So you’ve decided to take your job applications to the next level by utilizing a professional resume writing service.
That’s a good move. A professional will have the skills to take your work history and experience and shape it into a precise form that recruiters want to see.
Good service really will help you stand out from the crowd, (to view our top 5 review round-up on the best resume writing service in 2021, head here).
However, there are still a few things you can do to maximize the service that you use.
Below are some Vault50 tips that will help ensure your resume makes it past the applicant tracking systems (ATS) and books you a seat in front of the employer’s interview desk.
Table of Contents
1. Define your job goals to the resume writer
Resume language is a skill. It has to be succinct yet detailed. A very hard task to master. This means that the best resumes leave out any fluff; they are written with a specific job goal in mind.
For your writer to successfully do this, you will of course need to tell them what your job goals are.
This goal is then the backbone of the entire resume. Your writer will identify which of your qualifications are most relevant to your job search; and will include them as required.
2. Provide sample job descriptions to your resume writer
A quick and helpful tip is to provide your writer with some sample job descriptions of the roles that you are after.
Simply browse sites such as Indeed, Monster (and Flex-Jobs if you are after remote style work), and copy and paste the details along with a link into a word document.
Being specific is obviously more helpful than a broad range of job descriptions, (see point one about targeting your goals), however a good writer will be able to ascertain a certain pattern to your career aspirations even if your goals prove varied.
3. The more info on your work & study history the better
No matter the skills of the resume writer, the finished product is still very reliant on the information you provide in the first place.
Essentially, the more information you can provide the better. You are paying the writer good money; it will be there job to filter through everything to pull out the most appropriate details in line with your job goals.
The first step is to provide a copy of your your current resume. This should have some of the most essential info from the start.
Then you need to think back. Pull together everything you can remember about your work history and specific roles, any training, your full education, including any extra courses completed.
Have you had any volunteer experience? Or been on any professional development activities and courses.
What sort of responsibilities have you had in the past, both professionally and personally.
This will ensure that your professional resume writer has all the data they need to create an excellent resume that will get across who you are and what you have achieved in 2 or 3 pages.
4. Trust their judgement
There’s no pointy in hiring a professional if you are then going to question their decisions in what your resume should or should not include.
You need to trust their judgement. Yes, that promotion you got several years ago may have been against all odds, but if the writer suggests it gives the wrong impression about your current career goals, then you need to listen to them.
You can raise your concerns as to discuss your resume is something both parties will want before everything is finished.
The fact is, they will often have a very good reason for their decision. You hired them for good reason; they will have all the necessary knowledge of the current job market and recruitment practices in order to tailor your resume exactly to what recruiters want to see.
Don’t get in the way of that process with your own insecurities and/or ego.
5. Have a plan for completed resume
To fully maximize a resume writing service, you need to use the document afterwards. Otherwise the whole process becomes a waste of time and money.
The first step is a job search plan. Where will you be sending this wonderful new document once it is finished?
Give yourself weekly goals on the amount of job applications you’ll submit, recruiters you will try to meet (if you wish to use an intermediary) and any networking you will do.
In 2018 it is said that you are 10 times more likely to be successful for a role if your application is accompanied by a referral. Networking therefore is more important than it has ever been.
Your skills and resume are one thing, who you know and meet it today’s competitive job market is a whole different kettle of fish.
Final words
Finding the right job for you will take time. However, with hard work, some luck and a little patience you will find yourself launching into the next stages of your career before you know it.
Getting the most out of your resume writing service is an important step towards that goal.
