Whether you even get an interview often depends on your resume. Today is about resumes and people who want to write them for you.
Getting an outstanding resume written is easily worth 1% of your expected salary, but you should pay less. If you can write a great resume on your own, even better. If you pay over $100, and some people do pay $1000 for help with their resume, you deserve a great resume in return every time.
The trouble is that you won’t always get a great resume. You will get a great looking document, but it can range from spectacular to downright bad. It is the resume words that are acted on that count, not just the formatting.
Resumes are advertising. Good resume writers are like advertising copy writers, they get your attention and force you to act on their words. The only sure way to tell a great resume from an average one is to submit it for jobs and see if you get interviews. Of course, that may cost you some great job opportunities if your resume is poor.
A resume writing service may help you if you don’t like your resume or don’t want to write one. If you have great accomplishments already listed and all the information you want in the resume is there, an inexpensive service will do fine. Usually for well under $100 a service will reformat what you put together. You may get a few suggestions, and even some help getting the right information included.
For anything over $100 you are paying for the resume interview. That is when the writer talks to you and finds out what to put on your resume. The interviewer should be delving into what you accomplished. He should be asking questions that require you to go back and do research. A good resume writer challenges you to figure out how to quantify how much money you made or saved your company. Then the writer should use exciting words and phrases that are carefully placed to make you irresistible.
Some places will even write 3 or more resumes for you. One is for the executive evaluation committee. It is gorgeous. One is for the HR folks and internet job boards who look at resumes differently The third will be a “quick action resume”. It is designed to be faxed or emailed and demand that the person call you to find out more. It is always one page.
If you are looking for several different types of jobs, you may end up with several sets of resumes. One for each job you are looking for.
How do you tell if the resume writing service is worth the money?
If they say, send us your current resume and we will reformat it, don’t pay over $100. They are just making it pretty and maybe doing some rewording.
If they are planning to probe your past and write a new resume, they may be worth whatever they ask. Maybe. If they schedule an hour or two for an interview, that’s good.
Ask for a few example resumes from the specific person who will be writing your resume. Ask for a list of the last 10 people they did a resume for, even though it is unlikely you will get it because of privacy concerns. Get them to go over some of the questions they need answered before they will write your resume. Remember, the one person who interviews you, and the one person who actually writes your resume are the people you are hiring. You have to feel great about them.
Having said all that, I don’t have anyone to recommend to you. I can write a great resume. I charge $150/hr for the service. If you are one of my candidates, you get advice for free. You can go to my archives and enter the word “resume” or “sexy verbs” and read my articles at: www.howtoreallygetagreatjob.com/blog/archives.aspx
The greatest resume writing tool ever invented will come tomorrow. I still haven’t decided whether to give it away or charge for it. I have had it for sale at $4.95 already. Hmmm. Stay tuned.
Something to do today
Go out on the internet and search for resume services. See what they promise and charge. Even if you don’t use them, it is a great educational experience.
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Coming up
The greatest resume writing tool ever invented
Resume spreading services
Your pay reflects your interview
You, the movie