There will be times when a prospect approaches you and says, "I need a general resume. Something that I can use for a variety of different job titles. I don't need anything fancy, just something that I can tweak for each job title. Can you help with that?"

Part of our job as resume writers is educating our clients. In this instance, we draw attention to the fact that there is no such thing as a "general resume." General resumes are seen as one-size-fits-all documents that use ineffective keyword targeting, lack focus, and fail to showcase relevant achievements to hiring staff.

The resumes you write must be laser-focused on EXACTLY what the clients wish to pursue professionally. When clients ask for general resumes, they are essentially asking for kitchen-sink documents that list just about everything about their careers.

This means ATS can get "confused" when interpreting different skills, and hiring managers can find themselves wading through visually heavy and unnecessarily excessive job details in search of what's most relevant to them - which they likely won't do, in case you're wondering! 🙂

Clients who know their ideal career trajectory are ideal because they'll make your job much more streamlined and, therefore, make the resume writing process easier and with less friction.

Of course, you can work with those who don't have a clear understanding of what they'll pursue next. For those clients who possess skills that apply to multiple job titles, consider creating 2-3 targeted resumes, each individualized to showcase the most recent, relevant, and unique skills, work experience, and achievements for each title being pursued.