Charlie Sheen, for some reason, never called me to update his resume, because he thought he was “Winning” and was sure that his next job was in the bag. Some of the saddest stories in the job-search world come from candidates who believed they were “In Like Flint” (or Flynn, as it should be), but were left at the altar and didn’t get the job.

However, as an experienced resume writer with 14 years of “in the trenches” experience with candidates of every imaginable type, some of the smartest clients I’ve had have been those that, on first glance, didn’t need a resume, yet placed an order nonetheless.

It can seem counterintuitive… Why would someone order a professionally written resume when they’ve just been offered a job that they intend to accept?

One client’s brother-in-law sat on the board of the company she applied to, and assured her that the job was to be hers, yet she ordered a state-of-the-art professional resume anyway. Another client had already landed an interview with his old resume (it was a last second thing, and there was no time to craft a new resume) and the job was offered, yet he stopped by my office to place an order.

Here are the 4 reasons that these, and other clients through the years, have made an excellent choice to get a great new resume, even though they had the job they wanted virtually locked up:

* Even if a relative, friend, contact or whoever has assured you that “the job is yours,” there may be other decision makers who must sign on to your hiring. By giving your contact a great new resume that truly markets your background, you’ve done them a great favor by providing powerful ammunition to use on your behalf, instead of relying on them to sell you simply through their own powers of persuasion.

* In the case of a relative, friend, or contact “getting you in” for a wonderful new job, there could, at some point, be those within the company who will wonder that you may have been hired due to “who you know,” not “what you know.” By documenting your skills, qualifications, and accomplishments in a resume, those prying eyes who see your resume may understand that your hiring was an excellent choice.

* Although you just got the “green light” in the hiring process, you may still have one last chance to edit your resume for final submission, giving you the opportunity to let a professional ensure that everything in your resume is accurate and in compliance with the law. At one Career Directors International resume writing conference, I attended a workshop addressing the many details on a resume that can later hurt you, should you ever find yourself in an adversarial relationship with your employer. According to the high-level HR attorney who conducted the workshop, the first thing a company does when it is embroiled in a legal matter with an employee, is to pull the resume and determine if there is anything in it that could compromise that employee’s integrity.

* The ability of a “sure thing” to fall through is legendary, and having a well-crafted resume just waiting in the wings is an excellent insurance policy against Murphy’s Law.
So, even when your next job is “in the bag,” you may want to consider getting your resume professionally upgraded.