Tag: HowToMakeAResume
Who Will Write My Resume? – June 1, 2023
The basic expectation is a writer who’s really good at it.
Someone who gets the job because they’ve trained for the job.
And, who puts his or her full effort behind making every resume the best it can be.
That’s a certified professional resume writer (CPRW).
Proof Positive
Not every resume preparation service uses CPRWs, but it’s worth identifying the ones that do. The certification isn’t something that can be downloaded after a two-hour online course. Rather, it’s the product of real coursework. The Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches puts it together.
Those who meet the standards will possess exceptional communication and writing skills. Among the best in the business, it’s common to find writers who also have senior-level managerial backgrounds with hiring responsibilities; some even bring executive-level “head-hunting” experience to the table.
The Process
In simple terms, the way it SHOULD work goes something like this: after placing your order online for a resume rewrite, and completing a simple questionnaire to fill in the gaps left by past efforts, a CPRW will contact you for an in-depth, one-on-one session by phone. After gathering valuable information regarding your past experience, greatest accomplishments, relevant skills and training, and future career goals, that same professional resume writer will begin writing.
Together, you and your resume writer will finalize the content. From there, the draft will be proofed down to the last detail for quality assurance, eliminating typographical, grammatical, or visual errors. It takes about four business days from initial input session to delivery, but the process doesn’t end there. Typically, most can expect a round or two of revisions, but there should be no pre-determined limit—the work goes back-and-forth until you’re 100% satisfied with your new resume.
What About AI?
There are many examples where the promise of AI falls far short of its ability to fulfill it. No one should expect Chat GPT or any other AI-enhanced platform to replace the efforts of a dedicated certified professional resume writer with a sparse outline and a few keystrokes. Yet, there’s something undeniably attractive in the concept of having a machine do the work of the human mind.
Fair to say, though, that thought is largely misguided.
In “actual” intelligence, there’s a mental dialogue that goes on in the head of every writer that weighs every line item in a resume in terms of interest, impact, and relevance to any given job posting. The best CPRWs become emotionally and intellectually invested in the copy—carefully selecting and omitting bits and pieces—over the course of many hours. That’s attention to detail that can’t be matched any other way.
At least not yet.
For now, it’s not about “what” best writes a resume.
It’s who.
Back to Insights
Working Too Hard on Your Resume? The Answers May Be Easier than You Think – February 9, 2023
There’s a point when many job seekers realize that the work they’re putting into reworking their resumes just stops working.
It’s even more disconcerting to see that the overall effort begins to look the definition of insanity itself—doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.
Remind anyone of EASY APPLY?
More like “a blackhole to nowheresville.”
If that gets you thinking about professional help, the good news is there is a lot of help out there. In fact, one study identified more than 2,800 professional resume writers in the U.S. Unfortunately, that’s also not-so-good news, because within that number there’s a lot of sway between what you pay for and what you get in return.
The first step to choosing the right one for you is asking the right questions upfront.
Here are a few you’ll want to get-at from the get-go:
- How much work will you be required to do? Yes, you’re paying for the service of having your resume professionally prepared, but a reputable firm acts as your partner. So, it’s important to have a give-and-take input session at the start. A top-of-the-line provider will often ask you to complete a simple online questionnaire that helps will in the blanks on your background, achievements, and future goals.
At that point, you’ll be asked to provide a copy of your most recent resume; then, arrange a talk by phone or video to walk through the details. The upshot gives you a better understanding of your own skills, qualifications, and goals so that, when the time comes, you’ll be in a better position to crush your interview with greater confidence. - How long should it take? What’s the cost? In general, it can take between 2-4 business days from initial strategy session to delivery of the first draft (although 24-hour rush service is widely available, at widely varying prices). The honest truth is that writing a customized resume, designed to get past the ATS while positioning you as the dream candidate, is something that takes time, dedication, and specialized skills.
In terms of price, a Resume Writers Digest survey, released prior to the pandemic, pinned the mean cost for a professional written resume at around $600—the median coming in at $350. Some providers limit the number of revisions or charge extra fees per draft. Others don’t, and even go a step further by backing every package with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. - Does the writing help extend to cover letters? Many providers offer ala carte resume writing options, but also make package deals available that include cover letters. This is really where the rubber meets the road in terms of the quality of writer and his or her ability to drill down into the details. In the resume of every applicant, there’s always a story worth expanding on in longer form as an invitation to learn more.
Tightly structured and concisely written, the cover letter can be the closer in securing an interview—one that builds off a dynamic resume and answers the most pertinent criteria of the job description. It’s never a one-size-fits-all proposition; rather, it’s a single-use document that makes the match.
When you walk away from the professional resume writing process, you should have a solid understanding of the skills, experience, and achievements that make you unique and appealing to potential employers.
Still have questions?
RP answers the most asked.
Let us know and we’ll do our best to help you take your first step—to your next one.
Back to Insights
Applying Yourself: Writing Up a Job Description that Fits Your Resume – March 1, 2021
If you’re looking for work online, chances are you’ll see plenty of job descriptions that, more or less, fall into the general category of what you do. Should your background cover most of what’s listed, but not all, that gives you a shot, right?
Well, that’s where things have now gotten a little bit cloudy.
Perhaps just a little darker with the pandemic still overhead.
From our perspective, there is a silver lining. Yet, rather than look for it in terms of reworking your resume to fit any given job description, why not write-up a job description that fits your resume? Think of it as a way to put down on paper the qualities and capabilities you’ve learned to value and appreciate in yourself. Then, using it as a guide for identifying opportunities that match you instead of you trying to match them.
Here are a few things to consider on the front end:
- How much pressure are you willing to put up with? For anyone who has been at his or her profession for a while, the prospect of joining a new organization can be filled with uncertainty. If you’ve done your “probie-time” in the past, being a new hire shouldn’t mean you have to repeat it all over again. However, that’s precisely the kind of pressure many applicants face at the mid-career point.
In your own job description, you might want to draw the line at any commitment that looks like it may push into the late-night hours on a routine basis, or that requires travel on the weekends. Most people are willing to go the extra mile or two. But, if the quota seems extreme for the timeframe, you might want to file that particular job posting away for “future” reference yourself. - What kind of interactions do you want to have on the job? Even though the coronavirus has been with us for the better part of a year, not everyone has welcomed the chance to work from home. In fact, many really miss being among their co-workers and collaborating in person. If you’re among them, screen-out those jobs that seem unlikely to promise a return to normal working conditions.
The friendships we make on the job have been proven to enhance our quality of life. Right now, just about everyone can relate to the way social distancing has isolated us from one another. That’s not healthy. Nor, is it good for productivity; as many know, sometimes the biggest breakthroughs come from discussions by the water cooler. Make a note of it before knocking on that particular door. - What do you want to be appreciated for? Salary, benefits, and the like are important, but there’s always more to it than just the amount of the paycheck deposit. For example, most people in creative professions want to know their efforts are valued by their superiors and that their unique talents are held in esteem. If you’ve seen the same job posting pop-up on a regular basis, it’s a fair bet there’s churn going on.
The sense an organization gives about accepting you as an authority, based on what you’ve brought to the table at the start, is a good sign. Being pushed to prove it just hours after clocking-in not as much. The challenge can light a fire, but it can also turn adversarial. If you’ve got to sell yourself too hard to get-in, it might be best to turn your energies in another direction.
The resume-preparation process is all about taking stock of what you do and where you’ve done it; then, conveying those details in the most favorable light. Rethinking your own resume in terms of how any posted opening measures up against it is simple—if you apply yourself.
At Resume Professors, we fit the job description.
Back to Insights
The Simplicity of “Single-Tasking” in Resume Preparation – November 9, 2020
Over the last eight months, we’ve seen more than our share of things we’ve never seen before. The Coronavirus has shaken up just about every aspect of what we do and how we do it. Given the unprecedented amount of uncertainty, there’s been a tendency to see greater complications beyond what’s right in front of us, as well as succumbing to an elevated sense of panic about when and where it all might be over.
Turns out fear about the new normal is, actually, pretty normal.
As a recent article published on Inc.com pointed out, it’s tempting to want to rush back to the life we knew, but not at the expense of endangering our personal and professional health. While the prospects of life in a post-pandemic world remain pretty far off, the prospects for those looking to regain sustainable positions of employment aren’t necessarily as remote.
Before you can do what you wanna do, you gotta do what you gotta do
For early career professionals and even their more experienced counterparts, that means regrouping from the ground up in resume form. Just as the majority of businesses have had to take a long, hard look at what they do and how well they do it, individuals must invest similar effort into decluttering their elevator pitch. In that regard, less can be a lot more—if you know what to include, and—what to leave out.
Good thing we’ve got a great editor-in-chief here at Resume Professors.
Founder Edward McGoldrick works with every client on a one-on-one basis from the first consultation and initial draft—through all revisions and keyword-optimization efforts—and on to the last steps of document preparation in PDF and Word formats.
Your best shot is to give it your best shot
Even better, we’re not done until you’re 100% delighted with the way your resume looks, reads, and stacks-up against others. To that end, we take the extra, exclusive step of running each submission through our own applicant tracking system (ATS) to identify the crucial terms and phrases that push it to the top of the pack, so that it actually gets read by a live person.
It’s like having a “magic bullet” to boost relevancy.
Little is gained by overstuffing a resume with every last thing you’ve done. More important is to put the smart money on yourself and double-down on the best things you can do. For that, most people need a partner that can provide the kind of critical perspective they can’t get on their own. The cleaner and more streamlined the approach, the better it is likely to be received.
The shortest distance between two points
Everyone has to start somewhere, but Resume Professors really is the “somewhere” to start. On average, it takes no more than three-to-five days to go from concept-to-completion, but we also offer 24-hour RUSH turnaround by request. Even better, we’re so confident that our resume writing services will deliver the results you want, we stand behind them with a 90-day guarantee.
If you’re unhappy with your resume for any reason, we’ll rewrite it for free!
It all begins with a single task.
Resume Professors makes it simple.
Back to Insights
The First Step to Plan B in the Pandemic? Create Plan B … – September 21, 2020
That the Coronavirus outbreak caught most of us more unprepared than we’d like is hardly an understatement across the country. Roughly six months since everything came to a head, the job market looks no less rough. Yet, there are small signs for optimism. Of course, that depends largely on whether or not you’re prepared to answer when opportunity knocks. Or, if you’re ready to get down to business in preparation to get back to work.
Thankfully, Resume Professors has Plan B down to a science.
- An exclusive, in-house automatic tracking system (ATS). Despite the impact of COVID-19 on hiring, the hiring process remains virtually unchanged. That means any submission has to make it past the standard ATS before it reaches the desk of a real person. Approximately 95% of today’s Fortune 500 companies use them to screen candidates to determine which resumes—out of potentially thousands—actually get read.
That’s where Resume Professors stacks the deck in your favor. We run every resume we write through our own ATS, identifying those search engine optimized (SEO) keywords that push your resume to the head of the pack. - A one-of-a-kind “one-on-one” initial strategy call. When you work with Resume Professors, you get the actual Resume Professor—our founder, Edward McGoldrick—on the other end of the line. Over the years, Ed’s awesome resume writing has earned him widespread industry recognition in publications such as The Ladders, Career Rocketeer, and Workbloom, but his passion remains helping people reach their career goals through the written word.
So, he goes “all-in” upfront, collaborating with each client directly to gain the proper understanding of every strength, weakness, setback, and job target on the table. That said, he helps you set the table for success. - A questionnaire to get your best on paper and in practice. Working from a current resume or a few lines from a LinkedIn profile is part of the process, but getting a more complete picture requires digging a little deeper by way of our proprietary questionnaire. Based on that information, we’re able to convey your unique tone-of-voice, as well as get a more accurate read on your passions and what best drives your economic engine.
Clients tell us they learn a lot about themselves, and even get a sense of how to take their own elevator pitch to the next level. One of the upsides is a renewed sense of confidence at the interview stage. - About a “4-5 day” turnaround from first consultation to first draft. Automation plays a big part in sifting through resumes at the HR level, but it’s a non-starter at the preparation stage. Whether reworking a current resume or building one from scratch, there’s no substitute for head’s down, no distractions allowed, mindful attention to detail. The form may be similar, but the function is always standalone.
In general, our certified professional resume writers (CPRWs) take between 6-8 hours to prepare a first draft for review. More importantly, revisions are unlimited. We’re not done until you’re delighted, guaranteed! - Extras, extras—read all about them! Resume Professors also excels at composing first-person cover letters, “thank you” letters, LinkedIn profiles, short- and long-form bios, and more. Depending on the package you choose, we’ve got the “aptitude” for it. Even better, you’ll receive ATS-friendly final documents in both Word and PDF versions—24-hour RUSH service is also available.
We’re so confident that our resume writing services will deliver the results you want, we stand behind them 100%. If you’re unhappy with your resume for any reason, we’ll rewrite it for free. We’re not done until you’re absolutely delighted!
You’re going to love the way your resume looks, we guarantee it.
Plan B starts here.
Back to Insights
“Work is Essential: Strategies for Reopening Your Job Search” – May 20, 2020
Now, a couple of months into the general COVID-19 lockdown, the sense of growing frustration with social distancing and non-essential business restrictions continues to grow across the country and, really, around the world as well. Per the CDC’s latest guidelines, people are being encouraged to wear masks anytime they leave the home, whether it’s to walk the dogs in public places, pick up groceries, or put gas in the car.
But that doesn’t cover the problems at hand.
Not for those who report for work … at work.
Just a couple of months ago, the idea of working from home was thought of as a convenience. Now it’s commonplace. And yet, that hardly comes as a comfort to anyone working in the hospitality, entertainment, sports, or tourism industries. Even special events aren’t so special when the bride is no longer the only veiled person in the room.
Nobody can predict when it will end.
That doesn’t mean you can’t prepare.
What to do first when you’re not sure what comes next
Only a couple of months ago, the nation was looking at close to near-full employment. At that time, strategies for moving up the ladder were more important than merely getting on it. Professional resume preparation was a key advantage in career advancement. Today, the resume is likely an essential tool for career reentry.
In early May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed more 20 million job losses the previous month, with an overall unemployment rate closing in on 15 percent. Forbes says the real number is even more disquieting.
Although modest economic activity—with most people practicing some form of social distancing—has returned in many places, few experts believe a “V-shaped” recovery is probable. Or, for that matter, even possible. Here are a few things to consider at the front end:
- Pick a lane. Being able to specifically articulate what you want to do and why you’re qualified to do it will need to take center stage in your next resume. Clarify the position you have in mind, as well as the industry, right from the start. If you were biding your time in a stop-gap role before the pandemic, use this opportunity to showcase a resurgence of your initiative.
- Word play. Think of keywords a bit like the highlight reel of your resume. The automatic tracking systems (ATS) used by 95% of today’s Fortune 500 companies do. Should your list fall short of the required number of matching terms, so will your submission. At Resume Professors, we’ve set ourselves apart by investing in our own ATS. That gives us the edge—to give you the edge!
- Let’s talk. Everyone has a unique story to tell. But we’ve found that you’ve got to hear it before you can write it. Founder Ed McGoldrick asks every client to complete a questionnaire that sets the table for discussion in a direct back-and-forth strategy session over the phone. He gives his undivided attention to your needs and wants to help you craft documents you can believe in as much as you believe in yourself.
Your resume will be right, or we’ll rewrite it as many times as it takes, until you are 100% satisfied, guaranteed! - By hand. The personal nature of what we do means that we put a little bit of our own heart and soul into every resume package we prepare. The words we use reflect what you’ve written and said to us, but we strive to elevate them to a higher level to pinpoint—in precise and meaningful language—those things you could never put into words otherwise.
Every cover letter is singularly composed from start-to-finish, providing you with the perfect elevator pitch.
With rare exceptions, just about all of us have about had our patience tested by now. Unfortunately, the Coronavirus and subsequent mitigation efforts will remain part of the way we live, work, and play for the foreseeable future.
We’ve all waited long enough—if not for the end of social distancing and other restrictions—at least for the end of doing nothing about it.
A new resume is essential.
Back to Insights
