If you are in the market for a new resume you may be thinking of using a cheap resume service. While you are probably not in a position to pay top dollar for a resume service if you are between jobs, it can be worth the cost to get a really well put together resume. The main mistake that people make is immediately going for the cheapest service they can find, and often the product they get is also cheap.
This is not to say that a cheap or less expensive resume service is a bad option. Some great resume services make their services affordable because they know that when you are looking for a job you probably don’t have much to spend on a resume.
Don’t discount a resume service based solely on the cheap services they offer, but don’t choose a resume service based on pricing either. It is important that before you trust someone to have an influence on your future employment endeavors that you see what they can do.
Ask for samples, ask for references and use a resume service that you have actually heard of or seen often. Small businesses like resume services come and go each week, so if you find a service that has been around for a while then you know that they are doing something right.
Your resume is the first impression that a potential employer will have of you, so it is important to make sure that your resume accurately represents you, your skills, your experience, your education and makes it clear to that employer the benefit of hiring you to fill their position.
Anyone can take your information and make it look nice and neat on a page. But a real professional resume service is aware of the terminology and jargon for various professions and fields. A real professional resume writer knows the best way to layout your information so that a potential employer will be able to spend 30 seconds skimming your resume and know whether they want to interview you or not.
So yes, there is some risk in using a cheap resume service, but on the other hand, price doesn’t always equal quality. Some new start up may be charging three times the price of another service, but without references, samples and experience they won’t be getting that price for very long. When you pay for a professional resume you expect to get results.
Don’t jump at the first resume service you come across, do your research on a service before you commit to them, and if necessary negotiate the pricing to suit you both. Take the time to make sure that you are getting a truly professional service and that you will receive a complete and quality resume.
The job market these days is full of competition, even for a simple part time job. So to make sure that you can avoid the unemployment line a good resume is a good investment. If you can’t write your own resume effectively, definitely consider a professional resume service.