Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Should I hire a resume writer?

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The other day, I saw a message from Quora in my email box. It was a question requesting my opinion:

Is it worthwhile to hire a resume writer?

I believe that I have written a strong resume; I have received positive feedback for my resumes clarity and content. I am also aware that most employers probably spend less than a minute actually reading a resume. I wonder if hiring someone to write my resume will make a significant difference in my ability to land job interviews. Anyone who has hired a resume service or anyone employed as a resume writer please respond and let me know what I may be potentially missing by not hiring an “expert” (I’m not sure if this would be the right term).

This was my reply:

Thanks for asking for my opinion! Without seeing your resume or knowing more about what you’d like to do, I cannot say if you, in particular, would benefit from hiring a professional resume expert (that is the right term). It’s possible that your resume is great, but it is equally likely that you have not highlighted the key points your next employer requires.

Depending on whom you have asked for feedback, you may or may not be learning how recruiters or hiring managers will see your resume. It’s possible your friends and family members may think your resume is great, but they probably aren’t familiar with how employers (and applicant tracking systems – the computer systems that screen resumes) will view your document.

The biggest test is if you land interviews as a result of your resume. (Of course, you’ll want to be sure to network at the same time as you submit resumes, as networking and referrals are the best ways to land jobs.)

I would suggest, if you are confident in your resume, you should seek opinions from hiring managers in your field and see how things go with your applications. If you land interviews, your resume is doing its job. If you don’t hear back, consider consulting with an expert to help so you don’t waste time and effort applying until you have the strongest document possible. (Don’t forget — you also lose money every day you are not employed. Depending on the cost of the resume and your expected salary, you may be able to easily make back the cost of the resume expert by landing a job just a day or two sooner than you otherwise would have landed.)

I’ve written some posts exploring this topic:

Should you hire someone to write your resume?

Why hire a career coach?

photo by practicalowl

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