Last week, we discussed the reasons you may not want to delegate your resume and LinkedIn profile writing to an AI. Now, let’s talk about the reasons to consider putting a career management professional, such as a professional resume writer and career management coach on your career marketing team.
In a job search, seconds count. You have less than a minute — and maybe only a couple of seconds — to catch the attention of a recruiter or hiring manager. And you may not even get the chance to catch their attention if your resume is submitted through applicant tracking system (ATS) software and doesn’t meet the criteria the hiring professional is looking for.
But working with a professional resume writer can improve your odds of having your resume actually considered for the position — and getting the interview.
The job search is more competitive than ever before. Each job posting can draw hundreds of applicants. Many of those applicants will be using AI-generated resumes. If your resume isn’t formatted correctly or doesn’t have the right information, it may never rise above the sea of meaningless resumes and LinkedIn profiles and be seen by a human.
An ineffective resume can cause you to miss out on job opportunities, delaying your job search by weeks or months. That can result in lost income, lost momentum in your job search, and a loss of confidence. On the other hand, a strong resume can unlock job interviews, reducing the amount of time your job search takes. A resume is more than words on a page — it can position you for your next opportunity.
Your work with a professional resume writer or career management coach could improve your job search campaign in at least four ways. Specifically, you will benefit from:
- Collaborating on a strategy, not just a document,
- Strategizing based on your coach’s knowledge of hiring trends,
- Building storytelling skills with your coach, and
- Gaining an objective perspective.
Most importantly, you will be better prepared than your competition at the all-important job interview.
Collaborate on a strategy, not Just a document.
Professional resume writers don’t just list your work experience. They analyze your career goals and design a document that positions you as a best candidate for your target role. Instead of a generic document, you get a targeted resume that highlights the right accomplishments and showcases your most relevant experience. Your writer will work with you to create a clear strategy for your career documents.
Strategize based on your coach’s knowledge of hiring trends.
As you begin a job search, you will find that the World Wide Web is a veritable firehose of information. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, for example, posts weekly news releases about the job market with many pages of supporting spreadsheets. Chances are that you don’t have the time or expertise to scan this information for the nuggets of data that could improve your job search results.
The job search is continually changing. What worked last year, or five years ago, may no longer be effective. Professional resume writers stay current with market expectations, industry-specific preferences, and ATS best practices. They know what works, and how to present you to hiring managers and recruiters.
Build storytelling skills for your interviews.
Employers want to know not just what you did, but how well you did it. A professional resume writer pushes beyond the job responsibilities and turns your experience into a compelling career story. The average resume is a “career obituary.” A professionally written resume tells the story of who you are and what you can offer your next employer. This is particularly important for career changes, career transitions, and positions offering significant career advancement opportunities.
Get an objective point of view.
Most jobseekers find it difficult to describe themselves effectively in their career documents. It’s easy to downplay your accomplishments or overlook skills because they feel “normal” to you. A professional resume writer can offer an outside perspective to uncover strengths you may not recognize as significant and present them in the best possible light.
But wait, there’s more!
Having a professionally written resume gives you a boost of confidence when applying for jobs. But even before you have your document in hand, the process of working with your resume writer helps prepare you for the interview. Professional resume writers are skilled in asking questions and collecting information about what sets you apart from other candidates. Quantifying your accomplishments not only strengthens your resume, it also helps prepare you to answer questions in the job interview. A client I worked with told me, in her LinkedIn recommendation, that she used our analysis of her achievements at job interviews, and landed a job quickly.
Working with a professional resume writer can also save you time. Learning the latest techniques to adapt your resume for an online job search can be time-consuming, when you really want to get started using your resume, not figure out how to write it! By relying on the expertise of a professional resume writer, you can focus your energy on networking, applying for positions, interviewing, and researching salary expectations.
The biggest benefit to working with a professional resume writer is to get better results. That might mean getting a quicker response to job applications, landing more interviews, or even negotiating a stronger salary offer. Many jobseekers who work with professional resume writers find the investment pays for itself with a shorter job search.
Concluding comments
Jobseekers cannot control the business climate. You cannot control the large number of fake jobs on company websites and job boards or the number of AI-generated resumes that employers receive. But you can control your marketing presentation. An expert writer and coach can help you cut through the huge volume of AI-generated resumes by showing your unique value.
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