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Recently, I received a call coming from a friend that is a financial planner. He likes to be described as a real mover and shaker in the local world of business, so I can be expecting a lunch invitation a few times every twelve months. (I'm low on the totem pole for the local business scene.) More often than not, the lunch will feature a couple people from related market sectors that my friend is hoping to cross network. I always go. In my business, I don't commonly do a lot locally, nevertheless it's free food.

This occasion, I arrive at a pleasant, sun-drenched seafood restaurant on the beach to discover my friend sitting with some guy in a suit who he then introduces as a resume writer. The guy in the suit quickly tries to rebrand himself as a career coach, although after a few questions, it turns out that the majority of his business is just selling people on the concept that they need a professionally developed resume.

Ostensibly, the concept would be that there may well be some working synergy between a recruiter and a resume writer. I can't fault my buddy for that logic, seems reasonable. Since of course, both manage people during profession change. However, reality is that this couldn't be more distant from reality.

The resume writer perpetuates the fable that the resume gets an interview. Further more, they offer the concept that a fancy (high-priced) resume does a much better job. As a recruiter, we detest that brand of belief.

As soon as we begin working with a candidate, we work with a method of focus. The most marketable feats from their work history as it pertains to the job being sought and isolated. These tend to be specific illustrations with numbers. The rest is then minimized, and these success stories are shoved to the front and sold.

Amongst other considerations, it means that at our direction, the resumes are likely to be rewritten. Elaborate language and terminology is cut. Padding and embellishment is taken out. The resume is changed into a hassle-free chronological road map which leads from one success to the next. It is not hard to follow in hopes that it will lead an interviewer into speaking of the best things our job seeker possesses.

The moral of the story is that headhunters don't believe in elaborate resumes. The resume should be basic and straightforward highlighting achievements that happen to be specific. Resumes are tools to be utilized at an interview, not to get an interview. Don't subscribe to the myth of a $500 resume. It serves up no real advantage.