Professional Resume Writing Services Yield Results

Q. I love to read your blog and am enjoying your new résumé critique section on Monday mornings.  The only thing that I wonder is why people don’t consult a résumé expert sooner?

WG, San Francisco, CA

A. This is an excellent question.  Often, when a new client comes to me for a résumé revision, they have been applying for job opportunities with a résumé that is substandard. When the re-write comes back, most are shocked to find out how many errors were on the original document and are pleased to see the dramatic improvement.

According to the latest report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean average length of unemployment in October 2010 was 33.9 weeks, an increase of 5.8 weeks since last year at the same time.  With statistics like this, Careers Done Write has increasingly seen a shift away from do-it-yourself résumé writing. 

Over the past year the job market has seen a substantial uptick in competitiveness for jobs. I have one client who applied for a position – he was one of 450 applications! There has certainly been a surge in the number of senior level professionals who are using certified professional résumé writers for the first time. 

1. Candidates who get their résumé professionally written are likely to receive a job 7 weeks sooner than their counterparts based on recent research. 
2. This can translate into roughly $15K in wages and benefits for the average candidate who earns $100K per year. 
3. The price for a well written professional résumé and cover letter is nominal, even when compared with a salary of $50K or less.

While I wouldn’t dream of trying to fix my own air conditioner or attempting to replace the broken transmission of my car, I might have no problem working on my own résumé. After all, they taught me how to do this in my senior year of secondary school, right?

• Like clothing styles, résumé styles change, too. 
• It is no longer sufficient to put together an average document that simply itemizes what you have done, like your grocery shopping list. 
• A modern résumé must be a powerful and compelling marketing piece that is not only visually pleasing, but also full of quantifiable accomplishments.

To compete in one of the tightest labor markets we have seen in history, your résumé has to be razor sharp. Those who cling to the past notion of the do-it-yourself résumé, are not saving anything. The best and brightest have come to realize that architects don’t perform knee surgery and doctors don’t build skyscrapers.

Please send questions for our weekly Ask Deb blog to me at Debra@careersdonewrite.com.  The Ask Deb blog segment is published every Friday.