it something that'll be added on your dusty pile of not-so-good resumes? Be honest to yourself with your answer.

Now, if you are done answering these questions, go over your resume one more time, maybe make a tweak or two and then go ahead and send it. Best of luck!

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