Should You Hire a Professional Resume Writer?
Confession: I am a professional resume writer. Card carrying.
Cards on the table: You can write your own resume. It would be false to assert otherwise. Not even a professional resume writer should deny you the challenge, if you are up to it.
I teach people to write resumes. I also write professional resumes. As president of a professional resume writing service I have an unusual perspective on this question, which is in fact a fuzzy question.
Of course, on a day-to-day level, everyone constantly deals with propositions that are neither true nor false. Will it rain tomorrow? Regardless of determinism, the answer is uncertain for all practical purposes. Yet most people want to hear it, since the chance of rain affects their plans.
Should you write your own resume? Or hire a resume writing service? The answer is fuzzy.
Probability is Aristotelian because it works with atoms of yes and no. A flipped coin is either heads or tails. A playing card falls into one of 52 categories and its identity is never vague.
I often explain the nuances of the different types of resumes such as the chronological, the functional, and the functional hybrid resumes. I describe the benefits of one versus another. There is not always a right or wrong answer because of the numerous variables involved, including the background of the candidate and the preferences of the hiring manager.
A flipped coin is either heads or tails. A playing card falls into one of 52 categories and its identity is never vague. A flipped coin can't be heads and tails, and it must be either heads or tails. A card can't be both the king of diamonds and not the king, and must be one of them.
But a resume can be both functional and chronological. Or it can be one or the other. A resume can be one page. Or two. Or three. To develop the best resume you must make choices about each of these issues. First decide on the type of resume. Then you must gather the data which best supports your choice. You can do it. Decide on the length of the resume. How long have you been working? How much experience do you have? What does the recruiter expect? Then you write according to your choice.
I teach people how to make these choices and how to implement their decisions.
Or, you can hire a pro. I get phone calls all the time from people who don't want to deal with these questions. They just want to get a better job. They require the best resume. I don't have to teach these people how to write a resume. Instead, I have to learn everything I can about their career and their goals. Then I make the choices for them and develop the best and most appropriate resume.
In a way, it's a little like fixing your car. There is nothing you can't learn to do: change your oil. Adjust the brakes. Replace the sparkplugs. But each one involves a learning curve. And if you make a wrong choice the machine won't run correctly. You just might want to take it to a professional.
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