Resumes are to business what lead is to mechanical pencils – indispensable. Sure, in the age of the Internet, there are sample resumes posted galore and it would be easy to just cut and paste with little thought given to the final appearance of your resume, since it is just a piece of paper, right? Wrong! What might look good on a resume template may not fit you at all. Similarly, free resume examples are oftentimes free because they are generic, run of the mill, and do not hold the special buzz words that add power and persuasiveness to the paper.

Those in the job market should consider their resume as being the first impression an employer will have of them. The prospective employer is daily inundated with the pages obviously created from do-it-yourself resume templates which contain grammatical errors, punctuation problems, and which are sometimes still using formats that are now considered outdated.

To this end the sample resume you might consider using to model your resume after might be so flawed that it is seriously impeding your chances of winningly competing for the coveted job before you even go the suit back from the cleaner’s. This might tempt some of the less savvy jobseekers to dispense with the resume altogether, and instead they will simply fill out an applications and then hope for a telephone call – which rarely if ever comes. The seasoned job seeker, on the other hand, uses the resume samples to gather the information that is most likely needed when having a professional engaged for resume writing.

Could you write your own resume? Yes, you most certainly could. You could also go ahead and model it after the free sample resumes and free resume templates online. Unfortunately, this will not help you to stand out and set apart from the crowd of other applicants, but instead will simply make your resume one of the crowds. So go ahead and hire a professional to help you with your first impression. While you are at it, do not forget the almost forgotten kindness of the thank-you note that should be mailed after each interview!

While the latter may appear to be a somewhat antiquated mode of doing business, the ability to once more come before the mind of the interviewer before a hiring decision is reached should not be underestimated but instead should be practiced consistently so as to ensure career success!