How a Professionally Written Resume Helps You Beat the Competition
Often, we’re so worried about whether we’ve found the perfect job or the right employer that we forget one very important group of people—our rivals. A company could have hundreds of candidates for a vacancy, and it’s your job to beat all of them and bag that employment contract. This means it’s not enough to simply submit a “good” resume or even a “great” resume: You need to go above and beyond to make sure you’re the last one standing.
How can you beat your competition? There are many steps in the job application process, and you need to excel in all of them. The first step is your resume. You can have a good resume and still never get a call for an interview because it’s just that—good. You need a resume that stands out and truly impresses hiring managers. You need a professionally written resume that uses powerful words to highlight your value to the company and provides the facts and figures to prove that you can indeed deliver the desired results.
Here’s how a professionally written resume stacks the deck in your favor.
It emphasizes the little details
Whether a hiring manager reads your resume from start to finish or tosses it in the “do not interview” pile could come down to the little details, such as formatting, grammar, spelling, and punctuation. You might think these don’t matter all that much, but they can say a lot about your attention to detail and enthusiasm (or lack thereof), so take special care when writing your resume, and be sure to have it proofread, too.
You could use a standard resume template or have a resume writer create a document that will highlight your value. If you’re not confident in your grammar and spelling skills, let a professional handle that, too!
It avoids the wrong words
“Buzzwords” are words commonly used in resumes and should be avoided since they make you seem like a generic, unremarkable candidate who goes with the flow. Many companies rely on an applicant tracking system (ATS), a software program that flags any candidates who aren’t qualified. If your resume is crammed with buzzwords instead of the much more important keywords, it won’t even make it through the digital filter. A professional resume writer knows how to avoid buzzwords and craft a resume that will get past the ATS.
Of course, a resume capable of pleasing the ATS isn’t enough—you also need to impress the human recruiter once you get to that stage. A professional resume writer will help you evaluate what you already have and substitute any vague or confusing words for vivid and precise ones. When your resume gets into the hands of a hiring manager, you want to make sure it is obvious exactly how valuable you are, and a resume expert will make that happen. They can masterfully craft a resume that wins over both judges—the human one and the digital one.
It highlights the important information
Although everything on your resume is important, some aspects are more important than others. Usually, this crucial information includes accomplishments, education, or the experience needed for the position you’re applying for. What information is most important depends on the specific job, which in turn means you have to modify your resume for each application. Highlight the essential information in such a way that the hiring manager will notice it right away.
If you go through your current resume and everything looks the same, you need help from a resume expert. They know how to make your most valuable information stand out to hiring managers. It’s all about arrangement and wording, and an expert can turn your resume into one that hiring managers can’t help but move on to the next round. If you don’t know what information you should highlight for a given job, resume experts can help you with that, too.
It saves you time
Your resume is not the only element of your job search: a cover letter, interviews, and all sorts of other work go into the mix. However, your resume is the hiring manager’s first impression of you, so you need to make it a good impression. However, if you spend all your time trying to create the perfect resume, you may end up neglecting other important areas of the job search. This is not to say you should skimp on your resume preparation, just that you should also dedicate ample time to other aspects of the job hunt.
Let a professional resume writer save you time and energy by constructing the perfect resume for you. Since they already know how to help you succeed in your job search, why waste time and energy trying to do it yourself? It costs money, sure, but it’s an investment in your future, and you can spend your time doing more valuable things. You have more important matters to worry about, such as preparing for an interview. Speaking of interviews, you can also get interview coaching while the professionals are working on your resume.
The best job search is one that ends with you getting hired. You could try to do it on your own, but you may not make it very far. If you want to beat your competition and land the job, let a professional resume expert help you start strong with a professionally written resume.