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When it comes to your resume, DIY means DOA.
DIY projects are all the rage ‒‒ mason jar candles, personalized picture frames, even impressive wedding centerpieces. But we all know that often, the craft you set out to construct doesn't always turn out the way you planned. A mistake in your homemade holiday decorations is one thing, but a mistake in your resume can cost you a job.
There's a time and a place for DIY projects — and it's not the job search. Instead of being approached as a craft or project, your resume should be treated as a critical document that can define the future of your career. These high stakes are when it's time to bring in the expert resources you can trust, like a professional resume writer. After all, it's been proven that a professionally written resume makes you 32 percent more likely to land a job. Here's why choosing to do it yourself is a gamble not worth taking.
You aren't showcasing your achievements
A resume isn't just a laundry list of the tasks and responsibilities that make up each of your job roles. By writing your resume as such, you may give an employer an idea of what you do, but you won't tell them anything about the unique value you can add to their company.
Instead, your resume needs to demonstrate what you have achieved throughout your career history. Yes, writing this way can be difficult, but without utilizing quantifiable results and impactful action verbs, your resume becomes a non-starter. This is the type of language that professional resume writers are trained in, and their expertise will help you highlight your great accomplishments and demonstrate to an employer why they should hire you.
Your resume is incorrectly formatted
What should a resume look like anyway? People take different approaches, some opting for bright colors and fancy graphics while others prefer to keep it simple. It may seem like a question of taste, but it's not; a resume's format can make or break a job application.
If you're not sure of the right approach and you haven't been receiving callbacks, it's possible that your DIY design is preventing hiring managers from locating the information they need. Rather than inadvertently hiding your greatest selling points in an improper layout, your professional resume writer knows exactly how employers like a resume to look and will format it to both meet expectations and give you the professional polish you need.
You are getting stuck at the ATS
What good is an impressive resume if it never reaches the eyes of a hiring manager? Because of popular resume-scanning software called applicant tracking systems (ATS), that's exactly what can happen. The ATS is designed to vet resumes and discard the ones deemed least qualified to fill a certain position ‒‒ or that don't fulfill its requirements.
Between file types, keywords, and formatting, getting passed this digital gatekeeper is a careful science ‒‒ one that most job seekers don't know. Rather than gamble with this software, you can turn to people who understand its rules and requirements. Professional resume writers know exactly how to craft your resume so that the ATS recognizes your qualifications and sends you to the next round: the hiring manager's desk.
So leave the DIY projects for the craft room and put your resume into the hands of professionals who know how to make it shine. Click here to learn more about working with a professional resume writer from TopResume.