First Dates and Your Resume

While content is what will ultimately count to get you an interview, you want to make sure you catch the attention of the person reading it, right? If your resumé is boring, or poorly formatted, it gets a pass. It’s kinda like swiping right or left on the dating app. How many times do you read the profile if you don’t like the picture? Not often, if ever, and only if the headline grabs your heart! The headline on your resumé is the summary of qualifications.
As a resumé writer, I have had to learn a few tricks to make sure each resumé I work on is unique and attractive. Think of it as dressing up for a first date. When you care enough to look good, s/he will feel valued, appreciated, and important. So you pick the right outfit for the venue, put on some make-up, curl your hair and add a bit of bling. Employers notice the effort you take just as much as your date does! Taking the time to organize information logically with formatting techniques like shading, colour, legible fonts, bullets and other design elements pays big dividends.
Of course, how you are on the first date is what inspires the second date. That’s YOUR UNIQUE VALUE to the prospective employer. Communicating your unique value is not just a recitation of your previous jobs. It’s a clear picture of what you have done and what you can do. You focus on what you have in common, how you can make life better for them.
Remember, you are on your best behaviour on your date. You focus on the positive stuff, stories that demonstrate who you are at your best. Listing your relevant accomplishments on your resumé creates the same kind of impression. When you are invited for a second date (the interview), the stakes are even higher. But that is for a different post.
Writing your own resumé may feel like a daunting exercise in frustration. Hiring a professional resumé writer sets you up for the perfect match. Sometimes it is a drastic makeover, like What Not To Wear, and sometimes it is more like the extra little touches that take you from good to great. A resumé writer will dress you up in a style that suits you perfectly and highlights all of your best assets. Lucky for you, I am a resumé writer, right here, right now, waiting for your call!

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