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The majority of resumes, in their telling style, tend to be overviews of responsibilities and skills. Even when top line summaries are included they rarely do anything but point out that you have the same skills required of all candidates for the targeted position. Therefore, it is critical to sell your value to the company, not just your experience. If you work with me, I make it rapidly clear why the reader should consider you over the other similarly qualified candidates by creating brand–driven resumes that differentiate you from your competition.

Essential: We don’t want to just TELL readers what you can do—we want to SHOW them what you have achieved throughout your career. I front load your achievements using your unique CAR stories (challenge, action, result) to demonstrate your contributions and accomplishments. This approach is much more effective than just listing your responsibilities, and positions you ABOVE other candidates.

Total Resumes is not a secretarial or typing service. If you’re after a reformat or update of your existing resume, this is not the service for you. We start from scratch, taking the time to meticulously create your distinctive and authentic documents that are specifically branded and unique for you. If you’d like an introduction to our hand-picked referral partners, contact Carolyn at carolyn@totalresumes.com.au

IMPORTANT NOTE: I’m focused solely on client success, and I only work with 2 clients at a time/per month. 2026 is filling fast; our books are already closed, and by appointment only for February and beyond.

• If you’d like to get started on reaching your career goals, please get in touch with me before placing an order to see if I can accommodate your project.
• If you’re not ready to start yet but would like me to add you to our waiting list for 2026, please reach out. 

WARNING: If you are a professional resume writer, then write your resume yourself. If you are not, DON’T! Here’s why: 

Despite what you might have heard about knowing yourself (the product) best, it rarely if ever means you are the most qualified to sell yourself on paper. Think about it—if products were marketed by their creators, then Coca-Cola would be marketed by chemists and the company would not be the multi-billion dollar brand it is today!

While you yourself might not yet represent a multi-billion dollar brand, your resume does have the power to position you to attain the goals you desire – when it’s done properly. However, hard working, conscientious professionals take their strengths, achievements, and talents for granted. Rarely do they know where to look, how deep to dig, how to tell the story without saying too much or too little, what to play up, or how to present it, because they are far too close to the subject, not familiar with the review strategies of the companies they are targeting, and not professional writers/marketers when it comes to selling themselves in a resume.

While I can provide you with expert, time-tested strategies and advice, attempting to apply it yourself could be akin to following written instructions from my mechanic on diagnosing and repairing my car’s engine. I’m not a mechanic and while I might get lucky, patch it together, and think I know what I’m doing since I received expert advice, all too soon I will be stranded on the side of the road having wasted time, now with the added expense of a tow truck, and still having to pay my mechanic to do the work and wait longer while it is done. In fact, I will have wasted more time and money than if I just fixed the problem the right way with the use of a professional the first time!

I don’t tell you this to be arrogant or assumptive–12+ years of executive-level resume writing, recruitment, job search / interview workshop facilitation, and winning awards as a professional resume writer have allowed me to see the mistakes that job seekers make over and over again. In all that time I can’t think of more than two cases where the do-it-yourself update to the resume created by the job seeker was any better than the original, which tells me you don’t want to waste opportunities doing it yourself  unless it’s your profession. If not, then your competition is sure to have the edge if even just one of them seeks the help of a certified professional.

I encourage you to invest in your career–the one area of your life that makes all other wants and needs possible–so you can take control, get what you want, and avoid wasting time. Time is money and opportunity, and when your goal position is staring you in the face, you don’t want to lose out!! You’ve got just one chance to make a great first impression, and Total Resumes is your partner in doing just that.