Writing your own resume is hard. What format should I use? Am I bragging too much? Is it too long? What color paper should I use?
Calgon, take me away!
You may want to delegate this task to a professional resume writer. While I write quite a few resumes for clients, you may wish to check other services out. Here are a few pointers to selecting a pro:
Price
There are a bunch of resume writers out there who start their basic services at $100 or more. Conversely, there are a ton that start their pricing at $20, with tons of add-ons – which means that $20 resume might wind up costing you $150 or more. Carefully check out what you’ll be getting for your money. And keep in mind that you get what you pay for. Generally speaking, a good basic resume rewrite should cost around $50. Once you go below that, the quality of the product may be substandard.
Formats
What formats are available? Unhappy with the format of the writer gives you? You should have the option of having him/her change it once free of charge.
Extras
Will the writer post it to job search sites? Turn it into a web page? How much are these extras?
Quality
You must research resume writers. Too often, they are “professional” only because they’ve been paid to write resumes. If possible, check out the “before” and “after” samples. If they’re not provided, you really should ask for samples. Not all resumes are created equal.
So where do you find resume writers? There are tons of places to look. These are just a few:
Phone book
That’s right – let your fingers do the walking. Look in the yellow section under “resume,” “career,” and “writer.”
I like this service (college students also) because I get a large chunk of my business this way. Click on the town closest to you, then “services,” then type “resume” in the search box. There will be some non-related stuff to weed through, but you’ll find a bunch of resume writers.
You knew we’d mention them, didn’t you? Search on “resume” and you’ll find more resume writers than you can handle.
Word of Mouth. In your normal networking activities, ask other job seekers who’ve had their resumes done who they used.
If you choose to pay someone to write your resume, there are tons of options. A little research will serve you well.
IN A NUTSHELL: Not all resume writers are the same. Research will save you time, money and hassle.
