Resume tip: Ask for help if you need it
Options - and prices - abound for design as well as writing and consulting services
We hear about the importance of a good resume everywhere: from schools, career counselors, and human resources co-workers. A resume is your chance to make a first impression with a potential employer - a way of selling yourself.
A resume is important, and we recognize that sometimes we all need a helping hand in this department. After all, that
With this in mind, the Globe went to three companies that specialize in designing resumes. We tested their skills against the opinions of a real human resources pro, Boston University's Shawn Flynn, who knows exactly what he wants to see in a potential recruit's resume.
We went to Beacon Hill Resume, CareerPro Resume Service, and the Huntington Avenue Gnomon Copy and found different options, ideas, and prices.
Simplicity is important. You want a resume that easily conveys who you are and what you do to a person who has 1,000 other people to screen.
"I enjoy a chronological order that's neat and that I can walk through," Flynn said.
"Another key thing: A lot of people just put dates, but they don't put months with the dates, and that is gigantic," he said, "If you just put the years down, to me there could be something suspect in there. If you say from 2007-2008, alright, great, but when in 2007 did you start? Did you start in December and end in January?"
There are a few things to keep in mind when designing a resume. If money is a concern and you believe your resume is already well-written, you may just want to go with a designer. A designer will spruce it up visually and charge you a lot less than a business consultant, who will take your resume down to the beams and completely rewrite it.
Our choice, Gnomon Copy, was by far the cheapest option - five to 10 times cheaper than the others - and is a good example of a creative outlet for redesigning the look and feel of your old resume. If you have good words on paper and just want it to look as good as you've written it, the $37.50 they charged is a great bargain for a quality product.
Now, there's a sporting chance that if you're looking for professional help, the design might not be your only problem. That's where Beacon Hill Resume and CareerPro come in. Their primary function is to sit down with you (or call or e-mail as your schedule permits) and come up with a resume, often from scratch, that will best convey what you're trying to get across to an employer.
The last thing to keep in mind is that the oft-heard "one-page rule" doesn't necessarily apply. If you're very experienced and have legitimate content to add to your resume, add it.
"The one-page rule doesn't necessarily apply to me," Flynn said. "It applies if you don't have a lot of experience."
John Guilfoil can be reached at jguilfoil@globe.com
