If you’ve spent hours on your resume and have yet to book any interviews, you’re probably wondering if it’s finally time to hire a resume pro. And you’re probably also wondering if the fee you’ll pay is worth it.
Wonder no more. Here’s what eight professional resume writers have to say about the power of a hand-crafted resume, and how a small investment can have a huge payoff.
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“A consistent weakness I see in job-seeker resumes is a lack of focus. Job seekers tend to forget that employers review resumes extremely quickly—often in just a few seconds. An employer taking such a quick glance should be able to immediately grasp what you want to do and have a sense of the value you can contribute to the organization. If your resume cannot convey that information extremely rapidly, consider hiring a professional to sharpen its focus.” —Katharine Hansen, Ph.D
“A resume isn’t a biography or a simple listing of what you’ve done professionally and academically. It’s a marketing tool. Trust me, if you know zip about marketing and branding yourself in this new employment market, you can’t compete—no matter how well you write.” —Darlene Zambruski
“For an investment of less than a week’s pay, I have helped my clients cut months and even years off their job search.” —Anne-Marie Ditta
“Having your resume written by someone highly qualified in that line of work will ensure that your resume doesn’t appear dated, in either form or content, and also doesn’t read like an exercise in self-aggrandizement.” —Michelle Dumas
“Your resume is your entry point and first impression with an organization. It’s a marketing tool and is what stands between whether an employer will call you for an interview or put you in the ‘no’ pile.” —Lisa Mahar
“It’s tricky to figure out which parts of your experience are useful to recruiters. As professional resume writers, we can discern what needs to be on your resume—and what doesn’t—and express it all in a professional format.” —Sandra Morgan
“And with most employers, human resource managers, recruiters, and hiring managers saying that at the very least that 80 percent of all resumes suck, having a well-done document that you don’t have to agonize over is worth the investment made into a professional writer.” —Dawn Rasmussen
“Professional resume writers understand what a resume really is, a marketing piece, and what is effective to grab the attention of the hiring manager within seconds. This is important for you to get to the next step of the hiring process.” —Michele Unangst
