10 Resume Experts We Love

10 Resume Experts We Love 10 Resume Experts We Love Welcome to Top 10, Recruiter.coms weekly rundown of the best  of the best in recruiting! Every Friday, we release a list of some of our favorite people, things, and ideas dominating the industry. From awesome tech tools and cool companies to great books and powerful trends, no stone in the recruiting space will be left unturned. This Week:  Top 10 Resume Experts Everyone needs a resume. And when something is so common,youd think it would be simple â€" but as we all know, thats not the case. Theres a reason there are so darn many professional resume writers out there: Because writing a resume isnt just way to get a job â€"  its basically a job in itself. For todays edition of Top 10, weve compiled a list of some of our favorite resume experts. Even if youre not in the market for someone to write your resume for you, youd do well to pay attention to the insights these writers often share on their sites and at various publications across the Web. Theres always room for improvement â€" especially when it comes to one of the most critical documents of your career. 1. Wendi Weiner A former college writing professor, Weiner is also a Nationally Certified Resume Writer (NCRW) â€" one of only 49 people to hold that distinction at press time. Whats more, Weiner is also an attorney. Thats a rare combination â€" attorney and resume writer â€" but its a combination that allows Weiner to better understand what makes a great resume. Attorneys are trained to think in a very different way, Weiner says. That logic and the ability to grasp the best selling point of a client â€" much like making a winning legal argument to a judge â€" transcends into stronger writing skills. Learn more. 2. Angela Copeland Angelas site, Copeland Coaching, is chock full of insights into not only resume writing, but also the job search and career success. She also produces an excellent podcast where she engages in enlightening conversations with a variety of industry experts. (Full-disclosure: Recruiter.coms managing editor, Matthew Kosinski, once appeared on the podcast.) Angela also has a relatively unorthodox approach to writing resumes for job seekers: She doesnt just produce a resume for you â€" she coaches you through it. This is a different philosophy [from the one] many resume writers use, Copeland says. Typically, a job seeker takes a more hands-off approach and the writer does the work for them. I prefer to do the work with the job seeker. This helps to ensure that their resume is completely accurate and that they are comfortable with it. Learn more. 3. Brette Rowley Rowley is a career coach to millennials, but that doesnt mean her expertise is only relevant to Gen. Y. Regardless of how old you are or what stage your career is at, Rowley has plenty of useful resume and job search insights available for you on her site. According to Rowley, her biggest strength as a resume expert is her background in marketing â€" and we agree. To wit: My marketing background lends itself to helping job seekers actually stand out from their peers, rather than following industry standards. Rowley approaches resumes as conversation starters. To her, your resume isnt just a description of your work experience â€" its a full-fledged marketing campaign that should leave employers wanting more the way any good advertising effort should. Learn more. 4. Dana Leavy-Detrick When you need help making your resume look great from a design perspective, look no further than Leavy-Detricks Brooklyn Resume Studio. Leavy-Detrick puts her prior experience in the design industry to great use, as evidenced by her portfolio of previous work. Working with folks in advertising, marketing, and design for 10+ years has shown me the importance of strong visual and content branding and the ability to tell a compelling story about why your product/service (in this case, your skill sets and experience) bring unique value to a customer (employer), Leavy-Detrick says. Even if you dont work in a creative field, it never hurts to hand an employer a visually exciting resume. Learn more. 5. Angela Lussier Angela Lussier is the leader of the Anti-Resume Revolution (she also authored a book by the same name). And what, exactly, is the Anti-Resume Revolution? Its ditching the by-the-numbers resumes of the old days and crafting a personal brand that will lead you to a more authentic life. If youre tired of being boiled down to a few bullet points on a piece of paper, Lussiers revolution is just what youve been waiting for. Learn more. (A big shout-out to Becky Blanton, author of The Homeless Entrepreneur, who reached out to make sure Lussier was on our radar. Were glad she did.) 6. Erin Kennedy Need help with your executive resume? Then Kennedy is the expert for you. She might just be the best in the biz when it comes to crafting executive-level resumes. Dont believe me? You should know that Kennedy has the industry recognition to back it up: Shes been nominated multiple times for Toast of the Resume Industry (T.O.R.I.) awards, shes won the Best Executive Resume award, and her company has the distinction of being the first to ever receive seven nominations in one year. Who can compete with that? Learn more. 7. Donna Svei If you hire a resume writer, you run the risk of ending up with a mass-produced document â€" something that was very clearly churned out by a professional and lacks your unique voice. This is a problem Svei is acutely aware of. While I believe credentialed writers produce a better resume than most people can write for themselves, they also write resumes that recruiters can easily spot as coming from a mill, Svei says. Couple her awareness of the pitfalls of (some) professional writers with her financial background as a CPA â€" which helps her make a concrete, bottom-line friendly case for a job seeker â€"  and you have a resume expert who knows that hard data and authenticity are not mutually exclusive. Learn more. 8. Olivia Jaras Speaking of financial backgrounds: Unlike many of the people featured on this list, Jaras is not a resume writer. She is, however, a compensation coach â€" and thats exactly why shes a resume expert. Ive seen too many career coaches and recruiters focus on formatting the resume to get an interview, but they dont take into account that â€" to a very large extent â€" your resume will also determine your salary, Jaras says. The best resumes walk a fine line between self-promotion and establishing a firm relation between your worth and the position description, because ultimately, whomever sets your salary will judge you and make assumptions [based] on the paper portrait of you. Its easy to forget that resumes dont only get you to an interview, that they have an impact on the companys perception of your worth as well. Thats why its important to follow the advice of someone like Jaras when youre crafting your resume. Learn more. 9. Joseph Terach Terach seems to be a fan favorite among our readers. He received more nominations than anyone else. Why? Because hes darn good at what he does. Heres Mark S. on why he nominated Terach for our list: He taught me how to write an effective resume by highlighting my professional achievements using specific, measurable bullet points that not only helped me land that cherished interview, but also provided talking points and direction to the conversation during the interview. This in turn gave me some sorely needed confidence (I had limited success interviewing theretofore), as I walked into each interview knowing I could clearly and succinctly highlight how I could add value to an organization. Learn more. 10. Emily Kapit Rounding out our list is Kapit, who believes that the key to career success is implementing a Consistency of Excellence approach to ones job search. What does that mean exactly? For Kapit, it means collaborat[ing] with each client on identifying [their] unique career values, accomplishments to date, and transferable skills before translating this info into powerful professional documents and job search strategies. Kapit doesnt see a resume as just a document; she sees it as a piece in a bigger puzzle, which is why she and her team at ReFresh Your Step dont stop at resumes. They also help clients with their LinkedIn profiles, job search strategies, mock interviews, career guidance, and more. When you need to go the comprehensive route, turn to Kapit. Learn more.