With current economic conditions, it may seem wasteful to spend the money on a resume service, but in this competitive market this is exactly the time you should spring for the service. Many companies are receiving hundreds of resumes for each open position. A majority of recruiters spend less than three minutes reviewing a resume. Does your resume have what it takes to get noticed?

Your resume is not just a list of your experiences; it is a document advertising you and your accomplishments. Companies spend thousands of dollars on advertising campaigns. They do market research, conduct focus groups, and pitch several different ideas – all to get your attention. Your resume is your only way to get the attention of a hiring manager.

There are the obvious changes that can be made to your resume. If you have a simple typo or grammatical error, your resume could be tossed aside no matter how relevant your experience. But, this is something you can edit on your own. A good resume writing service offers more than just proofreading.

Resume writers do just that – they write resumes, every day. It can be easy for most individuals to find a resume format they like and stick with that format for years. A resume writer sees all different kinds of formats and styles and can transform your resume in ways that highlight your key points. Think of yourself on the receiving end of resumes – wouldn’t you be tired of seeing the same old bulleted list of job descriptions? A professional resume writer knows how to make your resume visually stand out.

Resume writers know what recruiters want, and just as important what they don’t want to see on resumes. Professionals know what keywords and buzzwords need to be present for your resume to stand out. Many recruiters search resumes online and will only find your resume if certain keywords are present. Since resume writers are always working with resumes they know the latest trends and techniques that recruiters are using. They attend conferences and participate in webinars, so their skills set is always improving.

Many people become attached to certain details on their resume. There may be some parts that should not be included, but they are so important to the individual that they have a tough time deleting them. Having a resume writer work on your resume will help it to be more objective. After talking with you about your experiences, there may be other skills that they will highlight on your resume. As individuals we tend to down play several of our best abilities.

There is no reference at all to influential content, building powerful bullets, or writing text that spurs a call to action. Resume templates exist because most people dislike writing their resume, and haven’t the slightest inkling of how to write a good resume. And, they exist because we acknowledge that visual appeal is useful. After all, we spend a great deal of money on looking good: we know we are evaluated and even judged on appearance. However, we also acknowledge that looks can be deceiving, and that we won’t get anywhere on good looks alone. Hiring decisions are based on a candidate’s value, which is best conveyed through performance and productivity proven with strong verbs and specific content.

Templates provide a set-up for those who fumble in Word, but they do not walk you through developing impactful content. They do not provide a lesson on appropriate or necessary strategy. They do not point you on the path that will most favourably present your skills in action. The purpose of a resume is to express achievements, experience, and areas and levels of expertise. Few know how to capture what they did, describe the challenges they overcame to achieve outcomes; they shrink from answering the what? how? so what? how hard? aspects of their past employs.

If you must use a template, keep in mind the following in order to reframe that cookie-cutter template to a good resume: Go beyond stating what you did to showing how it impacted the company. For example, an HR specialist is likely to have designed an employee survey. So what? So did many of the HR candidates. In order to stand out the HR specialist must develop the story with context. Remember that what differentiates you is not your position description as most of the other applicants, coming from similar backgrounds, will have essentially identical accountabilities. However, it’s unlikely that they achieved the same things because each applicant operates in a different context with unique challenges.

Award-winning and published professional resume writer, Stephanie Clark, is owner of New Leaf Resumes, a full-time resume writing and interview coaching service. Published in several American and Canadian career publications, Stephanie also writes a weekly career article for a local daily paper. Stephanie delivers strategic resumes and unforgettable cover letters by staying ahead of industry trends through participation in, and leadership of, classes in resume design and content development. She continues to hone her own talents with classes from America’s leading resume writers, Louise Kursmark and Wendy Enelow, of the renown Resume Writing Academy.