Are You Applying for Jobs When Your Resume is Not a Match at all?

Nobody’s sitting around deducing what you might be good at or why you might make sense for any particular job. When you apply online, if your resume and cover letter don’t speak to the specific needs and deliverables of the job—and spell out exactly how you are going to meet them—no applicant tracking system is going to even find it.

Instead: If you’re not an obvious match (on paper) for a job, you either need to figure out a way to make yourself one (i.e., gaining new skills, taking on volunteer opportunities or freelance work to boost your resume), or find an opportunity to explain your rationale for applying directly to a hiring manager (i.e., show how your previous work experience in your current field would translate seamlessly to this new job).

Excerpted from: http://mashable.com/2014/03/29/job-search-tactics-to-avoid/