My resume looks nice and everyone who looks at (friends and family) says that its fine. But I always feel like its missing something or isn’t strong enough. I’m considering giving a resume service a chance at it.
Anyone here have any experience (good or bad) with these type services?
Thanks,
I would use one. In fact, I did.
I had a killer resume, filled with action words, specific accomplishments and so for. The resume writer that I showed it to acknowledged that I did a lot right, but for a nominal fee ($100, I think), he made it better. Mind you though, this was a discounted fee, since I had already done most of the hard stuff.
Besides, it’s not enough for your resume to look good. It has to stand out from the crowd, especially in today’s market.
I’ve not used a pay service for my resume, but I think it could be worth it, especially if you’re in a position where you’re working in a field, rather than in school. They can see what it says and what it doesn’t say and help you focus it in better.
I’m ending a two year grad school stint, and searching for jobs. I (ok, finally) had one of the librarians in the university library take a look at my resume because I was getting nothing as far as interviews. The person I had look at it has been on several search committees, and knows what catches her eye.
Mine wasn’t bad - but it wasn’t one that was going to get me a lot of interviews. Now it’s much more focused toward each job that I’m applying for (the newest ones just went out last week) and I think I’m more likely to get interviews from it.
I have never used a resume writing service, but I have gone through workshops as part of outplacement. (Severance packages are handy) Thankfully more of my experience with resumes has been with reviewing rather than writing them. Before you spend the money for a service, you may see if you can have someone involved in the field look it over. They would know what hiring managers in that industry look for.
One caution in regards to resume writing services, they can be rather formulaic (if that is a word). Your goal is to make your resume standout. If it sounds just like the last 10 they have read, you will have a better chance of being passed over. I can’t emphasize this enough, when recruiters are screening resumes, they are looking for reasons to eliminate candidates. A resume’s sole purpose is to make them want to talk to you. Then when they do talk to you, they need to feel that the person represented in the resume is sitting before them.
If you went to college your school may hook you up with a resume expert for free. My (unremarkable, public) university does all sorts of stuff like that to help graduates get a job, even years after they graduate.
I wouldn’t pay for the service. The career counselors at my school have as much expertise as anyone and they have only made minor suggestions for changes on my resumes over the years. There’s really only so much you can do with a resume - it’s not rocket surgery. The collective intelligence of the SDMB is as good as any professional resume writer.
See, that’s what I thought until I actually gave one a shot. My resume was darned good before, but afterwards, it was simply brilliant.
Needless to say, YMMV. I suspect that many of them are formulaic, as Altara said.