There are numerous reasons why you could be seeking to tweak your resume.

You might be out of work and looking for your next career move. Perhaps you’re not satisfied where you are. Maybe you’ve been given an opportunity to excel at a new position within your company.

In each of these situations, you will likely require a resume. This is why we asked Arielle Careers, a firm which specializes in executive resume writing, for their thoughts on how a professionally written resume can make a difference to your career.

Why It’s Critical to Have a Quality Resume.

Imagine you’re sitting in your office nine hours a day, five days a week. Your job is to find new talent. Success or failure of the company depends largely on the people you hire.

You see many new faces coming through the doors every day of the week. The classic proxy indicators, such as body language, presentation and interview skills all form part of your assessment.

These, however, contribute to about 40% of your impression. The other 60% are formed by – you guessed it - a candidate’s resume.

The reason this figure is so large is because the consulting resume forms a skeleton of a candidate’s personal brand. It sets the context for their value proposition and guides the course of the job interview.

A confused, muddy, ambiguous resume makes it difficult for a recruiter to understand a candidate’s value.

Your Resume Is The Face Of Your Brand.

When you present a poorly crafted resume which simply looks like a chronological description of your job history, what message does you send to your potential employer?

You guessed it - that you don’t know why the employer should choose you over another, similarly qualified, candidate.

A resume should be more than just a list of your past jobs. It should be a marketing document which positions you as the answer to your potential employer’s problems.

This is where a professional resume writer is worth their weight in gold. Very few of us like to write about ourselves. It’s even more challenging to look at our own experience and skills and reshape those into a clear, distinctive value proposition.

A professional resume writer is an expert at fleshing out parts of your employment history, discarding the unnecessary details and shaping the remainder into a highly readable, engaging and commercially astute document.

Does Your Resume Stand Out?

When searching for a job, you may have to submit your resume to quite a few employers. To make your resume stand out, professional consulting resume writers can help develop a custom consulting resume that get results for your jobs search.

It can be tempting to do a copy-and-paste job, attaching the same resume to every job application. This is a common mistake, and one which a professional resume writer can help you avoid.

The truth is that every job is unique. Every company is different. This means that to maximise your chances of success you need to tailor your resume to every job you apply for.

Yes, it means that every application will take you ten times longer to complete. However, you’re much more likely to land your dream job sooner, as you will not face mountains of rejection to your generic applications.

Remember, dozens and maybe even hundreds of people are going to applying for the same job. The more prestigious the job, the tougher the competition. Your resume has to grab the right attention, be professional in every aspect, and help shine a light on your best assets - the assets that will benefit the company to which you’re applying.

When your career is at stake, when you absolutely must rise above the competition, it all begins with your resume. Don’t leave your career to chance. Don’t hope things work out. Make them. Take charge. Get your resume professionally written and you’ll be on your way to solid foundation and interview offers. From there, you can close the deal.

How To Make Your Resume Stand Out.

While it’s crucial to consider the value in hiring a professional resume writing service, consider many of the components that go into building and forging the ideal resume for your specific needs.

The more you begin to realize the value in a quality resume (and all the components that go into it), the more you understand the value in a professional resume writing service.

1. Keywords and buzzwords. Do you know what these are? Keywords and buzzwords are prime focal words that jump from a resume. When a hiring manager notices the right ones on a resume, the spend more time reviewing it, and that increases the chances you’ll get past the sea of applications to the first interview. You need to have find the perfect balance of these keywords and buzzwords, though. Too many and you kill the impact of your resume.

2. Modern, professional format. Do you know what a modern resume should look like? If you purchase a book about the ‘perfect‘ resume, you’ll see a wide range of styles, formats, and layouts. A lot those examples are already outdated. If you don’t know what’s fresh and modern, your resume may stand out, but for the wrong reasons.

3. Headers that shine. A header on a resume is just as vital as those found on website or the copy of ads. It needs to grab attention, draw the reader in (which, in this case, would be the hiring manager), and get them focused on the main content that follows. Trying too hard on these headers can leave someone feeling cheated, but not being powerful enough misses a great opportunity to sell your services to the right employer.

4. Proper use a white space. As with many things we read every day, white space is crucial to easier reading. Does your resume have the right balance of white space and content? Do you know what the right balance is? Unless you’ve written hundreds and even thousands of resumes, you most likely won’t know.

5. Focus on your target reader’s needs. Any prospective future employer has a specific need they have to fill. Most of that information is going to be highlighted in the job description, and your resume must focus on that. You may be proud of certain accomplishments and wish to highlight them, but if they offer no value to this potential employer, they can’t be the centerpiece of your qualifications.

6. One page or two? You’ll notice numerous opinions about length for resumes and cover letters. How long is too long? How short is too short? When you need perfect balance, you need someone who has a great deal of experience writing resumes and helping clients land the jobs they want and deserve.

7. What about that cover letter? Did you know that half of all HR representatives admit they won’t even look at a resume unless it’s accompanied by a cover letter? Sure, it’s tough enough putting together a winning resume, but a cover letter is your introduction and should include some of the best components of your resume, in brief.

A professional resume writing service will help you craft or polish your resume and help you approach a prospective employer with confidence, knowing you’re in one of the best positions to be called in for an interview and then land that job offer because you’re ready and passionate for this opportunity.