4thingsyou Must Know Before Writing Your Resume

By Author: Pillentum
Total Articles: 9
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There are a lot of choices when navigating resume writing services and it can be confusing. With the reach of the internet now, you can get a resume from anywhere in the world, some at a fraction of what you may pay for an Australian resume service. Prices can range from as little as $99 through to $1200 or more. 
So how much do you really need to spend to get a great resume? Why not go with the cheapest resume service? How do you tell if you are getting value for money and how do you decide? 
We have put together some important questions when considering whom to trust with your resume. 
Why are you looking for a resume?
To begin with, you need to get clear on what it is that you are trying to achieve. Here are some typical reasons you may want a new resume;

You’re applying for your first job.
You’re changing jobs or looking for career progression.
Your industry has downsized, and you need to change careers.
You have a resume that has worked in the past but is not working so well now. 
You’re a migrant with lots of experience ...
... but not local experience. 

Gaining an interview in some sectors is relatively easy. If you are in an industry that is in huge demand, then your job can be relatively easy. At the time of writing this guide, anything relating to data is in demand worldwide. As the saying goes, if you have these skills” Two feet and a heartbeat” is all that is required. 
However, the growing impact of technology and globalization and the casualization of the workforce is making it far more difficult to obtain full-time work in a number of other industries and occupations. If you work in an area that is under these pressures, then the importance of a well-crafted resume is far more important.
Disciplines and sectors currently undergoing restructuring include accounting, law, engineering (relating to mining or oil and gas), construction, real estate, sales, and also administration and management.
 
Factors affecting your chance of being shortlisted for an interview
When you upload your resume and hit “send”, in addition to job selection criteria, there is a range of job-specific factors that can prevent your resume from being seen by the hiring manager. 
In many cases, your resume will be filtered by an Application Tracking System (ATS), automated software used to screen candidates based on predetermined selection criteria. 
Screening criteria can include;

You’re your eligibility to work in this country, 
your previous work history with the company, 
years of experience you have,
your salary expectation.

In addition to this, there can be other factors;

Junior recruiters and admin staff are not familiar with the skills of your occupation.
the quality of the writing, language, or tone of your resume
assumptions made based on the structure of the resume or the degree of difficulty in reading
the length or format of the resume
the time it takes to read a resume
a range of other miscellaneous factors.

Selection Criteria
Applying for jobs within your industry can pose other problems. What happens when you are considering applying for several jobs, each with different selection criteria from the other? Do you use the same resume, irrespective of the selection criteria? How can you apply for jobs with different selection criteria and still be relevant – without having to rewrite your resume? 
The ability to write a resume or find effective strategies to apply for different positions requires a deep level of insight into the recruitment process. It is highly unlikely that a resume writer in Pakistan will have the same insight into the recruitment process of a business in Perth, Sydney, or Melbourne as a local writer would. 
Addressing unwritten selection criteria
Depending on your situation, your resume will need to address a range of criteria in addition to the position selection criteria. The hiring manager or recruiter may have other questions or concerns about your background or experience that if not addressed may leave you high and dry and wondering why you have not heard back about your application. 
Concerns may include;

“You are overqualified for the position; you will leave as soon as the market changes.
You are qualified, but you don’t have the relevant experience, for the position. I’ll go with someone with previous experience. 
You won’t understand the culture of our business because you’re from another country.
How can I trust you when you have no work experience? I’ll go with someone with 1 or 2 years' experience.
Why would you want this position when you have worked at a higher position in the past?”

 
These are typical questions that many recruiters consider when reviewing candidates. What do you include in your resume when you don’t know what concerns may be going through the minds of the recruiter? How do you address these and other potential concerns? 
Depending on your circumstance, you may need to explain your situation without disqualifying yourself right from the get-go. This requires some insight into what recruiters are looking for and the motivations of the hiring manager and their business. Without the right strategies or expertise, this can be a very frustrating experience and may even be a show-stopper to your career aspirations.
Who to trust
In today’s hyper-competitive job market, you can’t afford to leave your career to chance. 
It is therefore critical that your resume is the best that it can be. But who do you trust to write such an important document?
Your resume is often the first impression a future employer has of you. As one of your key sales and communication tools, it presents an overview of what you have done in the past and implies what you can do for a potential employer in the future.
Value of a Well-Crafted Resume
Job seekers often overlook the value of a well-written resume and don’t take into consideration competition for the same positions. Inquiries about resumes often revolve around price rather than expertise or experience in the industry. In nearly all cases the
The benefit of a well-crafted resume far out way the cost. It is therefore important for you to remember why you are looking for a resume writing service.
Time is money and every day out of a job is lost income. Without a properly crafted resume, it will take far longer to land a job. Most job candidates never understand the true value of a well-written resume. A good resume is one that will generate far more interest from interviews than an average resume ever would.
A poorly crafted resume will lead to:
 

Loss of income
Stress and anxiety
Loss of confidence due to rejection
Career disruption due to long breaks

All resumes are not created equal
Do you know how long it will take to find your next job? A rule of thumb is 1 month for every $10,000 of income. So, if your income expectation is $100,000, it can take you 10 months to find a job. 
I.e. $100,000 / $10,000 = 10 months
The time to find a job expands or contracts depending on market conditions. It makes good sense then to use the best resume writer you can afford to reduce your search time. 
Resume writing requires a high level of skill. If you are a technical professional then you need someone that has a good understanding of your industry, the drivers in your business, and local factors. In addition, the resume writer would need a good understanding of local language nuance and idioms that the hiring manager can relate to.
A good resume writer also has a good understanding of marketing and copywriting to enable the resume to be read and understood not just by people within your discipline but also by reviewers of your resume from a broad range of less related disciplines that may come between you, the candidate, and the person deciding on the final interview list.
What should you expect of a good resume writer?
A resume is a reflection of your life’s work and experience summarised in a 2 – 4 page document. How likely do you think it would be for a resume writer to craft a great resume that makes you stand out from your competitors without having spoken to you and interviewed you? 
A good resume writer is usually a trained professional, who will interview you, usually during a lengthy conversation of 1-hour or more, something comes back to you with other queries during the resume writing process. 
During the interview, the interviewer will extract information about you such as your: 

skills, 
personal characteristics, 
values,  
competencies, 
interests, 
achievements,  
career goals and aspirations and 
details of the positions that you are interested in applying to. 

 
The interviewer will also review your work history and gain an understanding of the reasons for leaving each job, any employment gaps, and the length of each engagement.
Elements of a good resume
Resumes are sometimes marketed in colorful and unique formats. Although there are times when this can be useful, this is often a marketing gimmick to sell their service. You need to remember that resumes are often viewed via ATSs. Many ATSs cannot read or accurately record unusually formatted resumes. 
In addition, recruitment companies do not want to waste valuable time reformatting your resume so that they can use their own formatting to send to their client. 
Furthermore, recruiters may only have 30 seconds or less to review your resume. If a resume cannot be read easily, it is unlikely to be reviewed or shortlisted, particularly if there is a queue of 100 resumes or more to get through. 
Here is a typical structure of a resume;

Summary - highlighting your skills, capabilities, industry fit, and value to previous employers. 
Skills Overview
Selection Criteria that relate to the job applied to
Employment History - highlighting your strengths, capabilities, and achievements
Qualifications and courses completed

Each part of a resume has its own role to play. A good resume writer is skilled in editing and copywriting and can reduce long, convoluted, and difficult to read paragraphs and sometimes pages, into a few short powerful sentences. Copywriting is the art of writing a text for the purpose of marketing. In this case, your resume.
Don’t risk wasting opportunities that may come up rarely for the sake of a few dollars difference in price. A good resume will pay dividends in the form of better job opportunities and income, to say nothing of the stress loss of confidence, and angst. Once you have started work in your new job, the peace of mind and confidence will last far longer than the few dollars saved. 
 
Hopefully, this guide has helped clarify your decision about selecting your next resume writing service. If you have any other questions about your resume, please don’t hesitate in contacting us. We will be happy to review your resume and provide insight or feedback on its current form in relation to the position you plan to use it to apply to. 
Here at Pillentum, we are so confident in the quality and suitability of our resumes that we will provide a 100% money-back guarantee if you are not completely satisfied with your resume. 
For more information about Perth Resume Writing Services you may click on the link provided: - https://pillentum.com.au/