Resumé Writing
By Michael T. Robinson
Last Update: Nov 17, 2009
Please Don't Tell Me You Write Your Own Resumés
Writing your own resumé is the second worst thing you can do for your career. The first is not planning your career when you were in the 8th grade.
Well, you can't go back and do that over, but at least now you can put an end to writing your own resumé and all the mistakes that go with it.
Why Should You Have a Professional Write Your Resumé?
Because if you wrote it, you can't see what's wrong with it.
You can't possibly know what's missing. Can you?
If you wrote it, you can't possibly look at it like the hiring manager will look at it.
Even if you spent hours and days finely crafting each sentence, you will be blind to your mistakes.
It does not matter how well educated you are or how good a writer you think you are. A really good professional resume writer will always do a better job. Sorry, it's true.
How Do I Know This?
Like any good hiring manager who has helped build fast growing companies, I've read thousands of resumés. So there is a good chance that I know what I am talking about here.
But it wasn't until a few years ago that I realized how screwed up most people's resumés are.
When we added a Resumé Critique feature to one of our Career Coaching packages I began to see the disconnect between the job a person wanted and what their resume said about them.
The Big Disconnect
In about 9 of 10 resumés that I critiqued, the resume DID NOT convey the main message which is telling the reader what type of work you are really great at.
This is the biggest mistake in writing your own resumé. Because you wrote it, you will not see what the hiring manager sees.
You will be so busy trying to fit your entire story into two pages that you will, 9 times out of 10, miss the mark and not have your story aligned with the work you want to do.
The Right Stuff Above the Fold
Because the audience for your resumé is a hiring manager who is having to read 25 resumés just before going home after a long hard day, you need to make the resumé easy to read. It needs to sing to him.
Because he / she is tired and their eyes are already itching and burning, and their stomach is growling because they want to go home and have dinner, they will only read what is "Above the Fold."
That is the first half of the first page.
So if you don't knock their socks off in the content above the fold, kiss that job goodbye.
So does your "Above the Fold" story tell the reader why they should pick up the phone and call you?
The Right Format
If the "Above the Fold" section is to be easy to read, does yours have paragraphs or bullet points?
If you use bullets, are they nice short sentences and phrases, or do they run on to the next line?
Is the font / typeface easy to read? Some fonts do better on paper than on the screen.
Hiding the Gaps
Do you have any "Tough to Explain" gaps in your resumé. Maybe a period where you were not employed?
Professional resumé writers know how to handle the gaps and will help you construct a truthful yet less embarrassing explanation than what you have in mind. And you won't have to lie.
Do You Cut Your Own Hair or Have a Pro Do It For You?
Even professional resumé writers know enough to have someone else write their resumés.
There are just some things in life that we have to pay professionals for. Even if we don't like it.
You wouldn't cut your own hair would you? It's hard for the same reason writing your own resumé is hard. There are just parts you can't see clearly.
You wouldn't try to be your own dentist and fix your own tooth ache would you? Same reasoning. You know you have teeth and you know how to chew, but that does not mean you can work on your own teeth does it?
So just because you know how to write, and you have a computer and printer at home, and you know your career history better than anyone, does that make you a good resumé writer?
Who would you rather have write your resumé? Someone who has created hundreds of resumés for hundreds of different people and job titles, or someone who has written a resumé for only one person with one job title?
The Bottom Line
The best way to get your resumé written is to have a resume writer interview you to find out what it is you really do and what you are really good at.
Then they can take your rough draft which has all the details and turn it into a document that will help you sell yourself and get you into the job you want.
Recommended Professional Resumé Writers
At CareerPlanner.com we don't write resumés but we do recommend certain services that will do your resumé. It is up to you to manage them and to get the end product that meets your expectations.
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