Resumé Writing Service - Have You Ever Used One?

[Girino]

I have been using the same resumé for years, and honestly it never gave me big results in terms of interviews/job turnaround. Of course, I believe it is perfect the way it is, but since the first person looking at my resume is never an engineer, I think I need something more HR-appealing.
Often I thought about hiring one of those expert that rewrite/polish your resume and your LinkedIn profile, such as this one: http://www.jobjenny.com/ who asks for around $500 for a resume do-over.

Do you have any experience and/or recommendations? Thanks!

 

[Meri]

I do tons of resumes - creation/edits - for $100 a document. I'm probably undercharging at this point, but I think $500 is rediculously expensive for the average person's resume needs...I do, however, love Job Jenny's website and they look great for more advanced personal branding.

This is my background:
www.linkedin.com/in/meridethcox
www

 

[mimyr]

My view is, never pay someone to do what you can do yourself. But I suppose that doesn't apply if the money isn't that big of a deal to you, and your time would be better spent in other pursuits.

 

[LIVE54]

I am involved in the hiring process for over 20 positions a month. I see literally hundreds of resumes each month. In todays world, resumes are screened either by a person, or by computers if they are submitted electronically. Computers will scan for specific keywords and rank all resumes based on "hits". A lot of people have figured this out so they include lots of buzzwords, which I personally hate.

You should write your own resume, because you are the one that needs to explain it if you are interviewed. I cant tell you how many times I have interviewed someone and the language they use when they speak is the exact opposite of how they (or someone else) wrote their resume. This is a major red flag to any hiring manager.

Remember the key points of writing a resume... you want to get as much information on ONE page as possible and highlight your value and achievements, not just your education and experience. You should tailor your resume for every individual position you are applying for. Use key words from the job posting or other company material you can source and make sure the reader can understand how your skillset is the best for the position you are applying. You want your resume to align as best as possible to the job posting...

When I look at a resume, it takes me about 30 seconds to mentally put that person in one of 3 distinct buckets.

1. Set up an interview
2. Keep as backup option
3. Reject

I look at a few distinct things, education, job history, skillset and how they describe their most recent role and job experience.

I want to see someone that has continued their education, or has a top tier degree. I want to see someone who is not a "job flipper" and who has worked in a similar industry/environment that I am hiring for. I want to see that when someone describes their most recent job history they talk about how they added value to that organization, not a list of tasks performed or sentences about what they did on a daily basis. Resumes should be goal oriented, and you should show the reader that you understand how your contribution benefits the overall company, and how your skillset is a great fit for the position. FYI, Typo's, ridiculous formatting, fonts that are too small or illegible are almost always put in the reject bucket...

A resume is a marketing tool for yourself, you can seek out professional help to get tips on how to best market yourself, but only you really know what you are selling. I see lots of "professionally" created resumes, that all have the same layout and formatting and use the same style of speech and key words. Its not hard for a reviewer to know which is the real deal... In the end though, what really matters is the interview...

 

[Girino]

My view is, never pay someone to do what you can do yourself. But I suppose that doesn't apply if the money isn't that big of a deal to you, and your time would be better spent in other pursuits.

I have mixed feelings about it...

1. Since there are people doing this for a living, I assume it is not in anybody's skillset to write an intriguing resume, especially if you want to stand out in the crowd are not a native speaker of the language.
2. As LIVE54 said, there are machine-screening processes in places, and I am not up to them and these "IT-guided" hiring techniques. I believe these terms are picked up by the HR staff and not by the technicians, so maybe I am using different words.
3. When I asked to a couple of English natives to have a look at my resume they both said "I fixed the English but I have no idea about what you are talking about, it is too industry specific". Then I happened to be a job fair and talking with a HR lady and I was telling her about my experience in something technical, but she understood another thing... overall I was under the impression that she was a little disconnected with her organization core business... but it is not her fault, most company put HR people in their HR office on day 1 and they never get to actually know their company business. However, they are the 1st or 2nd (if there is a computer screening) line in the screening process, so I have to deal with them, first.
4. Seen in perspective, investing $100 or $500 for a resume that will get you a job for $3000+ a month is worth it, in my opinion.

 

[thorsten]

When I was writing my resume, I bought a book from a well-known HR professional (don't remember the exact title, but it was German anyway). It's cheaper than using a service, and you know exactly what makes a good resume (from an HR perspective, which is your only relevant recipient to get to the interview stage). Given you want to adjust your resume/cover letter for each company a bit, I personally would prefer to do it on my own; I think, however, it's important to understand how HR people work - basically the screen a ton of resumes in a short time for a single position and are often flooded with unstructured or overly lengthy documents. Less (but concise) is more...

 

[nlaruccia]

My view is, never pay someone to do what you can do yourself. But I suppose that doesn't apply if the money isn't that big of a deal to you, and your time would be better spent in other pursuits.

Except that there are a great many things one can do without paying someone: cleaning the house, mowing the lawn, fixing an electric domestic, waxing, manicure, pedicure. Sometimes it's nice to have someone who is a professional handle the things we don't have time to perfect.

 

[nkotb]

LIVE54: you misspelled "typos." Given the context, that's pretty funny.

 

[wineguy999]

Observant... B)

 

[lu_bsas]

Serafina, my name is lucia and Im a spanish native speaker.
im an engineer also!. I've worked in bs as for 6 yrs now, always in good companies.
I can help you to write your resume. You can pay me with english lessons.

Contact me in private

Regards,