Job searching can be incredibly frustrating. You spend hours reading job postings, filling out applications, and sending out resume after resume… only to hear absolutely nothing back.

Or maybe you’re getting interviews, but they never seem to turn into job offers.

Either way, it’s pretty easy to assume that your resume is the problem. And that might very well be the case! But your resume is only one part of your job search.

Before you rewrite your resume yet again, take a look at where things are actually going wrong. These three questions can help you figure out what the problem is and what you should work on fixing first.

1. Do You Know What Kind of Job You Want?

This might sound obvious, but you need a clear job target before you can develop an effective resume or job-search strategy.

Sometimes people will apply to a variety of positions they might be qualified for. Maybe you’re applying for Human Resources, project management, operations, and administrative positions all at the same time. You might have experience that relates to each area, but writing one resume to apply to all four just isn’t going to work.

Plus, these jobs are all quite different. Which one do you actually want? Which one is the best match for your interests, lifestyle, long-term goals, and the type of work you want to be doing?

You should be able to answer a few important questions:

• What type of work are you looking for?
• What level of position are you qualified for?
• Which skills and experience do you want to use?
• Why would an employer consider you a strong candidate?

If you aren’t sure how to answer these questions yet, your resume isn’t the right place to start. You need to get clear about your career direction first. Once you know what you’re targeting, it becomes much easier to decide which opportunities to pursue and how to present your experience effectively.

2. Do You Know What You Want, but You Aren’t Getting Interviews?

If you have a clear job target and you’re applying consistently but still not getting interviews, then yes… your resume might be the problem.

First, make sure you’re applying at the right level. You can miss out on interviews because you don’t have enough experience for the position, but you can also run into problems when you have significantly more experience than the role requires.

For example, if a position requires several years of senior leadership experience and you’ve never led a team, rewriting your resume isn’t going to fix that gap.

The opposite can happen too. If you’ve held senior positions and you’re applying for jobs several levels below your previous role, an employer may wonder why you want the position, whether the salary will meet your expectations, or whether you’ll leave as soon as something more senior becomes available.

If the level is right, take an honest look at the resume itself:

• Is it clear what type of position you’re targeting?
• Does it focus on the skills and experience that matter for this particular job?
• Does it demonstrate your accomplishments, or does it mostly list your responsibilities?
• Is it easy to read and compatible with Applicant Tracking Systems?
• Are you tailoring it to the positions you’re applying for?

Your resume needs to make it obvious why you’re qualified. Employers shouldn’t have to dig through the document and figure out how your experience connects to the job.

If your resume is too general, focused on the wrong information, or difficult to read, it probably needs some help. My article, Why Is My Resume Not Getting Me Interviews?, goes into more detail about some of the most common resume problems.

3. Are You Getting Interviews but Not Job Offers?

If you’re getting interviews, your resume is doing its job. It has already convinced the employer that you might be qualified for the position.

At this point, rewriting your resume again probably isn’t going to help. You need to look at what is happening during the interview.

Are your answers too long or unfocused? Are you giving general answers instead of specific examples? Are you explaining what you did, but not the results you achieved? Are you preparing for the actual position, or just practising a list of common interview questions?

Interviewers aren’t looking for your entire life story. They want to understand how your experience relates to their position and whether you can solve the problems they need this person to handle.

Use the job posting as your interview preparation guide. Identify the most important skills, qualifications, and responsibilities, then prepare examples that prove you have what they need. Practise your answers out loud too! An answer can sound great in your head and come out completely differently when you actually have to say it.

If interviews consistently aren’t turning into offers, focus your time on improving your interview skills rather than making more changes to a resume that is already getting results.

So, Is Your Resume Really the Problem?

Look at where your job search is breaking down:

• You don’t know what type of job you want: Start with career direction.
• You know what you want, but you aren’t getting interviews: Review the positions you’re targeting and your resume.
• You’re getting interviews, but not job offers: Focus on your interview preparation.

The solution depends on the problem. Rewriting your resume over and over won’t help if you don’t have a clear target or if your interviews are the point where things are going wrong.

If you’re not sure what’s holding back your job search, Flourish Career Consulting can help you identify the problem and determine the best next step. We offer personalized career coaching, professional resume writing, and interview preparation based on your individual needs.