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A good way to increase your chances of getting a business job is to tailor your resume to job descriptions.

This means that you should take a close look at job descriptions in want ads, job boards and other sources. Then write a resume that matches the requests being made in job descriptions.

Job descriptions are a valuable resource for the job hunter because they are a description of what the employers want. A person that pays close attention to job descriptions will have a better chance of getting a job.

What to Pay Attention to in Job Descriptions

• Education requirements. Most job descriptions will list education requirements. Pay close attention to specific courses, degrees and certifications required.

• Experience. Most descriptions will list a certain a level of experience. This can show you what experience.

• Technical abilities or specific experience. For example accounting or collections experience.

How to Use Job Descriptions When You Make a Resume

There are several ways that you can use job descriptions to help you make your resume more effective. The most obvious is to make sure your resume matches the requirement of job descriptions.

For example you can change the descriptions of education and past experience in your resume to match the descriptions you see. This can make it easier to get a job.

If job descriptions ask for two years of accounts payable experience and you have two years of billing experience. Change it to accounts payable or accounts receivable.

You should also eliminate things that aren’t being requested in job descriptions from your resume. For example if job descriptions aren’t looking for mailing or typing.

Also look at specific skills that are being requested in job descriptions. This can be computer software you’ve had experience with or specific skills like typing speed.

Make sure that job titles you use in your resume match those requested in job descriptions. For example many employers call clerks coordinators. So change the word clerk to coordinator in your resume.

Where to Find Business Job Descriptions

• Internet job boards like Monster.com. These are the main places where most positions are listed these days. Monster is the main job board but there are some others like hotjobs.

• Temporary agency websites. Many employers fill a lot of positions through big temporary agencies like Robert Half (www.roberthalf.com), Kelly (www.mykelly.com), Manpower (www.manpower.com), Express (www.expresspersonnel.com) and Appleone (www.appleone.com). These contain detailed job descriptions for many positions.

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This federal agency, a part of the U.S. Department of Labor compiles detailed information about many jobs. Its website lists many job descriptions and a lot of other really good job information. All of this information is available to the public at http://www.bls.gov/.

• Trade publications. Some industry trade publications do have want ads and list job descriptions. They aren’t as good a resource as they used to be but they’re still around.

• Employer websites. Almost every company and organization has a website these days. Most of which do have sections for jobs or employment. Checking out the ones related to countries or industries you want to work in can help you locate job descriptions. This is a very valuable resource because these descriptions were often written by the people doing the hiring.

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