Human Resources · free guide

How to tailor your resume for a Talent Acquisition Specialist role

A screener on a Talent Acquisition Specialist posting reads for funnel numbers and sourcing craft, requisitions carried, fills per quarter, source mix. Tailoring means stating req load and matching the function the posting names. That match, more than any other line on the page, decides whether this resume gets a second look.

Four moves for this posting
  1. State your req load and fill rate, matching the function the posting names, corporate, technical, volume hiring; load-bearing capacity is the first question a reader in this field asks.
  2. Break out your source mix, sourced, applied, referral, with conversion by source, matching any sourcing language the posting uses; mix tells a reader exactly how you fill a funnel.
  3. Include employer-brand or process work with results, matching any interview-process language the posting mentions; a structured process change with a conversion number attached is rare and valued.
  4. Match the function you recruit for, engineering, sales, general, to the posting's own focus; function match signals your sourcing channels already reach their specific talent pool.
The fact behind this

The claim that ATS systems auto-reject 75 percent of resumes traces to a 2012 marketing claim, not research. (traced to a 2012 vendor marketing claim)

Before you tailor anything

Start with the version a recruiter opens right now, then make these moves against it.

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