"WinWay Resume Deluxe" Resume Software Product Review

It’s not often that I get emotional about a software program (especially resume software), but I love WinWay Resume Deluxe.  It’s such a powerful way to create any kind of resume that it would be almost criminal to design one in a regular word processor.

This program is ideal for almost anyone, from recent high school or college grad to the most accomplished professional doctor, lawyer or candlestick maker. With over 13,000 resume examples to choose from, I guarantee you’ll find one (probably many) that you can easily modify to suit your situation.

Plus, the professionally prepared sample resumes include many common keywords that employers search on to find qualified applicants.

If you’ve never used resume  software before, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. The geniuses who created WinWay Resume Deluxe make it so easy to produce a great looking resume that you’ll find yourself thinking up excuses to write resumes for your friends once you've finished your own. (OK, more realistically you'll tailor different versions of your own resume for different situations.)

To begin, you can simply start with a fill-in the blanks wizard that steps you through an intelligent interview. As you answer each question your resume begins to take shape before your eyes. To say this is intelligent resume software is an understatement.

A nifty feature called AutoWriter® fills in many phrases for you, and suggests great ways to describe your past accomplishments. In fact this feature alone stores more than 100,000 different descriptive phrases that can make your resume really appealing to a potential hiring manager. (Employers love results-oriented accomplishments, and this program makes it a snap to describe your talents and past accomplishments with an eye towards results.)

For example, you’ll discover job-specific phrases like "Demonstrated winning sales techniques to mid-level sales executive” or skill specific phrases like “Excelled at software installation and diagnostics.”

Such powerful features make the whole process of organizing and creating your resume super easy.

Of course the program also helps you choose the best style of resume for your situation-a Functional Resume, Chronological, or Mixed. Within these major styles you can add as many optional resume sections as you need. For example,  Accomplishments, Training, Personal, Affiliations, Keywords, and others.

Resumes need to make an impression in just a few seconds. When you consider that the average hiring manager may scan your resume for about 10 seconds (looking for a reason NOT to spend more time), it’s obvious that good looks are important. This program really shines with more than 200 pre-designed themes to choose from. Each comes with its own coordinated set of fonts, bullets, borders and/or graphics.

One of the frustrating things about creating a resume in an ordinary word processor like Word is the difficulty of making the line and page spacing work out properly. It seems the resume is either too long or too short to look good.

With Winway Resume Deluxe resume software that’s not a problem. The program automatically reformats and spaces what you write to fit in the number of pages you select. This feature alone will save you a lot of time and frustration.

There are plenty of other features to make this a must have product for do it yourself resume writers (or even professional resume writers looking to become a lot more productive). These include a powerful graphics library, and an extensive selection of fonts, borders, bullets and other text features. With such features, there’s no excuse for your resume not to really stand out.

You can also print envelopes that match the style of your resume, and merge cover letters with a contacts list. You can email your resume in Acrobat PDF or MS Word-compatible formats. You can even use the program to search many different job banks to review (and submit your resume to job postings that appeal to you.

For my money though, one of the nicest features of all is Resume Auditor®. This intelligent module is designed to automatically check for 100+ mistakes, any one of which could sink your chances of getting hired. This "show me the money" feature makes this resume software a smart buy for anyone serious about their career advancement.

This feature is like having a professional resume writer watching over your shoulder, to spot employment gaps and other red flags that can cause your resume to be shuffled into the trash heap.

Available as an instant download for just $39.95, or as a download and backup CD for just $44.95 plus shipping and handling, this is one of the most cost effective ways to advance your career that you’re likely to find anywhere.