Why your DIY résumé may cost you your dream job
What you're not thinking about
At first glance, the very existence of professional résumé writers may seem comical. A “professional” résumé writer? Lol? Anyone with a college degree and some common sense should be able to produce a decent one? Consider the following reasons why that assumption is wrong.
1. Hiring manager overload
2. Your lacking understanding of HR and recruitment professionals’ psychology
3. Your lack of objectivity about yourself
4. Your lack of the necessary writing skills
Have you worked in talent acquisition or executive search? If not, you may not appreciate the reality that people in those roles face: a daily deluge of résumés. Both solicited and unsolicited. Several dozens each day. Inevitably, they will build some mental filters that help them cope with the quantity. Especially if they’ve got tons of other things going on.
What you're lacking
Here are some common issues with résumés that I’ve seen all too often. These are bound to speed up their journey to the trash bin by triggering those mental filters. Not always, but often enough that it should give any job seeker pause.
They include:
· Layout and format diverging from the expected norm
· No memory hook near the top of the document
· Way too much text
· Ineffective language
· Focus on roles and responsibilities rather than achievements
Most of these are self-explanatory but let me clarify one that may not be.
That “memory hook” is a phrase that reflects your personality and the value you have to offer in a nutshell. It’s the one and only element of the résumé that should be a little creative and unconventional. Like: “Constructive legal counsel for the pay, consensus-builder for the sense of achievement.” This is from a résumé I created for a high-powered in-house legal counsel. It stands out, it sticks in memory, and it perfectly summarizes the man behind the résumé.
What you should be doing
For many, it’s quite hard to do this themselves. It requires objectivity about their own personalities. It requires a readiness to break convention. It may also involve a little bragging while not looking like a braggart. Without this, your personality may not come across, and your résumé may be forgettable. Are you confident you can pull it off yourself?
Back to the people who screen your résumé before it lands on the desks of the real decision-makers. They are supposed to pay attention but who can blame them for résumé fatigue after a long day of work? Your DIY résumé may come across their screen at a bad time. If it fails to inform and impress within seconds, you have in part yourself to blame. It won’t happen every time, but it will happen sometimes.
Do you want to risk it? I would submit to you that a few hundred bucks paid to a professional résumé writer is small change. If they know what they're doing.
Look for a writer with a background in talent acquisition or executive search. Look for someone who will conduct an extensive interview with you. Someone who will create a new, purpose-built résumé from scratch. The CareerZeus' interviews last from 90 to 120 minutes. Further discussion and refining serve to perfect the initial draft.
This post is also available on my LinkedIn feed. Feel free to leave questions and comments there.