Where are all the Jobs?: Are You Qualified to Write Your Own Resume?

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Are You Qualified to Write Your Own Resume? | Career Rocketeer

Link to Career Rocketeer - Career Search and Personal Branding Blog

Are You Qualified to Write Your Own Resume?

Posted: 22 Aug 2011 03:30 AM PDT

Recently, Heather Huhman offered insightful advice in her Career Rocketeer article Should You Hire a Resume Writer? and if you're debating this question internally or with your spouse I suggest you check it out.
To take Heather's expert opinion one step further, I think in a perfect world 90% of today's job seekers would want to submit a professionally written resume to gain the competitive advantage needed to secure a job under current market conditions. However in reality countless unemployed and underemployed job seekers, especially those over 28 years old and with 5+ years experience in their field are strapped for cash, and many are of the opinion they can do an adequate enough job writing a resume on their own without a professional resume writer's services.
I don't disagree completely with some people who hold this opinion. Especially if they feel the strength of their network combined with the number of markers they can call in to propel their job search, augmented by the established first-rate reputation that precedes them is sufficient to forgo investing in a professional resume in favor of an adequate self written one.
This is also a valid point of view for job seekers, who like in the pre 2007 global recession days, are in the position where the demand for their services is greater than the number of equally qualified candidates that employers can recruit and hire. When you're in the driver's seat a mediocre resume can still land you a great new job.
However for the rest of you struggling with the question "Invest or Do it on my own" here are 10 factors I think make the difference between whether you have what it takes to create a resume that rises above the level of adequate or mediocre at best; and they apply to professional resume writers as well.
1: Have you written a resume for you or someone in your field in the past five years that obtained or exceeded the desired results?
2: Do you know the difference between a CV, resume, marketing document, fact sheet, Bio, dossier, ASCII resume and an electronic resume and which one/s you will need to obtain maximum results in your job search?
3: Are you familiar with more than the standard Functional, Chronological and Combination resume formats and do you know why in many cases these formats are outdated and will no longer work for you?
4: Do you know how to build a candidate profile for the job/s you're applying for and/or have you recently written a comprehensive job description or internal\external job posting for the same or similar types of positions?
5: Do you know the basic rules of resume writing especially in terms of how to use adjectives, modifiers, keywords, and story telling to get a specific point across and set yourself apart from your competition?
6: Do you understand the difference between being a creative writer and how to creatively craft a resume?
7: You've gotten advice on resume writing from friends, associates, co-workers and professionals and so called professionals in the field. In addition you got resume writing advice from books and blogs and listened to countless segments addressing this issue on morning and daytime television talk shows. But can you weed out the outdated and bad advice from the good advice and apply it to your resume?
8: Have you been required at least 20 times in business to prescreen a high volume of resumes (25 or more) for the same position and then recommend who to interview for the job, who to put on hold, and who to totally reject?
9: Have you interviewed more than 50 people one-on-one for a job in your lifetime?
10: Have you been a decision maker who has made the final decision to hire 10 or more people in your lifetime?
If you can honestly answer Yes to 8 or more of these factors there is a good possibility you are indeed qualified to write your own resume and the finished product will be comparable to what the average resume writer can produce for you; but still not nearly as good as the marketing document a top notch resume writer can deliver for you.
If you answered Yes to 5 or fewer of these points I hate to tell you this but you are kidding yourself if you believe you can write a resume that realizes the submit/reply results your skills and experience should receive.
And whether you answered Yes to none or all 10 of these points, if you're still not sure if the resume you are using is the best representation of your candidacy you can email it to me (perry@perrynewman.com) and I'll be happy to critique it for you at no cost or obligation on your part.

Author:
Perry Newman, CPC CSMS is a nationally recognized executive resume writer, career coach, AIPC certified recruiter and SMMU certified social media strategist known for his ability to help his clients get results. You can view his sample resumes at http://www.perrynewman.com, and email him your resume at perry@perrynewman.com for FREE resume critique.