Misunderstanding
As a Cooperative Education Consultant and Career Practitioner students struggle with the concept of ‘targeting’ their resume to the job/industry. They don’t necessarily understand or appreciate the importance of this practice in order to engage the reader (employer). If the resume, through relevance and language, does not engage the reader (employer), it is highly unlikely they will review the resume or consider the applicant. Previous classes and/or teaching (e.g., high school) on the construction of a resume often contributes to the students’ lack of understanding and importance of crafting job search documents, especially resumes to a specific job and industry. Co-op students’ job search will depend on one single document, and that document must reflect the time and effort needed to capture their readers attention.
An analogy I have used in the past to help students understand the necessity of targeting their resume to their reader…is purchasing a cell phone. I ask them what they look for when buying a cell phone (resume), what features do they need (skills), cost of the phone, etc. After they have created a ‘cell phone’ list, I ask them questions regarding their list and it’s relevance. “What if the phone listed features you don’t need/want or had nothing listed at all?” “Would you quickly move onto another phone?” “Would you spend the time seeking additional details?” After some probing, I connect the dots between them seeking specific information about that phone as it relates to the buyer, and a resume that has the specific details related to the employer. If an employer sees a product (phone) without the relevant information needed, they will not seek additional information, but move onto another candidate (phone).
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