by JULIE COX

So you have decided that you need to update your resume. There is an overwhelming amount of information online and at the career center about how to do this. If you have never written one before the information can be confusing and irrelevant to your specific circumstance and career goals.  You could have your friend or mother write it for you, but that would be risky. So what do you do? You really only have two choices: Figure it out your self or hire a professional resume writer. Let’s look at both options.

HIRE A PROFESSIONAL RESUME WRITER

Once you are out of school and moving along in your career, you will realize that most professionals do not write their resume themselves, they hire a professional to do it for them. The cost of this can range from $99 to $1,000 and includes a full spectrum of career documents such as the resume, cover letter, thank you letter, bio, and text for your LinkedIn profile. There are a lot of good reasons even a student should hire out this task including:

  1. Professionals are proficient in Microsoft word and if the formatting goes awry, you will not spend hours googling how to fix it.
  2. Professional writers stay on top of changes in hiring practices, technology, and writing best practices. For example, 15 years ago, an objective statement was included at the beginning. Today, you better not put that on your resume or it will get passed on.
  3. LinkedIn is a powerful tool for recruiters and job seekers. Knowing how to attract employers through LinkedIn could benefit your job search tremendously as more and more recruiters use it exclusively to source talent. Professional Resume Writers already know how to optimize your profile account and can guide you through that process.
  4. Although hiring a professional writer can seem expensive, it should be viewed as an investment in your career. When you write your resume yourself, you could always wonder if making that investment would have gotten you more lucrative opportunities.

 

WRITE YOUR RESUME YOURSELF

Writing your resume yourself is certainly possible if you have the time and ability to do some research and you are very good a using Microsoft Word. Lots of people do it. Although business and finance professionals should use a simple format, knowing the ins and outs of Word, trick for formatting, and how to make the document easy to read will go along way in building your resume. Your resume will be competing with professionally written resumes so you have to really put the time in to understand what should be included in the document and how to present it in a professional manner.

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are also important to understand so that you can make sure that your resume will be pass through them and convey that you are a qualified candidate. Some ATS’s are more sophisticated than others so you want to make sure that the format that you use populated correctly in all ATS’s and your hard work doesn’t get lost in translation.

Then there is the question of what to include in the text or body of the resume and how to write the first paragraph to grab the hiring manager’s attention. The focus of your resume should demonstrate accomplishments and results wherever possible. It also should not include irrelevant information or information that should only be given if asked.

There is no right or wrong answer here. It is simply a matter of whether you have enough confidence to do research and write the resume yourself or not. Either way, your first “real” resume will play an important role in your getting the right job after college or an internship during school. My primary recommendation is to take it seriously and put your best foot forward. It will pay off. I promise.

Whether you decide to hire a professional resume writer or not, it is a good idea to understand the process of resume writing. Either way you will need to compile the information necessary to build a resume that best demonstrates your skills and qualifications. Move on in the process by taking a look at – STEP 1: Identifying Your Target Jobs