Would you prefer to write your own resume or hire a professional resume writer? Explain why?

Personally I would write it because I know what I did, what the immediate and direct impact was. This, to me, prevents stretching the truth so far it becomes a lie. That being said I understand professional resume writers know what they are doing and can word something far better than I. Maybe after my first round of resumes I will see how things go.

Today corporations have computers do the filtering for the job selection process. It is vital you take a look at the announcement and use the key words they have used. Otherwise you will be put on the bottom of the pile! Additionally, use the key words for your particular job description and try to match the wording for the job announcement. Although this sounds hard it is quite easy. Just compare your experience and correlate the words used in the job announcement to promote the best vision you can of a competent employee wanting to do the job offered by the employer.

If you know someone in the industry in which you are looking, then have them take a look at your resume to offer critique. Different industries will look at resumes with different focuses at times. Always best to write it yourself and get help from there. If it needs to be rewritten because you don't feel confident in your writing then that is okay as well. The goal of the resume is to get you in the door for an interview and hopefully you shine from there.

You should do your Master Resume, however if you hire a professional to do your civilian and your GS Resume, you can then tweek it as well as write it off on your end of year taxes

I personally write them all myself as I have found that with my educational background and command of English I can outperform most professional resume writers. I think that to answer that question properly for any individual, that individual must make an honest assessment of their own skills and consider which resume will do them the most good. There is no single answer for everybody.

Just a thought - look for a professional resume writer (I've been one and continue to do them as part of another integrated service rather than as a stand-alone) who has prior military service themselves. The best resumes are written in conjunction with the person, not in isolation. When local, I sit down face to face with the person so I can clarify things and what exactly was done, obtain additional information, then speak it back to the client to ensure there is nothing being misrepresented, and thereby allowing them to hear it in "resume language." If not, there are copious emails exchanges or either Skype or Hangout meetings where I essentially do the same thing for those who are not local to me. I'm actually in the process of launching what will be a more virtual business for vocational services, including resume writing, which will initially be geared towards transitioning military, their dependents, and individuals with disabilities (veterans or not) as those are my more immediate clientele right now in my regular job. Regardless of what direction you choose to go, it is really important to communicate with the resume writer or have someone review it who is familiar with the resume scanning software in use these days, and so forth. The wording is often more important to keeping attention than the content. The average length of time spent on the first round scan of a pile of resumes is 3 seconds per resume. If you don't grab them by then, you probably won't make the first cut. That was a study done a while back by the professional human resources societies. There are similar national certification groups for resume writers, but there are plenty of outstanding non-affiliated independent writers who can either tweak something you've done or write one from scratch for you. Don't hesitate to ask about process, either. Best of luck to you!

Write yourself and use Google as your friend. Find someone who is searching for or has obtained your ideal position. Leverage their resume and learn from it. Then get one of your high speed friends or a mentor to provide guidance.

I see many in the military don't transcribe the lingo to employer English. I truly believe your training to include Non-commissioned leadership schools = Advanced Leadership School focused on program management, employee development and process improvement. Your experiences including Organizational Inspection = Managed 6 employees to implement and sustain critical program that supported 400 soldiers, xyz dollars and ensured 100% audit compliance.

Recognized for excellence by earning outstanding rating on NCOER, bonus (time off award) and promotion. I always end with a positive.

The resume is only getting you to interview so be creative and transcribe these and other accomplishments to show your continued success and progression!

I believe that it depends on the type of job one is applying for. For a long time, I wrote my own but got no where. I was using one specific format, trying to make one style apply to all the jobs I applied for. After a lot of frustration, I had a resume writer do a review so I could find out what I was doing wrong. Based on the review, I rewrote my resume's (I had 5 different ones, each tailored to a specific job type). It worked, started getting responses within a few weeks.

You need to write your own resume. No one but you knows your complete skill set. To get a job, the resume is the ticket to the interview. It is important to target the resume for the desired position. In the job announcement most employers make known the knowledge, skills and abilities the successful candidate needs to possess. There are tools available like O*Net.com to assist the job seeker/resume writer. It also has a cross walk that converts MOS to civilian occupations.

Both, a pro knows a lot more about how to shape a resume so that it targets a particular employer. Also, friends that have used professional resume writers have told me it was the best money they spent. I recommend it.