A resume or curriculum vitae is not only a document stating employment history - it is much more.

It is a written representation of you!

While a photograph provides an exterior compilation, a resume is a snapshot of your accrued skills, strengths and creative talents. To an employer, a resume IS you – and it will be what compels them to either contact you or to throw your resume into the wastebasket, along with your dreams and aspirations.

The average person who writes his/her own resume usually believes:

"With this resume I'll get the job I want, the money I deserve, and finally have a career where I can reach my goals."

While this is well and good, the typical employer does not lose much sleep fretting about your career or financial well being. An employer worries how he/she can find the right person to run the expanding computer network or wonders why he/she can't find a competent manager to direct the burgeoning sales staff.

For a resume to be successful, it must do three things:

Convey a positive image of yourself to the employer in less than five seconds
Showcase how you can satisfy the employer's needs better than any other applicant
Compel the employer to contact you for an interview
How can a resume do this?
The writer must know what skills the employer requires in an employee
The writer must have expertise in the written word
The writer must know how to produce a document that will highlight relevant skills in an informative, effective and concise manner
A poorly written resume conveys the same impression to the employer as showing up at the interview in tattered and torn clothing.