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I worked for an online resume service in 2003 for
several months. I received resumes from many sources:
foreign students applying to American universities,
people leaving the military (the company had a
contract with the US Air Force), career field changers
- and a lot of people who *thought* their resume was
ok, but wanted to be sure.
They were quite anxious, having spent USD $169, and
not really believing that they would receive that kind
of value. Pretty well every customer was very highly
satisfied with the results.
Most of us really struggle to create a good resume for
ourselves. It's not just knowing to use action verbs,
white space, and so on, it's being able to ruthlessly
cut what doesn't belong: volunteer service in 99% of
the cases, unrelated and old work experience, grades
in school, etc., etc. We get attached to these things
because they are important to us, but employers could
care less that you got straight A's ten years ago.
Most of us also find it very difficult to promote
ourselves effectively in our resumes; we feel arrogant
or false. A pro will make you look very good without
exaggerating. A common reaction from people receiving
their new resume was to feel better about their skills
and experience.
I didn't get any resumes from tech writers, mind you;
that would be a crowd I would NOT be eager to do a
resume for. ::hair-pulling-out-emoticon:: :-)
All the best,
Brian
--- Chad LaCroix <chad -at- architext-usa -dot- com> wrote:
>
> Hey Whirlers,
>
> This might be a little bit of a silly question
> but...I am interested to know
> if there is an advantage to having your resume
> professionally done. I think
> that I am quite capable of building one myself but I
> tend to think that
> someone that does this for a living would be able to
> do a better job still.
> Maybe they would know better what key words to use
> to perk employers'
> interests? Maybe they would know what the new rage
> is for resume format?
>
> If you have used a professional resume service and
> you were happy with it,
> could you let me know who they are and what the
> ballpark cost would be? I
> think that it may be worth it to me if the cost is
> reasonable. Conversely
> if you have used a service and it was not to your
> liking, a warning would be
> appreciated as well.
>
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