Mark Hannah ⋅ Incline Village, NV Hannah Business Intelligence Solutions, Inc. ⋅ 22 years experience

One master template for target job title/description, then write a resume for each job description you apply to. From a tech guy, lets think about this, the first entity to "see" your resume is the database. The database will scrape your resume and perform a "best fit" analysis to the particular job you apply to as well as other jobs. The more "exact" your resume bullets are to the job description the better fit, add any other items you feel will highlight you. Ensure power words run down the middle of the page as the eyes will glance down the center of the page. Here's a super secret hack ;) Include words in white font in the gaps in your resume, the database will see it yet the human reading it won't, add the file name should start with a higher character _JohnDoe.docx. Sad truth is most managers don't take the necessary time and only ask for the top 5 resumes the database produces. Okay so don't type Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Data Scientist, Lightspeed Patent in white font because that'll raise eyebrows...

Howard Spiegel ⋅ Houston, TX HR ON CALL ⋅ 20 years experience

Dathan

The short answer is "as many as you need to have". Ok how do we do this efficiently?

I recommend creating one master resume that contains everything you have accomplished and save it as a master. We never use the master.

When an opening appears that we are interested in, then you cut and paste from the master and customize the resume to the opening. Remember you are in sales and the resume is the marketing brochure. The brochure needs to be on point (just like the cover letter) and confuse or distract the reader with other, non related accomplishments.

Sell to the buyer's specific needs.

Howard Spiegel

Jeff Martin ⋅ Ashburn, VA The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ⋅ 25 years experience

Great advice here already and I will echo the point - have one master template for target job title/description, then write a resume for each job description you apply to.

Joey Sifers ⋅ Roanoke, VA Allstate Insurance Company ⋅ 8 years experience

Yes you should have more than one resume. The resume for each job opportunity should reflect your strengths that apply to the job you are applying for in every case.

David Alhadeff ⋅ Buffalo Grove, IL Lighthouse Consulting LLC ⋅ 29 years experience

My suggestion is that you have one core resume that reflects your career objective, qualifications and experience. Then you slightly tailor, as needed, the content in the resume to better align with the speciic opportunity. This becomes particularly relevant in the achievements reflected in your experience, where you may want to introduce a new achievement from a past role to fit the position you are pursuing.

mark c. mansour ⋅ Burlington, WA Oasys Inc. ⋅ 28 years experience

Mr. Edwards,
Some great info from all the contributors. The specific points to having a "template" you use to prepare for different situations/opportunities. The fact that resumes have been scanned for years, to look for key words that are specific to the career opportunity. Abbreviations are usually not the best idea when the resume is in front of hiring manager. Spell check, although a great tool will let some errors slip by so asking a family member or friend for close scrutiny is helpful. Accomplishments in certifications, education I would list last in the resume. Work efforts that improved measurable performance I would use to support each job assignment and responsibilities, and how I influenced a better net result. Cover letters, to me, as an applicant and hiring manager are much like the headline in a news story and should draw attention to what we are applying for, why and our desire to contribute to the goals. Best regards and good wishes for success sir. Mark C. Mansour

Charles Bonilla ⋅ Chicago, IL PeopleScout, A TrueBlue Company ⋅ 3 years experience

What follows may not necessarily entirely apply to your industry, but hopefully there will be a few nuggets.

Imagine YOU are 100% civilian with no ties to the military. You're screening resumes for a position as a Widget Manager. You know this job. You're a Widget Manager yourself but you have 100 resumes to sort in 15 minutes. How much time will spend on a resume that is:
- laid out like a novel with big blocks of bland, vague, text
- has a serif font like Times New Roman and font size of 9 or 10 and is therefore difficult to read
- is sloppily constructed with haphazardly cut and pasted phrases that barely address the position description

In my job as a Veteran Career Counselor connecting vets to jobs and opportunities with Walmart, I regularly collaborate with vets to align their resume to a SPECIFIC position. The formula that seems to be working is to:

- have the position description on the left side of the screen, and the resume on the right side of the screen

- then, point by point, tailor your resume to that position description (this takes time)

There have been times when a veteran who thinks they're qualified for a position ends up going with something else because, when we get down to brass tacks, their skills don't align. In that case, we consider other options and press on.

More often, the veteran knows they have the skills but doesn't know HOW to translate them, or doesn't realize just how much the skills they have transfer. In those instances this is gradually uncovered by a back and forth. I'll read a bullet point from the position description and ask something like "Tell me about a time you achieved/accomplished/excelled at that." I listen to the story (here is where the veteran really comes alive). From there I distill that to an achievement-based bullet, read it back and ask "Is that accurate?" If the answer's "yes," we move on. if it's "no," we regroup. This takes time, typically two hours, sometimes a little more, but by the end the veteran ends up knowing a bit more about Walmart, and has more confidence because they have an idea of just how much their skills DO transfer.

A few more notes:
- craft a summary statement that weaves your background into the position in a way that says "I've left the military and am ready to bring valuable skills to YOU to enhance profitability and productivity." I like to specifically mention the job title and location.

- visually, I don't mind page borders but I don't know how they impact applicant tracking software scans

- I love Arial over Times New Roman. It's cleaner and so much easier on the eyes

- I love 12 point font; I'll invest a bit of time on a 11 point font but if see 10 or 9 ... forget it.

- If you MUST use italics, PLEASE use them only for emphasis

Finally, what I hear from many veterans is that they don't know to put everything they've done on a resume. The beauty of it is, you don't have to put everything. You need only focus on those aspects of your resume that best address the position description; and, you need only go back 10-12 years.

I hope this is helpful.

Lowell Sandoval ⋅ Seattle, WA LowellSandoval.com ⋅ 25 years experience

Dathan,

Thank you for serving the greatest Nation on Earth. Much appreciated.

My advice is to isolate your job search to your 3 top career opportunities that are a perfect match based on your skills, personality and most importantly a great lifestyle fit. Look at how you see your best case scenario life being going forward and seek career opportunities that will enable it to come true.

You need 3 versions of your resume that are results oriented. A method I like is BAR...Background, Action and Result resume style format. Hard to go wrong using it.

If you want me to glance over what you have, email it to info@LowellSandoval.com .

Best wishes,

Lowell

Bob Abrams ⋅ Buffalo Grove, IL Hewlett Packard ⋅ 20 years experience

Responses from other people on this topic are useful since there is no single answer. The master resume can be used as a template, but I recommend that you take the time to draft a list of your accomplishments and things that you like to do or find interesting. Honesty and clarity are important components of the resume. You may want to show it to a friend for critique before you distribute it to a hiring manager. Each job opportunity may require a unique and tightly written resume that might be able to grant you an interview.

David Jackson ⋅ Midland, MI U.S. Army, Specialist ⋅ 3 years served

you need as many resumes as you have different positions that you are applying for. One is not enough because if you're applying for a position that your resume is not tailored for, it will be rejected in a hurry, and most often a recruiter can tell with just reading your objective. If you are applying for different positions then you need a resume that is targeted to each of those positions.

Roy Carnes ⋅ Richardson, TX Hewlett Packard ⋅ 20 years experience

Be very careful that all of your resumes in circulation AGREE even though some may have more or less content than another. And make sure they agree with your LinkedIn profile. Seems basic but there are a lot of resumes out there that dates/places differ. A resume can live in the on-line world for a very long time and you do not want to confuse potential employers.

David Angley ⋅ Brewster, NY IBM ⋅ 35 years experience

Agree with all of the other suggestions - one master resume that you can then edit / enhance to better fit the position you're applying for. Experiences and skills listed should be as specific to the position as possible. Your goal or career aspirations should be tailored to the position you're applying for. It's all about convincing the interviewer that you have the skills and experience (and therefore the best candidate) for the open position. Good Luck

Eric Pinkham ⋅ Weston, MA Liberty Mutual ⋅ 9 years experience

I agree with the other answers given so far. You should have one "working" resume that you edit to fit the job you are applying for. It is frustrating for employers when they receive resumes that were clearly written for other positions. You should make your resumes fit the qualifications for the job you are applying.

Claudia Pires ⋅ Tampa, FL inspiHRed ⋅ 18 years experience

Mr. Edwards,
You should have one basic resume, but should tailor your objectives and strengths to what each of the particular jobs you're applying for will ask/value. It's not a 'one size fits all' situation, you need to look at the job description/requirements and highlight in your resume what the recruiters will be looking for. Your cover letter should also be unique to the employer your applying for.