Resume Service

Hi guys, have any of you used a professional resume writing service? If so, was it worth the money? Any suggestions on which ones are good? Thanks!!

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dynamik

Your resume will likely be your first impression with potential employers. I would definitely recommend having it professionally written, or at the very least, finding an experienced friend or relative if you are unsure of what you have. I've occasionally seen people post their resumes or ask specific questions here. The feedback is typically very good, but I don't think that is a substitute to having it done professionally.

Visit or call a few local places in your area and see what they charge. It's up to you to decide if it's worth it or not. Unless you have some innate skill for writing resumes, they will probably be able to improve it significantly. I took a college course that focused on resume writing for a good portion of the semester, and it's definitely a more involved process than one would assume.

Plantwiz

stevcha wrote:

Hi guys, have any of you used a professional resume writing service? If so, was it worth the money? Any suggestions on which ones are good? Thanks!!

I don't believe in using them. If your high school English classes (if in the US), guidance consouler of if in college, your don't have a class that gives you the high points for writting a resume...you've probably got a bigger problem.

YES, a pro can do a good job for you, but it's not rocket science and if you do a little legwork and bounce the resume off your advisors (from school), parents, friends, business co-workers (older business co-workers...choose wisely), then you'll spend money you probably don't need to spend.

- Keep it Simple Student (or stupid as I learned it) K.I.S.S
- Clean and simple type/paper
- 1 page
- Tailor the resume to the job you are applying for
- Follow-up after you submit it.

You have about 10-15 seconds to win them over. If something looks out-of-line you'll be in the NO WAY pile really quick.

Netstudent

I use the clear-cut, and concise writing method, and I don't go over one page. So my question is: What about you guys that have been in the industry for 7 or 8 years? How do you get all that experience on one page? When is it acceptable to submit a 2 page resume?

Do you guys with lots of experience have a multiple page resumes?

int80h

Netstudent wrote:

What about you guys that have been in the industry for 7 or 8 years? How do you get all that experience on one page?

We don't.

Netstudent wrote:

Do you guys with lots of experience have a multiple page resumes?

Yes. Two pages is considered standard length for a resume. 1 page is OK if you have little to no experience. 3 pages is only acceptable for professionals(lawyers, doctors) or PHDs.

Ricka182

I'm having my resume done professionally next week. My reason being I suck at writing. I did use my current resume to get my current position, but I think I got lucky. My boss never even saw it. I had only a 5 minute phone interview. I have an hour long interview on Tuesday, and then it takes a few days for them to write one up. If you have what you think is an "OK" resume, but it just needs a little touch up, most good companies will offer that as well for a lower price.

dtlokee

You can go to 2 pages, but often the second page won't be read by at all, or very quicklyglanced at but the HR rep. The key is to list relevant experience to the job you're applying to, that will cut a resume down dramatically. I still like when I get a resume listing everything back to the IBM model 390 he worked on in 1977. That's not of much use today. Or the guy whho wants to list every model of NIC he has ever configured.

JDMurray

Netstudent wrote:

Do you guys with lots of experience have a multiple page resumes?

Yes, I have a four-page resume. It would be longer, but I limit it to describing only the last 20 years of my work experience. Long resumes are not advisable, but recruiters ask for the information anyway if it isn't provided. The longest resume I've ever read was 37 pages. It was from a computer games programmer; he really needed to convert the last 35 pages of it to a work portfolio like artists have.

Schluep

JDMurray wrote:

The longest resume I've ever read was 37 pages. It was from a computer games programmer; he really needed to convert the last 35 pages of it to a work portfolio like artists have.

I can picture a 37 page programmer's resume already:

PLEASE BE SURE TO VIEW ATTACHED RESUME.CSS PAGE PRINT-OUT. XML VERSION AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST!

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>
Jon Doe's Resume
</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY BGCOLOR="white" TEXT="black"...

garv221

I use a professional service as well. I entrust certain things to professionals and expect professional results and I have not been let down. They do it for a living, best $100.00 you can spend.

Ahriakin

Heh. My full one is 5 pages. The first is a concise summary of certifications, the second a similarly concise summary of core skills, competencies and experience, work experience indepth takes up the other 3. So they pretty much have all the key stuff in the first 2 pages and the rest are if they actually have an interest.
One key aspect though is to write your resume as a searchable document. Presume it will not be seen by a human on at least the first pass and you have to work in the most commonly used key words that are used currently to describe your skills (and to take it further you can customize your resume to include keywords used in the job description/advert). The trick is to do that but also make it easily readable by the human you hopefully have helped get it to.

stevcha

garv221 wrote:

I use a professional service as well. I entrust certain things to professionals and expect professional results and I have not been let down. They do it for a living, best $100.00 you can spend.

Did you use someone local or someone on the web?