If you have been staring at a blank page for a week, paying someone to write your resume can sound like a relief. Sometimes it is money well spent. Other times you pay for a stock template with your name typed into it.
The trick is to know what you are buying before you hand over your card. Start with what you would get.
What a resume writer typically does
As a client of a resume writing service you'll usually hand over your current resume, answer questions about your work and get back a rewritten, formatted document. This might involve a phone interview, a written questionnaire, one or two rounds of changes, or extras such as a cover letter and an updated online profile.
A good writer draws out results you forgot to mention and finds plain words for them. That part is worth paying for. What no writer can do is invent experience you do not have, and an honest one will tell you so.
Who tends to get the most from one
Paying makes the most sense when the stakes are high or the writing itself is what stands in your way. Most people with a simple work history and a free weekend can get a strong result on their own. The list below covers the usual exceptions.
- Senior managers and executives whose careers are hard to fit on two pages
- Career changers who need help putting one field's experience into another field's language
- People returning after a long break who are unsure how to present it
- Anyone who finds writing about themselves so hard that the resume never gets finished
How to vet a resume writer
Ask your questions before you pay. Bear in mind that you are more likely to get a resume that sounds like you if the person writing it has talked with you directly.
- Ask to see before-and-after samples from people in your field or at your level
- Ask who will write your resume and what experience they have with jobs like yours
- Find out whether the writer will talk with you or work only from a form
- Check how many rounds of changes are included and how long each one takes
- Confirm you will receive an editable file you can update yourself, as well as a PDF
- Read reviews on sites the service does not control, and look for detail beyond star ratings
- If the writer mentions a certification, ask which organization issued it and check it yourself
Red flags
Walk away from a service that shows any of these signs. None of them proves a scam on its own, but each one suggests the seller cares more about closing the sale than about your resume.
- A promise that you will get interviews, a job or a raise, since no writer controls who hires you
- A free review that finds your current resume failing, followed straight away by a sales pitch
- Warnings that application software will reject your resume unless you pay for the fix
- Pressure to decide fast, such as a discount that ends today
- No chance to speak with the writer, or a writer who asks almost nothing about your work
- Samples that all look alike, with the same summary lines and phrases
- Requests for your Social Security number, bank details or passwords, none of which a resume writer needs
Doing it yourself
The free route takes longer, and for many people it gets to the same place. Start from a template close to your field, work through the section guides on this site and finish with the Resume Checklist. Then find a second reader. A former manager, someone who hires in your field or a friend who writes well will all spot things you cannot.
Free help is easy to find. College career centers often serve alumni as well as current students, and many public libraries and American Job Centers offer resume workshops or one-on-one help at no charge.
A middle route
If a full rewrite feels like more than you need, pay for less. Some writers and career coaches offer a single review session, where they read your draft and suggest changes that you make yourself. You keep control of the wording and learn how to update the resume for the next job, and the next one after that. One session is often enough.