Posted by Brian McCullough
Someone just twittered me a great post by author and business gadfly Seth Godin. It’s from several months ago, but the information is valuable.
In essence, he passes on the valuable advice that you shouldn’t write your own resume. He says:
“Writing about yourself is infinitely harder than writing about someone else–and you’re going to discover that the story you thought you were telling probably isn’t the story that’s coming across.”
As you know, we run several resume writing companies. There are many reasons why I believe getting help with your resume is a good idea. If you have a professional help you, you’re engaging the services of someone who does this day in and day out, and like any other professional craftsman, a resume writer knows what are current best practices for resume writing. They know what works and what doesn’t, and they know how to organize career information in ways that catch the eye and get results. A resume writer is like a personal marketing professional, showing you how to market yourself in a tough job market.
But a very big reason you should have someone (anyone) take a look at your resume is because of what Godin suggests: you need some impartial input. A third party can give you some unvarnished tips on what is important and what isn’t. You’re likely too emotionally married to your career history and professional accomplishments to be able to sort out the wheat from the chaff.’
So, no matter what you do, show your resume to other people before sending it out for interviews. A second pair of eyes can be a valuable thing.
Related posts:
