Whether you are looking to make a lateral move, ascend the career ladder, or enter a new industry altogether, one standard resume will not work for every position. Each response to a job posting will require some customization of your resume to integrate keywords, skills or experience relevant to the position. Even if you are applying to multiple construction jobs, it is a good idea to tailor your application materials to the individual companies you are applying to.

At first glance, this may feel daunting, but looking for your next great position does not have to feel like an additional full-time job. Investing time in creating a template cover letter and resume will save you time in the future.

What is a template cover letter and resume?

 A template cover letter is essentially where you outline all of your accomplishments based upon a sampling of job postings you have seen. Chances are, this template may be a few pages long – but do not worry, you will not actually send the master document when responding to individual job postings.

A template resume is a long form resume that outlines in detail all of your skills, interests, and achievements. You may want to include several different versions of your profile and objectives to match different types of positions you are interested in. As with the template cover letter, this document will be several pages long.

How should these templates be used?

Once you have created a template cover letter and resume, have one or two trusted friends, colleagues, or HR professionals review the documents for any grammatical errors and clarity. This is extremely important since you will be using these documents as a base for all of your submissions.

When you find a job posting that you want to apply for, simply remove the sections of your templates that do not pertain to the listing and update some of the verbiage to include keywords.

There will need to be some light editing, especially when it comes to customizing your documents to the specific job posting.  However, using a template that includes refined text for all possible job postings will greatly reduce the time it takes to tailor your resume and cover letter.

Creating a template document for both your cover letter and resume will allow you to get down on paper in one place, everything you could potentially bring to a new company. As you embark on your career journey, it will greatly reduce the time it takes to create a custom document for each submission.

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