A rapidly-shrinking economy and soaring unemployment rates have made job search a real challenge for most job seekers. The number of candidates competing for a single opening has increased dramatically and many are now resorting to professional resume writing services in order to get an edge over the competition. A resume, after all, gets scanned in less than ten seconds and most hiring managers would not even give a poorly-written resume a second glance, let alone a second chance.
It is no wonder, serious job seekers hire Resume critique professional resume writing services to give their resumes the much-needed punch. Unfortunately, the process of selecting a service is not that simple. A simple Google search for the keyword resume writing service, for instance, generates over 2,820,000 results as of writing this article and the number continues to grow exponentially every single day.
Writing a good resume needs more than just good writing skills. Don’t get me wrong. Good writing skills are certainly very important, but writing a good resume needs much more than that. A well-written resume should present and position the candidate as the perfect solution for the employer’s needs and must use the right combination of industry-recognized keywords.
Here are some key criteria you should look for in a good resume writing service:
1. Certifications. The career services industry has matured significantly over the past decade or so and many professional associations now serve and support the industry. Some prominent associations include names, such as Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARWCC), The National Resume Writers Association, and others. Each association has its own version of a certification program to test and qualify professional resume writers on the basis of established and tested criteria. A certification is not a warranty that you will work with the very best or obtain high quality customer service, but it is at least a good starting point to weed out the professionals from the rest.
2. Look for independent reviews. Testimonials and endorsements from past clients are important indicators of the quality of a service. Review the site for testimonials, but don’t be fooled by deceptively-portrayed testimonials that offer nothing more than just the customer’s initials. Use common sense in judging authenticity.
3. Can you speak with your resume writer? If you decide to work with extremely large resume writing companies, you may never get to speak with your writer directly and you may often not have any control over whom you work with. The ability to speak with your resume writer one-on-one is an important benefit that merits due consideration.
4. Don’t go for the lowest bid. The period of unemployment, understandably, is one where you may be facing a severe financial crunch, but that does not mean you should settle for the lowest-priced resume writing service. Let’s say you pay $99 to get your resume professionally written. How much do you think the writer is going to be paid? $45? $55? Well, at that price how much time do you think a reasonable person would spend on your resume? An hour? Two? I don’t think it would be possible to spend more time than that unless, of course, your resume writer works out of Asia.
5. Does the resume service offer a guarantee? Resume services will often offer a guarantee of some sort. Verify if they offer a guarantee and what the fine print is.