You can’t be everything to everybody – neither can your resume.

In this recession, I often encounter job seekers who are fleeing their fields in search of entirely new careers without knowing what new paths to pursue. Although it’s good to explore all possibilities, your resume must always be clearly focused toward a specific goal.

Unfortunately, too many job seekers make the mistake of relying on one, single resume to garner interviews for different position types throughout several industries. This is a losing strategy, because it only serves the purpose of being convenient to the job seeker and does not take the employer’s interests into consideration.

Each resume you send must be focused on the job you are applying to. On average, employers will only give your resume an initial 10-second glance to see if you are more qualified for the job than your fellow applicants.

Statistically speaking, HR offices are accepting hundreds (these days, even thousands) of applications from other candidates who are hungry for the available position. If you are vague or unimpassioned, your resume will not normally pass the initial screening.

Your resume must be targeted in keywords as well. Most employers rely on scanning devices to locate your resume through online job sites or their own databases. Let’s say you are sending your resume to a sales position for a shoe manufacturer. The resume screener may search keywords such as “manufacturers’ representative,” “manufacturing sales,” or “shoes” if they want to find candidates who have experience with their products or selling on behalf of manufacturing firms. When they conduct these searches, they will end up with two types of candidates, those who have a lot of manufacturing sales experience and those who don’t but are still selling themselves specifically to this opportunity.

So be smart. If you just load up your resume with a bunch of strengths, it will impress few employers, bore the reader, and come across as “white noise” when compared with the hundreds of resumes that are currently following the same failing strategy. If you don’t sell yourself towards a clear goal, then your resume may realistically be a waste of any time or effort that you put in.

Moral of the story: If you have multiple career goals, use multiple resumes.

How to Compare Resume Services

When it comes to finding the perfect resume writing service to meet your needs, you need to perform your due diligence. Here are some tips to assist you in determining which resume service will best cater to your needs.

Think Big: Most of the resume services featured on this site are larger companies that employ numerous resume writers who specialize in different fields. This is a good thing, because it means that you will usually be able to find a resume writer who has significant experience in developing resumes for profession. Also, if you are not pleased with your assigned resume writer, most larger companies can reassign your resume to a writer who can better meet your needs.

Check the Credentials: Ideally, you should be seeking resume writing services that offer at least a high rating from the Better Business Bureau. In addition, you should use a writer who has at least one resume writing credential from a major resume writing associations such as the Professional Association of Resume Writers (PARW) or the National Resume Writers' Association (NRWA). In this economy, a lot of jobless and completely inexperienced professionals decided resume writing would be an easy way to make money without even attempting to learn the art of resume writing They may try to convince you that credentials don't mean anything, and that professional resume writing associations only act as unions to writers, but that is completely false. These associations exist to train, examine, merit, and continually educate resume writers. They do not offer union benefits.

Evaluate the Samples: Free resume samples will give you a good idea as to the quality of work you can expect from resume writing service. Beware of any resume writing service that refuses to show you samples of their work.

Review the Guarantee: Never go with a resume writing service that will not back up their claims with an iron-clad guarantee. While most services will not guarantee a full refund, most will ensure you get free rewrites until you are fully satisfied.