Resume Services

Become an Interviewer Yourself

Everybody and their Aunt Mabel claims to be a writer, and many of these people tout writing resumes as their strongest skill.

Which may very well be true, but more than likely, it’s not.

So while you may be crafting a resume and preparing yourself for the interviewing process, you first have to become the interviewer of all the resume services you’ll encounter. This can be a daunting and time-consuming task, but here are a few helpful tips:

• Ask for samples. Reputable resume services should have no problem providing samples featuring tactics used for various industries and professions.
• Try to find a service familiar with your position or industry. It may have a better understanding of your needs and provide helpful insight.
• Ask for references. Talking with the services’ clients about their experiences will help you find your comfort level.
• Ask about the production of multiple resumes. Is each resume constructed from a template, or written individually? What extra fees will be involved?

Be prepared before consulting with the services by drafting your skills, achievements, companies and locations and details about various job duties.

What to Expect to Pay

The pricing for writing resumes varies a great deal. Writer’s Market, a collective of writing industry guidelines, suggests that the average project fee is $200-$500, based on a rough estimate of $30-$50 per hour.

On the other hand, many services online state prices “starting at $25.”

A CFO’s resume will be considerably different than that of a recent college grad. The more detailed the job duties, the greater the likelihood of stronger positioning of accomplishments.

Look at it this way: a writer with quality in mind will have to spend considerable time talking with you about skills, accomplishments and objectives, as well as reviewing the job description for which you’re applying in order to represent you well on paper and plug in the keywords that often push resumes to the top of the stack.

Those that use more of a boilerplate method will probably charge a little less; others that literally craft the resume based on a number of factors will charge more.

Additionally, many HR managers strongly advise against mass-produced resumes. It’s better to have your resume tailored with their company and offered position in mind, so developing more than one resume or a version of the primary resume will increase the cost.

Again, review the service's resume samples and determine if the skills are worth the cost, especially if you offset the expense by landing the job.

Can Resume Services Really Increase Salaries?

That’s a really hard claim to prove. After all, the resume is indeed a key that unlocks the door to the interview. However, it’s during the interview that you can discuss skills, demonstrate your personality, inquire about the company culture and job expectations, as well as engage in negotiations that determine salary: all things a piece of paper can’t really do.

So if a resume service makes claims of increasing the chances of earning a higher salaries through the production of the perfect resume, be critical. Ask them for details as to how they’ve accomplished this, talk with some of their clients and compare the sample resumes to others you’ve collected.

Conclusion

There are a lot of resume services on the Internet. Take the time to research at least three-to-five companies that meet your needs and don’t hesitate to interview them. Whatever your career goals, have the confidence that the resume is just one step in the process – the rest is really up to you.