What is a Resume Builder — and is it right for you?

We’ve talked about starting your resume from scratch, tailoring your resume, and about professional resume services — but we haven’t spoken about resume builders.

For those looking to create a professional resume quickly, the tools provided by resume builders can be beneficial — they offer more than a blank template but less than a professional writer.

So, let’s talk about them and figure out what’s right for you.

We will start with the basics: templates.

Opening a blank page on Word and trying to write a resume is hard. You don’t just need to think about your past jobs, skills, and experience; you need to think about the font, the spacing, and the colour palette of the document — eek! This can often be overwhelming, and it might take you hours before you even start writing about your own experience.

If you choose to use a Resume Builder, you will be provided with resume templates, and some services will offer you suggestions of which templates to use based on your industry and career goals.

But, you say, I can find those built into Word or on Canva! Yes, you can — there are a plethora of free resume templates at your disposal online.

Often the difference is that Resume Builders will offer you prefilled content and writing prompts, which means you will have easy to fill fields, which will then be placed into the right section of the template for you.

Resume Builders can also offer Cover Letter Builders — utilising the information you have already filled out, this service will fill out a cover letter for you in a professional format based on a few prompts.

While this service might help you get started on writing your cover letter — we wouldn’t recommend it to be used in place of writing (or at least tailoring) your letter. It’s important to make sure your letter sounds like you, after all — it’s your chance to make a first impression, and an AI-generated letter can come out robotic.

Of course, we know there isn’t always time to start a resume or letter from scratch, and there isn’t always money to hire a professional resume writer.

This is why we think these builders can be useful — as a starting point.

These builders must be used as a first step in the resume and cover letter process. Remember, if you are deciding between a template and a builder — a good template will offer you just as much. The difference between the two largely comes down to time, and what you might lose in time tailoring a template you will gain in customisation options.

Hopefully, this helps you get started with your resume. If you are looking for more resume writing tips, click here, and if you want someone to take it off your hands — the team at Clothier Careers is ready to help.