How To Write Resume Without A Resume Writer

Sep 26, 2015
3 min read

Losing weight is quite straight forward e.g. Workout and eat healthy yet each year you see numerous special diets and workouts which people buy to help them achieve results. This is similar to resume writing in that it only comes down to a few key principles yet we see thousands of proclaimed experts talking about numerous tricks and secrets. This can become quite confusing and sometimes it’s difficult to know who to listen to.

It seems counterintuitive that I would offer tips on how to write your resume without a resume writer since I’m a professional resume writer. I am doing this because I understand that not everyone has the money to pay for a resume writer plus if you invest enough time and effort you can achieve great results. It’s similar to the weight loss example in that you don’t need a personal trainer or special program to lose weight, you can achieve the same results it may just take a little longer and require a more discipline on your part.

Below are the top five things to write like a resume pro:

You must write the resume to suit the role, not to suit yourself - A lot of people start their resumes off by listing what they have accomplished and their experiences. This isn’t necessarily wrong but it would be better if you identified three similar roles you are interested in and highlight the key words and qualifications that seem to be recurring.
Emphasize the qualifications you have that meet the recurring keywords – Once you know what they are looking for ensure that you highlight your qualifications that are aligned with the job postings. We often crowd out the essential information with trivial experiences that hiring managers don’t care about. You need to bait the hook to suit the fish NOT to suit yourself, if you needed a plumber and had a choice between an excellent carpenter and an average plumber who would you choose? Obviously the plumber as you aren’t hiring for what you don’t need.
Its best to use examples of how you utilized certain skills versus just stating the skill e.g. You could say I am proficient in using Microsoft excel but this doesn’t give context to how good you are at it. It’s better to say: I used Microsoft excel to collect and correlate over a thousand lines of data. This makes your assertion sound a lot more concrete and gives context to your claim. A good way to do this is to ask yourself how I have utilized this skill.
Formatting, spell check and grammar –This is the only part of the process that may require someone else to help you especially if you aren’t strong at this. It’s easy to capture the skills that you have and put them on paper but if you have poor grammar or spelling you may want someone with more knowledge to help you as it would take a long blog post to explain all the nuances of the English language.
Understand that the resume is just one part of your job search – You must update your Linkedin profile and connect with employers and hiring managers in your field of interest. Look at their profiles and get an idea of what skills and experiences they have. Contact them and find out if you can call them to discuss what their jobs are like and how you can make yourself more marketable, doing this will help build your network and allow you to get real-time information on the role you are interested in.