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Writing your own resume can seem like a daunting task in the beginning. Many people decide to outsource the entire process from the outset. The truth is that writing your own resume is not as difficult once you have some basic guidelines established. Taking a little bit of time in the beginning to really understand what makes a resume stand out can not only save you time but money as well. Of course you will need to decide which is more important to you: your time or money (because you will need to spend one or the other).

Decide on a goal. Decide up front exactly what you are trying to accomplish with your resume. Are you looking to step up in your career or trying to make a lateral move? Are you desiring to make a career switch to a different industry What is it that you really want? The more clear that you become on your primary goal the easier it will be to tailor your resume.

Align your skills with each job. Before you hit submit on your job application, be sure that you have correctly focused your resume to that specific job. One of the biggest mistakes that job applicants make is in trying to write one general resume that is good for every position. Employers do not hire people who have general experience in many different things. They are looking for a focused individual. They want to hire a specialist. For example, there are many different potential positions that fall underneath an "Accountant." Certain positions have a greater emphasis in certain skill sets over others. Be sure to target your resume to include these skill sets.

Make your resume keyword rich. Do not speak about your experience in general terms on your resume. Write out your experience in detail so that they is no guesswork left for the reader. Try to do this without being too wordy. The benefit of detailing out your resume comes into play when employers perform a keyword search. Many resumes are either placed or scanned into an Applicant Tracking System. Use as many key terms and industry specific lingo as you can. This will result in your resume appearing in the top of search results.

Use white space wisely. Nothing will get your resume deleted faster then narrow margins or endless blocks of text. Get your point across with as few of words as possible. An employer is not interested in reading every resume from top to bottom. Make it easy for them by using nice margins, bullet points, and adequate spacing between sections. One inch margin spacing on the top, bottom, and sides are ideal.