As a professional writer, I discovered early that collaborative writing was a vital résumé writing tool. When I began résumé writing 20 years ago, I hired a front-line representative that booked appointments and filled out questionnaires for callers. When I tried to write from such material, I realized very quickly that I had many unanswered questions that would require directly interviewing with my clients. And from the beginning, I found the personal interview and collaborative writing to be differentiating résumé writing tools and methodologies. So, I began writing résumé content as I interviewed my clients, and developed constructs around their accountabilities and accomplishments.

It surprises me that few people in my field write with their clients. I find it almost impossible not to write with them. In doing so, I have found that the quality of material we come up with together is far superior to anything that I could ever write from a client’s written work summary. The reality is if our clients could write the material, they wouldn’t need us. If they knew what to include and what not to include, they wouldn’t need us. Often clients do not think of their job in terms of the value and results that they bring to a company. During our interview, we discover, pair, and articulate contributions and accomplishments. As I tell my clients, when I write with talented people, I find that 90% of the wonderful material we come up wasn’t in their former résumé or on any questionnaire. Thus, collaborative writing has become a hallmark of my résumé writing service, and a differentiating advantage that I can offer my clients. And I believe this has become the largest contributing factor to the wonderful market responses that they report.

Personalized caring service, collaborative writing, and meaningful content that tell a client’s story are very powerful and impacting advantages. Often, I tell my clients to “go for the gold”, to try for dream job that they may not feel qualified for. I had one client call me from the IDS building in Minneapolis saying, “Nadine, I am interviewing for positions here that I never thought I could qualify for. This resume has opened doors for me that I never anticipated.”

In a word, this is what I believe the magic of collaborative writing is all about. It allows me to tell my client’s story, not to oversell, not to undersell, but to articulate the best of what they have to offer. And this byproduct of collaborative writing has become the differentiating advantage that drives results for my clients.