3 Commonly Asked Job Search Questions

If you spend enough time looking for a job, you’re going to run into questions that don’t have obvious answers. How much should you really tailor your resume? Is there any point in applying to a job that’s been posted for a few weeks? And should your LinkedIn profile basically be an online version of your resume?

These are also questions that come up pretty regularly in my resume work, LinkedIn work, and job search coaching, so let’s get into them.

How much should I tailor my resume for each job?

You shouldn’t be rewriting your entire resume for every application.

When I’m working on resumes, I want the document to already have a pretty clear idea of what kind of job it’s targeting. If you’re applying to five different versions of roughly the same kind of role, most of the resume should continue to work as-is. You might modify the focus of your summary, move a particularly relevant accomplishment higher, adjust some language to better match how the company describes the work, or emphasize something that’s unusually important for that specific opening.

If you need to rebuild the document every time you apply, I’d look at the jobs you’re targeting. You may be applying to such a wide range of roles that one resume can’t effectively position you for all of them.

I’m not trying to create a resume that can technically be used for every job someone could possibly apply to. I want the positioning to make sense for the jobs they’re most likely to pursue. Then tailoring becomes adjusting the emphasis instead of starting over. It’s about due diligence, not rebuilding.

Is it too late to apply to a job that’s been posted for a few weeks?

If the job is still posted, I’d apply.

Earlier is obviously better, but a two- or three-week-old posting isn’t automatically a lost cause. The recruiter may still be reviewing applications. The first group of interviews may not have produced anyone. The hiring manager may have changed what they’re looking for. You don’t know what’s happening inside the search from the posting date alone.

And don’t let a huge applicant count automatically scare you away. A recruiter may have hundreds of applications and still be trying to find the relatively small number of people who actually make sense for the job.

This is something I talk about in coaching because applying shouldn’t be the end of your process for a role. Once you’ve submitted the application, see who you know at the company or who could make an introduction. Look for clues in the posting about who the role reports to, then use LinkedIn to identify the likely hiring manager or another important stakeholder.

You’re looking to influence, not introduce yourself. If you reach out, explain why your background lines up with what they need, give a specific example of solving a similar problem, and tell them why you want to work there. “I applied!” isn’t much of a reason for someone to pay attention. If the job is still open and you’re a strong fit, apply. Then give them a reason to find you.

Should my LinkedIn profile match my resume?

They should be consistent, but they shouldn’t be identical.

When I’m working on LinkedIn profiles, I use the resume as a source because the basic facts obviously need to line up. Your titles, employers, dates, and overall career story shouldn’t leave someone wondering whether they’re looking at two different people. But copying and pasting your resume into LinkedIn misses a lot of what LinkedIn can actually do.

Your resume is usually being read in the context of a specific application. The recruiter knows what job you want because you applied to it. LinkedIn doesn’t have that advantage.

Someone might find you in a search, click on your profile after you applied, see you comment on a post, or get your name from someone else. Your profile needs to give them enough context to understand where you fit without a job posting sitting next to it.

That’s why I tend to use the headline and About section differently. You have more room to explain what you do, the areas you specialize in, and the kind of work you want to be associated with. You can also include relevant keywords throughout the profile because recruiters are actually searching LinkedIn for them.

The Experience section doesn’t need every bullet from your resume either. I’d rather use it to give someone enough information to understand the scope of your roles and highlight the experience you most want to be found for.

Your resume and LinkedIn should support the same career story. They just have different jobs to do.

These are the kinds of questions I work through with jobseekers every day.

If you’re dealing with any of these issues in your own search, you don’t have to figure them out alone. Karpiak Consulting offers resume and LinkedIn services, along with job search strategy coaching, to help you figure out what’s working, what isn’t, and what to do next.