What They
Want to Hear
The behind-the-scenes secrets every online job seeker needs to…
✓ Get inside the head of the hiring manager
✓ Discover exactly what they’re looking for
✓ Become their perfect candidate (ethically)
✓ GET HIRED and START YOUR DREAM JOB!
Welcome!
Hi! I’m Greg Langstaff, the author of this very ebook.
I’m a Certified Resume Strategist, a former recruiter,
and I’ve got 11 years’ experience as a hiring manager.
When it comes to hiring and job searching, I’ve seen it
all!
Between my work with clients and my online courses,
I’ve helped over 3,000 people pursue their dream jobs
with confidence ☺
The next person I want to help is YOU!
Disclaimer
The advice in this ebook is based upon my experience in resume
writing, hiring, recruiting, and career services, as well as the lessons
learned while earning my Certified Resume Strategist designation,
and is meant for informational purposes only. Every circumstance is
unique and following the steps in this book is not a guarantee of
success. For more support with your resume, reach out to a Certified
Resume Strategist.
The Problem
You’ve been applying to jobs online and no matter what you try, you’re just
not hearing back! The worst part is, you’re not even sure what you’re doing
wrong.
▪ Do you lack experience?
▪ Is your resume missing important keywords?
▪ Are you not getting past the automated resume scanners?
▪ Is your resume formatted all wrong?
You’ve got what it takes to do the job you want, but you can’t figure out
how you should be selling yourself on your Resume and Cover Letter…
or maybe somethings wrong with your LinkedIn Profile? Who knows???
The Question is…
“What the heck do these hiring
managers want and how do I show
them that I’m exactly what they’re
looking for?”
The Solution
This ebook contains 5 key steps
that will help you:
• Find the hiring manager’s secret
“must have” list
• Pitch yourself as a uniquely valuable
asset
• Create a resume and cover letter that
will make you an undeniably perfect fit
for the job you want
Let’s get to it!
Know Your
Audience
Want to know what the
hiring manager is looking
for on your resume and
cover letter? It’s all hidden
in plain sight in the job
posting… you just have to
know how to read it…
What to look for in the
job posting
Carefully read the posting for the job to which you are applying and make a note of these 3
key pieces of information:
1.
Job duties listed
2.
Qualifications required
3.
Professional traits described
These are the experiences, keywords, and features you’ll want to highlight in your Resume,
Cover Letter, and LinkedIn Profile. They’re also very likely to come up in the interview as
well.
Why is understanding the
job posting so important?
1. You will see the tasks that this role will perform and be able to give
examples of times when you performed similar tasks successfully.
2. You will find keywords which you can sprinkle throughout your resume.
These will be picked up by the automated resume scanners and get your
resume into the hands of an actual hiring manager.
3. It will help you decide if you will enjoy doing the job!
Find Your Value
Proposition
Now that you know what the hiring
manager is looking for, you can
answer their most important
question:
“Why should we hire you?”
Having a clear answer to this
question in your resume will set you
apart from other applicants.
What are value propositions?
Value propositions are the skills, education, and experiences that
make you uniquely suited for the job you want. Examples include:
Work Experience
❑ Experience in a
similar role
Training
❑ Formal education
❑ Experience in a similar ❑ Relevant certificates
work environment
and training
Accomplishments
❑ Accomplishments in
similar roles
❑ A track record as a
high-achiever
Use the Right
Keywords
Make sure you take time to
adjust your resume to include
keywords to cater to your
target job every time you
submit an application. A tiny
bit of tweaking to your resume
to add the right keywords can
make the difference between
success and failure!
Which keywords should I use?
Go back to step one and reference what you learned from the job
posting! Examples of keywords for common jobs are:
Job Duties
Traits
✓ Budget Management
✓ Solutions-oriented
✓ Team Training
✓ Collaborative
✓ Report Writing
✓ Fast-paced
✓ Logistical Planning
✓ Innovative
3 Best Ways to Include
Keywords in Your Resume
1. “Key Skills” section: A bulleted list at the top of your resume that
contains the keywords which relate to your skills and experience.
2. “Qualification Statement”: A short paragraph at the top of your resume
using keywords among a description of your capabilities.
3. Among your Professional Experience: The best way to use keywords
is when describing your tasks and accomplishments in each of your past
job experiences. This allows you to be specific about how those
keywords apply to your work history.
*Warning! Avoid keyword stuffing. Using keywords too many times can cause scanners to penalize your resume so stick to 2-4 uses per keyword.
Write Badass
Bullet Points!
More professionally known as
accomplishment-based bullet
points, these are the key to a
successful resume.
Many candidates fail because they
simply describe the job duties of
past experiences and don’t highlight
their hard-earned accomplishments!
What’s an accomplishmentbased bullet point?
An accomplishment-based bullet point is anything that describes not only
what you did but how well you did it.
A strong accomplishment-based bullet point will include:
• Action verbs (e.g. created, established, coordinated)
• Specific details (the task, who you worked with, equipment or software
used, etc.)
• Results of your action (the accomplishment!)
Comparing Bullet Points
Task-Based Bullet Point
• Oversaw marketing campaigns
Badass (Accomplishment-Based) Bullet Point
• Led the creative process of designing and developing an integrated digital
marketing campaign on Facebook to increase brand awareness, resulting in a
44% increase in page likes.
Stick with accomplishment-based bullet points to see much faster job-search
results!
Double Down
in Your
Cover Letter
Use your cover letter to directly tie
your value proposition to past
experiences. This way, we’re sure
the hiring manager sees the
connection between your past
experience and why you will be
amazing when they eventually hire
you!
3 Points You Need in Every Cover Letter
1. Why you want to work at this company: Tell them something unique about them that caught
your interest and made you want to apply to work there (specifically). Make them feel special and
they’ll be happy. State this in the intro paragraph and again in the closing paragraph.
2. The 3-5 most important skills someone would need to thrive in this role: I’d recommend
mentioning these explicitly as headings above each of the mini body paragraphs of your cover
letter (one mini-paragraph per skill… example below).
3. When you have used each of the 3-5 most important skills in your experience: For each
skill, under the heading, write a small paragraph (2-3 lines at the most) to explain when and
where you used that skill and how successful you were.
Mini-Paragraph Example:
Team Leadership
As Digital Marketing Manager at McSalty’s Chips & Confectionary, I led a team of 4 to drive digital
marketing operations and raise brand awareness. Increased social media followers by 125% in 2019.
Audience & Value Proposition
Worksheet
Target Job Title:
Notes from Job Posting:
My Value Proposition for this job is:
About Greg Langstaff
I have helped over 3,000 people in Canada and the U.S.
create Resumes, Cover Letters, and LinkedIn Profiles that get
results!
My interest in job searching & hiring began with my own
devastating job search struggle. I was trying to land a job that
would provide a U.S. work visa after grad school. I applied to
116 jobs in 8 months and though I found tactics to increase
my job offer rate dramatically, I never got approved for that
visa. It was very stressful!
Luckily, when I decided to return to Canada in 2014, my skills
were so finely crafted that I landed the first job to which I
applied. Since then, I have been helping job seekers of all
levels find great success in their job searches so they never
have to feel the pain and rejection that I felt.
Need More Help?
Introducing
Job Search Institute
Everything You Need to Get Hired in 5 Days
What is Job Search Institute?
Job Search Institute is a program designed to make you a Master of the 5
most important elements of your job search… Resumes, Cover Letters,
LinkedIn, Networking, and Interviews!
Job Search Institute contains 60+ video lessons, dozens of free resume and
cover letter templates, tons of examples and best of all, an online support
forum where you can get help with all your job search needs!
Job Search Institute is designed as a 5-Day online program but it’s totally
“go-at-your-own-pace” so if you need a couple weeks, or want to finish it in
one day, that’s fine too ☺
Intrigued, Are We?
Click here for a full program overview
Credit Where Credit Is Due
Photos were sourced from an amazing royalty-free image
bank called Unsplash.com.
Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash
Photo by Burst on Unsplash
Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash
Photo by Domenico Loia on Unsplash