Professional Resumes – What Have They Got That Yours Doesn’t?

Professional resumes are competing against… you. That’s right, if you’re in the job market and you’ve written your own resume, professionally-prepared resumes are directly competing with you for those coveted interviews. To see how well your resume stacks up against the pros, consider the following…

Top 10 Features Found on Professional Resumes

1. The professional writer has selected a resume format (either chronological, functional, or a combination) that complements the unique work history of the candidate, emphasizing positive attributes, de-emphasizing the less flattering.

2. The professional resume is tailored toward a specific goal or objective, rather than being too general and too accommodating toward too many possible career alternatives.

3. The pro resume leads off with an objective statement or profile (summary) section that serves as a “hook,” a strong and compelling introduction to the candidate and begs further reading.

4. The experience and education of the candidate are chronicled in a straightforward and easy to read manner.

5. Statements pertaining to job descriptions and accomplishments employ action verbs, and are crafted with care and minimal embellishment.

6. Big blocks of text are reorganized, for example, as bulleted lists.

7. The professional resume speaks the language of the candidate’s profession; the resume of a teacher includes buzzwords appropriate to the field of education; a programmer’s resume incorporates the technical jargon one would expect in the computer field.

8. Keywords are selected and utilized expertly, ensuring that the professionally-prepared resume will pop up in database searches.

9. On professional resumes, there are no spelling errors, no grammatical errors, no photos, and no personal information or references.

10. There is a balance between written text and white space. The pro resume is a pleasure to look at.

A professional resume service is not a necessity for every job seeker. If you enjoy the process of writing your own resume, and you’ve got a bit of marketing acumen, go for it. And if that resume generates phone calls and job interviews, you’re doing things right.

However, if the challenge seems daunting, or you haven’t the time to get up to speed on resume techniques, or you’re your existing resume isn’t generating the results you’d like, know that you’re only two or three clicks away from a professionally-prepared resume.