• By Art Gib
• Published 05/11/2011
• Writing

You’ve probably already pulled out your old resume for a dust-off and revamp. If you’re lucky, you have a job you currently enjoy and which brings you enough money for your needs; if you’re like many during this economic downtime, you’re looking for another job, and that means marketing yourself effectively enough to catch the interest of a future employer swamped in resumes. There are different reasons why you will need a resume and different types of resumes you can put together. A professional resume writing service in Dallas, San Diego, New York, Omaha, or wherever you live and work can be a great resource for a well-written, thoughtful, and exciting self-marketing tool – especially for those who are seeking highly paid positions requiring sometimes exhaustive experience, such as for executive resumes. For others, an experienced writing professional can help your resume stand out from all the rest by producing a document that not only displays your work history but lets whoever is doing the hiring get to know you as a person who stands out from the crowd.

For DIYers, resume templates are abundant, many are free, and many are great looking. A template allows you to simply plug in information without the bother of worrying about how to do the layout and overall look or the money to spend on hiring someone who does know how. This is ideal for those without a lot of experience in software that allow you to manipulate images and

text on a page. The big disadvantage to a template is that you can’t customize it too much beyond adding text, but if you have the skills, you can also use a template as a jumping off point for further customization. A resume, at its most basic, is a history of your work experience, education, and skills. Depending on where you’re applying, the information can be edited in such a way as to show off particular skills, education, or work history that demonstrate that you are a good fit for a particular company. Someone with years of experience can pick and choose what to highlight to their best advantage. Someone with very little experience can choose to highlight education, volunteer work in related areas, or personal interests and passions that make you a trainable, hard working addition to a team. In all resumes, regardless of experience, three things are a must: perfect spelling, great grammar, and impeccable punctuation. Have someone you trust double-check your final copy before having a hundred resumes printed that all include gross spelling errors or run-on sentences. Nothing turns off employers more quickly than the raw evidence of ignorance. Even if spelling was never your strong suit, there’s no need to advertise that when a job is at stake, and employers prefer hiring someone who pays attention to the small details.

Whether you hire a professional or do it yourself, it’s never a bad idea to update your resume on a regular basis. You never know when that perfect opportunity will knock, and it’s a good feeling to be prepared.