I am not clairvoyant. Perhaps this is an obvious, rhetorical statement, but as a career coach/resume writer, I sometimes wish I was since this gifting is projected upon me often enough by some prospects and clients. In today’s ‘Amazon Prime Now’ world, we have all become accustomed to, and even somewhat expectant of near-instant service delivery. Advancements in technology and logistics now allow us to push a digital button and anything from our most basic needs (groceries) to our most frivolous wants (fancy gadget/clothing item X) are delivered to our doorstep (within hours) -- all by lifting one finger -- literally. Though resumes are now almost exclusively a digital product (LinkedIn profiles included), the process to generate one is still rather analog and it’s important to make this connection.
I’m an 80’s baby, so I have lived the progression from analog to digital. I’m also old enough to understand and appreciate the advantages of the former. While digital music streaming is great, as a music lover (and former college DJ), I understand why people swear that vinyl just sounds better. Its sound is warmer, richer and provides deeper and more nuanced sound that was not instantly, digitally produced, but rather, manually engraved (recorded) into the grooves. I see resume writing in similar fashion -- it cannot ever be an insta-product, as it requires a rich exchange of information between you and your resume writer. This allows them to develop a deeper and more nuanced understanding of your career trajectory, roles, and achievements that will allow them to generate a resume that plays beautiful music about your career story.
Producing a resume certainly takes time and effort on the resume writer’s part -- and it also takes time and effort on the part of the job seeker. At its best, resume rewriting can be a beautifully collaborative process in which your writer gets to know you and helps to bring out your professional story in such a way that your accomplishments and value are well illustrated and articulated. The key ingredient here is your story.
When I said at the start of this piece that ‘I’m not clairvoyant,’ though it was said somewhat tongue-in-cheek, it was said to underscore the fact that I cannot write your story unless you tell it to me. Without the details of your career story, whatever skill I have as a writer is useless. I can’t magically uncover it by looking at your existing resume, especially if your resume currently only holds your responsibilities. I need to know you to write about you -- and this goes for all resume writers. This is why in my process, I do as much work as I can upfront in partnership with my client, to see into their world before I write a single word.
I begin by giving clients a resume prep questionnaire that asks some open-ended questions about their career path, their strengths, how they see their value, etc., to help me craft their branding. I also ask for the specifics of their key accomplishment stories.
Next, after reviewing their questionnaire, a phone interview is conducted to collectively review the questionnaire, ask clarifying questions, and hone in on context and results. This ensures that I understand the story they have shared with me.
Finally, the writing process begins where I shape their resume, usually through two drafts.
Many coaches/writers will have some version of this process, and it’s very much analog. This process falls 💯 into the category of, “what you put in is what you get out.” So, if you have decided to work with a professional resume writer, how can you prepare yourself to get the most out of the process?
3 Steps to Get the Best ROI from Your Professional Resume Rewrite
1) Prepare Yourself to Share Your Career Story
I can’t emphasize enough that this is the most critical step that some clients sometimes want to handle in a cursory manner. If you only provide your resume writer with surface-level detail, you will get back a resume with only superficial changes. Your career story is the raw material your writer will need to produce an upgraded resume product. The higher the quality of the raw material, the better the finished product will be.
Pro Tip: Whatever the length of your career, remembering all that you’ve done to put it into a resume is hard. Here are a few things to start thinking through, jotting down notes on, and researching to help your writer help you:
Achievements you are most proud of
Achievements you received recognition for
Achievements that cover the key functional responsibilities of your [target] role
Gather metrics and/or qualitative results to the best of your ability
Look through performance reviews
2) Clarify Your Job Target(s)
A resume is ultimately a targeted job search tool. Since resumes are neither used nor submitted in a vaccume it’s best to begin with the end in mind. Clarifying your job goals at the start of your search process will pay dividends throughout the process.
Pro Tip: A resume rewrite is usually most effective when there are one or two (maximum) clearly defined job targets. This will set the direction for the rewrite and can determine if you need one or two distinct versions of your resume emphasizing different capabilities and wins. If you can, provide your writer with one or two job descriptions that you would actually wish to apply for. This will help you and your writer focus on the most salient accomplishments to include and get a broader sense of the essential set of keywords to weave into your resume.
3) Start Thinking About Your “Whys”
In a previous post, I wrote about how employers can’t read between the lines on your resume. This is also true for your resume writer. I can’t divine your motivations, the situation in your company or the market that led to you taking certain actions that resulted in your achievements. If you don’t tell your writer s/he won’t know to include it in your resume.
Pro Tip: Providing key contextual details can turn a good resume into a great one. A big part of that is providing your reader with an understanding of “why” in your resume. Answering “why?” or “so what?” can help you drill down to the core of the importance or impact of what you have achieved. When your audience can see your actions and results in context, it makes them so much more powerful!
Why were you hired?
Why did you create this new process or strategy?
Why was this project/partnership/product feature necessary?
A good coach/writer will certainly partner with you to provide guidance and ask you the right questions to help elicit this information from your memory banks. This said, if you have already begun thinking about these 3 steps leading up to engaging, it will make your process run that much smoother.
Working with a career coach or professional resume writer can be a big and important decision within your job search. The reason to think about this partnership in terms of ROI (Return on Investment) is that your resume writer is either helped or hindered by the amount of information you are able to provide them. The greater your investment of [relevant] ]career details/information, the greater your potential return of a compelling resume that will help you advance your job search.
So the question is...how much are you willing to invest?
If you would like to discuss how we can work together to upgrade your resume, I’d love to support you! BOOK NOW for a free resume consultation.
niiato@avenircareers.com | Call/text 917-740-3048