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Believe it or not, you may not be the best person to write your resume. Sure, you know your background and experience better than anyone, but translating that information into a successful resume that nets you an interview isn't an easy task. Think about what you're good at: graphic design, managing people, selling real estate, etc. Do any of your professional strengths have anything to do with composing a stellar resume? Probably not.
Resumes are about more than simply listing your past jobs and responsibilities. Ferreting out your distinctive strengths, determining how to apply your experience to the unique needs of a specific job, and wording it so that the hiring manager is blown away is tricky. A high-quality online resume writing service does exactly that, and professionals who are serious about landing a great job quickly should explore the possibility of engaging one. But how do you weed through all of the companies? The tips below are a good starting point to help you find the perfect online resume writing service.
• Show me the money…er, examples. You need to feel confident that these professionals know what they're doing, right? Well, the only way to judge is to see examples of past resumes and resume add-ons that they've completed. When reviewing their past products, make sure you're seeing demonstrations of their ability to craft specific resumes for specific people and careers. The samples should look markedly different from one other.
• Special service for special needs. Not all resumes are right for all types of jobs. For example, if you're in a niche field or are applying for a high-profile career, make sure you choose a resume writing service with a lot of experience creating the kind of resume you need. Current or former military members have specific needs, as do executives who must supply certain supplements with their resumes. Those who need a senior executive service (SES) resume; must answer knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) questions; or need to supply executive core qualifications (ECQ) statements need to be extra careful to verify that the service they're considering has a proven track record in those areas.
• Get a guarantee. It's tough to get a guarantee that has to do with you snagging a job; after all, no matter how great of a resume they produce for you, they can't control how you behave in an interview. What they can guarantee are results like how often you get called in for an interview. The great companies promise that if you don't experience success after a certain period of time (preferably a short period of time), they'll redo your resume for you—for free, of course.
• Communication is key. It's an “online” company, which means that most of your contact will be electronic, but you should be provided a toll-free number that allows you to access your writer when you need to. Sometimes you just need to talk something over, rather than send an e-mail, and the resume service should make that possible.
• Submission should be a piece of cake. They don't know anything about you, which means that you'll have to fill them in. That's almost always done through an online form. Check to be sure that submitting your information—education, work experience, skills, talents, etc.—is easy. The point in hiring a resume writing service is to make things easier on you, not harder.
• Compare prices. It might make you cringe to fork over money for a resume when you're out of a job or will be soon. But it's small potatoes in the grand scheme of things, so try to think of it as a very small investment in your future success. That doesn't mean that you should pay thousands or even hundreds of dollars. Compare the prices of different online resume writing services so you can get a feel for what's standard. And make sure you're comparing apples to apples in terms of what you get for the money. Be careful of the outfits that advertise prices that are far below what others charge, however. There may be hidden costs that will bite you down the road, or you'll discover later that they're just not very good. Either way, it can be a costly mistake to go too low.
Almost every online job application puts your computer through the scanner before it ever reaches human hands – sad, but true. If your resume isn't organized, or can't be properly read by the computer scanner, your resume might get tossed aside without even being touched by an actual human. If you're a fine match to the job, this is not only a loss to you, but a loss to the company you're applying to. However, you're the one fighting for a job in this economy, so you're the one who needs to make sure your resume gets through the initials traps and red tape. Here's how to change up your resume to make it through the technological trappings of the modern human resources world:
● Use descriptive nouns. Scanners recognize nouns more than verbs. So focus your resume with descriptive nouns that hone in on the job being offered, and how you fit into the description. The more nouns you use, the better your chance that you will hit some or all of the key words that scanner's set up to look for. As a general rule in resume writing, you want to use shorter, more commonly used words. This is essential for resumes read by computer scanners. Their vocabulary may be limited so you don't want to get too technical or full of jargon.
● Use your section keywords. Include your skill-set, education, experience, talents, abilities, and history. Computer scanners actively look for these sections so your potential employer can see that your resume is broken approriately.
● Keep it simple. Scanners don't like designs or fancy graphics or fonts. If it can't read your resume, your resume may just get thrown out, instead. Use a standard font and basic format when submitting a resume online. Computers can understand white space between sections, so if you want to break your resume up to keep the formatting clean, this is a good way to space it out.
● Don't add graphs or charts. Even if you normally include graphs or charts in your resume, these are not appropriate when a computer is going to scan them, because, again, they can't read pictures and may cause a malfunction. You will have to convert these sections into text that is as interesting a read as your chart.
● Don't use abbreviations. Computers don't understand them – you have to spell everything out, including degrees.
● Use the standard name and address format. The top line should contain your first and last name, then the next lines your contact information.
● Length doesn't matter. Resumes meant for computer scanners can actually be up to to four pages in length, and your potential employer won't be put off. They'll be aware that you formatted your resume to help the scanner do its job – just don't stretch the information to impress them - make sure everything on the resume has the most impact possible.
It may seem that technology has made the the application process for sending your resume and getting an interview harder than ever, but once you know the in's and out's of what's expected, you'll stand apart from the crowd and have a leading edge on the competition. Very few people know how to format their resumes specifically for a computer scanner, so now, you're ahead of the game in many respects. Take the time to be prepared and take advantage of the opportunity to put your best foot forward by creating a resume that will not only get through the electronic obstacles, but into the hands of the person that will give you the interview.