Why people dislike writing their resumes 

Writing your resume under pressure rather than keeping it updated can take a good career exercise and turn it into a stressful event. People often describe a love-hate relationship with their resume, loving the way it helps them generate attention from employers while hating the process of structuring their content.

While resumes continue to evolve with different formats and purposes the benefits of listing your accomplishments remains an effective way to build confidence.

Yet writing your resume can be challenging when transitioning your career. The reasons vary from person to person, some dislike the self-promotion a resume presents while others fear they will be judged from their work history alone.

You may never feel comfortable with the idea of telling people about your greatest achievements however advancing your career will most likely involve a resume at some point. Rather than focusing on the discomfort, it helps to concentrate on the purpose of writing a strong resume — to make an introduction to potential employers.

Here are some common reasons why people dislike writing their resumes and what you can do to help ease the pain. If I had to list the reasons in order, I would probably rank the No. 1 reason as being uncomfortable with bragging. When it comes to identifying your strengths, if you don’t stand up for yourself and tell what you did to add value in your job, who will?

Your strengths need to come from you and the candidates who land the best job offers talk about their contributions without sounding like a braggart. Most people run away from braggers, but during a career transition, replace what you might construct as bragging with telling the facts.

Another area of resume discomfort is the scope of accomplishments. Not all people will have Olympic-size goals on their resumes, rather be yourself. The goals you have on your resume need to be important to the employer as well as you. Don’t get stuck on whether you have lofty goals instead focus on the value, skills used and results you accomplish when doing your job.

The notion of writing accomplishments can be further delayed when you don’t know how to write one that will attract an employer. Here is a trusted technique that makes the process of writing accomplishments somewhat easier and gives you a formula to follow — it’s called a SAR technique. The SAR acronym stands for; situation, action and results.

Apply the SAR formula to your accomplishments and you will end up with a clear and concise story that tells a potential employer about the situation, the action steps or skills used, and the results produced. Using the SAR technique will always take your accomplishments to the next level where employers can quickly grasp your value matching it to their needs.

Being judged is not the best feeling in the world and your resume basically helps an employer judge whether you would be a good match before they talk with you. You may have the best personality combined with all kinds of good intentions but if your resume does not include the skills, abilities and results the employer is looking for most likely you will be passed over.

Truthfully, your resume is being critiqued by employers and tracking systems that scan for key words and skills. Your resume is for introducing yourself to your future employer, and believe me: If you don’t come across to an employer as a good match for their needs you will be screened out of the interviewing process.

Writing your resume can seem overwhelming especially when you are starting your career or when you have 20-plus years of experience, both groups often get stuck when deciding what to include and what to leave out. The discouragement in knowing what to edit and to keep often keeps people from creating a resume with a relevant message.

Multitudes of advice on resume writing is enough to confuse the strongest candidate, keeping them second guessing the right format or number of pages. I remember one manager going through a job search rewriting and formatting his resume more than 30 times. He became so preoccupied with the perfect resume that it kept him from actually job searching. It can be confusing but know that your resume will change for different opportunities and everyone has an opinion.

Believe in your resume content, make it your best advocate for your skills and enthusiasm. Add your unique combination of experience, emotional intelligence and tailor it to the employer’s needs. You may always dislike the process but once you start writing down your accomplishments, you’ll discover strengths you might have taken for granted and your confidence will soar.

What makes you dislike writing a resume? How did you overcome it?


Kim Thompson