A resume lives: from the buzzwords. No, not the empty buzzwords and hackneyed phrases. Buzzwords are meaningful, well-considered, and smartly chosen keywords that draw attention to the skills you want to emphasize in order to make the step into the desired direction.

It is essential that you showcase the portion of talent you want to use in the future. Right: show off! And because the target audience is only interested in a particular portion of your talents, it is important to present this intersection in the right light, very much in line with the target group.

As with every show, if you want to dance in the spotlight, you have to align with the lighting technician. He knows exactly where to aim the spot during the show. And that's where you have to go!

Our 5 point plan

1: Define goals and ideas: Assessment of the situation

Where are you going? When candidates are looking for a new job, they simply screen the vacancies that bear the job title they currently have. This is very selective and not very farsighted. Open your eyes and be inspired. What would you enjoy to do and why?

Our example: A specialist from the plastics industry who works as plant support at a manufacturer of disinfectants. He would like to switch 1_to the pharmaceutical industry and take on 2_personnel responsibility. He has two goals at the same time, which do not necessarily overlap. Pharma and Management. This is reminiscent of two cones of light that have a small common intersection. It would be a coincidence if the person achieves both goals with just one step.

2: What do you bring with you, what are you good at: What is the show about?

Define different competence circles: Does the attraction lie in a new industry or rather in another department. Do you look for a higher functional level, more specialization, consolidation, more external contacts, etc. Draw a circle around each goal and fill it with the skills and knowledge you already possess.

For our engineer from the example this means:

One circle for 1_I want to enter the pharmaceutical industry and a second circle 2_I want a management position. The problem: He doesn't come from the pharmaceutical industry and doesn't yet work entirely in the pharmaceutical industry. He does not yet manage any employees directly. His solace: someone who does all this already would not necessarily seek this lateral change.

3: Where do the spotlights shine: What does the audience want to see

It pays off to put yourself in the position of HR, recruiting, or hiring manager now. If you were in their place, which skills would you target? The point now is: you should be familiar with the buzzwords these people are looking for in your CV. There is typically a checklist in place to quickly filter out the right candidates.

Our example case:

The potential target company for the case 1_Pharma Industry will screen the CV for pharmaceutical plant engineering specific keywords. The target company for 2_leadership will screen the CV for any evidence of direct or lateral leadership experience.

4: Get into the light: The spots are on!

Customize your show, address your resume to your audience! That's the only way to reap the applause. Studies show that a maximum of 30 seconds is invested in evaluating an application. This time is invested by an external recruiter, software or HR person. All these involved systems usually do not do a transfer of specific content, when reading the CV. Typical terms from other industries are not transferred to the current company environment. Either the buzzwords you are looking for are in the CV or the decision is: Reject!

For our example, this means: The engineer applies best with two different CVs. The relevant buzzwords for the different target groups are then on page 1, in the dominant middle of the page for current work experience. NOT in the cover letter, NOT on page 4 in the CV and he should NOT assume that these are searched for in the certificates.

5: Performance in the spotlight: the show is on

If you now have a valid admission ticket and your application is interesting. At the latest now you must be able to fill the buzzwords with content. During the first telephone interview, it quickly becomes clear that you have only used a few phrases and operated with copy-paste. You don't really know what you are talking about.

So our engineer has to provide content on the subject of 1_Plant construction pharma or have 2_catchy examples of his management experience, his management style, or his management successes at hand.

If this is not the case, it's OUT and back to point 1: You have set your goals too high, overestimated your abilities, or know your audience too little. Try it again.