Don’t want to write your own resume? Got the money available to invest in a professional? Go for it. Don’t listen to garbage advice coming from people online who don’t know any better.
Hiring a professional resume writer can be a really great idea. Especially if you’re having difficulty knowing what to include in your resume or you’re having trouble selling yourself effectively. A professional resume writer will ask the right questions to elicit the information they need to write you a bonza resume, and this is a tool you’ll continue to use and refine for the rest of your life.
If you need the details of a good resume writer, be sure to get in touch and I’d be happy to make some recommendations!
Links I mentioned in this episode:
20. Should I hire a resume writer? – Transcript
[00:00:00] Hi, there I’m Bec McFarland the host of the Pop Your Career Podcast. As a career coach, I’m most passionate about helping my clients to discover their own personal flavour of career fulfillment. In this podcast, we are going to be exploring ways that you too can feel more fulfilled by your work. So strap yourself in, get ready for the ride. The tips around here are fast and in abundance.
[00:00:29] Hello hello. It’s Bec McFarland here, helping you do better and be better in your career. And today this episode was inspired by some comments that I saw on a local notice board. We’re talking about should I hire a resume writer?
[00:00:53] So the comment that inspired this episode. [00:01:00] Oh, I was in a local notice board and someone was in there looking for advice on writing a resume, in particular for the Australian Public Service, which is pretty common here. So for those of you who don’t know, I live in Canberra, which is the capital of Australia, and a lot of the people in Canberra work in the Australian Public Service.
[00:01:22] So people wanting to apply for those public service jobs, it’s quite common. A lot of my career coaching clients are in the public service or are looking to get into the public service. So I do a lot of work in this area. And one of the commenters on this post kind of made this comment that was like, ‘Oh yeah, well, don’t pay someone else to write your resume for you, because I’ve been a hiring manager before. And we know when you’ve done that. And we always just throw those resumes out because we know that the person [00:02:00] hasn’t written themself’. And I’ve gotta tell you, when I read this, like, oh my gosh, my eyes, they rolled back into my head because I thought, here’s another person out there on the internet giving advice on something that they obviously have absolutely zero idea about.
[00:02:24] So today, I wanted to talk to you about this topic, about the topic of hiring a resume writer and in fact paying somebody else to write your resume on your behalf. I’m sure that you can gather already that I definitely don’t agree with this commenter. In fact, I think that what they have said is absolute garbage.
[00:02:48] And I am definitely saying this from a perspective of somebody who used to run a resume writing business and who wrote resumes on behalf of other people for many, many years. But I am also saying that from a [00:03:00] perspective of a person who has been on many recruitment panels in both the public and private sector, I have scribed for many interviews, been involved in many different recruitment processes, and believe me, there has never been a point ever in all of that time, can I say, in my whole career, spanning from now in 2022, all the way back to 2005. During that time, there has never been an instance where I have or a panel member has in my presence, marked somebody down, or in fact put their resume in the bin because it has been written by a professional. Never.
[00:03:59] Oh [00:04:00] gosh, when I see these things out there on the internet. So look, yes, I will be honest with you, a lot of the time a panel member or hiring manager, can tell when there’s been some professional help, but never, definitely. You know, there are a lot of people who write their resumes themselves and actually do a really great job. I would be one of those people, right?
[00:04:29] I mean, could you imagine if I applied for a job and I got marked down and had my resume thrown in the bin because they thought that I had had it written by a professional or that I’d paid somebody to do it?
[00:04:44] Well, in fact, it’s just really good because I spent years writing resumes for other people. It just doesn’t make sense. It just absolutely does not make sense. So, yeah, look, sometimes it is [00:05:00] obvious that the person may have received some help, but there’s no way for anyone to know for certain, unless you like write it on there, which nobody in the history of ever has ever done, like this is why I’m so confused about this.
[00:05:20] One of the reasons that I will often recommend to somebody that they should go and hire a professional is that if they’re having trouble getting the information out and they’re having trouble packaging it in a way that could be appealing on the other end. Now, why could this be? It could be because the person is suffering from imposter syndrome, which is actually what the next episode is all about.
[00:05:45] But there are lots of different reasons, right? Maybe they’ve never had to write a resume before. Maybe they just lack confidence, or maybe they don’t have the experience in preparing [00:06:00] resume documents or job applications, and they’ve never really had to think about the way that they sell themselves before. I mean, there are literally so many different reasons that somebody could go and hire a professional.
[00:06:13] Are there any instances where I would say to somebody, Please do not go and hire a professional? No. No, there are not. The only reason that I would ever suggest to somebody not to hire a resume writer would be that if they can’t afford the investment, and that would literally be the only reason because there is absolutely no harm.
[00:06:36] This episode is brought to you by the Career Clarity Quest, my absolutely free, seven day program, which is designed to support you in getting so much clearer about your next steps. Find it at PopYourCareer.com/quest.
[00:06:55] So what does working with a resume writer look like? Well, I [00:07:00] have never hired a resume writer myself, but I have spent many, many years on the other end. And so usually what would happen is we would start off with a consultation. So I would work with the client, I would ask them a whole lot of questions. We would go through and talk about their work history and I would prompt them by asking them a lot of questions. So I would be asking them about what they actually did when they worked there.
[00:07:26] I would be asking them for examples of particular skills that they have demonstrated and what those situations were, I would also ask them about their achievements and the things that they’re really proud of about their career.
[00:07:41] Now for me, this consultation used to go for anywhere between about 30 and 60 minutes. Longer, if someone had a really long career or if they were also purchasing a selection criteria response, but usually for [00:08:00] somebody who’s been doing this kind of work for a really long time, 30 to 60 minutes is plenty of time to get the information that they need.
[00:08:08] What would happen next is that I would go away with all of that information and I would start to write it out. Now when I’m writing it, I’m writing it with the attitude and the approach of wanting to really sell the important parts of that person’s career history. I’m wanting to really sell their skills and attributes that particularly line up with the role or the types of roles that that person is applying for.
[00:08:35] If I’ve been provided with a position description for a specific role that they’re applying for that I would definitely be looking at keyword and style of language and things like that to make sure that I am targeting the job application to the organization that they would like to work at and making sure that just everything aligns and that if the job advertisement was a question, then the resume and [00:09:00] the job application is the answer.
[00:09:02] Once I’d written the document, I would provide it back to the client. They would have an opportunity to go through it, to ask questions, to have changes made. Then we would finish it off. They would get their final version and they would be on their way. This is a pretty standard process, right? And as far as I’m concerned, it’s really just not that big of a deal.
[00:09:24] When working with a resume writer, the magic really happens in that consultation. It’s the resume writer’s job to ask the correct questions in order to get the information that they need to be able to sell the applicant appropriately. So all of the information that’s going into the resume is coming from you, the client.
[00:09:47] The resume writer is not undertaking a creative writing exercise. They’re not making stuff up as they go along. They’re simply phrasing or rephrasing [00:10:00] the information that you have provided to them in that initial consultation. And the reason that they’re able to do this so seamlessly, is because of the fact that they’ve spent hours and hours and hours learning and honing their craft in the same way that you have spent hours and hours and hours learning and honing your craft.
[00:10:28] So what’s the verdict? Should you hire a resume writer? Look, if you’ve got the money available and you can afford the investment, personally, I think it’s a brilliant investment to make and one that will continue to pay for itself for years and years to come. Sometimes it can just be what you need to get you started, to help you understand the way that you are able to sell yourself to potential employers, and what I’ve [00:11:00] seen for a lot of people is that having their resume written for them and seeing all of their own skills and experience and achievements there in black and white in front of them is actually a huge confidence booster and means that they will actually go on to perform far better in interviews because now they not only have that confidence, but they also have the language to really be able to sell themselves in that interview situation. It is so powerful, and I have seen so many people achieve success through having their resume written by a resume writer.
[00:11:42] So if you see someone out there on the internet telling lies about the fact that employers know when you’ve had something written professionally and they’re going to throw your application out, please just ignore them. They don’t know what they’re [00:12:00] talking about. And honestly, having a resume written by a resume writer is so, so, so common these days that I would suggest that there are probably more people having their resumes written for them than what you might think. Anyhow, I hope that this has helped.
[00:12:18] Have a fabulous week and I’ll see you next time.
[00:12:22] Thanks so much for listening to the Pop Your Career podcast. I hope that you’ve enjoyed today’s tips and that you found value in what I’ve shared with you. If you like your career advice quick and entertaining, I would love for you to subscribe. Also leave me a rating and a review. If you wanna continue the conversation, come and join me over on social media. You can find me everywhere at Pop Your Career. I’ll see you soon.
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