So many resumes end up overlooked by hiring managers, disqualified at first glance. What makes an employer reject a resume after a quick skim? One of the biggest mistakes job seekers make is not tailoring their resume to a job posting. Sending out your resume to multiple job openings without altering it is one of the quickest ways for your resume to get sucked into the resume black hole, never to be considered by a hiring manager.

The average recruiter only looks at a resume for 6 seconds. With so little time, here are 3 strategies to make sure your resume isn’t overlooked:

1.)   Have someone proof read your resume.

Grammatical errors or typos are a sure way to turn off an employer. Some apartment listing jobs rake in multitudes of applicants, and the smallest error could put you behind your competition. No matter how many times you look over your resume, another pair of eyes will be the best way to make sure it’s flawless.

2.)   Match the job posting with your resume.

Employers in the apartment industry can easily tell when you’ve submitted a generic resume used for multiple applications. Make your resume stand out by showing how your experience and skills uniquely match the specific property’s needs.

How can you do this? Use the same keywords found in the job post – many employers use software to scan resumes for word matches. This doesn’t mean copying and pasting the job description, but rather tailoring your resume so it speaks directly to the apartment job’s requirements.

3.)   Follow up with an employer.

While it is good practice to write an email or make a phone call to follow up with an employer after you have applied for a position, you also need to have a strategy for how you do so. A generic email is not going to go over well with an employer; but a heartfelt, original one might. Likewise, in a competitive job market like Austin, where apartment jobs are in high demand, dropping your resume off in person can make you more memorable. Don’t ever be pushy or demanding in these interactions, but to show genuine interest.

It may take just one wrong item on your resume to get it tossed into the black hole of resumes; but using these three techniques will make your chances of getting noticed exponentially higher.

*Recruiter statistics from The Recruiter’s Lounge.