A well-performing résumé must be distinctive, impactful, and accomplishment-focused. Résumés have evolved from simple employment summaries into professional marketing presentations designed to communicate value, credibility, and fit within a competitive marketplace.
A résumé can no longer function as a simple job description. It must be an accomplishment-rich presentation that showcases the best of your skills and talents. Résumés do not perform well when they are superficial or filled with fluff and grandiose statements. A quality résumé should offer substantial content that demonstrates what you have done, how well you have done it, and the value you have delivered to your employers.
Most people are very adept at doing their jobs and often at a complete loss when it comes to describing their work or accomplishments. I sometimes tell my clients that attempting to write their own résumé can be like trying to perform self-surgery or sew a garment on themselves while wearing it. It can be a daunting challenge. Part of the difficulty is that we naturally view our own experience from the inside out, while a skilled résumé writer can bring an outside-in perspective. We must remember that our reader knows nothing about us until we tell them. And when we tell our story, we must frame it in a way that brings the reader into our experience without leaving them to fill in the blanks or expecting them to know what we have not yet told them.
With 25+ years of professional résumé and business writing experience, I have developed a high level of expertise in interviewing and collaboratively writing with my clients. Often, they think they do not have enough of a story to fill even one page. I remember a senior executive who came to me with two small 3 x 2 Post-it notes and asked if I could make a résumé out of them. I replied, “I can if you interview with me for an hour to an hour and a half.” By the time we concluded the interview, he was amazed by how much rich and compelling content we had uncovered—and by how much of a story he really had to tell! That kind of discovery, transforming overlooked experience into meaningful, quality-focused content, is what a differentiating résumé is all about. I have done it for professionals from every walk of life and at every professional level.
If you would like to discuss your résumé and career goals, contact Nadine for a free consultation. She will personally review your needs, help you identify the résumé package and strategy that best fit your situation, and provide prompt, professional service tailored to your objectives. Packages are available for entry-level, mid-level, executive, and senior-level professionals, with 24-hour service available when needed.
