by Trevor Gelder, Corporate Director
Talent Acquisition and Deployment
Having your resume professionally done can be a great benefit. I believe that many construction superintendents can particularly benefit from a professional resume. In my years in recruitment, I have seen more very talented superintendents under-represented by weak resumes than any other group. I believe this is because many superintendents have been educated in the field. The ability to write papers, good spelling and grammar are not critical skills for a superintendent the way they are in most office jobs. Unfortunately, writing a good resume that really represents you well is challenging, even for people with good writing skills. As more superintendents become better educated the competition in this field – and the importance of an impressive resume – will continue to increase. These issues aren’t unique to superintendents, as I have seen many resumes from high-level executives with typos and errors.
Your resume is your main marketing tool in your job search. Therefore, it is a very good idea to have your resume professionally done if your writing skills are not as strong as those you are competing against for the job. Everyone should try to find someone who has decent writing skills to proof their resume and run it through a spell checker.
A poor resume can cost you a job, and even if you get the job it may affect how much your offer is. One quick caveat, however: Make sure your professional resume writer knows your industry, writes in a voice that is genuine to you, and does truly know how to write a good resume.