Successful resume writing is almost an art form. Do you know what you need to do to make sure your resume doesn't get tossed into the round file?

With the economy tanking the way that it is, employers are receiving hundreds of resumes for their job openings. You often have to catch their eye within a quick five second glance or you may have missed your opportunity.

How Can You Catch Their Eye?

Employers will often make snap decisions when they look at your job summary. They won't have time to fully read each document so they will generally skim through and find the ones that seem to meet their criteria the best.

You can catch their eye by mining ads or job descriptions for the relevant key words. It is important to use these to identify their most important needs.

Then tweak your resume to highlight your best skills or experience that will address these needs. Make sure that you include the benefits that the prospect can gain from having your skills.

It may take some extra time on your part but the best way to increase your chances of snagging the all important interview is to modify your application to include these needs and keywords.

In Summary

Make sure that you customize the information that you send to the positions in which you are interested. Doing this will ensure that your information stays in the pile of possibles instead of the trash.

Smart resume writing will dramatically increase your chances of success and set you apart from the rest of the crowd.

Smart job seekers know that a well crafted resume is their best first chance to get a foot in the door.


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If you did a brief search on the internet you would find more resume writing companies then you probably care to count. So how do you know which one to choose and which one is the right company for you? Lets start by asking a few questions.

What is their resume writing process? You want a company that is going to involve you in the writing process. Whether that is a phone consultation, an interview, or completing a questionnaire. How can the company write about you in the best way possible if they don't know you? The best companies will insist on conducting a phone consultation or interview to ask the pertinent questions needed to make your resume shine and probably ask some things you never even considered or thought were important.

Do they offer a guarantee? Only the best services will stand behind their work and offer a guarantee. If they are confident enough in their writing ability to offer a guarantee then you can be confident in their services. Guarantees come in many forms with resume writing services. The most popular is a rewrite guarantee, this is where the company offers to rewrite your resume within a specified time frame if you are unhappy with it or not receiving the results you desired. Other guarantees offered by some services are interview guarantees and money-back guarantees.

How long does it take? This depends on you - do you need your resume tomorrow or in a week? Some services offer 24-hour turnaround or a standard 3-5 day turnaround. If you need your resume for an interview tomorrow you want to make sure that the company you hire can offer you an expedited service time. There are some resume writing companies that do not offer expedited services.

Credentials, Credentials, Credentials - Not all resume writers are certified writers. There are several organizations that offer membership and certifications to professional resume writers. They are the Professional Association of Resume Writers, The National Resume Writers Association, Career Directors International and Career Management Alliance. Any one of these organizations/credentials for a resume writer is a good indicator they are a reliable service to hire and know what they are doing. These organizations have certain requirements that must be met in order to obtain certification. You can be sure if you choose a service that has this credential you will be getting your moneys worth. As a side note companies that offer certified writers typically charge more than companies that do not.

Customer Reviews - Before doing business with a company that is based exclusively online I try to research what others experienced. I will do an internet search of professional resume writing and the company's name or the company's name and reviews. The results you get may shock you. This is a good place to start so you can read through what others say about the service. If the reviews are mostly positive you can probably say it is a safe choice to go with that company, if the reviews are bad then you know to steer clear of them. If it is just one bad review it may be worth doing a little research as we all know that some people just can't be pleased and there is always one difficult customer. However, if you are seeing one bad review after another, choose a different company.

How are their prices? When evaluating resume writing services you will find that there is a great difference in how each company prices their services. This is because each company offers something different and unique then any other service. Some companies cater only to executives and so their prices would reflect their expertise and niche market. Other companies service entry-level through executives and they have tiered pricing for each level of service or offer one flat rate for any type of resume. The questions you have to ask yourself are: Do I need someone who specializes exclusively in my area of expertise? What is my budget for this service? What level would I be considered entry, professional, IT, executive? After you ask yourself those questions compare the services that match your needs the best and then make a decision based on what you need to have the best resume possible.

Each resume writing company is unique and offers something different to its clients. It is important that you not only chose the company that will best meet your resume writing needs but that you also choose a company that you are comfortable working with through the process. After you take the above points into consideration you should have a better understanding of what to look for in a company and how to choose the right company for you.



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When choosing a layout for your resume, it is important that you keep in mind that it is the resume that can get you the interview. It helps you get your foot in the door, but it doesn't get the job for you. Some individuals feel that dressing their resume up with graphics and fancy fonts makes it more appealing. There's a good chance it will, but not always in a good way. The best resume formats are those that are clean and easy to read. Keep in mind that the person reading the resume may have already read twenty or so that day and their job is to weed out unacceptable resumes. If your resume is too loud, unprofessional, or confusing, it may go in with the rest of the rejects.

The goal of choosing a good resume layout and producing a great resume is to capture the interest of the reviewer. You need them to know that you are qualified enough and interesting enough to get the interview. But it all starts with the layout of your resume, so you need to take it very seriously.

When deciding upon an effective resume layout, there are many online that you can choose from. Remember that you do not have to go with a particular style. You can make your resume reflect your personal style, but you still have to keep the overall resume professional. You can make the resume interesting and let the reader know why it is you are perfect for the job and why it is perfect for you. However, you don't want to convey your entire life story. And if you feel that you have a sad or interesting story to tell, keep it out of your resume. If you must get more personal, save it for the interview.

The layout of your resume should have wide margins. You should also be sure to choose a font that can be read easily, such as Times New Roman 12 or Arial 12. You can pick something that is different as long as it is easy to read. You also want to be careful how you use shading and boxes because the best way to use these functions is when going from one section to another.

When choosing a layout for your resume, you can use the same one for jobs, but be careful that the relevant parts of the resume are specific to certain jobs. You need to convey to the reader why it is you want the job and what you can give them. You won't say the same thing for every job. Lastly, make sure you check spelling and grammar because you need to project that you are a professional.



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