On Launching Your Career: Tailoring Your Application

Understanding the mindset of recruiters & their toolset will help you land the right role faster.

After identifying the opportunities you want to pursue – and aligning with your core values and needs – the next step is the application process.

Why Application Preparation is Important

In the digital world, the time and effort required to apply for opportunities is at an all-time low. This should be a good thing, right?

Wrong.

In this new world, the humans – often recruiters and hiring managers – who are responsible with finding the best fit for a role are inundated with applications. They face a tidal wave of generic resumes and vague information about applicants. Most entry-level roles see hundreds to thousands of applications and resumes, and most recruiters are trying to fill multiple roles at a time.

To scale their efforts, recruiters turn to machines – an applicant tracking system (ATS) – to help quickly parse applications to find the most qualified or best fit person for the role. An ATS automatically intakes and reviews your application along with any supporting documents or additional information to quickly assess whether you may be qualified for the role based on specific keywords or phrases, work history, education, or other parameters. An ATS will rank or score applications that meet basic criteria and track these applications through the hiring process. Applicants for the role rarely see how the ATS grades the application nor the specific criteria the recruiter or hiring manager are looking for – and often, the hiring process is a black box with unknown timing, unclear steps, and one-sided communication.

What this means for you: it’s more difficult than ever for your application to get the attention of a recruiter or hiring manager to unlock the next step in the hiring process.

How to attract attention: preparation. Rather than immediately applying to a role (or hundreds of roles) with one generic application, let’s walk through how to tailor and customize your application for the highest chance for a conversation.

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Tailoring & Customizing Your Application: Optimizing Your Digital Profile

As we’ve addressed previously, your digital footprint is how you are viewed and perceived in the world. More and more organizations are leveraging technology to assess your digital profile – your social media profiles, your public achievements and mentions, your comments and digital engagement, your photos, your credited articles, and much more – to determine whether you are a good fit for the role and for the organization. It’s a 24/7 advertisement that:

Increases Visibility: A strong online presence makes you more visible to recruiters, potential employers, clients, and professional contacts

Showcases Your Skills: It allows you to highlight your achievements, projects, and skills beyond the confines of a resume

Facilitates Networking: Online platforms provide opportunities to connect with industry leaders, peers, and mentors

Influences Perception: Your online content can shape how you are perceived professionally, allowing you to control the narrative around your personal and professional identity

A standout online presence is coherent, professional, and authentic. It might include:

• Professional LinkedIn Profile: Detailed and up-to-date, showcasing your experience, skills, and professional interests.

• A Personal Website or Portfolio: Especially relevant for those in technical and creative fields, to display your portfolio of work samples and projects.

• Active Social Media Accounts: Platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn, where you engage with relevant career- and interest-focused content and contribute to discussions

• Contributions to Professional Forums or Blogs: Sharing your expertise and engaging with your professional community

As you prepare to apply for roles, it’s time to take a critical eye to your digital footprint. Start with a basic internet search for your name and location.

• What are the top 100 results?

• Do these results show what you want a recruiter or hiring manager to know about you?

• Do these results align with how you see yourself in your career?

• What’s potentially missing from these results that you wish a recruiter or hiring manager would see or understand about you?

• Are there photos, images, comments, or articles credited to you that may be misleading or otherwise undermine the perception of who you are?

• How much information could a recruiter or hiring manager easily find based on this simple search?

As you evaluate your digital footprint, consider that it can take three to six months (or longer) to clean up unflattering items and boost items you want seen. The three most effective tactics to boost your digital profile:

• Create and regularly update your personal website, blog, and social media to push older, less relevant content out of search results

• Engage online with people, organizations, and topics that align to your career interests in a positive manner

• Focus your keywords, topics, and interests digitally to those that are most relevant (and authentic) to you – and limit the ability for others to disrupt that narrative

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Tailoring & Customizing Your Application Materials: Resume & Cover Letter

Customizing your application materials is a critical step in the job search process, especially in a competitive job market. Tailored resumes and cover letters help you stand out to employers by demonstrating your genuine interest in their specific opportunity and showing how your unique skills and experiences make you the ideal candidate for the role.

Step One: Analyze the Job Description for Your Target Role

• Identify Keywords and Phrases: Carefully read the job description to identify key skills, qualifications, and responsibilities. Note any recurring keywords or phrases, as these are likely important to the employer to demonstrate accomplishments & hard skills.

• Understand the Employer’s Needs: Try to discern what the employer values most in a candidate for this role. Is it leadership ability, technical skills, or a collaborative work style? These are likely important to demonstrate cultural fit & soft skills needed as part of the role.

Need help with this? Prompt your favorite AI tool to think like a seasoned recruiter for a specific role and highlight the top 10-15 keywords, phrases, and search terms commonly used in this target role.

A tip from our experts in the field: don’t forget the impact of the applicant tracking system (ATS) on ensuring your application is seen by more than a machine. An ATS will grade or rank your application – your resume, cover letter, and any information you provide as part of the application process – against hundreds to thousands of other applicants. Recruiters will start with their ATS database and a Boolean keyword search (often the title, role family, and 3-5 key skills), and a discrete timeframe to find their initial set of top applicants. Read more on ATS databases & the eight things you should know about them before applying for roles.

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Step Two: Tailor Your Resume for ATS Intake & Scoring

Once you’ve pulled the relevant keywords and phrases from the role and company description, you’re ready to tailor your resume – for an applicant tracking system (ATS), not a human.

Why is this distinction important? A study from the Harvard Business Review revealed that 88% of recruiters felt that qualified candidates were ignored by an ATS because “they did not match the exact criteria established by the job description.” This may suggest that many qualified candidates are overlooked because their resume doesn’t contain the right keywords or can’t be parsed accurately by the ATS system.

Because the first step of the process is to ensure a high score with the ATS, we will tailor the resume to generate the highest score possible within the ATS platform. To do this, build an initial resume template utilizing the following advice:

• Use an ATS-friendly resume builder in a DOC file type: it is critically important to follow the formatting that an ATS can parse and understand. ATS formats are not pretty or attractive to humans, but it will ensure that your resume is understood and ranks highly in order to get to a human – and to the next step in the hiring process. (We recommend this free ATS-friendly resume builder)

• Use standard resume headers: while AI is now being introduced into the ATS environment, most ATS platforms will ignore information it deems irrelevant or that doesn’t match what it knows. By utilizing standard resume headers (Summary / Education / Experience / Skills / Certifications), the ATS is able to identify and sort information from your resume.

• Use traditional resume fonts: stick to Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica, Georgia, or Garamond – even for creative roles. ATS platforms do not have access to full font families and often cannot convert or parse other fonts or special symbols.

• Use a chronological or hybrid resume format: a chronological format starts with your experience in reverse chronological order, highlighting your career progression. A hybrid format places skills and accomplishments above your work history. Most entry-level roles are best served with a hybrid resume format - unless you have at least three prior jobs that show a progression in your experience.

• Use the top 10-15 keywords for the role type you’re applying for: as you build your template resume, be sure that the top 10-15 keywords or phrases for the role type you’re applying for are sprinkled throughout your resume. Aim for 1-3 mentions for each keyword throughout your resume, as appropriate. (Remember: while we want the ATS to score high, a human will still review it. Make sure it’s still readable and not “stuffed” with long chains of keywords or phrases.)

• Use both the long-form and short-form (or acronym) of keywords as appropriate: maximize your searchability with long-form and short-form keywords. As an example, you may include “social media marketing (SMM)” or “go to market (GTM)” to ensure you can be found for both, no matter what the recruiter or ATS is trained to look for.

• Keep your paragraphs to under 30 words: when describing your experience, the goal is to be succinct. Be sure to match keywords to the job description you’re applying for; some organizations use synonyms and acronyms to denote similar responsibilities, but be sure it matches the role you’re applying for, not the previous role you held.

• Highlight measurable, impactful achievements first: within your experience, highlight the biggest measurable impact you achieved, then transition to the key components of what you did in your role.

Want to test your resume template? Use this ATS resume reviewer to scan your resume against 2-3 job descriptions of your choosing.

Once you’ve created your resume template, time to tailor this template to each specific job & company description. We suggest making a copy of your initial template and submitting a tailored resume to the ATS for specific role & company. A few guidelines:

How specific are your keywords? Many ATS databases require an “exact match” when searching, scoring, and ranking keywords and phrases for a job or role. This is literal; an ATS will not recognize different tenses, possessives, punctuation, abbreviations, or acronyms of skills and keywords. For example: if the job title is “social media manager”, it will not recognize “SMM”, “manager, social media”, “SM manager”, “Social Media Content Creator”, “Social Media” or anything other than an exact match to the job description.

Do your keywords contain both the specific job title for the role that you’re applying for? It’s important to include the specific job title in your resume – either as experience in a prior role or within the summary section of your resume.  

Did you rank your keywords in order of importance? The more often a keyword appears in the job description, the more often it should appear in your resume. For most entry-level roles, your top 3 keywords should appear up to 3 times on your resume.

Did you customize your summary to align with the company? Start with a tailored objective or

summary statement that clearly aligns with the job you’re applying for. Mention the position and how your skills and goals align with the company’s needs and values.

Did you include measurable results or impacts in your experience? Employers like to see the impact you had on the job. Include at least five or more mentions of measurable results – if you have them.

Did you avoid buzzwords and common cliches? Keep a positive tone in your resume and avoid common cliches or buzzwords. (Synergy, anyone?)

Did you keep it to one page? Many ATS platforms use a “signal to noise” ratio as part of their scoring or ranking methodology. This compares the amount of pertinent information to irrelevant information. If you have under 10 years of experience, a one page resume is plenty for a US-based role.

Did you emphasize your skills: Especially for recent graduates, emphasizing transferable soft skills gained through internships, volunteer work, or coursework can be particularly effective. Show how these skills apply to the job requirements.

Once you have your ATS-friendly resume tailored to the job description & company, you’re almost ready to submit your application. Our next step: the cover letter.

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Step Three: Drafting a Cover Letter

Cover letters are a perennial topic in the world of recruiting & hiring. In the old days, a cover letter was a necessary component to accompany a physical, printed resume. It noted the contact information for the applicant, which role the applicant was applying for, who the hiring manager was, and contained a written summary of the applicant’s potential value to the organization. Cover letters and resumes were then stuffed into an envelope and physically mailed to hiring departments. Cover letters were a critical asset linking an application to a specific role within an organization.

In the digital age, much of this information and tracking is streamlined through the ATS database. Cover letters are rarely required as part of a job application – but our experts in the field are unanimous: a well-crafted cover letter can be the difference between getting noticed and getting overlooked. Why? Because it shows:

• Commitment: A cover letter shows that you’ve taken the time to tailor your application to the specific role and company, demonstrating genuine interest and commitment to the role and organization

• Achievements: You can use the cover letter to spotlight achievements or skills that align closely with the job description, showing not just what you’ve done, but how well you did it

• Communication Skills: A cover letter provides a sample of your written communication skills, showing your ability to articulate ideas clearly and persuasively (a huge advantage in the workplace)

Unlike the resume, which provides a summary of your skills, experience, and accomplishments, the cover letter offers a more detailed narrative of how your specific experiences make you the ideal candidate for the position. This is your opportunity to tell a story that your resume can’t, highlighting your motivations, personality, and the relevance of your background to the job you’re applying for.

Employers use cover letters to gauge suitability for their culture and organization. They look for signs of professionalism, cultural fit, and how well a candidate communicates their value proposition. The cover letter is your chance to make a memorable impression, showing that you’re not just another applicant but a motivated individual who aligns with the company’s goals and values.

Crafting a cover letter that stands out requires a blend of storytelling, research, and personalization. To achieve this:

• Customize It: Avoid generic letters. Tailor your cover letter for each application, referencing specific aspects of the job and company that excite you.

• Showcase Your Research: Mention something you admire about the company or how you align with its values. This shows that you’ve done your homework.

• Highlight Relevant Experience: Use examples from your academic projects, internships, volunteer work, or extracurricular activities that demonstrate your skills and readiness for the job.

• Be Concise and Engaging: Keep your cover letter to a single page. Use a clear, engaging tone to maintain the reader’s interest.

• Proofread: Spelling or grammar mistakes can undermine your application. Proofread your cover letter or have someone else review it.

One note from our experts: be very careful with fully AI-created cover letters – many organizations are now using specific tools to sniff out AI markers. Utilize AI to ideate on the specific topics you should highlight in your letter based on the role & company description but be sure the final product is your own!

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Tailoring & Customizing Your Portfolio

Throughout the hiring process, recruiters and hiring managers may ask you to submit a portfolio of your previous work. This is a common requirement that may be included as early as the initial application process, particularly for creative and technical roles.

Portfolios serve as proof of your abilities and accomplishments, highlighting your individual contributions and understanding for basic components of your role. Portfolios, or examples of past work, can be conceptual or in-use, but be sure you have the proper rights or authority to display work publicly and that any collaboration with others is clearly documented.

As with your resume and cover letter, tailoring your portfolio to showcase specific examples relevant to the job is ideal. For technical roles, you may show your proficiency with specific languages or complex projects you’ve completed; for creative roles, you may show your proficiency with specific creative tools or creative work you’ve completed.

Often, portfolios are best displayed within personal websites or commonly recognized portfolio management tools, such as GitHub, GitLab, or other code repositories for technical roles, as well as Behance, Dribbbly, or designing a personal website for creative roles.

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Submitting Your Application

With these assets - your resume, cover letter, and portfolio - tailored specifically to the role and company, you’re ready to submit your application.

Throughout the application process, you may provide your contact information, upload your assets, provide links out to your digital profiles and portfolios, and answer questions. These questions are commonly referred to as “knockout questions”, specifically included to exclude candidates who do not fit the fundamental needs for the role. These knockout questions may ask about your willingness to work in an office or travel frequently, your ability to relocate for the role, the specific length of experience for skill sets, your salary requirements, and more. Answer these questions honestly; you don’t want to get further into the hiring process with the wrong set of expectations.

Once you’ve submitted your application through the ATS, you will likely receive an automated email confirmation. Save these confirmations, along with the assets you created for the role, to be prepared for the next step in the process: screening and interviewing.

And remember: this process will typically take three to six months and dozens to hundreds of applications to get into the interviewing & hiring stages. Keep your chin up - you can do this!

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