Beware of those who say they are professional resume writers

This week I have had three conversations with different senior professionals who had resumes I evaluated that were unacceptable and all three told me that the resume was composed by individuals or firms that represented themselves as professional resume writers. At first I was shocked and then I realized their problem. Those purporting to know how to write resumes have never been part of the process evaluating, screening or hiring persons and therefore don't have a clue as to what the audience actually wants. They are no different than writers who think they are sportswriters but never played the game let alone are not fans, they don't have an idea what their readers really want to know or what is important.

Here are a few things to ask anyone writing resumes, be they a friend or professional. How many have you written and for what industry or professional level? Have they ever been associated to the decision-making process? What principles in the resume does the writer hold to?

If they haven't written thousands literally this person is not qualified, period. If they have never been part of the hiring and screening process, be it in human resources, recruiting or a hiring manager or executive they have no idea what the discriminating audience is looking for in resumes. If they cannot convey what is critically important in a resume, they don't know what they are doing.