Ask a Recruiter-Resume ROI

My resume could use some work—should I consider hiring a professional resume service?

That depends. Ask yourself a few important questions:

• Do you have the extra cash to invest in this venture?
   *Packages, on average, run as high as $1000.

• Do you know someone who has used the service provider you are considering?

• Are you having trouble identifying your most marketable skills and highlighting them in a way that really showcases what a good hire you are?

• Perhaps most importantly, what do you expect to gain from the experience?

Your future employer hires you; they view your resume as a tool to evaluate your background and qualifications. A $1000 resume can get you in the door; it cannot get you the job.

Resume services are kind of like cosmetic surgeons. Few people who seek out their services really “need” them. And it is important to remember they’re not magicians. They don’t perform miracles.

Hiring a resume service isn’t going to get you a $300K SVP job if you don’t have the SVP credentials to back it up. Hiring a resume service doesn’t mean you don’t have to do any heavy lifting—you still have to identify the positions that are an appropriate fit for your skill set, you have to land the interview AND dazzle the hiring manager all by yourself.

Anyone can help give your resume a face lift—talk to professionals you know and respect, ask them to take a look at it and see what they think. Look for advice and suggestions online, in books. If you get resume fatigue, take a break and come back to it later. It’s a living document; you can always make changes.

And if all else fails, give the resume writers a call. See what they can do for you, how much their services will set you back financially and think about the level of confidence you stand to gain from the experience. If you can afford it and you think it’s worth the expense, go for it! And good luck in your job search.