Is it worth it to pay for someone to redo my resume?

[Delmania]

Make it a goal to never need a resume again.

I was in discussions this past week with an Executive VP of a company I am hoping to do some consulting work for.

She asked for my resume. I laughed. Haven't had one (or needed one) for a dozen years. I'll never have one again.

So, you might need one now, but make it a goal to get yourself in position to never need one.

A resume means you have to sell yourself (figuratively and literally) to someone else. There's a derogatory term for that, but it's not appropriate for someone working towards breaking out of the game.

To that end, I recommend http://devcareerboost.com/. It's aimed at developers, but it pretty much applies to everyone. At $200, it might be a bit pricey. Disclaimer: I occasionally guest post on the creator's blog, but there is no affiliate program.

 

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[JAJT]

I have been in the recruitment game for over 20 yrs. I feel sorry for people who have paid good money to have their resume professionally written. It's crap, don't do it. You're feeding their dream, not helping get yours. Make sure your CV has the pertinent information easy to find. That's it. Remember, if your CV is going to a recruiter they have 100+ to get through for each role. Make it easy for them to put you in the yes or maybe pile. If you don't, you're in the no pile. It's that simple.

For the benefit of myself and others - was the advice I provided earlier in the thread true based on your experience as a recruiter?

 

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[Ninjakid]

I used to do people's resumes professionally, and I will tell you

NO IT'S NOT WORTH IT

Honestly, it's not rocket science or even psychology, someone who can write one really well would charge you hundreds for something you can do with a bit of research.

Don't be THAT guy.

 

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[Bouncing Soul]

Make it a goal to never need a resume again.

I was in discussions this past week with an Executive VP of a company I am hoping to do some consulting work for.

She asked for my resume. I laughed. Haven't had one (or needed one) for a dozen years. I'll never have one again.

So, you might need one now, but make it a goal to get yourself in position to never need one.

A resume means you have to sell yourself (figuratively and literally) to someone else. There's a derogatory term for that, but it's not appropriate for someone working towards breaking out of the game.

It's true even if you are an employee. Your resume should be a check the box item...with some talking points for lazy interviewers.

If you do the job on LinkedIn you pretty much already have a resume though.

 

[LibertyForMe]

Your resume needs to be more specific. I won't do it all for you, but here are two examples:

1 BEFORE:
I oversee the helpdesk staff, provide tier 1 and 2 helpdesk and network support, and handle IT department purchasing for all four company facilities.

1 AFTER:
I oversee six helpdesk staff, provide tier 1 and 2 helpdesk and network support to over 50 clients, and handle IT department purchasing for all four company facilities, totalling over $50,000.


2 BEFORE:
Acted as the sole on-site IT staff for both the Pittsburg, KS and Tulsa, OK facilities, facilitating desktop and network support.

2 AFTER:
Acted as the sole on-site IT staff for two facilities, supporting over 200 people in their desktop and network support needs.

 

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[DjangoBot]

Check out this website, might be useful. It is still in beta and some functions don't work the way they should, but I think their CV format is good and your resume will stand out: http://www.enhancv.com/ . If you decide to use it, kick out the picture from the template, it can do you more harm than good.
Good luck!

 

[Late Start]

Django, thanks for the tip - I used it to do a total overhaul using the input you all have given me, in particular the advice on using metrics and accomplishments that @JAJT gave me. I've sent it to both he and SWB.

Next up is redoing my cover letter, unless the importance of those are overhyped, as I suspect mine needs the exact same total overhaul as my resume.

 

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[Bouncing Soul]

"Me me me, is dull dull dull." -Old sales axiom

Generic resumes don't get tossed in the trash because of which font or what bullet points you use.

Your resume is the least of your concerns. Spend one day on it. Then go do the real work. Then if you have a hot lead, customize your resume for that position and company.

 

[Bouncing Soul]

3. Don't try and be clever. Any recruitment heavy organisations will have a ATS (applicant tracking system). The good ones have a parsing engine at the front end. The parsing engine scans your CV, creates a record in the system and populates the main fields. If you use pictures or icons then the parsing engine MAY have issues and ignore your CV.

Correct. The one I just used auto-populated from LinkedIn, it was awesome.

Having to then pee in a f#$%ing cup and then getting assigned a number wasn't so awesome, but hey, I agreed to the trip...

 

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[JAJT]

Your positions / companies need to be consistent. You swap between "company - position" to "position - company" half way through. Also you use all bold on the first two and half bold on the second. Go with half bold throughout and stick to one format of "position - company" (or the reverse).

I'm not going to go through it line by line, word by word but this is a million times better than what you started with and likely better than most resumes out there now. In my humble opinion. Read it through a few times, make any tweaks you think are worth tweaking, walk away from it for a day and come back and do it again to look at it with fresh eyes.

Well done. Very good job.

 

[DjangoBot]

Hey LS,

In my humble opinion it looks much better now . I would suggest to consider adding a "Thank you" letter to your "arsenal". You send it only after you have passed the gatekeepers (recruiters/HRs) and had the interview with the respective manager (the decision maker). Nothing complex, just a several sentences expressing your gratitude for their time and valuable input during the interview, in PDF format. People tend to remember such candidates, because so few candidates are actually doing it, at least from my experience....

 

[Guest24480]

I'm in a similar situation, graduated this past June. I've had my education at the very top since I created my resume, back in community college. Thing is I only used it in a academic/ research setting. Where that side focused on GPA and academic achievements. Gained 4 internships off that (all academic).

Fast forward, I haven't been receiving a lot of love in the industry. I think my process all together needs to be revamped, but I do think resume plays its role.

I will push education experience to the bottom ( it hurts because I have 3.8 GPA & numerous awards). If I can make the person read all the way to the bottom and see my education experience, IT WILL BE THE PERFECT CLOSER !

Now, for your case, you might need the educational experience at the top until you can build the experience that translates to your career choice. It all depends on how good your spin game is with your past experience.

Hey, thanks for the response I completely forgot I had posted this. I've kind of changed course since then and have been doing some IT side projects both freelance and in school. I've listed some of those on my resume along with work experience in the hopes of standing out to employers since I don't have much tangible experience in an office setting. Hopefully that will get my foot in the door.

 

[BellaPippin]

I would say it's not just because there are plenty of examples/template/inspiration available online for free. Like someone suggested have another pair of eyes look at it. I've redone my resume many times over the past five years with all the travelling back and forth until I settled in Chicago.

Formatting: ONE font. 12/14pt.Two at most and that's pushing it. Name fairly big, in bold. I used to pick a single color and use it there and for categories titles. Subtitle-like line should be phone and email so its easy to find where to reach you. Underline categories and make them a couple points bigger for good organizational and ease of reading (that's a big point there). Double space your lines and a little extra between categories (again, ease of read). Using cursive/italic for time frames is a good detail.

Highlight your experience at the top, don't start with the "professional objective" thing. The HR person reads hundred CVs a day. You need to be brief and concise. Same with work/tasks descriptions. One sentence at most with the most impact.

After work experience follow with "Skills and Expertise" and name your best. Kinda like the LinkedIn endorsements. Responsible, dependable. Meet deadlines. Don't need somebody to hold my hand (important for telecommuting). HTML. CSS. Archiving. Bilingual. Etcetera.

Then after that, your education/courses. 2000-2004. Place. Major.

Short and to the point. Easy to read. High impact with few words.


If you need an opinion I'll take a look, just inbox it to me.

 

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[Late Start]

Hmm, it sounds like a total overhaul is needed. More a simplification than an overhaul - a less is more type of thing. The upside is, my current one has helped me stand out for local gigs with 5-10 applicants, but I think it's putting me straight into the trashcan with telecommuting gigs with hundreds of applicants.

I love this forum.

 

[Delmania]

So my first step on getting out of the slow lane is to get a job that doesn't require two hours of my time each day in a car. The downside to this is that I live in Southeast Kansas, where IT jobs aren't super plentiful. My goal is to score a telecommuting job, and I've been a member of FlexJobs.com for a couple of months now. Around here, I can get my foot in the door pretty easily (last summer I turned down two jobs before accepting my current one), but I'm having trouble getting so much as a phone interview competing on the national level.

Is it worth paying a service like TopResume to rewrite it for me, or finding a freelancer online? If so, does anybody have any good recommendations?

Yes. Most business owners do not write their own copy or design their own brochures. You are selling yourself. Don't go cheap, though, expect to pay between $300 - $500 on a high quality resume.

Depends. Do you think some random guy from a service like that can sell you better than you could sell yourself?

If the answer is yes, you have bigger problems than your resume.

It could be that his energy would be better spent on mastering interviewing techniques. Separation of concerns and all that.

 

[Late Start]

I'm gonna beat on this when I get home tonight, and will post my tentative results when I am done for you guys to peruse and critique.

 

[Late Start]

Alright, thoughts and critiques appreciated - as I said, getting a job closer to home (preferably telecommuting) is numero uno in my Fastlane plan, so nailing my resume (Lord willing for the last time) is pretty critical. I'm attaching my new attempt at a streamlined model. I've had several people advise me to keep it to one page, a recruited from Cigna say two pages max, and several people tell me that on the national scene, it's all about keywords.

 

[Late Start]

I used to do people's resumes professionally, and I will tell you

NO IT'S NOT WORTH IT

Honestly, it's not rocket science or even psychology, someone who can write one really well would charge you hundreds for something you can do with a bit of research.

Don't be THAT guy.

Care to peruse the samples I just posted?

 

[Late Start]

That sounds oddly delicious.

 

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[Charnell]

You may want to remove those links and edit out your personal information. You never know what kind of chuckleheads are perusing the site.

Also, in all my years of being told how to fill out a CV, never put "to whom it may concern". Either address someone or don't.

 

[Late Start]

Great feedback - thanks!

 

[Late Start]

I just looked at your sample resume.

I'm going to be an a**hole now. I'm sorry. Hopefully it means you'll land a better job as a result.

Not at all, man - this is exactly what I need, and I appreciate it greatly. Breaking out of a bubble (in this case, the rural southeast Kansas bubble) often requires a bit of a$$ kicking, and the advice you are giving me is incredibly valuable.

 

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[Late Start]

Your positions / companies need to be consistent. You swap between "company - position" to "position - company" half way through. Also you use all bold on the first two and half bold on the second. Go with half bold throughout and stick to one format of "position - company" (or the reverse).

D'oh - that's where the fresh eyes approach comes in handy.

 

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[oimate]

So my first step on getting out of the slow lane is to get a job that doesn't require two hours of my time each day in a car. The downside to this is that I live in Southeast Kansas, where IT jobs aren't super plentiful. My goal is to score a telecommuting job, and I've been a member of FlexJobs.com for a couple of months now. Around here, I can get my foot in the door pretty easily (last summer I turned down two jobs before accepting my current one), but I'm having trouble getting so much as a phone interview competing on the national level.

Is it worth paying a service like TopResume to rewrite it for me, or finding a freelancer online? If so, does anybody have any good recommendations?

Personally I would not pay a service like TopResume-By doing so you are effectively letting some stranger who probably wont even speak to you decide on your CV and what bits to cut/put in and you may blindly continue to send that CV out in the mistaken belief that 'a top resume company' wrote it for you.

Having worked within the recruitment world as a dreaded consultant the best and dare I say only piece of advice, and often the biggest mistake people make with their CV/Resume is to sent the same generic CV to every job they apply for and expect a reply.

If you really want a specific job take that extra 30 mins tayloring it that specific job. Companies/recruiters see the same CV's day in day out-If a applicant has actually taken the time to actually look at the job description and highlight their skills and experience in this job..plus more.. then hell yes they'll look at you and want to speak to you-otherwise probably not and if your're lucky you'll be selected to make up numbers.

On the flipside I can re-edit it for a princely sum

 

[FiftySeven]

LS,

Thanks for bringing this up. Based on the input you attracted to this thread, I was able to update my resume by simplifying it - less is more- and also reformatted it to enhance readability & scan-ability.

 

[BlakeIC]

Make a job posting on a website that people could not refuse

Now you will have a ton of people submitting job apps

And now you will have a database of templates to choose from

 

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[Guest24480]

Does the advice provided in this thread apply to internships or securing a first job out of college as well?

If I don't have any relevant experience in the field I'm trying to get an internship in then what do I do?

I worked construction for many years, a little bit of retail, and in an athletic setting for reference, but I'm trying to land an internship in real estate, finance or the entertainment business. Or possibly at a startup.

 

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[M'egga Wolf]

Does the advice provided in this thread apply to internships or securing a first job out of college as well?

If I don't have any relevant experience in the field I'm trying to get an internship in then what do I do?

I worked construction for many years, a little bit of retail, and in an athletic setting for reference, but I'm trying to land an internship in real estate, finance or the entertainment business. Or possibly at a startup.

I'm in a similar situation, graduated this past June. I've had my education at the very top since I created my resume, back in community college. Thing is I only used it in a academic/ research setting. Where that side focused on GPA and academic achievements. Gained 4 internships off that (all academic).

Fast forward, I haven't been receiving a lot of love in the industry. I think my process all together needs to be revamped, but I do think resume plays its role.

I will push education experience to the bottom ( it hurts because I have 3.8 GPA & numerous awards). If I can make the person read all the way to the bottom and see my education experience, IT WILL BE THE PERFECT CLOSER !

Now, for your case, you might need the educational experience at the top until you can build the experience that translates to your career choice. It all depends on how good your spin game is with your past experience.

 

[M'egga Wolf]

any update @Late Start ?

 

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[shelton]

I would say it's not just because there are plenty of examples/template/inspiration available online for free. Like someone suggested have another pair of eyes look at it. I've redone my resume many times over the past five years with all the travelling back and forth until I settled in Chicago.

Formatting: ONE font. 12/14pt.Two at most and that's pushing it. Name fairly big, in bold. I used to pick a single color and use it there and for categories titles. Subtitle-like line should be phone and email so its easy to find where to reach you. Underline categories and make them a couple points bigger for good organizational and ease of reading (that's a big point there). Double space your lines and a little extra between categories (again, ease of read). Using cursive/italic for time frames is a good detail.

Highlight your experience at the top, don't start with the "professional objective" thing. The HR person reads hundred CVs a day. You need to be brief and concise. Same with work/tasks descriptions. One sentence at most with the most impact.

After work experience follow with "Skills and Expertise" and name your best. Kinda like the LinkedIn endorsements. Responsible, dependable. Meet deadlines. Don't need somebody to hold my hand (important for telecommuting). HTML. CSS. Archiving. Bilingual. Etcetera.

Then after that, your education/courses. 2000-2004. Place. Major.

Short and to the point. Easy to read. High impact with few words.


If you need an opinion I'll take a look, just inbox it to me.

I need an opinion please help me. I'm trying to apply to stores in New York because I can't go to college and I don't know what kind of person they want.