A professionally written resume can spark the interest of hiring managers and recruiters; keep your personal network well informed; and give you the confidence you need to ace an interview. But here are six things your resume cannot do:
- Your resume cannot get you a job. It can get you phone calls and interviews; but the final result is up to the company who interviews you.
- Your resume cannot qualify you for a job you are not qualified for. You need keywords in your resume but you need keywords that reflect your real skills, accomplishments, and education. An interview quickly exposes any gaps in your knowledge that you may have hidden on your resume. And if the interview does not expose you, your first week on the job will.
- Your resume cannot take over for a complete job search. You need to interact with real people: network online and offline and involve as many people as possible in your job search. Your resume can help those people understand the type of job you are looking for and the value you bring to a company.
- Your resume cannot mind-meld with recruiters and hiring managers. Whatever you leave off your resume or fail to emphasize is going to pass unnoticed by recruiters and hiring managers. If you want them to know something, you must tell them in either your resume or the accompanying cover letter/email.
- Your resume cannot stand alone, without a cover letter or email. Maybe hiring managers or recruiters will not read the cover letter—but maybe they will look for it and be annoyed if it does not exist. Why take the chance?
- Your resume cannot update itself. The standards for resumes, your career goals, your education, and certainly your experience may have changed since your last job search. Your resume should have a complete overhaul to keep it up-to-date in every respect.
You need a resume because only a resume can get you through the applicant tracking systems, network referrals, hiring managers, and recruiters to the actual job interview. I write can-do resumes. Contact me today.