Yahoo Finance 7 Red Flags of a Sketchy Résumé Writer
Even with the mountain of time and heartache you put into a job search, one document could trigger the avalanche that topples your efforts: the résumé.
"When a résumé works, you work. When it doesn't work, you don't work," says Martin Yate, author of the best-selling "Knock 'Em Dead" series, including the 2016 edition, which will be out in October. "I've been helping people for three decades, and 90 percent of the time, the problem has its roots in the résumé."
A résumé writer can work with you to craft a handwritten document that databases will find and recruiters and hiring managers will love. Or the writer can take your résumé, throw in some extra words and a new format and then take your money.
Like career coaches, there are solid résumé writing services out there -- but there are many more that will waste your time and money. Beware of writers who raise the following red flags:
1. She's not online. Hiring a résumé writer who doesn't have at least a website is like taking lessons from a piano teacher who doesn't play. Résumés live online, and so should the people writing them, Yate says.
And not just any website will do. Steer clear of dated sites -- the ones that scream "1999" louder than a Backstreet Boys song -- or else you can bet the résumés the writer doles will feel behind the times, too.
"Look at how they write on their website, too," adds Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, executive résumé writer and owner of the firm Career Trend, based in the Dallas area. Again, if you see shoddy grammar and typos on the site, you can expect the same on your résumé.
2. She's online ... but a little too much so. Don't fall for the professional who's superb at branding herself and spitting out 140-word tweets -- but not necessarily, you know, writing a résumé.
Yate warns against professionals who heavily rely on social media to market themselves as a way of compensating for their lack of experience and credentials. After all, do you want this writer to spend all her time tweeting or working with clients?
"With the Internet, people can say: 'I am the biggest and the best,'" Yate says. "And if they have a big social media presence, you believe it. So we have to check credentials." Speaking of which ...
3. She's not credentialed. Certifications and credentials are "a good barometer" for professional résumé writers, Barrett-Poindexter says. Institutions, such as the Professional Association of Résumé Writers & Career Coaches and National Résumé Writers' Association, offer courses and examinations that result in certifications. (Yate breaks down a few certifications here.) Writers' websites typically list these certifications if they have them.
4. She's inexperienced. Another item to check for on the professional's website: experience. "What have they done that tells us they can do this?" Yate asks. Look for experience in line management, human resources, corporate recruiting or (even better) headhunting, Yate says. "You want someone who's been on the other side of the desk," he adds.
As for actual résumé writing, "find someone who's practiced their craft for compensation with results for at least a couple years," Barrett-Poindexter says, as opposed to someone who "just hung a shingle up and thinks they can make a living."
5. She's posted mediocre résumé samples. In addition to credentials and experience, the writer should post résumé samples on her website. Take a look, Yate says, and "if there are lots of warm, fuzzy adjectives -- superior communication skills, excellent leadership -- it won't work."
Unfortunately, that's how many résumé writers operate, he says: They simply jazz up your current résumé with fluff words and a new layout. Instead, look for tight writing that tells a job seeker's whole story in one document and speaks to what she can do.
6. She has a flimsy process. Don't settle for that all too common lipstick-on-a-pig process that results in fluffed up, insubstantial résumés. No emailing your résumé, answering a question or two, and then fawning over whatever document is sent in return. And it's easy to fawn. "When someone gives us a résumé that says we're wonderful, the temptation is to like it just because it says good things about us and makes us feel good," Yate says, adding that this is particularly true for vulnerable, unemployed job seekers.
But it's not enough to feel good. Yate says an experienced writer will understand the job searching process well enough to provide some career coaching, too. That means she won't necessarily agree with you all the time and won't be afraid to tell you things you don't want to hear, he adds. ("You're not qualified for that manager role yet.") You certainly don't want to spend money on a "yes man," he says. "That may be what you want, but that's not what you need."
What you need is an involved, collaborative process between writer and job seeker. Barrett-Poindexter, for example, has a four-step approach that involves discussions of career goals, self-reflecting homework, phone calls and more. Yate's service includes loads of career coaching. Whatever the process, the writer should disclose it and spell out exactly what you're getting for your money on her website.
7. She's too cheap. Like tattoos and mattresses, quality résumé writing services don't come cheap. Yate's services, for example, range from $375 for an entry-level résumé package to $989 for an executive résumé package. Barrett-Poindexter's executive services are about $900 to $2,500.
"It's a future gain," she says. "Some people save months of time because they get into interviews quicker, and that's where you start earning back that investment pretty quickly."
Both Barrett-Poindexter and Yate warn against the quick turnaround services that cost $50 and $100 -- the very ones that will just yield a spruced-up version of your current résumé. "You get what you pay for," Yate says. "If a deal looks too good to be true -- you know what? -- it probably is."
Think about the depth and time commitment you should expect from the process. Think about the experience and credentials you want from the writer. Now think of that $100 as an hourly rate, and you may see that the numbers don't add up. Cue the slap-a-fun-format-and-pleasant-adjectives-on-your-old-résumé approach.
And if that's the route you're considering, "go out to dinner instead," Yate says. "Because all you're doing is wasting your money."
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