Make Resume Writing Your Speciality!

Author: Swati Sapna

Curriculum Vitae

When the financial recession hit India last year, a lot of people I know were left without jobs. Many friends and acquaintances would forward me their CV’s to either pass on to potential employers or for advice on how to jazz up their resumes. That’s when I realized that writing a good CV is not an easy job! As I spoke to headhunters and recruiting firms, I realized there is a growing demand for specialized ‘Resume Writing’ today.

Gone are the days when a Curriculum Vita used to be just a document with your name, address, date of birth and names of organizations you were employed with in the past. With the growing number of people seeking employment, the need for your CV to stand out in the crowd too has grown. So now your resume needs to reflect your personality, achievements, goals, desires and capability. No easy task this!

Who can write a CV?

Writing a CV sounds like child’s play. We have all done it in the past and there doesn’t seem to be any rocket science to it. But people are increasingly becoming aware of the competition their resume has to face for any particular job opening. Organizations receive hundreds of applications for a post and the first round of shortlisting is often done only on the basis of the CV and covering letter. Therefore the need for specialized resume writers.

If you wish to be a freelance resume writer, here are a few qualities you must possess:

• Good communication skills to understand clients’ profile
• Excellent command over English
• Analytical abilities to analyze and judge what to put in the CV and what not to
• A keen understanding of the job market and the field your client specializes in
• Ability to bring out the personality and individuality of each candidate in a 2-page CV
• Precision and brevity. A good CV is seldom more than 2 pages long unless otherwise specified.
• Client servicing skills to ensure you deliver a CV that satisfies the candidate and does justice to his qualifications, no matter how many revisions may be required.

Professional resume-writing entails constant interaction with the client. So make sure you get every relevant detail of his qualification, education and employment history. Often people do not realize that something inconspicuous like a course in French or a hobby in handwriting analysis can help their CV to stand out. It’s your job to get this information and then decide whether it should find a place on the CV or not.

Fringe benefits

Other than a standard resume, people often wish to redesign their entire CV depending on which job. Position or organization they are applying to. This means presenting the same information in different ways; and as a resume writer you will need to understand the technicalities of each of these job applications for each CV revision.

There is also a growing demand for framing good covering letters to accompany the CV’s. A good cover letter  encapsulates your CV in a few lines and states your purpose or the nature of your application. It also highlights the best of your recent achievements or jobs and provides a concise introduction to the more detailed CV.

As a freelancer starting out in the resume writing service, you can charge anywhere from Rs. 200 to Rs. 2000 per CV. Established resume writing companies and writers charge about Rs. 5000 for a fresher’s CV and up to almost Rs. 25,000 for candidates applying for top level management positions. Revisions are usually not charged extra. But a covering letter costs an additional Rs. 500 to 2000 depending on the candidate’s requirement.

Getting the job

Many websites dedicated to freelance writing jobs like iFreelance, Plug into Projects, Online Writing Jobs,  and others often advertise resume writing projects. There are also specific portals for specialized CV writers like ResumeWriters, vdwriters, Resume Edge and CV Writing India which hire resume writers on a regular basis. You can contact these companies or drop them a mail with your CV and get a place on their panel of writers. Or you can always start off with individual assignments and once you have satisfied clients landing jobs, there will be no looking back.

So tweak that CV and get started on finding people their dream jobs!

About the author:

Swati has been working the field of media for the past 7 years and has experience in advertising, film making, television & news production and script writing. Her passion lies in reading anything she can lay her hands on, watching world cinema, cooking and writing.

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Tagged as: Genre Specific Writing, Resume Writing Tips, writing career tips

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