Yesterday I wrote about resume writers, and asked if they were worth it.
Today I want to drill down on the idea of getting a free resume review.
Nothing is free, right?
Of course not.
When a resume writer does a review, they hope they can give you enough information, and confidence in them, that you might consider engaging them for a resume rewrite.
Is that okay?
The bottom line is this: if your resume isn’t working, you need to figure out why.
I had my resume reviewed by friends and family who were executives and senior managers and have been in hiring positions.
I had my resume reviewed by a senior level HR manager.
I got a lot of positive feedback, and a lot of encouragement.
But my resume kept me out of interviews. Even though I had it reviewed, and got feedback, and I was told it was awesome, it was not working.
I think friends and family, especially if they aren’t experienced with resumes, are not good reviewers. They might say “oh, all the punctuation is good,” or “good job, there are no typos,” or something like that.
They might be swayed by their relationship with you (that’s what happened to me), even though the recruiter or hiring manager is reading your resume without knowing you.
If you want a real resume review, find a professional resume writer who can look at your resume, or your personal marketing document, with a trained eye.
They’ll look at punctuation, and spelling, and capitalization, and format, and stuff like that (like your family will).
They’ll look at how it reads, and what it says.
But they’ll look at it the way a recruiter will look at it (you hear they spend about 10 seconds on it, right?).
They’ll look at it the way a hiring manager will look at it.
They’ll consider how it might be read by a digital resume system (the software your recruiter might use to find relevant resumes – so it has to appeal to the search engine issues rather than the human reader issues).
A professional resume writer gets trained in writing a document that has one job: to get you a job interview.
It is not a brag sheet, or a nice writeup. Professional resume writers are not typists – they are marketing specialists.
Sure, have your family and friends review your resume. But then find a company that has a professional resume writer who will give you a resume review.
It’s absolutely worth your time.
