I can wholeheartedly say that I love what I do. I love creating an organized and polished document from chaos, and helping people present the best versions of themselves. I feel that people often sell themselves short, and having a 3rd party look over and help you create your document can greatly benefit you when it comes to noting all of your qualifications.
That said, the most common question I get asked as a certified professional resume writer is “What do you think is the most important aspect about a resume/what makes a resume great?” The answer is actually very interesting, and not necessarily what you may think. Obviously formatting, how reader friendly the document is, and aesthetics are very important for first impressions, but past that, what I believe is really the most important aspect of a resume is the research behind it.
You may be wondering what exactly this means, so let me explain. A great resume comes from someone who has putt effort into the appearance of the document, but also from someone who has done a lot of research on the company and the position they are applying for. A great resume isn’t the same document used for every job application, or submitted by someone who has blindly applied to 30 jobs that day, but a great resume has heart and soul.
Someone who takes the effort to research the company and the position offered to implement these aspects into their resume will absolutely be recognized. When reading resumes, I can usually tell at first glance whether or not someone has put customizations for the job in it, and how much time they spent on it.
Often I see people blindly apply to jobs, and then if they do get a response, they don’t even know which job they applied for. I can’t even begin to explain how irritating this is to me, so when someone obviously does want this specific job, and puts research and time into their resume, I will at the very least call them to discuss the opportunity further, if not call them in for an interview.
The bottom line is that formatting and wording can make a resume good, but putting in the effort to show why you really want this specific job and would work well within this specific company will make your resume great!