The plain truth about "professional" resume writing services.

Does a professionally written resume save you time? I'm asked this question at least two or three times a week. Time is the one big asset that we cannot ignore because you can never get it back. However, think about it. Professional resume writers do not know anything about you when you when they first start. They all need to interview and probe you for your background to find out about your accomplishment and jobs. This is at best a ½ hour exercise. By no means is this the end of the process. The interviewer must call you several times over the course of writing your resume to double check facts, confirm dates, and try to pull as much info out of you as possible. Their job is to prod you and to elicit the right amount of solid accomplishments to make a resume stand out.

Not all resume services will spend that much time with you; however, for some, it's a numbers game. They'll take down basic information, put it into a computer program and out will pop a "customized" resume, tailored just for you. The danger of this type of "magic" is that you're not differentiated from the hundreds or thousands of other candidates vying for the same job. Imagine the internal human resources person who is reviewing your resume. They'll wonder why you didn't take the time to differentiate yourself. Worse yet, another possibility is that the resume writer could have used the same catch phrases and words for another candidate, again, vying for the same job. How would this look to a potential employer? The worst part of it is that you'd probably never know that it happened. You'd be left wondering why you weren't called for an interview. But, you paid for Universal Resume Template #31.

There are resume writers who really try to do their best. They call you to double check facts, try to understand what it is that you do for a living and, in some respects, try to get to know you better. But the simple truth is that they don't, and possibly, can't really understand what it is that you do. They'll spend hours, perhaps days groping for the right words, the right nuances that describe your job. Likely, they've not had enough experience either in resume writing or in your particular field, industry or functional background. The result will be a resume lacking in depth. It just cannot highlight appropriately your best attributes. It just doesn't feel right. The resume may be "technically" correct, but it doesn't do justice to your skills, character traits, and positive attitude. If finally hits you, maybe you should write your own resume. Why not? You know what you want to say, your own accomplishments and character traits. And, well you should, if you have the time and inclination. Before we leave this topic, consider this. There ARE great professional resume writers out there. Just don't go for the easy way out. Make sure you are not job candidate #50, using the same template #31 and make sure you hire one that understands your market and industry.