Customizing a Resume Can Help Facility Manager Land Job
June 29, 2011
Today's tip from Building Operating Management: Take time to customize your resume for every job you are truly interested in.
That may seem like a daunting task. It may also seem unnecessary, especially in a field as specific as facility management. It may even somewhat dishonest. But it isn’t dishonest, it is important, and it need not be daunting.
The first step is to understand what the organization is looking for. Remember that different organizations may well have different needs in facility management. One position may be require excellent communication skills, while another may emphasize technical background. If you don’t have that sort of specific information about an employer, you can at least keep in mind the type of facility involved, as well as any specific information about that employer that you can find, and look for ways to show that you will be worth interviewing.
The whole resume need not be recreated from scratch, but it's worth customizing certain elements. For example, if you show an objective, that should certainly be customized to reflect your knowledge of the employer’s needs.
You should also consider customizing your list of accomplishments. A veteran facility manager might have several pages of accomplishments that could be listed. But not all of them may be exactly on target for the employer in question. A too long list may lose the reader before he or she gets to the most salient points. Even if the accomplishments are same on all resumes, consider which order is best. Remember that the person reading yours is probably faced with scores, maybe hundreds of other resumes - and there's only so much time in the day.
The same is true of your list of past experience. Not all jobs deserve equal weight. Focus on the experiences that will be of the most importance to the employer, even if they aren’t the ones you liked the best or learned the most from.
Of course, it's impossible to customize a resume if you're simply broadcasting resumes to organizations you know little about. But if you are aiming for a specific job with a specific organization, it’s worthwhile to tailor your resume.
Next
Read next on FacilitiesNet
