How To Do A Resume Like A Professional Resume Writer: Part 1 - Purpose of Resume

The ebbs and flows of today's job market can be exasperating and downright terrifying when you consider the social, financial and psychological ramifications of unemployment. The effects of this economy are even being experienced by disgruntled workers seeking new opportunities that are underemployed or simply undervalued. Whatever the reason you are exploring new career pathways, you can immediately increase your odds of securing a better opportunity when you invest in a professional resume that strategically translates your knowledge, skills and abilities into a compelling value proposition.

We understand a professional resume writer may not be affordable for everyone so we have developed this blog series to answer the question, "How to Do A Resume Like A Professional Resume Writer" to provide helpful hints and strategies to our readers who are actively seeking new job opportunities. In this article, we identify three key reasons you should invest your time in developing a resume that effectively demonstrates your unique value proposition to prospective employers.

Purpose of Resume

Because the resume is the cornerstone of your career marketing strategy, it should authentically and clearly represent your personal brand. To effectively do so, prior to putting pen to paper, we recommend that job seekers first dedicate some time to identifying their career assets. An experienced Job Search Coach can further support your efforts by identifying employment trends and other industry data to reinforce your findings.

When preparing your resume, remember the following –

1) The resume should impress the hiring manager NOT THE JOB SEEKER. After all, you know everything there is to know about you (learn more about career assessments), but the hiring manager still needs to be convinced! Consequently, your resume should use language that clearly demonstrates why your background is a direct match to the employer's specific job requirements. Remember, the resume is your one opportunity to captivate the reader’s attention enough to schedule a personal interview.

2) The inexperienced interviewer will use your resume as a guide to verify and substantiate your work history. A well-designed, targeted resume will move you forward in the selection process it's loaded it with quantifiable achievements that sets you apart from the competition. Why, do you ask? Because a well-designed resume clearly demonstrates why you are the best fit for the position and presents compelling rationale to support your claim. In fact, your resume may be the only opportunity you have to present why you are the best candidate for the job. Often, inexperienced interviewers develop the majority or all of their questions using the resume as a guide. By preparing the resume so that it reflects your personal brand and career goals, you are better positioned to "lead" your interviewer in the interview process. You can then strategically plan your interview responses.

To further support your job search efforts, an experienced professional resume writer can guide you in utilizing a specific job posting to effectively support your candidacy when designing your resume and other career marketing communications. To see an example of how a professional resume writer applies these principles, view Diversified Career Service's (DCS) professional resume samples.

3) Resumes are used to support salary negotiations or to introduce new hires to their peers. An effectively-written resume often sets the tone for how new coworkers interpret your value and future contributions to the team. It is also used to support a salary recommendation that falls outside of the approved salary range.

Remember, the resume's job is to get you an interview–-period. It is up to you to secure the offer by properly demonstrating your unique value proposition during the interview process.

Stay tuned as we continue our blog series "How to Do A Resume" Like A Professional Resume Writer by exploring various resume formats and explain how to determine which format is right for you.