professional resume – what is it?

What is a professional resume? A professional resume is a marketing document that is professionally written by a HR, recruitment and strategic career specialist and expert, so that it markets your talents, skills, attributes and capabilties to your best advantage relevant to the job you are applying for.

You only have one chance to shine, so don’t put your career and future into the hands of a person is not an expert HR, recruitment or career specialist – especially someone who offers “discount resumes”, or someone that you know who can “knock one up for you”. That will be an unmitigated disaster for your career.

Ask yourself:

• Is my resume and cover letter generating interviews?
• Do I know how to stand out from the others?
• Does my cover letter introduce me well?
• Does it highlight specific strengths that fit the job I am applying for?
• Do I need a powerful resume to make a career change?
• Do I need a custom-written resume that generates top results and interviews?
• How long has it been since my Resume was first created?
• Have I just tweaked it for years along the way?
• Has my Resume got current content, or has it been the same for years?
• Is my current Resume style still relevant or is it stuck in the last century?
• Did I just create something to “make do”?
• Did my aunt’s next door neigbour’s cousin’s sister-in-law “knock one together” for me?

Each country has different rules on the length of Resumes – here in Australia it is 3-4 pages in length and in the UK it is 3. One page Resumes are American in style and recruiters in Australia DO NOT consider this to be worthy of consideration – they think if your history fits all on one page, you can’t be very experienced.

On the other hand, American recruiters and employers want to only see a one page summary – they feel you can’t present your history on one page, and your summary and writing skills are not sufficient for their needs.

Be very careful about the American style Resumes you can download from the internet – they are not appropriate for Australian recruitment.

Here are some tips:

• Adjust your resume and cover letter for every position 
• Remove any information that is not applicable to role
• Ensure you delete skills that you would prefer not to do 
• Remember – your resume is not a full confession of everything you have ever been involved in 
• Give yourself a chance to elaborate on your history during the interview!
• Include and expand on relevant job information – don’t expand info that is not relevant
• Always submit a cover letter with your Resume – it is a professional introduction (max 1 page)
• Read the advertisement criteria and ensure you address each point in your resume or cover letter
• All government, uni, nfp applications require addressing of selection criteria – or it is thrown out!

Resumes are the most important marketing document you will ever own and a one size fits all resume doesn’t cut it today – recognise when you need help and get it by obtaining the help of a professional.

A professional resume/selection criteria writer is worth the investment – it makes a difficult task very easy!