"Are there free resume writing services out there?"
-- Kathy B.

© David Alan Carter
All Rights Reserved

Maybe you've heard the rumors and the whispers and the siren songs. Are there free resume services that will write your resume at no charge? Can it be true? A former recruiter answers the question...
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Are There Free Resume Writing Services?

Kathy, yes there are. In fact, my very first resume was a "free" resume written by a staffer employed by the Career Development Center at my old alma mater, Oklahoma State University. It was pretty spartan; just the facts, ma'am. But it was printed on some swell letterhead stationary, and most importantly, it got the job done. Of course, it was the late 1970's, and major corporations were practically stumbling over themselves for presentable graduates. Oh, how times have changed.

You can still find "free" resume writing services, most commonly in the career centers of major colleges, universities, and trade schools, as well as state and local governmental employment offices, and private employment agencies and recruitment firms. Keep in mind that school-based resume writing services (if they exist) are provided as a service to graduating students of that academy. Services provided by private agencies and recruitment firms are necessarily limited to those clients with a high probability of placement (and thus generating a fee to their respective companies).

Should you take advantage of such resume opportunities? In a word, yes. If you're a graduating student, by all means take full advantage of any such career services your school offers. If you're already working with an employment agency or recruitment firm, by all means let them craft your resume on their dime. But don't let that resume be the be-all and end-all.

Why? Because, in all likelihood, that "free" resume will have been prepared with minimal input from you. Generic objective, milktoast profile section, standard-issue employment and education sections. Understandable, given that the same staff writer is charged with slapping together resumes for 500 other graduates in just a few weeks' time. Or slapping together 15 resumes a day from walk-in clients at an employment agency.

If, or when, you find yourself fighting tooth and nail in a highly competitive job market, forget the "free" resume. You're going to need all the help you can get. And that's going to cost some money. Expect to spend $200 to $400 to get the job done, more if you've got it... and want the crème de la crème of resume writers. It's an investment, to be sure. And if you amortize it over the life of your career, the cost is practically negligible.

In sum, take advantage of free resume services if they present themselves. But if you find yourself in a dog-eat-dog job market, you're going to want a writer who will spend some time getting to know you, and has the writing chops to make you look competitive on paper. That's going to cost some money. Spend it. Watch it pay for itself multifold.
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Sidebar:  If you do decide on paid talent, make sure the resume writer you choose is skilled not only in crafting a must-read resume, but knowledgeable in the intricacies of your profession. Look for a writer who offers to consult with you over the phone, whose pricing is upfront, and who guarantees a job interview. They're out there.
( Read my mini-reviews of the Web's most popular Resume Writing Services.)
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