The Hidden Skills Missing From Your Targeted Resume

The Hidden Skills Missing From Your Targeted Resume The Hidden Skills Missing From Your Targeted Resume Using the same resume to spam open jobs is a great way to rack up rejections. A better approach is to craft a targeted resume based on the specific skills requested in the job description. Unfortunately, the targeted resume approach relies on a job description that provides actual guidance through a comprehensive list of skills and requirements. What happens when the job description is vague or incomplete? In these cases, knowing which skills the hiring team wants even before they do will give you a competitive advantage. Its all about finding the  hidden skills. Job description writers dont know what theyre talking about The people tasked with writing job listings arent typically experts in the field. Its not their fault HR professionals cant be expected to have encyclopedic knowledge of every new role in the company and how it will interact with existing positions. There are bound to be blind spots even when the HR manager or recruiter gets input from the departmental hiring manager. A hiring manager might understand what everyone on their team does in broad terms but wont necessarily understand the specific skills and knowledge used on a daily basis. This uncertainty and lack of understanding leads to generic, half-baked job postings that are missing key skills, forgetting obvious requirements, and leading job seekers astray. But just because key industry skills didnt make it to the job description doesnt mean they shouldnt be featured on your resume. Jobscan now shows you the top skills  missing from the job description   Generic job description templates When there isnt an expert available to write a job description, hiring professionals often rely on internal or public templates. We have a template for different positions that we generally hire, a non-profit recruiter told Jobscan. A job description might also be cobbled together based on other companies listings. Alternatively, generic  sample job descriptions  are often copy and pasted for real job listings. (Example.) In these cases, the job description wont include skills and requirements specific to the companys needs. What good is a targeted resume based on a job description thats not even targeted to the job? Figuring it out as they go along When a new role is created, its not uncommon for companies to jump into the hiring process and figure it out as they go. They start with a broad job description then refine their specific requirements and preferences once they start seeing resumes and interviewing candidates. For example, a tech startup that wants to delve into data science for the first time might not know the technical requirements beyond a few buzzwords. Once they start interacting with a few candidates, theyll get ideas for additional skills and experience they actually want. Jobscans new feature keeps you a step ahead of the pack Hidden skills showcase your expertise The only way to survive this process as a candidate is to be ahead of the curve and prove that you know what the company needs even before they do. If a recruiter is in over their head sourcing their first Data Scientist hire, which candidate will they be more attracted to? Candidate 1, who mirrored their generic request for 4 years experience with data science and machine learning Candidate 2, who has those broad keywords in addition to specific data science hard skills like R, Python, SQL, and Tableu Candidate 2 appears more knowledgeable and will be more attractive as the recruiter refines their job description because the candidate knew the hidden skills. Jobscan now shows you the skills they didnt even know they needed   Its not typically advisable to stuff your resume with a long list of skills that arent mentioned on a job description. But when the job description is lacking, its smart to list additional  relevant skills. The operative word is relevant. For example, if youre applying for an e-commerce job with a vague description, volunteering that you have experience operating an online store with the popular service Shopify is a good thing to add to your resume. Meanwhile, listing door-to-door sales skills takes their attention away from the most important qualifications. Even if a job description is pretty thorough, adding a couple extra relevant skills might give you an edge over the competition. Intelligent hidden skills for your targeted resume Jobscan has addressed the hidden skills problem by adding Predicted Skills to the resume optimization tool. By analyzing millions of resumes and employing advanced machine learning techniques, Jobscan can now scan your job description and suggest skills for your resume that werent included (but probably shouldve been) based on industry and other skills present. Whether the company doesnt understand the job, simply forgot key skills, or used a generic sample template,   Predicted Skills will help you read between the lines and craft a stronger targeted resume. Here are a few real examples from the resume match report: Predicted skills example for an admin assistant job Predicted skills examples for a web content job Predicted skills examples for a warehouse job Try it out for yourself: