Can Resumes Hinder the Job Search?

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--If you are in a job search right now, or are about to start one, you don't need anyone to tell you that jobs are tough to come by. More people are competing for fewer jobs, making it much more challenging to get noticed. Creating an effective personal "brand" is critical to making sure that you stand out from the crowd in the ways that employers are looking for today, says MRINetwork, one of the world's largest search and recruitment organizations.

"It's a big mistake to rely on your traditional resume as your primary marketing tool," says Tony McKinnon, president of MRINetwork. "Most people drag out some version of their resume that they've been using for years, update it with their current information, and get a very discouraging ROI for their efforts."

McKinnon says to stand out you have to create alignment between the specific needs of the employer and the value that you bring to the market, and find new ways to communicate that value. His advice on how to do that means doing some hard work before that resume leaves your hands:

Dive in deep by learning as much as you can about the needs of the companies you want to work for. Understand:

• Their culture.

• Their strengths and weaknesses, including skills and competencies they may be lacking.

• Challenges that are holding them back from achieving their sales goals.

• Initiatives they may have tabled for the present, but will come back to when conditions improve.

• Future initiatives - and the talents they will need to achieve them.

(Read the original release at BusinessWire.)