Job seekers might be tempted to go it alone when it's time to get their resumes in order. New grads might feel that there just isn’t much to say. Old hands might decide that they know their fields so well that writing resumes is simplicity itself. People who are between jobs, struggling to make ends meet, can see professional help as a luxury that is beyond their limited means.
In reality, all of these people can benefit from the kind of highly specialized help that a professional resume writer offers, and the do-it-yourself approach, especially in today’s difficult job market, is often the quickest route to missed opportunity. Above all else, professional help is an investment, the kind of investment that can pay for itself many times over throughout your working life.
For the new grad, writing a resume can be a daunting prospect. Without years of experience, what should I include? If I’ve done some unpaid work, how do I describe it? What about extracurricular activities? Do I include my GPA? Does education come first?
People with experience must answer similar questions. They might assume that familiarity with their fields gives them insight into what hiring managers are thinking, but applicants and hiring managers rarely think alike.
A professional resume writer, on the other hand, makes it his business to know what hiring managers are thinking. He knows what they want to see when your resume gets its allotted five seconds of attention. He knows what to emphasize and what to play down.
A professional resume writer also understands that one size does not fit all. Each field has its own quirks, and a resume that makes eyes light up at a cutting-edge advertising agency will land with a resounding thud at an investment bank. To further complicate matters, the requirements of the job market are not static. Before you elect to update the resume that you last used five years ago, you may want to make a study of the popular use of “keywords” in an increasingly automated screening process.
The professional knows these things because he does this every day. His clients may be experts in their fields, but, chances are, they spend little of their time drafting and polishing resumes. That puts even the most impressive candidate at an immediate competitive disadvantage.
The Internet does its best to aid and abet the do-it-yourself approach. It is filled with sites offering pages of advice and reams of templates, all of which you can tailor to your own specific needs. Is the advice worth taking? Is that template perfect for you? If in any doubt, ask a professional resume writer.
