A Professional Resume for Success

Whether you have the economic leeway to actually judge if it is indeed the best of times or the worst of times, still you can feel it! Whether you find yourself fortunate enough to actually be living through a 1990's style economic boom, with all of the bling bling that you could have ever imagined, still you know that it is all around you. Whether or not you are living in the reality of the current malaise of the worst economic downturn that our country has seen since the Great Depression, a Professional Resume or CV (Curriculum Vitae) will guarantee you a head start in the new job market. Change is surly in the air. There is no doubt that the difference between whether or not you will get that first interview will most likely depend upon the success of your resume; especially today. This is your outlook on the future, and your way of seeing the present reality. It is an employer's way of telling just how well you are grounded and balanced in this world; and just what kind of employee you might be.

What makes a resume successful? To answer this of course is to answer the larger question. What is the actual purpose of a resume? So, let us begin there. First and foremost, first impressions are indeed the most lasting, and a resume is a quick snap shot of who you actually are as a person. It gives you potential employer an initial profile of the full range of your qualifications and a part of your personality for the position that they are seeking to fill. It says a lot about who you are as professional, what state of mind you are in, and your level of professionalism as well.

Get This: long before the new Administration could even begin its initial term, the President-elect's Transition Team received more than 300,000 resumes to fill just 8,000 soon-to-be-vacant positions. That works out to be an average of roughly 38 applicants for every single open position; or to put it another way, a choice of 38 candidates to fill every available slot. That may sound surprising to you. However, even during the best of economic times, it is not at all uncommon to see an employer receive between 50 to 100 resumes to fill each open position. Add to this the fact that most hiring professionals will spend no more than an average of 14 seconds just barely skimming over each, or maybe even every-other resume, and the importance of presenting a document that stands out far above all the rest becomes quite clear. No, you don't have to go out there and play the part of Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde, and present a report that is all fluff-fluff and bling bling simply showing a whole lot about your own fashion sense. Nonetheless, you need to present an honest portrayal of your own aspirations. You want to make them want to grab a hold of you!

The primary purpose of any resume is to make that initial sale. That's it! It is to attract the attention of an employer to the point that they become motivated enough to ultimately invite you to an interview. Your resume is like your own personal commercial. It is a place on the bulletin board where you are a talking head advertising yourself as a prospective employee. It has a single-minded purpose; to help you to get your foot in the door. It is to make a strong enough impression to catch the eye of someone with the power or the ability to make a hiring decision.

With that in mind, as we watch the lotus flower of a new highly competitive economy begins to slowly unfurl upon an increasingly Technological Twenty-first Century Information Age, it is becoming more important that ever before for serious job seekers to invest in the services of a professional resume writer. Unless you are skilled at writing highly effective sales copy and truly understand the field of career counseling, you should invest some money in the services of a professional. Of course you can easily download and engage one of the many free resume templates that you can easily find on the internet. You just plug in your information and POOF there it is! However, chances are your efforts will simply go unnoticed. The difference is between presenting a commonly used generic sample that immediately thrusts you into the undistinguished pool along with dozens of other common applicants, or hiring a professional and demonstrating the expertise of a tailor-made document that immediately tells a prospective employer that you do indeed make the grade as a true professional. There is something about you that is special. Your resume seems to shine out in front of most others. Suddenly, the is more in your favor.

A professional resume can cost anywhere from $75.00 to $300.00 or more depending upon many variables including your own level of skill and work experience; and whether or not you want one, or a number of personalized cover letters. Perhaps you like career counseling as well. Today, there are a host of online resume services, some of which make all sorts of lofty claims even promising to guarantee that you will definitely get the job that you're seeking simply by using their writing service. Some of them will claim that their certified resume writers have a 100 percent rate of success. Don't believe the hype! No one can guarantee you that you will indeed get the job that you want. The best that anyone can do is to provide you with a professional resume fully customized to highlight your individual skills and work experience. The most important thing for you should be the level of personal care that you receive.

Whatever service that you use, make sure that you also provide accurate up-to-date information. Be mindful that you also gather as much information as you can on any potential employer that you may want to apply. Find out just what their actually requirements are for the particular job that you are applying for. This information can be invaluable for your professional resume service to tailor your resume to the needs of your prospective employer. Ultimately, this will make you a more attractive candidate and increase the possibility that you will eventually get the job you want.