Over the past year, job platforms like LinkedIn have seen a 21% increase in job postings that advertise skills and responsibilities rather than qualifications. Indeed published the results of a survey of 502 employers across the US on how the pandemic has shaped current recruiting and future plans. The results: most of the companies surveyed are moving toward a more flexible model of candidate recruiting. What does this trend mean for job seekers and career coaches? It means that it is now more important than ever for job seekers to create resumes that highlight in-demand skills and competencies they have gained from their previous jobs, volunteer work, life experiences, education, focused training courses, and other experiences.

Historically, employers have overlooked talented candidates because of an overemphasis on educational achievements, such as bachelor’s degrees, and past job titles. This is especially true for the more than 60% of American workers who do not have a bachelor’s degree, a group that includes a disproportionate number of people of color due to systemic racism and inequities such as unequal access to high-quality education and training.

To address this challenge, the Rework America Alliance, in partnership with Lightcast, an Alliance member, developed Skill My Resume Builder.

What is the Rework America Alliance Skill My Resume Builder tool?

This tool was developed to help career coaches working with job seekers customize a skills-based resume tailored to a specific job. The Skill My Resume tool leverages Lightcast’s vast library of skills drawn from millions of job postings from real employers and suggests relevant skills for a job seeker’s resume, using up-to-date terminology that employers recognize. The tool also enables the job seeker to optimize how they present their skills profile based on the specific job that they are seeking.

Who can benefit from this tool?

Job seekers looking to revamp their resume with a focus on skills. The tool can help candidates showcase skills they’ve previously learned that can be transferred to a new role or industry, using language that employers understand.

Career coaches working with job seekers or students looking to create a strong resume. The Skill My Resume builder and optimizer can be valuable additions to their job-hunting toolkit. For Claudia Stephens, Career Center Manager at the Detroit at Work program offered by Southwest Solutions, the Alliance’s Skill My Resume tool, has been a particularly useful as her and her team build resumes for clients. “We can utilize the skills-based resume tool and can empower our clients to achieve greater economic success.” Claudia recalled a client who was discouraged and frustrated with the job search process, but once she walked him through how a focus on his skills and how his background qualified him for a variety of jobs, it “made him feel better about his prospects. For him to see his skills on paper, I believe was life-changing for him.”

Creating a skills-based resume in four easy steps:

1.     Visit the Skill My Resume page

2.     Enter your personal information, job history, and other experience to create a basic resume.

3.     The Smart Resume Builder will use the information you entered to create a skills-based resume that shows the skills you have developed from your work and life experience.

4.     Customize your resume by adding other skills suggested based on the specific job you’re applying for.

With the Rework America Alliance Skill My Resume tool creating a skills-based resume is now more accessible than ever! Career coaches, do you have job seeker resumes that could use revamping? The Skill My Resume tool can help you, take advantage of it today: https://lightcast.io/