Why a Professional Resume Writer Should Not Do Your Resume
Many executive job hunters recognize that the resume is important to their campaign, but they do not want to take the time to develop the superior resume they need. They do a very natural thing. They turn to the professional resume writer. Don't make that mistake. It is essential to your campaign that you prepare your own resume.
To begin with, no one knows you as you know yourself. Even if the professional resume writer spends several hours with you (and most will not), consider how long you have spent with yourself. You cannot remember everything you should during the time you interview with a professional resume writer or complete a questionnaire. Important facts will occur to you later, as your campaign proceeds. Even more important, small items that you considered incidental to your career will assume a more primary role. The professional resume writer, not knowing you as you know yourself and not being a part of your campaign, will fix in concrete at the beginning a resume based on only what he knows about you at that time. No matter how well written, this resume may be useless only days into your campaign.
Every professional resume writer has a particular style, good, bad, or indifferent. You may like the style or not. The point is it is not your style. Most people who read resumes have learned to spot the styles of certain professional resume-writing firms. Inevitably the thought must occur to them that a resume prepared for you, and not by you, indicates a lack of writing ability or a lack of self-confidence in written communication.
In developing your own resume and wording your experiences and accomplishments properly, you will have a chance to think about your career in a logical fashion. You cannot do this if you fill out a form or discuss your background with someone. You cannot do it by reading over what someone else has interpreted your career to be. You must take the time to organize these facts yourself. There is no easier way, but it will be worth the effort. The experience will help you later in writing a sales letter, answering advertisements, and discussing your background on the telephone or in face-to-face interviews.
A professional resume-writing service, whatever it costs, is a misallocation of your financial resources. Remember, any job campaign costs money. Unless you are financially independent and don't need to work, it is important to allocate your financial resources where they do the most good. Hiring someone else to write your resume will waste money that you could spend more profitably elsewhere.
How to Use the Resume Preparation Form
The type of resume that I will show you how to write is not one that many employment counselors would encourage. There is good reason for this. Much of the information commonly put in resumes and subsequently distributed to prospective employers has little bearing not only on whether you will be hired, but on whether you will be invited in for an interview. You cannot attain the first without the second. The sole purpose of sending information to a PE, whether through a resume or an extract, is to obtain an interview. No one will hire you on the basis of a resume alone; you will be hired only on the basis of a face-to-face interview. Therefore, your resume and subsequent sales letters, answers to advertisements, and telephone conversations must be geared to achieving that objective: the interview. That is the kind of resume I will show you how to write.
Accomplishments
Note: Be specific and quantify all accomplishments. Relate them to sales, profits, or cost savings when possible. List at least five accomplishments for every position you held with this company. For example:
- Doubled sales of widgets to $1 million per year in one year.
- Developed and directed bid/no bid systems that saved $50,000 per year.
- Designed eight widgets that resulted in sales to date of $15 million.
- Developed cost-accounting system that saved $200,000 per year.
- Directed development of widget that achieved 25 percent increase in performance with no increase in cost.
Note: List recommendations you made on organization, administration, or management that were successfully implemented. For example: "Recommended that R&D department be reorganized for more efficient management of government contracts. As a result, cost overruns decreased by 50 percent and slippages by 12 percent."
Successful Technical Recommendations
Note: List recommendations you made on technical aspects of your job mat were successfully implemented. For example: "Recommended bonding a fibrous material with epoxy rather than sewing. As a result, labor for manufacture of this item was reduced by 20 percent."
Promotions and Transfers
Note: List all promotions and transfers of assignment while with the company, along with salary increases and increases in responsibilities.
Awards, Honors, and Commendations
Note: List every honor, award, or commendation received while with the company. Include verbal commendations if significant. For example: "Commended by company president for 'outstanding management accomplishment' in developing advanced communications subsystem."
