A recent Wall Street Journal article, Hiring a Résumé Writer? Ask These Questions First, triggered more than 30 comments.
A number of the commenters were resume-writing colleagues of mine. Quite a few comments came from people attacking professional resume writers in general, questioning the validity of professional credentialing, and demeaning the resume writers who commented.
Reading the article, I was reminded of a post of mine from last year, The Truth About Professional Executive Resume Writers, in which I wrote:
“We get a lot of bad press.
Lately, I’m seeing a growing number of blog posts and articles warning that professional resume writers are swindlers and resume writing credentials mean nothing. They lambaste us in general and place an arbitrary cap on what you should pay for a resume.
They are distrustful of resume writers and perhaps with good reason. So much misinformation about what we do (or don’t do) is floating around out there by people who make sweeping generalizations about us as a group but don’t really know what we do.”
I generally agree with the suggestions in the WSJ article, but take exception to some:
- It’s a bit much to expect resume writers to come up with (and spend time fictionalizing all identifying information on) specific resume samples at whim for potential clients to assess, beyond those samples we provide on our websites.
- “Previous experience as an executive recruiter or human resources manager” is not necessarily an asset, and certainly doesn’t guarantee a top-notch resume writer and final product.
- The National Résumé Writers Association (NRWA) is not one of two main trade associations for résumé writers. There are at least 3 others.
Check out my blog post for many reasons why collaborating with the best resume writers is a valuable experience.
Related posts:
How to Write An Irresistible C-level Executive Brand Resume in 10 Steps
4 Executive Job Search First Steps, Before You Write Your Resume
Why Is It So Hard to Write My Own C-level Career Brand Biography?
10 Brand-Diluting Phrases That Can Ruin Your Executive Resume
