If you already have a resume, but you need to dust it off and give it some updates, hiring a professional resume writer for a resume critique is a great idea. Likewise, if you’ve been sending out resumes and getting zero results, it’s also probably time for a resume critique.
Many professional resume writing services offer a resume critique service, although it might be called resume review or resume revision. However, if you’ve been having trouble attaining interviews, it’s often better to simply provide the writer with your information and just start from scratch, rather than trying to revise something that just isn’t working.
Resume writing is an art form, and that’s why so many people turn to the pros rather than try to create this document on their own. You might be tempted to opt for resume templates, but those only really help you with design and format, and not content, which is truly the most crucial aspect of any resume.
Additionally, resume writing services can help you with many other important job-hunting tasks, including cover letter writing, LinkedIn profile writing, career coaching and even writing thank you notes. Let’s take a quick look at each of these services.
Cover Letter Writing
If you thought crafting a great resume was difficult, this pales in comparison to writing a great cover letter. A cover letter provides you with a unique opportunity to expand upon your resume and showcase a bit of your personality. You have a chance to sell yourself to hiring managers, provided that your writing skills are strong and you truly understand the nuances of cover letter writing.
When writing a cover letter, it’s not uncommon for the person to come off looking somewhat arrogant or cocky. After all, you want to brag about yourself, and sometimes people tend to go a bit too far. A professional resume writer can strike a balance between too modest and too egotistical, making you appear confident and competent and as the type of employee that works well with others.
Not all employers want to see a cover letter along with your resume, but it’s a good idea to have a cover letter handy just in case it’s requested. We highly recommend that you always have an updated resume and cover letter at your disposal, so even if you aren’t actively looking for work, update these documents every six months so you are prepared if an unexpected opportunity arises.
LinkedIn Profiles
Too often, people forget about the power of LinkedIn, and that’s a shame because hiring managers and recruiters use this social media site all of the time to find new job candidates. LinkedIn is a powerful tool, but only if you truly take advantage of it.
Resume writing companies often offer LinkedIn profile writing services, as well as resume critiques and cover letter writing. These profiles are important because they often provide a first impression of you to a hiring manager. A well-written profile can spark interest and lead a hiring manager to call you in for an interview.
In addition to a top-notch profile, you will need to upload a professional-quality photograph. You also need to select the best keywords to match your abilities. When hiring managers and headhunters search for candidates, they use these keywords as their search criteria.
You can add these keywords under the skills section. For instance, if you are a graphic designer, you might list all of the design programs you use as well as your areas of specialization. This might include programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe CS and InDesign. For skills, you might list UI Design, UX Design, Product Design, Branding, Photography, Logo Design and so forth, depending, of course, on your actual skill set.
Career Coaching
If you are having trouble with the interview process or you haven’t even started interviewing, but are worried about how to present your best self, career coaching can help. Likewise, if you just don’t seem to be excelling in your chosen field and feel a bit lost, a career coaching session can help.
Many resume service providers offer career coaching services. After all, resume writers have extensive experience writing for many different industries and they truly know what hiring managers need to see from job applicants.
Typically, a career coaching package includes a phone interview with a professional career coach and perhaps some documents to review that provide you with helpful tips and strategies to help jumpstart a job search or just to help you excel in your current job.
Thank You Letters
This might seem like something you could do yourself, and in many cases this is true. But if you are not a strong writer and are not sure what to say in a thank-you note, why not hire an expert? After all, this could make the difference between losing an opportunity and scoring your dream job.
Sending a thank-you note is a must-do task after any job interview. You absolutely should thank the hiring manager and anyone else that was present for the opportunity to interview. This truly does help to set you apart from other candidates, so either send a thoughtfully composed email or a handwritten thank you after every interview.
How To Find A Great Resume Writer
This is the tough part. There are tons of resume writers out there, but how do you find the best? Well, we can help. We don’t provide resume writing services, so we don’t offer a resume critique, cover letter writing or any of the other services mentioned above.
Our job is to review resumes from companies around the internet and determine which ones offer the best services. To do this, we created a “mystery client” and sent out this client’s information to many supposedly top-rated resume companies.
Once we received the resumes from these companies, we had an independent team review them, rate them and determine which companies provided the best resume services. This team was comprised of people who are or have been in the position to make hiring decisions, as they are typically the people that read these resumes in the first place.
The results were interesting. Many companies actually sent us back resumes with careless errors, such as obvious spelling mistakes. Others just simply rehashed the basic information we gave, with no real thought to strategy. Still, others did ok, but the quality didn’t overwhelmingly impress our review team.
Our team did pick a unanimous favorite, Resume Writing Group. This company produced a well-written, attractive and error-free resume that grabbed the attention of our reviewers. If you need a resume critique or any of the previously mentioned services, we highly recommend that you consider using Resume Writing Group as we found this company to provide the highest quality services.
