More and more candidates are turning to professional resume writers to gain a competitive edge in today's race for interviews and job offers.
I'm a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW), former executive and corporate recruiter. I now work exclusively writing custom resumes for clients from different business sectors, from all levels of management. I pride myself, as do my circle of peers (Professional Resume Writers) in the quality of resumes we deliver. We also recognize that occasionally we run into clients who make it very difficult to turn out an exceptional product.
This article offers suggestions on how to get the most out of working with a professional resume writer. It's designed to help anyone who is considering shelling out considerable dollars for a custom resume. Here are six suggestions:
Write your own resume first with a free online resume building tool. I'll refer to one later.Be engaged, listen and think about how the document is progressing.Take heed.Ask questions.Be responsive.Understand your resume writer.
Okay, let's say you see a job you're perfect for. Or perhaps you just got a "layoff" notice from the job you've had for 10 years. You want to reach out to that perfect job, or you're ready to launch into a robust job hunt. There's no getting around the fact that the first question the employer will say is, "Send me your resume." So, you ask yourself, "What's the best way to go about getting a good resume?"
1. Write your own - You're probably surprised to the see that my first tip is to try to write your own resume first. Yes, that's right. I encourage everyone to at least give it a try. It's a no-lose situation. Here's two reasons why:
You just may have what it takes to profile your value to a prospective employer. You can nicely format a document; outline your skills, abilities, experience and credentials clearly and succinctly. You know the correct length and how to package and send it. And it saves you money. Bingo!Or, let's say you've spent hours writing, struggling, trying to figure out what to put in and what to leave out, how to section it correctly, where and what to call skills, abilities, core values. The punctuation is iffy, and your sentence structure is questionable. You've given it a try but you realize the writing won't stand up to the withering scrutiny of a resume review. So what have you gained? Simply put, better knowledge of who you are and what is your value. Call it research.You are more engaged in the process because you wrote the basics.You know more about yourself than you did before you started the process.You're ready to hand over the details to a professional resume writer and discuss the details.You're prepared to sit in front of an interview committee and defend your resume because you were a big part of the process.And when they ask if you wrote the resume yourself you can correctly say, "Yes." You can say you employed a professional resume consultant to merely edit it.
Let's face it; it's not easy, writing about yourself. So you engage with a writer. S/he doesn't know you, except for what's been said in your initial meeting, and perhaps what's in the resume you've given her. From this point on, realize your writer can only do so much without your help. They will try! I guarantee it. They will do everything they can. But it depends on you to allow them to make it the best resume possible. You've found a Professional Resume Writer. Take note:
2. Engage Completely- The unengaged client is probably the toughest thing for a resume writer to deal with. Just because you've paid us doesn't mean we know what to write. We aren't clairvoyant. The measure of a good resume writer is to ask probing questions. We writers ask for information in many ways about many features and topics of who you are. It might seem that what we ask has little relevance. But crafting value statements, profile summaries, skills, abilities, experience and core values is like painting a portrait. It takes a variety of colors on a pallet to mix into just the right shade, hue and highlight for a stunning picture of who you are. You can say a resume is much the same. Listen, listen, listen carefully and give careful measured responses.
3. Take Heed-The best writers know what sells. Even though all resume writers are different, there are common denominators contained in all good resumes. "Write in the active voice, shorter is better, simple formatting, list accomplishments, slash out fluff and redundancies.." Just to name a few. This isn't to say that they shouldn't recognize it's your resume and you have to feel comfortable with it. What I'm saying is that the resume writer normally knows what works. By offhandedly denying them their writing instincts only complicates their work and makes it hard for them to know what to do.
4. Ask Questions- If it doesn't seem right, ask questions. Professional resume writers want you to ask them anything during the process. It's a collaborative process and they want you engaged. My clients have to feel comfortable with the end product. After all, they will have to defend it during an interview. If I don't get questions I have a tendency to wonder if I'm hitting the mark for the client. And when the final resume is submitted and the project is closed, so to speak, it's awkward to get a phone call a week later with two or three items that should have been discussed during the original process.
5. Be Responsive- The resume writing process usually is a back-and-forth editing process. When clients ask me how long it takes to write their resume I say, "It depends on the client." Best resumes come from the writer and client being closely engaged for a short concentrated time. Considerable lapsed time by the client to respond to a request for information or clarification by the writer - generally more than 2 or 3 days - gives way to diminishing focus, however slight it might be. And when focus is lost, so erodes some of the elegance of the process.
6. Other Clients- The best resume writers are busy. They may average as many as five to ten clients a month. As much as good writers want to make you feel like you're the only client they have, just know they have others they are working with at the same time. Honor your scheduled times for phone calls, review discussions, meetings, etc. Make yourself available and submit your questions in a bunch, rather than three or four calls in a day with a different question or suggestion on each call. Those are a few of the things that will come out of trying to write your own resume first. Organization. So, do your homework. Try your hand at writing your own resume first. If it's going to take a pro to help you, so be it. In most cases you will be happy with the end result if you help out in the process yourself.
Earlier in this piece I wrote about writing your own resume first. I know it's intimidating but if you use a FREE online resume builder it becomes quite easy. Give it a try http://www.resumedesk.com/
Chet Baker is a veteran in the career field with more than 12 years experience in recruiting and resume writing. The principal owner of the Denver Career Group, a custom resume writing service for a wide range of career fields from early stage recent graduates to CEOs of publicly held corporations.
He writes frequently and speaks on career topics and works from his home in Denver and loves his Colorado Mountains to ski, hike, and bike.
More on his service offerings can be found at Denver Resume Builder, http://www.denverresumebuilder.com/
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This article has been viewed 3 time(s). Article Submitted On: December 03, 2010
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