Interview with Angela Ashurst-McGee, President and Founder of RedRocketResume
How do you start writing a client’s resume?
Whenever I start a new resume project, first I review the client’s old resume, plus any additional information they may have provided along with their order. I confess that occasionally, when I first look a client's old resume, I think to myself, “This person really just doesn’t have much to offer” or “There won’t be much I can do with this resume--this person just doesn’t have strong career accomplishments.”
But I schedule a phone consultation with all my clients to discuss their resume strategy. This is an essential part of the services we offer at RedRocketResume. In almost every case, once I’ve had a chance to actually talk with the client and hear them describe what they’ve accomplished at each of their jobs, any bad impression I may have had is erased. I find out that the problem wasn’t that the client had an unimpressive career--they just had a bad resume. By the time I hang up the phone, I’m really excited about this client.
People have a hard time writing about their successes. But once I talk with them on the phone, I’m able to find the pieces of information that will make a great resume. Once I have that type of information in hand, I’m able to put together a resume that really shows what they can do.
Why are professionally written resumes so expensive?I’d say what’s really expensive is not having a good resume. I’ve seen so many people stick with jobs that they don’t love or that don’t compensate them as well as they’d like. They think they don’t have any other option or that they wouldn’t be able to get a better job. But once they have a great resume, they suddenly find that they can get a better job. So I’d say the money spent on a professionally written resume is about the best investment you can make.
Of course, writing someone’s resume is labor intensive. You need to take the time to really get to know this person. Not only their career, but also what makes them special, what they can bring to an employer. So that takes time. And then putting all that into words, and then making sure each document has perfect grammar and is formatted perfectly and has no typos.
At RedRocketResume, we only hire writers who are CPRWs--
Certified Professional Resume Writers. So our writers are highly trained and talented writers.
What is the biggest mistake people make on their resumes?
Well, to tell you the truth there’s a variety. One big mistake is when established professionals put the Education section at the top of their resume. That’s only appropriate for students or recent graduates because it puts focus on school rather than on real on-the-job experience.
Another common mistake is when people write their resume basically like a job description. In fact, I’ve had clients whose resume basically is a cut-and-paste from their job description. If a company wants to hire an accountant, they already know the basic duties and responsibilities of an accountant--as far as doing reconciliations and reporting and managing the general ledger. So if your resume just repeats that type of information, you’re really not persuading the hiring manager that you are the best person for the job. Of course your resume needs to briefly touch on your basic responsibilities and the scope of your work. But most focus needs to be placed on the results of your work, the benefits your employer saw because of your work. That’s why I emphasize accomplishments so much.
Maybe the biggest mistake I see is what people put at the top of their resume. I already mentioned that for most professionals, this shouldn’t be the Education section. It also shouldn’t be an
Objectives statement. An Objective tells what you want. But with a resume, it shouldn’t be about what you want. It should be about what you have to offer, and how you can provide what your potential employer wants. Plus most Objectives I see are very vague and cookie-cutter. They all say something like, “Seeking a fulfilling position where I can utilize my skills and progress in the company.” Well, who doesn’t want that? That doesn’t make you stand out at all.
So what you should put at the top of your resume is a section called a Profile or a Summary of Qualifications, or just Qualifications. In that section you tell in a nutshell what you have to offer and what makes you special. Something like, “Revenue-generating Retail Manager with 5 years’ experience exceeding profit benchmarks, cutting costs, and reducing turnover.” With just a few phrases, you summarize the key points you want a hiring manager to know about you--the take-away points. Basically, you’re doing the work for the person reading your resume. They don’t have to carefully read the whole page or two pages to figure out what your deal is. A cheat-sheet is right there at the top of the page to tell them who you are and what you can do. Then if they’re interested, they’ll be motivated to go ahead and read the rest of the details you’ve provided in the resume.
GreenLightResume combines two powerful job search tools into one economical package.
