Dear JobsBlog:
Would you recommend I tailor my resume when applying for a job? Does this help or hinder my chances of getting the position?
 
-Resume Riled

 Dear "Resume Riled": As with many areas of recruiting, it depends.

It can definitely be valuable to tailor your resume for a specific position and, generally, I would tell my friends to do so. For example, if you are applying for a Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) position, you may want to highlight or emphasize your QA/testing experience. While you don’t have to have hardcore testing experience to be a successful SDET, it definitely helps if you have prior experience in that area.

That being said, when you apply via the Microsoft career site, you can only have one resume in your profile. When you create/upload a resume through our career site, you want to make sure that all of your relevant skill sets and appropriate keywords are in your resume.  For our technical roles, you may have skills that would be applicable to a SDE, SDET or PM role. If you tailor your resume to one specific position, you may miss out on a different opportunity.

However, if you are only interested in a specific role, say an SDET, and you are not interested in being an SDE or PM, make a note of that in your summary/objective on your resume.

Though tailoring your resume can be beneficial if you’re interested in a specific position, there is the rare occasion it can back fire. I heard of a candidate who had tailored his resume but forgot to turn off the “track changes” feature on the Word document. The recruiter missed it and when the hiring manager reviewed the resume, he felt that the candidate specifically exaggerated his skill set to fit the position. Also, if you are tweaking your resume to match a position, don’t copy and paste the job requirements into your resume. (I’ve seen it done!) This can also be a red flag for a manager, as they may think you're only telling them what they want to hear. Write about your skills in your own words.

So when submitting your resume, if you have a specific job in mind and only want that specific job, tailoring is a good thing. If you are open to different roles, keep it more general. And remember, use the “track changes” feature with caution.

-Ryan