Time to think a resume…

Nowadays resumes are so widely used that having one, no matter who you are and what you do, is a must. This, in turn, results in less attention being paid to the proper writing of such an important document.

While having a resume as such is not likely to give you any edge over fellow-job seekers, a skillfully written resume can you help a great deal in building your career, whereas a poorly written one will most certainly give it a bad turn and slow down your career advance.

Contemporary rules of career building demand regularly updating one’s resume in order to reflect the latest achievements of the owner. Furthermore, there are situations in which the importance of a good resume becomes paramount, especially if:

• You feel overqualified for the current job and are ready to apply your skills elsewhere;
• You are temporarily out of job and have been actively looking for one;
• You often receive interesting proposals from recruiters;
• Your current employer anticipates staff cuts and you feel insecure;
• You are about to start looking for a job after a long break in work.

In all these situations, the first thing you do is assess the quality of your resume. Unless confident to do it yourself, rely on a professional consultant. Below are the main indicators to tell your resume in need of upgrade:

• The rate of response to your resume is less than 10%;
• You have been using the same template for various vacancies;
• Your resume consists of three or more pages;
• Your resume looks scattered and chaotic.

Your next step is writing a quality resume that would help you achieve the desired goal. At this point you have two options to consider:

• Write/update the resume yourself; or
• Hire a professional.

When doing it yourself, remember that writing a resume takes skills and knowledge to gain which it might take you some time and effort. Unless you are willing to spend days or even weeks on the cause, you run a risk of ending up with a substandard item that will most probably fail to deliver the desired result.

When going for the second option, bear in mind that you have to attend interviews yourself and, thus, their success will depend on tight cooperation between you and your consultant. This, in turn, might also demand some time and commitment on your part, but, in the end, you will have a document matching your expectations.