“We are what we know. My mother was an English teacher. I’d sit with her at the kitchen table while she graded — her red pen a trusty sword shining in the midst of a stack of papers a mile high. She taught me her tricks and tips, her shortcuts and symbols, and as writing became a passion of mine, I began to realize that editing was one too.

​Throughout high school and college, I was always that girl with three of my friends’ papers wedged into my purse. I was the one in the café scanning college essays and cover letters and resumes. I love assisting in creating that final product — the freshly printed, mistake-free masterpiece that is black words on a white page.

After years of writing, editing, and tutoring, I founded Red Pen Wench in 2014 with the desire to continue assisting clients on their academic and professional journeys. I understand that the job search can be an agonizing process, but I also know that it can be a rewarding one.

In an effort to serve more job-seekers, I began expanding the Red Pen Wench team in 2018. We remain devoted to offering a highly personalized and collaborative experience, and we take the time to truly listen, research, and strategize so as to create the best possible resumes and career materials for every single client we serve.” —Jillian Kinsey

“What I love about resumes is their poetry.

I don’t mean to say that an effective resume is lyrical or floral. It’s just the opposite.

A powerful resume is brief and clean with one idea occupying one line. There’s a refreshing pause in every breath of white space.

The adjectives are few, the adverbs fewer. What counts is the details, namely, the quantities.

‘How many? How much?’ I frequently ask.

‘What exactly did you do?’ A simple action verb that clearly conveys an achievement reverberates.

Every preposition that follows a verb demands deletion. ‘Carried out’ becomes ‘executed.’

I suppose there is a role for jargon. We must demonstrate comfort with marketplace terminology, but there’s a place for plain language, too. ‘Management’ becomes ‘manager,’ better yet “manage.” A ‘collaborator’ is dicey, but ‘collaborate’ is fine, even if the word is growing tired now.

However, there is one way a resume surpasses a poem. That is, a resume achieves the alchemy of language when it becomes a pathway to a better job, for growth, a ticket that, if worded well, opens office doors to those who always found them shut.” —Dena Marks, PhD, CPRW