Resume

writing is a skill and profession just like any other

professional service. Unfortunately, many people are

hanging up shingles, running ads, and showing up in

cyberspace claiming to be resume writers when they have

no writing skills, little experience, and no knowledge of

their profession. There are no specific licensing

requirements or even a complete educational program to

train someone in resume writing. This means that anyone

with the inclination can put up a sign, print up business

cards, or post a web site, and claim to be a resume

writer.

I am

amazed that many individuals claiming to be resume

writers don’t work at their craft. Many resume writers

I’ve met have a wooden, sophisticated, anti-marketing

style of writing. These writers don’t know that a job

search is a sales and marketing project and that, beneath

all the style and formalities, resume writing is

copywriting. Just because someone can write a newspaper

story, write a novel, or teach an English class, doesn’t

mean that he or she can write a resume that sells. Be

careful when considering hiring a resume writer. I have

been writing resumes and teaching resume writing for a

living for many years, and I’m going to tell you that you

that there is a huge disparity in quality. The purpose of

this report is to give you some insight and tips in

finding high level, quality services. Keep the following

in mind:

In a

job search, resumes rule!

I’ve

been accused of putting too much emphasis on the resume.

My response to that: In a job search, it is next to

impossible to put too much emphasis on the resume. If you

can’t communicate with potential employers in writing,

you’re in trouble. Nothing fancy, nothing outrageous.

Just words on paper that cause an employer to respond or

move on. Job hunting with a resume that doesn't

communicate well is like job hunting in a foreign country

without knowing the native language. Your words alone

need to make your message come to life in the reader’s

mind. In the job search, resumes rule!

But the

problem doesn’t stop there. There exist an old school

mentality that says the resume is merely a formal list of

past jobs and schools, and should be about as exciting to

read as a laundry list. While this old guard is crumbling

and changing, there remains a loud, grouchy,

narrow-minded group of "experts" who shake their finger

at you while spouting outdated resume rules, such as "a

resume must be one page," "use short bulleted phrases,"

"start each line with an action verb," yada, yada, yada .

. . . Unfortunately, some of these dinosaurs double as

resume writers. They will often give themselves away by

pointing out that resumes are nothing more than a

necessary evil. Don’t swallow that baloney. In a job

search, resumes rule!

Find a

writer who is a big fan of resumes. One who understands

that your resume is your personal sales representative

that sells you when you can't be there. If a resume

writer shows the slightest bit of cynicism about his or

her craft, you can do better. Keep looking. Resumes rule!

Don’t put the writing of the most important document in

your career in the hands of someone who doesn’t agree

with that.

Determine if you are dealing with a

writing service, a typist or a copy

shop.

The

first thing you need to do is sort out the confusion

between:

1. Professional resume

writers

2. Typists

3. Copy shops / quick print

shops

4. Employment services that do

resumes on the side.

In the

big city, and even in some small towns, if you look up

"resume services" in the Yellow Pages you will find copy

shops, quick print shops, and secretarial services among

the listings. To someone who has never sought out resume

writing services, this can be

misleading.

Print

shops and copy shops can help you if, and only if, you

have your resume already written verbatim. Typist and

secretarial services may do some editing and

proofreading, but they are not writers. What a typist,

print shop and copy shop can do is make your resume look

nice. While having a nice looking resume is important,

with today’s technology, nearly everyone has a nice

looking resume.

You

might ask: When I am checking out services, what if it’s

not clear whether a service is a writer or a typist?

Well, what you need to do is ask them two

things:

1. Can

they write your resume from scratch? If they respond with

anything less than an absolute, unqualified ‘Yes!,’ they

are probably not a professional resume

writer.

2. Are

resumes their first and foremost product and service?

Again, you want an unqualified "yes". You don’t want a

secretarial service that does resumes on the

side.

Employment agencies and recruiting

firms will frequently offer resume services. I recommend

shying away from such offers. Resumes are not their

primary product and are often treated as a mere formality

in the job search.

Determine If He Or She Has Extensive

Real-World Experience

Before

you hire an expert, determine that his or her expert

status comes from direct experience writing resumes - and

hopefully lots of it. I am constantly amused by resume

writing services that present their experience in human

resources as their primary source of expertise -- I’d

never hire such a person on that basis. There is a

night-and-day difference between writing resumes and

reading resumes.

Get

this! There is a book on writing resumes written by

someone who is not even a resume writer! He calls himself

an expert on writing resumes because he has read and

evaluated a lot of resumes. You need to beware of people

like this. The implication is that if you worked in human

resources you have special inside knowledge of what

employers want. Well, I’ve hired lots of people in my

career and I’ve got news for you, there is no inside,

super-secret knowledge that gets people interviews and

jobs. Selling yourself on paper is done through content

and organization that comes from solid resume writing

experience and a good understanding of copywriting

(selling on paper).

Am I

saying that you should you never hire someone with a

background in human resources? Absolutely not. But I am

saying: Don't be impressed by credentials in human

resources. There

is absolutely no connection between human resources

experience and ability to write an effective

resume.

Certainly some human resource staffers can write good

resumes -- but the best resume writer I ever met was

ex-zoo administrator turned resume writer, another

excellent one was a former teacher, still another owned a

small machining business, and so on.

But

My Resume Writer is Certified!

As I

write this, the two primary organizations that will

certify resume writers are the Professional Association

of Resume Writers out of Florida and the National Resume

Writers Association out of New York. In recent years

these organizations have grown significantly in size and

credibility. They are great resources for resume writers

and membership demonstrates a certain amount of

professionalism and credibility. And while I am sure that

many, perhaps most, members of these organizations are

excellent writers, you still have to do your homework.

Members are not automatically better resume writers than

non-members.

Finally, one needs to ask: who

certifies the certifiers.

Determine Whether Or Not He Or She Can

Sell On Paper

A

resume should be as persuasive as you can possible make

it. If you are timid or have a hard time writing good

things about yourself, you especially need a resume

writer who can help you to think of how to describe your

skills and accomplishments. This is achieved through good

solid writing skills, not from hype, puff, or being

outrageous.

When

you examine a service, ask the writer why he or she does

things the way they do. They should be able to easily

articulate the strategies they're using and their reasons

for what they included and how they organized the resume.

It is an inept service that gives you blank stare when

you ask about the strategy behind your

resume.

Be

on the Look Out For . . .

Being

ripped off by "cookie cutter" resume services. When a

resume writer takes shortcuts or to make his or her job

easier, it is never to your benefit. For example, some

services do not write new resumes for each client but

work off computer templates by simply filling in the

blanks with your information. These resulting resumes are

too general to be effective; plus they lack information,

marketing strategy, character and direction. They are

waste of your time and money. When shopping for a resume

writer you need to be aware that there are clear

indications when you are dealing with a cookie cutter

service. Red flags should go up when:

1. You

see too good to be true prices. Because so little time

and effort go into their service, they tend to charge far

less than a good writer charges. This is a dead-bang

giveaway of a cookie cutter service. Their target market

is price shoppers and their advertising will focus on low

price. They prey on people who think all resume services

are alike. This is the main reason you find such a large

price spreads between resume services. Cookie cutter

services have a strong presence on the

Internet.

2. The

resume service exclusively uses forms to get the

information from you. These forms will usually resemble

job applications. If the writer does not interview you,

run, don’t walk, from this service. You are dealing with

a cookie cutter service or a typist.

Good resume writers are

also good interviewers. They get beyond the basic information

you find in forms and will ask you about skills,

abilities, accomplishments, personal qualities, and

more.

3. The

service tells you that they have an exclusive, market

tested format that works better than any other format in

the world and they use it for all their customers. This is nothing

more than an excuse for a "one-size-fits-all" approach

and an unwillingness to deal with their clients'

individual needs. Cookie cutter approaches also fail to

recognize that different professions and industries have

evolved their own resume style and character. If your

industry has it's own style and buzzwords, and you fail

to reflect that on your resume, it will make you look

like an outsider.

I

Saved Five Bucks!

Finally, we come to money. If you hire

a professional, expect to pay professional level fees for

the services and, as a general rule, you get what you pay

for (as I write this quality professionals start around

$400). However, you cannot assume that spending more

necessarily gets you a better resume. One thing you can

be sure of is that the lowest price is rarely a bargain

in the long run. There can be a high long-term cost of

looking for a job with the cheapest resume you can buy.

The cheapest services usually turn out to be merely

typists, copy shops or cookie cutter services -- although

they rarely describe themselves that way. Would you

rather spend $50 and spend weeks sitting out in the cold,

or $500 and quickly get a $30,000

raise?

Future

Considerations

Resume

companies come and go, and if you want to make changes in

your resume down the road, you want your writer to still

be in business. There is no hard and fast rule, but

generally the companies with a proven track record stand

a better chance of being around when you need them.

Fortunately, there are some very good Internet resume

services that look like they are in it for the long haul.

Other considerations: Does the company have multiple

offices? Have they invested in a professional website?

Older companies indicate a larger more stable

clientele.

My

Friend in Human Resources Hates It!

Expect to get

every imaginable opinion possible on your new resume. While

it's perfectly natural to seek out feedback and approval on

your new resume, I must warn you that most people are

wellsprings of misinformation when it comes to effective job

search strategies and resume writing. Some will tell you to

make your resume one way and others will tell you exactly the

opposite. Don't call your writer a couple days later and demand

changes made by teachers, relatives, or a friend who recently

got hired. You invested in a professional for his or her

expertise. Maybe your friend has a good idea, but don't make

changes without asking the writer why they chose to do things

the way they did. In most cases, common sense suggest to leave

it the way it is while trusting a resume writer with more than

a few years experience under his or her

belt.

No

resume writer or career development service has all the

answers for every person, but any service that has been

in business 5 to 10 years or more should have pretty good

grasp on what works in a job search and what doesn't

along with some tips and advice worth many times more

than the price of the resume itself.