Why An Automated Resume Builder Isn’t Effective For Most Professionals

During the process of searching for new employment, it is critical to produce an effective resume that will give you the best chance at landing an interview. A slow growing trend has been the practice of incorporating automated resume builders to write and create resumes. Though this process can ease the burden of having to create a resume from scratch, the outcome of the product has the ability to hurt your chances more than it could benefit.

Predesigned Templates

Though templates for each site can vary in design and color that are alluring to use, it is important to realize that creative resumes have the ability to lower your chances at landing an interview. When submitting your resume, you are unable to determine if the color you have chosen or patterns placed on the resume will cause bias from the hiring manager. It is always a good practice to use a template that is plain both in color and style to assure that the content of your resume will always outrank the design.

Formatting

Though the appeal in most automated resume builders is the absent need of having to format the resume yourself, this creates difficulty when it comes to formatting your resume for functional resumes. A functional resume highlights the skills and abilities of a candidate rather than the chronological experience and is used by candidates who experience a long duration of unemployment or lack tenure. Due to the nature of the automated resume builder, it may not allow for circumstantial needs when it comes to creating your resume.

In addition to using these systems, these computerized programs are unable to pay special attention to page limits, white spaces, and the formatting of your skills section. For example, when crafting an entry level resume, you should focus on creating a document that is no longer than a page. A computerized program will not be cognizant of keeping a page limit on your resume content which can ultimately result in the loss of an interview opportunity.

Another thing to keep in mind when using an automated resume builder is white space. White space refers to the amount of space on your resume that doesn’t contain any writing. Having a proper amount of white space can improve your resume’s readability. Automated resume builders can cram the wording in your skills section, ruin the alignment, take away attention to the most important section on your resume, and affect the resume’s aesthetic appeal.

Personalization

Resume builders work well to create quick and easy resumes for the consumer. However, not only is getting an automated resume lacking in the human touch, but it also comes with the risk of a lack of a personalized experience. A resume created by an automated resume builder may not fit for very specific roles. When crafting a resume with a professional resume writer, you will receive a resume designed strategically to fit your needs and desired role, as professional writers are experts and well-versed in a multitude of different industry sectors.

As Career Services Manager at Employment BOOST, William Ratliff leads a team of Certified Professional Resume Writers (CPRW) to produce top quality resumes and innovating career consultations that leverage market insights from real-time executive search analytics. William holds a bachelor’s degree from University of California, Berkeley and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW).

Originally published at https://employmentboost.com on March 28, 2019.