Chapter 20
Ten Tips for Choosing Professional Resume Help
In This Chapter
Selecting a superb resume writer
Checking out the goods
Shopping for price quotes
In addition to reading this book, how do you best come up with a resume that ushers you into prime interviewing territory? Should you hire a professional resume writer or go it alone?
There’s plenty to be said in favor of hiring a professional writer, who not only is expert in classic marketing principals but is tuned into the brave new world of job search — from swirling social media to racing-ahead technology.
Professionally crafted resumes not only boost your confidence but actually make money for you by shortening your job search — for example, when you are searching for a $50,000-a-year job, each week of unemployment costs you about $950 in lost pay. The downside is that professional resume creation costs money that you may have budgeted for other current needs. Good arguments exist on both sides of whether you should pay a pro or tackle the writing challenge solo.
Here’s my take: I have witnessed dramatically good, life-changing results produced by the efforts of talented professional resume writers. If you want to employ a professional to write your resume and can make the investment, why not?
Organize your own material to present to the professional writer just as you organize your taxes to hand over to an accountant. Organizing your information primes your mind for job interviews.
In an age of personalization — personal financial advisers, personal trainers, personal career coaches — why not a personal resume pro? Prime candidates for resume services are first-time resume writers, people in a competitive professional or managerial job market, people with a checkerboard history, and people who haven’t thought about resumes in years. Follow these tips to avoid hacks and select a resume pro wisely.
Choose a Resume Writing Service, Not a Clerical Service
Many clerical services do a competent job of word-processing your resume for a fair price of $100 or so. A clerical service is a useful option if that’s all you need.
But most people need much more, and clerical services are a different business from professional resume writing services. Clerical services sell processes like keyboarding and printing. Resume firms sell specialized knowledge in fluently articulating what you want to do and the evidence that backs up your claim that you can do it.
A resume pro knows a great deal about the business of marketing you to employers, has the latest trends and buzzwords on tap, and coaches you through potholes in your history.
Ask Around for a Great Resume Pro
After you decide to use a resume professional, your next step is finding a winner. Winners are talented writers who also possess strong analytic skills.
The best way to find a winner is to get a referral, either from a satisfied client or from someone in the business — a local career center consultant, recruiter, or outplacement consultant. Review prospective writers’ Web pages to see samples of their work.
If you’re being laid off, inquire within your corporate human resource department. These people often know who’s doing the best work.
The fact that a resume firm has been in business for a long time and has done thousands of resumes is no guarantee of competence — but it’s a sign that some clients must like what they deliver and have spread the word. The acceptance of major credit cards is another indicator of stability.
Request a Free Initial Consultation
Request a free, brief, get-acquainted meeting in person or on the phone. Speak not to the boss or a sales representative, but to the writer. The same firm can have good and poor writers. Ask the writer what general strategy the writer will use to deal with your specific problems. If you don’t hear a responsible answer, keep looking.
A responsible answer does not imply discussion of the specifics of how your resume will be handled. Much like people shop retail stores to look at the merchandise and then order from a discount catalog, people shop professional resume services to pick writers’ brains and then write their own resumes. Resume pros caught on to this move and developed laryngitis.
Moreover, going into detail about how the resume pro intends to handle your resume is irresponsible before the professional knows more about you. Find out instead about the writer’s general approach and viewpoint on the strategies discussed in this book.
Watch Out for Overuse of Forms
Most resume pros ask you to fill out a lengthy, detailed form — much like the one new patients fill out in a doctor’s office. The form is a good start, but it’s far from enough. Eliminate firms that don’t offer dialogue with the writer. The resume pro should interview you to discover your unique experience and strengths. You and the resume pro are colleagues, sharing a task.
The problem with form dependency is you may merely get back your own language prettied up in a glitzy format. That’s not what you want a resume pro to do for you.
Look for a Fair Price
Prices vary by locale and depend upon a number of factors, but expect to pay between $250 and $1,000 for most resumes. Single-page junior resumes may cost less. Executive resumes often range between $750 and $2,000.
You pay the most in these situations:
Heavy time investment: The professional must spend many hours to document your value, as when you’re changing careers.
Killer job market: Hoards of people want the job you want, and the professional has the expertise to make you stand out from the crowd.
Challenging problem: When you have a background of job-hopping, employment gaps, and other kinds of issues discussed in Chapter 13, the professional has to have the expertise to present your qualifications in a favorable light.
Customizing resumes: If you’re using a two-page resume, for example, you can probably pay for a core resume and customize only the first page for each different job, retaining the second page across your search. You pay extra for a few customizations of your core resume to see how it’s done.
Document packages: Many job seekers now understand that cover letters, cover notes, online profiles, accomplishment sheets, follow-up letters and other career marketing documents described in my book, Cover Letters For Dummies, 3rd Edition (Wiley), are the nuts and bolts of 21st century job search and turn to professional resume writers for assistance.
Check Out Samples
Ask the resume pro to show you sample resumes. Choose an expert who is comfortable with state-of-the-art technology (See Chapter 3). Notice the quality of content (Chapter 8) and the resume architecture (Chapter 11).
Take Aim
Customize! For maximum impact, you need to target each resume you send out to a specific employer or career field. Look for a resume pro who understands this concept. You need a resume that has “you” written all over it — your theme, your focus, and your measurable achievements — all matched to a career field you want. Skip over those who sell the same cookie-cutter resume over and over.
Avoid resume pros who offer assembly-line presentations, virtually indistinguishable from thousands of others created by the service. Ignore resume pros who plug your information into a fill-in-the-blanks standard form, garnished with prefab statements. Double ignore those who, even in this digital age, try to cover the sameness of their work by printing out resumes on 11-by-17-inch parchment paper and folding them into a pretentious brief. Employers use these la-de-da resumes for kindling.
Consider a Certified Resume Writer
Resume writers who belong to resume-certifying organizations are likely to stay current in resume effectiveness. In alphabetical order, here are selected certifying organizations. The certificate designations awarded by each organization are noted.
Career Directors International (CDI)Certifications Awarded:Certified Advanced Resume Writer (CARW)Certified Expert Resume Writer (CERW)Certified Resume Specialist (CRS+X)Master Career Director (MCD)Certified Employment Interview Consultant (CEIC)Certified Internet Job Search Expert (CIJSE)Corrections Career Transition Certified (CCTC)Certified Military Resume Writer (CMRW)Certified Federal Resume Writer (CFRW)Certified Web Portfolio Practitioner (CWPP)Certified Electronic Career Coach (CECC)Web site: www.careerdirectors.comContact: Laura DeCarlo, [email protected]
Career Management AllianceCertifications Awarded:Master Resume Writer (MRW)Credentialed Career Manager (CCM)Web site: www.careermanagementalliance.comTelephone: 603-924-0900 x640Contact: Liz Sumner, [email protected]
The National Resume Writers’ Association (NRWA)Certifications Awarded:Nationally Certified Resume Writer (NCRW)Web site: www.nrwaweb.comContact: Charlotte Weeks, President; Yvette Campbell, Administrative Manager, [email protected]
Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches (PARW/CC) Certifications Awarded:Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW)Certified Employment Interview Professional (CEIP)Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC)Web site: www.parw.comContact: Frank Fox, [email protected]
Resume Writing Academy (RWA)Certification Awarded:Academy Certified Resume Writer (ACRW)Web site: www.resumewritingacademy.comContact: Louise Kursmark, [email protected]
Visit the Web sites of the above organizations to locate members who are well qualified to write your resume — no matter where you live. You can reside thousands of miles away from the resume writer and still get a superb product.
Remember That Design Counts
Review pointers in Chapter 11 to recall how a top resume is supposed to look. Clunky and junky is out; distinctive professional is in. Before signing on the dotted line, ask the professional(s) whom you’re considering to show you the variety of designs recommended for the type of job you hope to land.
Know That a Cheap Resume Is No Bargain
Appreciate the hidden costs of a poor resume: A hack job can cost you good job interviews.
When the finished product is in your hands, you should be able to say:
This is an OnTarget resume. It shows that my qualifications are a great match for the job I want.
This resume suggests that I offer the employer a good return on investment by showing how I can make or save the company more money than I cost.
I like reading my resume; it won’t put the recruiter to sleep.