So you think it costs too much to hire a professional resume writer? After all, why should you pay a few hundred dollars for a quick typing job that you could do you yourself, right? If this is your belief, then I beg to differ with you. Let me show you why.
Anyone who has written his or her own resume will tell you that the process takes hours to produce a document that will get you a job interview.No, it is NOT a typing job - that's the easiest part. Preceding the typing is the assembly of your employment, education, and other resume data; organizing it; selecting impactful action words and phrases to articulate it; choosing which accomplishments merit bulleted statements; designing the format and style (oh, you're just going to use a Word template? Hmm..); rewriting it to fit into two or three pages (depending on certain factors); and so much more.
I'm sure you've heard that tons of people are searching for jobs these days. Without attention to the necessary details, your resume won't pass the 10-second glance - the time a recruiter or HR person takes to look at your resume to see if it deserves further scrutiny. What does your resume say - and how is it said - to draw in the reader? Will your resume get picked to go to the second round? Mind you, we're not talking about job interview here, only resume screening.
Here's how a professional resume writer approaches the resume writing process after you hire him/her:
1) Gathering the resume data
Whether the resume writer provides you a questionnaire to complete, interviews you verbally, or does a combination of both, the goal is to extract so much information about your career and education that there is much more data than could possibly be included in a resume. What's the purpose? A resume writer needs to know your job target and the supporting background you have to document it. A resume writer uses an objective eye to tie your experience to your niche goal and needs a deep pool of facts from which to choose to make this happen.
2) Choosing the appropriate style and format
Your resume must make you stand out from the crowd if you have any hope of getting it read. In years past, colored stationery helped do this. In our electronic age of today, format and style must be appropriate for your target, experience level, and field. I can hear people asking, "What role do format and style play when pasting a resume into an on-line application box?" Yes, you lose your formatting (which makes conversion to simple text mandatory), but style also means how your resume writing flows. You won't lose your format and style when applying with a resume attached to an email. And don't forget that a professionally formatted and styled resume (printed on watermarked stationery) will earn you bonus points when you take it to an in-person job interview.
3) Creating the resume from scratch
With a desktop full of resume questionnaire, potential job postings (where scannable keywords are found), dictionary and thesaurus, a professional resume writer starts crafting your document with a blank computer screen. Wait a minute - is that acronym supposed to be capitalized? God bless Google and Wikipedia! Recording job titles and dates, colleges and degrees, professional affiliations and community activities - all are done before any actual technical writing begins. After studying employment history, next comes the crafting of content using vivid action words that create winning perceptions in a reader's mind. Responsibilities go into a brief paragraph under a job title, while quantifiable accomplishments and results stand out as bulleted statements underneath.
4) Proofread, rewrite, and repeat process
Tweaking is a professional resume writer's passion for perfection. Yes, every resume must be perfect - there's never a valid excuse for not being so. And don't put all your faith into spell-check. (There's a big difference between "Public Administrator" and "Pubic Administrator" - but spell-check can't think for you.) Usually, 24 hours away from a project brings a fresh approach to wording, spacing, and correct grammar. As a rule, no resume leaves a writer's desktop until it is perfect in every way. However, professional resume writers want their work to reflect your personality, so draft reviews and more rewriting are common before any resume writing project is closed.
So, there you have it - this is why professional resume writers earn the "big bucks!" Just kidding - if you break down all that a writer does for one project, you'll find many man- (or woman-) hours involved. No, resume writing is not just a typing exercise, but so much more. When you partner with a professional resume writer, you really do get a resume that will get you job interviews! Still not convinced? Then go to the library and pick up one or two of these Ten Top Resume Writing Books. Take a big bag to carry them home - most of these tomes are packed with details and sit on my book shelf as reference books. Hey, you may even find my resume samples as contributions in some of them.
Wishing you career success in 2012!
Meg
Recent Comments