Should I Hire An Executive Resume Writer?

In a tough job market, and that certainly describes current conditions, you must use every option available to be successful. This means that your resume has to tell a compelling story about why you are the best candidate for the job. As your primary marketing document, your resume really must be top notch. The question is, do you hire an executive resume writer or prepare your resume yourself?

While brain surgery might be best left to the experts, you may be the best person to craft the most successful resume. The reason for this comes from two important factors, motivation and qualification.

Professional resume writers, much like everyone, are motivated to make as much money as they can. This works in your favor in that delivering a happy customer helps their business. However, as the saying goes, time is money. To be a profitable business they must allot only so much time to each resume they write. Your motivation, on the other hand, is to have the most successful resume possible. You are far less concerned with how much time you spend on the writing than you are with success of the ultimate product.

The second factor, qualification, is also very important. Professional writers are certainly qualified when it comes to strong word usage and following the rules of style and grammar. But are they qualified to represent you and your unique abilities? Do they know the important nuances of your industry? Are they able to evaluate each job opportunity and determine what approach is best? The answer is probably not.

You, on the other hand, can perform the necessary evaluation and build the winning strategy. You understand your industry and are willing to revise each resume you send to increase the potential for those all important interviews. It is quite likely that in the end, you are the most qualified person to write your resume.

Deciding to write your own resume may initially seem overwhelming, but don't worry. There are many excellent resources and books available online to assist. One good way to find material is to pick an author you respect and seek out his or her work. Find someone whose philosophy fits your goals. Let me use myself as an explain.

My work applies established sales practices to writing the executive resume. Each prospective employer is a customer and you are the product. Customers (employers) will buy (hire) the product (you) when they see this as the answer to their problem. Creating an executive resume that follows these established sales practices, and does so in an attractive and readable format, is likely to deliver the job opportunity you seek.

Whatever your decision, here are my three keys to a successful resume. Focus on what the reader wants, present strong arguments for your selection and be sure your document is attractive and easy to read.