Good question, considering that nowadays you can find many useful resources to help you write your own resume (including many located at http://www.impressive-resumes.com).

A professionally written resume might be just what you need. On other hand, perhaps you can easily write your own resume using a resume template or commercially available resume writing software. How do you decide which is right for you?

Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to help you decide.

* "Do I have time to do job right?"

If you want to create a resume that works, i.e. one that captures attention of a hiring manager during a 10 second initial "toss or keep" scan, you need to be willing to invest some time. Depending on your comfort level, your familiarity with resume design factors and how well you're organized, this can take anywhere from a couple of hours to several days or more.

If you have time, energy, focus and desire to learn how to write an effective resume, you're probably a good candidate to do it yourself. If you're really not ready to devote time and effort, you'd be better served by allowing a professional resume writer to write it for you.

* "Can I afford services of a professional resume writer?"

If you're on a no kidding shoestring budget, writing your own resume is probably way to go. But most people are surprised at how inexpensive and easy it is to hire a professional resume writer who can write a truly effective resume. Chances are good that there's room in your budget for a professionally written resume, especially considering that right career step could pay back your investment a thousand times over (or more).

Want to change jobs and head in a different direction? The best career search outcome is attained when you anticipate potholes and roadblocks ahead and refuse to let hindsight be your tour guide. If you wait for perfect road conditions and “right opportunity,” you’ll consistently detour your efforts and eliminate premium career options.

Complacency damages your career more than lack of qualifications. The most obvious roadblock you’ll encounter on race to find your next job is usually regrets about skills, education, and professional knowledge. However, be careful that you don’t possess an inner smugness that rests on past successes. Complacency will trick you to believe that employers will find you without any effort on your part to find them. You’ll be anesthetized to job search urgency by this false sense of security. Overconfidence costs you money and opportunities if you decide to sit back with a Jack Daniel’s and idle your time away until phone rings. It won’t.

Job seeker loses $30,000 and top management role while waiting for “right opportunity. Rich Connell, senior consultant for R. L. Stevens & Associates Inc., a leading international career marketing firm headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, regretted a huge blunder he made during his earlier career adventures. “I lost a high level management position and $30,000 in commissions and bonuses because of job search complacency.”

After being suddenly downsized, Connell admits several valuable months vanished while he waited for “right” opportunity to magically appear. He didn’t take his search seriously. These tactical errors took him out of marketplace and off hiring radar at critical start of his sales career. Employers didn’t know he was available. He missed a great position that was significantly more suitable and provided larger financial reward than one he settled for because he ran out of leverage. “In retrospect, I should’ve jumped right back into market and not wasted all that time. If only I had started my search sooner and gave it more attention. Losing $30,000 and a management fast track was an expensive teacher to learn how to conduct a successful job search,” he lamented.