Get ultra specific on your resume or get left in the dust

Let’s go through an example of how ultra specific you should get when writing your resume. Don’t use intangibles like “I’m really passionate about work, I want to work at challenging yet rewarding job.” Guess what? So does everyone. None of that matters. It’s so unspecific as to be pointless. If you say something that another hundred people would say, that’s not specific. And as a result you don’t deserve to get that interview.

Here’s how specific you want to get. “I want to work as a senior buyer at a gold-mining company in Denver.” Notice, a senior buyer, not just a buyer. What did we do here? Imagine the type of resume and cover letter you can craft if you are this specific. Imagine the stories you can tell, imagine insight you can gain, because you know exactly what hiring manager at a gold mining firm wants to see. By the way not just any mining company, but a gold one. So they might want different things than a big coal or iron mining company.

So this seems so easy, it almost looks like a given. But it is not the level of detail most job applicants would go to. That’s a 180-degree turn from 99 percent of job seekers who just blindly submit the same generic resume into an online submission form and then wait.