Should You Hire A Resume Writer? An Insider Reveals The Surprising Truth

If you’re reading this, it’s likely that you’re working on updating your resume and not sure where to begin. And you may be wondering if you should hire a professional to help you develop that winning resume – one that’s going to get noticed by recruiters and land you that dream job you’ve been chasing.

Well, you’ve come to the right place. As a professional resume writer, I’m here to tell you….you SHOULDN’T use a professional resume writer for your resume.

WAIT…WHAT? A professional resume writer telling me not to use his service? Yup, you read that right.

Let me tell you why you shouldn’t hire a professional resume writer.

1. Your resume needs to be customized for each role

You see, for each role you are interested in applying to, your resume should be custom-crafted to match the requirements. Because a custom-crafted resume gives you the best chances of getting noticed by recruiters (I’m a recruiter, I should know).

If you hire a resume writer, you may be fine for the first job you apply for – assuming you had them write it for THAT specific job. But if you just had them write a generic resume, you may find less success with employer responses.

Most people do not have the budget to hire someone to write a custom resume for each role they apply to. So it makes little financial sense to hire someone to customize each resume submission. That’s why it’s worth learning how to write your own resume.

2. Resume writers are usually professional writers (wait, that’s good…right?)

Most of the professional resume writers I’ve come across are professional writers. Which is great. Except for one major weakness.

They are not recruiters.

Why is this important? Because recruiters do not care about eloquent vocabulary and colorful use of language in a resume. We care about results as they relate to the job we are recruiting for. Professional writers likely have never hired anyone before. And likely have no idea how recruiters actually recruit.

And that’s a major disadvantage to you as the job seeker. Now, it’s not to say you can’t get a good resume from a professional writer – because you probably can. But putting your faith into that resume to get you noticed for your dream job is a risky proposition.

Recruiters have a specific way of looking at a resume, and usually, you have 5 seconds to grab our attention. If you are using a resume that’s not designed properly to catch MY attention, you’re not going to get the call.

And then you have to get past the ATS system as well. Ask your professional resume writer which ATS systems they have direct experience working with.

So it’s better to learn how recruiters operate and strategically position yourself for maximum chances of success. That makes sense, right?

3. Some professionally written resumes are….really bad.

I can’t even count the number of times I’ve seen some downright horrible resumes that were written by “professional services”. Frankly, some of them should be ashamed taking money for some of these resumes.

If they aren’t following any of the best practices (not sure what those are?…check this video out), then you really should avoid using them.

Not only will these resumes not help a job seeker get the interview, but they could also actually be HURTING your chances of getting through an ATS system. And in many cases, the person has decent skills, to begin with. The opposite of what you hired them for, huh?

Again, not all resume writers are bad, in fact, some are quite good. But I’ve seen enough poor-quality pro-resumes to know that it’s a total risk using one.

4. Professional services are expensive.

If you’ve done any research on the cost of hiring someone to write your resume, this comes as no surprise. Professional resume writers are usually very expensive. I’ve seen them range anywhere from $200-$1000 for a single resume. And then you factor in a cover letter and LinkedIn profile and you’re looking at a really considerable investment.

And that only accounts for a single generic resume – what about the customized resume we talked about earlier? Those custom resumes are a requirement in today’s job market. Not many people are in financial shape to hire someone to customize each job application.

Wait…aren’t you a professional resume writer too?

Yeah, about that…

It’s true, I am a professional resume writer myself. It would certainly seem counterintuitive of me to suggest not hiring a professional resume writer. After all, it’s my bread and butter.

So why am I advising against using a professional to help with your resume? It’s simple. I firmly believe this is a life skill you MUST master. While I’m happy to take your money to write your resume for you, its not in your best career interest for me to do so.

And besides…who knows your career better than you?

In your life, you’ll spend approximately 35% of it working. That includes childhood and when you’re retired. It also includes sleeping. 35% of your TOTAL LIFE is spent working. Yet almost no one invests in themselves.

Sure, they may get a certificate to help a company (does that certificate actually earn you more income?…debatable) or some other skill that’s needed to qualify for a job.

But very few people actually take the time to learn how to write the most important document of their career. Which is simply baffling to me.

If I decide not to hiring a resume write, what do you suggest then?

If you’re truly struggling to get a baseline resume written, by all means…call me. I’m happy to get you up to speed and get you into a great starting place. But I’ll also expect you to learn how to write your own resume going forward.

That’s why I put together Resume Rocketfuel – it’s designed to teach YOU how to write an expertly written, recruiter (and ATS) approved resume. No more guessing if your resume is “good enough” or wondering if that $1000 resume service is going to work for you.

This training will prepare you on EXACTLY what recruiters look for in a resume and how to maximize your chances of getting noticed and getting the first call for an interview.

Because that’s exactly what your resume is for – to get your foot in the hiring door.