Distinctive Resume Templates Faqs

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

A GREAT Resume ALWAYS Begins With GREAT Content!

But if your content is already written, our Distinctive Resume Templates will propel your resume to the next level, providing you with a clear competitive advantage and ultimately saving you heaps of time and money, potentially slashing days, weeks, or even months off your job search.

All of the Distinctive Resume Templates in our collection were adapted from resumes that Michelle Dumas personally crafted and designed. Created in Microsoft Word, they will allow you to easily transform your resume from ordinary to extraordinary by simply copying the text of your own resume into the designated spots.

Our professionally designed career templates, including our ATS-friendly resume templates plus coordinating biography templates and letterhead templates, can be used by DIY job seekers, but are especially popular with professional resume writers, career coaches, recruiters, and others who work with job seekers. Our Insiders membership program provides these employment industry professionals with regular access to new and fresh designs to use with their clients.

Distinctive Resume Templates were created to meet the needs of professional resume writers seeking a solution that allows them to do what they do best…WRITE while feeling confident they are delivering to their clients eye-popping, custom-designed, ATS-friendly resume templates and other documents that will get them extraordinary results. Our Distinctive Resume Templates Insiders program provides professional resume writers, career coaches, recruiters, and others who work with job seekers with new template collections every month, plus personal support in using them.

If you are a job hunter, remember that great resumes always begin with great content. But if your resume is already written and you are happy with the content, Distinctive Resume Templates are for you. It will be easy for you to copy the content from your plain resume and paste it into the templates. The structure of the templates may also give you some great ideas about how you can improve your own content too. For example, many of our templates include a “Snapshot” section in each position to summarize the value you delivered to your employer. This is a feature that recruiters love.

The templates are also easily adaptable whether you are an entry-level candidate or a top C-level executive. Just delete and/or copy/paste sections as you need to. Most of the templates are two-page templates and some of them are one-page templates. However, any of them could be easily modified to whatever length you need.

Yes. These are Microsoft Word templates. Many people already have this application, but if you don’t I’ll tell you how to get it for approximately $9/month. Microsoft Word is a necessary application for all job seekers, as many recruiters and employers require that your resume be submitted in this format. Read this blog post to understand why it is so important to create your resume with MS Word. I love Google Docs for many purposes, but I highly recommend against creating a resume using Google Docs. I also advise against Canva, Illustrator, Pages, and other similar applications.

As the creator of Distinctive Resume Templates (Michelle Dumas), I’ve seen other resume templates and virtually all of them are NOT ATS compatible. This is a major reason I was finally convinced to make these templates available. ATS compatibility is a necessity for almost every job search. If your resume is not compatible, it may be rejected from the ATS and you’ll never even know it (except that you never get a call!). It was really disturbing to talk to so many people who were using one of these templates and lost weeks or months of time, missing out on opportunities because they didn’t know better.

This is why I have done everything in my power to ensure my Distinctive Resume Templates are ATS “friendly.” There are many different types of applicant tracking systems and it is impossible to ensure compatibility with every single one of them. However, my templates are mostly ATS-friendly and will work well for you in most cases.

There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding ATS-friendly resume templates. Much of this information is outdated. Having an eye-catching, well-designed resume that is also ATS friendly is absolutely possible as long as the designer understands ATS standards. To learn more, I encourage you to read the many articles about resume design and applicant tracking systems on our blog.

Absolutely! In fact, I include some videos along with the templates to show you how to easily change colors or fonts or add or remove sections as you need them.

Download an example free resume template and see for yourself how easy our ATS-friendly resume templates are to use.

Honestly, no matter how many people have asked for them (and MANY have!) I have resisted turning my resume designs into templates.

I never thought I would do it.

But when I announced the launch of this website, I took that plunge.

I stand by my belief that a GREAT resume begins with GREAT content. I KNOW this is true from my 25 years of experience working with well over 10,000 job hunters, crafting standout resumes that help them land great jobs and land them fast.

That’s why it goes against conventional wisdom in my industry, to sell resume templates. The design of a resume is just a part of what makes a great resume. The other part is compelling, relevant copy.

But, let me explain myself. I have a really good reason, and here’s why:

If you have written your resume yourself, there is a very good chance that the format of that resume is outdated, unattractive, and hard-to-read.

Or worse, you’ve purchased some other template on the web and are completely confused about why you are getting zero response.

Do you want to know why?

I can tell you!

I’ve seen countless other templates over the years and almost every single one of them is completely incompatible with the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that your resume is entered into. Your resume is getting rejected before a person ever even sees it.

But the job market is more competitive right now than any of us have ever seen in our lifetimes.

A standout resume is ESSENTIAL!

And I care about you! I want you to have EVERY advantage in the job market. Even if I can’t convince you to let us help you rewrite your resume. I CAN make sure you go to market with an eye-catching, ATS-friendly resume that will give you a clear COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE.

Now, I’ll be honest. I am pretty confident that once you see what a difference my resume designs make for you, the NEXT time you are job searching you’ll reach out for our help in perfecting your content. Or, even better, you’ll refer your friends and family to us.

But, for the present, if you are happy with your resume content, let’s give it a modern facelift with my easy-to-use Distinctive Resume Templates!

DOWNLOAD LICENSING T&C

Due to the digital nature of these templates, there are no refunds. All sales are final. We are here to help.

If you have any issues after your purchase, please email us at [email protected]

What Can You Do with the Templates You Have Purchased from Us?

You can use the templates to create a resume for yourself, a friend, or family member.

You can customize and change the design and/or content as you wish.

If you are a resume writer or career coach, or create resumes for clients in another capacity, you may use the templates with your clients on an individual basis.

What Can NOT be Done with the Templates You Have Purchased from Us?

You may not resell or transfer license to these templates in any capacity (unless you are an official affiliate of Distinctive Career Services, LLC)

Except on an individual basis for your own personal resume, you can not use the templates or images of the templates or resumes created using the templates on your website or blog, newsletters or emails, live or recorded trainings, or membership sites.

DISCLAIMER: While all efforts have been made to ensure resumes created with these templates will be ATS-friendly, it is impossible to guarantee ATS compatibility. The purchaser takes full responsibility for ensuring ATS compatibility, if this is important to them. Distinctive Career Services, LLC is not responsible for the content or effectiveness of any resume created with one of our templates.

If you have any questions about these terms, please reach out and ask.

At checkout, you will be asked to create a password (if you are a returning customer, you will be asked to log in using your previous password). Immediately after completing your purchase, you will be directed to an account page on which you can download your templates. You will also receive an email with the link to download your purchased templates. If you ever wish to redownload your purchased templates, you may return to your account page using the same password and email you used to checkout.

Due to the digital nature of these templates, there are no refunds. All sales are final.

However, we are here to help. If you have any issues after your purchase, please email us at [email protected]

Our most loyal customers returning again and again to Distinctive Resume Templates are professional resume writers, job search coaches, and others who work with job seekers and know the importance of resume design and how it can make or break the effectiveness of even the best-written resume.  Many of these professionals are members of our Distinctive Resume Templates Insiders program, receiving a steady stream of new templates to use in their practices, plus personal support using the templates from Michelle Dumas, herself. In the video below, Michelle demonstrates the remarkable and dramatic positive difference that Distinctive Resume Templates make in providing job hunters with a competitive edge.

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