In this age of specialization, it is highly advisable to tailor your resume to the specific position you’re applying for. After all, a general resume may not indicate the specific skills and accomplishments that would help you to achieve success in a given position. Creating a “targeted” resume simply makes sense from a business standpoint. It recognizes the fact that prospective employers are looking for specific qualifications when they’re attempting to find a pool of candidates to interview for an advertised job.

But while a customized resume can be desirable in theory, it can be challenging from a practical viewpoint. After all, the process of resume revamping can be arduous and time-consuming. It can also be difficult to come up with the right list of keywords that will make an employer take special notice of your resume.

Perhaps the greatest challenge, however, occurs when you lack the credentials that an employer is looking for. While you obviously don’t want to lie, indicating that you possess credentials that you actually lack, you don’t want to call attention to your lack of experience or lack of education, either. Therefore, you’re faced with a difficult dilemma: How do you market yourself effectively on your resume when, at first glance, you may not be the obvious candidate for the job? When You Don’t Have the Right Degree

It is actually not an uncommon problem for a job applicant to lack the desired degree for a given position. For instance, there are a number of mid-level managers who are highly effective at their jobs, who have years of real-world experience, but who never received Master’s Degrees in Business Administration. Perhaps they simply did not have time to pursue an advanced degree because of their work schedules, or because family concerns prevented them from furthering their education.

Although the bachelor’s degree has become standard in the workplace, not every employee—even highly dedicated, motivated employees—has one. Granted, in a number of situations, the lack of a BA can be a major obstacle, since many jobs require specific knowledge or critical thinking skills that are most effectively developed in college. However, in an area like sales, a college degree can be less of a handicap. This is because many managers are more interested in an applicant’s sales record rather than his or her business degree. In fact, corporate recruiters say that, the longer you’ve been in a given profession, the less important your degree becomes. What really matters is your professional accomplishments.

If you’re in a situation where you don’t have the specific degree recommended for a position, write your resume in such a way that you highlight those work-related achievements that might set you apart from the competition. Make sure that you include a summary of key career milestones at the top of your resume. And include information about professional accomplishments within the descriptions of duties for the various positions you’ve held. A prospective employer may be so overwhelmed by your record of achievement that he or she is willing to waive the degree requirement.

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