This article aims to clarify whether paying a professional resume writer is worth it, we’ll highlight whether you need it, the typical costs involved if you do, expectations should you commit, the morals of it and more!
What’s In…
Quick Intro
Do You Need to Hire a Professional Resume Writer?
Professional Resume Writing - What Does it Cost?
The Best Resume Writing Services
Choosing a Professional Resume Writer
Is Paying Someone to Write Your Resume Cheating?
Professional Resume Examples / Testimonials
The Verdict - Are Professional Resume Writers Worth It?
Quick Intro…
Your resume shows who you are, your skills, your accomplishments, your experience and more. It works as the paper copy of your life detailing who you are and what you have to offer. Well, at least all those things that are relevant to your next career move.
For some of us writing a resume is a straightforward simple affair – we know our skills and exactly how to position them in order to stand-out and sound compelling. Having the ability to express essential career information on paper is a key advantage as this research demonstrates, however, for those on the other side, you could have all the skills and experience in the world, but if you suck at resume writing or getting the key information down onto the page you’re missing out.
Luckily for you, there are ways around it. Welcome to the world of professional resume writing services…
Do You Need A Professional Resume Writer?
Firstly, let’s look at whether you actually need a resume writer. Appealing as it sounds to have a professional take control and do all the heavy lifting for you, it might just be overkill, you may already have a solid document that just needs a fresh look and feel or a tidy up.
But how do you decide?
Start by getting a second opinion, ask a trusted work colleague or someone who will give you their objective opinion, those closest to you may not do this in fear of hurting your feelings, so gauge opinions from your broader environment, a close work colleague is perfect.
Secondly, review it yourself, compare your existing resume alongside the job adverts you intend to apply for, how relevant are you? Are you a good fit? A useful exercise is to print out both the job advert and your resume and use a highlighter pen to highlight the skills and experience on your resume that match those listed on the job advert, how much is coloured in?
Recruiters and employers skim read resumes at incredible speed looking for relevant skills, experience and information that gives them justification for taking things further. You need to ensure that your resume is both relevant and visually pleasing if you want to receive that call-back.
When writing a resume the two most important factors to consider are
Relevancy
Layout & Design
For some recruiters… Length is also a factor, however, my opinion has always been that if your resume is relevant then a longer or shorter resume shouldn't really matter that much.
So, prior to spending out hundreds on writing services, consider the above and consider cheaper alternatives such as resume template downloads (examples below) these can provide an easy way to produce a visually stunning resumes quickly and with little fuss.
Example Resume Templates
Look for templates that include advice and completed information, i.e. no placeholder text, this will also provide you with extra inspiration when writing your own resume.
Also, it’s worth considering a simple free review of your resume from businesses such as LinkedIn and Indeed who offer these services. They are quite basic but may help to provide some additional insight.
Professional Resume Writing - What Does it Cost?
Resume writing services come in all shapes and sizes and differ in cost depending on the amount of expertise that you require.
ENTRY LEVEL SERVICE
A simple written resume will start in the £125 / $150 region; however, this is unlikely to include much professional input, nor does it include any rounds of edits if you’re not happy with the service.
What to expect at an entry level:
1 or 2 page written resume specific to your skills and experience
Resume keyword optimisation
Limited edits or changes
MID-RANGE SERVICE
A more detailed service will come in around the £250 / $300 mark, this will give you professional input along with objective advice and will be more consultative than the entry level range of services.
What to expect at a mid-range level:
An initial consultation with a Career / Recruitment Professional
1, 2 or 3 page written resume specific to your skills and experience
Edits to ensure you are happy
Resume keyword optimisation
PREMIUM / PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Premium services cost upwards of £350 / $400, these services give you a fully designed resume targeted to positions you are actually looking to apply for, if you are looking to achieve maximum impact then this level is for you.
What to expect at a premium level:
Consultation with a Career / Recruitment Professional
Analysis of your career path or positions you wish to apply for
Stand-out or bespoke resume layout and design specific to your industry
1, 2 or 3 page written resume specific to your skills and experience
Edits (and possibly future edits) to ensure you are happy
Resume keyword optimisation
Additional cover letter
Paying for a resume writing service is an investment. With the more premium services you're gaining access to a recruitment professional who will listen to your needs and deliver a first-class document that will give you the confidence to apply for positions that potentially may have previously been out of reach (or so you thought).
If a first-class resume helps you to advance your career more quickly then the costs associated are inconsequential, if you get the job because of it – it pays for itself.
The Best Resume Writing Services
If you were to Google "the Best Resume Writing Services" the results present a plethora of different resume services all pitching for your business and all professing to be the best. (My personal favourite happens to be a listing on Fiverr which reads "I will write u best resume"). Scrolling through the results you get everything from 24 hour delivery, to guaranteed interviews, a la carte pricing and more. But how do you know if any of them are any good?
You are entrusting one of the most important documents in your life to a complete stranger, so you are going to need to look beyond a company listing to find the good ones, in-fact, I would say never choose a writer based on a company, discover the people behind the scenes, the professionals who will actually be writing your document. Ask to know who will be writing your resume, then select a service based on the reputation and skills of that writer. If you can't find this information out then move on - I've heard horror stories of senior industry professionals on 200k+ having their resumes written by interns. Not pretty.
Also, it’s important to be wary of cheaper services, I like a bargain as much as the next person, however, your resume holds the key to your career so you need to do it justice. I can guarantee you that if a company is offering cheap resume writing services it won't be an experienced professional doing it.
Best resume writing services, what to look out for...
Research the actual writers, who are they, how much experience they have.
Be wary of cheap services, the best writers don't work for peanuts.
Select a partner who's language is native to your country.
Select a writer who offer content and visual design.
Look for the writers who are flexible who offer unlimited edits (they have confidence in their work).
A consultative approach, the best will look beyond the resume and ask what jobs you are applying for.
Choosing A Professional Resume Writer?
Choosing a professional resume writing service, or resume writer can be an arduous task, the sheer fact that you're turning to a resume writer probably implies that you are time conscious, therefore, spending extensive time on selecting a writer shouldn’t be a worry.
Ask around, have any of your friends or work colleagues used one they can recommend, trusty Google can provide results aplenty or you can of course speak to me, Suzie Finch, I do take on a handful of writing projects a year, so if I'm free I will help or at the very least point you in the right direction.
Things to look out for when choosing a resume writer.
1. REVIEW SAMPLES
Check out previous work, or at least snippets of previous work so that you know what to expect with the service. It allows you to see first hand the quality of the work, if it targets the right sectors and if it's worth the money you’re going to spend.
2. A FAIR PRICE
You are paying a professional to consult with you, to review your information, to research your experience, to review the positions you want to apply for and to fully write your resume. This type of comprehensive service isn't cheap but will deliver the best results. Paying fairly i.e. over £250 / $300 will ensure the best outcomes.
3. DESIGN & LAYOUT
To get more bang for your buck make sure you end up with a stunning design, this in itself can be enough to make recruiters notice you. Layout and the appearence of your document is essential, look for writers who include this.
4. RESEARCH
Take a little bit of time to check the writer out. Whether it be their LinkedIn, company website or work social media. If they are part of a trusted business, receive good reviews and have qualifications – they will be a good fit.
5. REPUTATION
Ask to see testimonials or reviews, the reputation of the writer is important, they are after all writing a document that will represent you.
6. TIMESCALES
Select a partner based on your timescales, not all writers work at the same speed. The best ones will take a little longer as they offer a more consulative and research driven approach, so be wary of those that promise a document delivered within 24-48 hours.
Is Paying Someone To Write Your Resume Cheating?
According to LinkedIn, different countries around the world have varying attitudes towards Resume / CV writers.
The US have specific career paths directed towards the Resume writing route gaining accreditation towards CPRW (Certified Professional Resume Writer). The culture in the US acknowledges hiring professional resume writers as a dedication towards the job market.
The United Kingdom is slightly different as they don’t give certificated accreditation. You can’t exactly get a qualification in it. Typically in the UK individuals are more wary towards resume writers as they feel this could give an unfair advantage or that you’re not doing the hard work yourself. Typical Brits.
But the bottom line is no, it’s not cheating, lying on your resume or CV on the other hand is cheating, but asking a professional to summarise your skills and experience in a professional way most certainly is not.
Ask yourself the question: is this resume really me?
If you have paid money for a resume writing service and all the information is correct and illuminates you as a person, then why not get that extra help to take the pressure off.
However, if the resume reads like someone else – exaggerates your skills and experiences and doesn’t feel like you – then it could perhaps be a sign that you need to restart or revamp.
Professional Resume Examples
Professional Resume Writers will often re-design your layout and format to ensure it reads well and is visually impactful. This is an important part of the process as recruiters will typically see hundreds of resumes in any given day. Yours needs to stand out so that they pay more attention to the content.
How you present your resume is a good indicator on how you present yourself. When engaging a resume writer ask to see past projects and client testimonials, any competent writer will be able to provide this with no problem.
Below are a few examples of projects we’ve completed here at The Career Improvement Club, click on each one to see the projects in their entirety.
Final note - Remember to ask for testimonials…
The Verdict - Are Professional Resume Writers Worth it?
Well, the answer to this depends on your personal situation, now before you call me a cop-out let me explain and break this down further…
WHEN IT’S NOT WORTH IT
When you are in a rush, many candidates turn to resume services for a quick and easy solution, and in some cases this can be OK, however by and large industry pro’s need a few days at least to create the document of your dreams.
You need to be confident that if you pay someone to write you a new resume that it will be significantly better than what you have already. It is simply not worth engaging a fast and cheap service to create a generic document just because you need to get your application in quickly. Many recruiters will see straight through this and overall this approach can do more harm than good. Examples of when it’s not worth it:
When you are in a rush
When you don’t have the budget to commit fully
As my mum used to say “if you do a good job today, tomorrow will take care of itself”. So true.
WHEN IT’S WORTH IT
When done correctly a resume is way more than just a piece of paper with your experience on, it gives you the internal confidence to go out of your comfort zone and apply to positions that progress you as a person. Something to be proud of.
If you’re looking to make some serious career strides then afford this process the time it deserves. Examples of when it’s worth it might include:
You’re seeking to make progressive career strides
You’ve decided to change career paths
Your resume has been neglected for many years and needs a complete overhaul
You need specific industry advice
Hiring a good resume writer will be a great investment. Not only do they know exactly what recruiters are looking for on your resume or CV, but they know exactly what keywords, specific skills, and attitudes to include.