My consulting assignments span different areas, and it’s important in my case to highlight projects that I’ve done and are relevant for the position I’m seeking. If I were working on a very specialized field, I agree that it would probably be a waste of time to be customizing the resume every time.

Jim—I think there actually ARE a lot of people who are saying “screw it” and starting their own businesses (although hopefully not over conflicting job hunting advice). That may be one of the silver linings of this recession. I think it’s given people a reason/excuse/push in a direction they may not have gone otherwise. Very little positive change comes from being comfortable.

Thomas/Chris—I was also a consultant for about six years. I have a single line for each client I worked with, with something very high level (e.g. “Served as interim HR Director for Acme Corporation, a financial consulting firm experiencing a period of rapid change/growth”). Then I draw out whatever experience I need to highlight in the cover letter.

Your mileage may vary, obviously, but it works for me.

I’ve also found that including ALL of the companies I’ve worked with has helped, because some of them are big, well-known employers (at least in my area), which seems to give me credibility. I’ve had people find me based having searched LinkedIn for a particular company name, and I’ve had others tell me they thought I must know something since all those big companies had hired me. It’s nuts, but I’m not about to correct them.

I’m a consultant, which means I have many projects each year. When I need to submit my resume, I typically have to choose which projects to include (I indicate it is a sample). Rarely I use the same projects for different applications, because making my resume meaningful for each job requires cherry picking the projects that made sense in that case.

If people didn’t care about reading a 6- or 8-page resume, I wouldn’t have to do that.

Jim Horrell – jrhorrell@live.com

I definitely agree with don’t overdo it – and don’t waste valuable time better spent networking or finding leads. Create templates by job types and do tweaks (template yourself). Yes -networking is much more important – but if anyone is just shot-gunning generic resumes (then that’s fairly a waste of time, too and almost as useless as searching Monster.com).

Two points I would add to the great conversation so far.
One – I can mix-in (real – not buzz) words (or experience) the hiring manager wants without guessing, since for jobs I care about…I DO THE HOMEWORK. Through my networking contacts, other research, I often know what they want and do tailor spefic items (where it makes sense).

It is not enough to meet the requirements of the job – you want to be the perfect person for the job. The resume is to get the interview – not the job. I want to improve my chance of making the phone screen cut (and not end up in the maybe pile). Remember – 22 year-old HR intern newbie is likely doing the first screen, so the closer the match to the req the better.

Second – for those of us with varied (such consulting) experience, there may be 13-14 similar examples of my stellar success on a project or endeavor. I may want to include an example that is in that person’s industry (or even for one of their competitors). I know that vertical (or other domain knowledge) is transferable, but the screener may not (let alone the hiring manager).

In this economy – and for a job that really matters – BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY applies. I want every advantage I can get and don’t want to lose out because someone else wanted the job more than I did .

Keep up the awesome blog!

I’m coming into this one a bit, late, but here’s to helping with your super-long comments on this topic!

I have to confess: I do give the advice to customise resume for each position; however I DON’T mean rewrite it every time. That is indeed a real waste of time and risks the copy-paste effect. Instead specific upfront parts are tweaked (or at least checked for relevance).

Reason for this is that unless someone is going for precisely the same role they previously did, , then in the very short space of the resume it’s important to emphasise the right things. For example, if you have background working for agencies as well as for client companies, and you are going for both client and agency roles, then both your profile and the skill set will require something of a tweak each time.

There is also the case where the employer is looking for something specific – for example they may be looking for someone with international project management experience, which is just one part of your skills set. It would be worth drawing this and related skills out more for that employer.

In terms of time, this is not resource intensive (once the original CV is done). The biggest time sink is in analysing the job spec for the position – an example of how this pays off is with one client I worked with, where we spent time analysing the spec for a job he was considering. The way the job description was worded was a bit odd, and after some brainstorming we figured out (rightly) that the hiring manager was unhappy with the team in question and wanted someone to come in, sort them out, and raise their profile. We took a punt on this, tweaked his CV to really push the fact he was a superstar at turning around tricky teams, and indeed he did get selected.

However I also came across one person who took a WEEK to edit his CV for each post, and totally stressed out over it each time. Last I checked he’s still looking… could we compromise with a “don’t be a dumb-ass” CV editing rule?
.-= Marianne´s last blog ..Spend one evening sorting out your career change once and for all (Part 6: 7 Things To Do Instead of Watching Judge Judy) =-.