Career Change Resumes

This article represents my third installment of a three-part series on professional resume-writing services. The first part dealt with the “good” aspects of the industry and the myriad ways that resume writers have benefited both job seekers as well as hiring managers and recruiters. The second part focused on some of the “bad” or negative issues that plague the industry and how both resume writers and job seekers can overcome them.
In this discussion, I will focus on the “ugly” parts of the resume-writing industry, looking at how a few bad apples have caused job seekers and industry analysts to question the legitimacy of the industry as a whole.
As a resume writer myself, here are some of the worst issues that I have to face when addressing concerns from worried job seekers who, understandably, don’t want to make a poor investment:
1.Overselling the product. I’ll be honest. This issue drives me crazy even though I grasp perfectly how it happens. Selling a resume, particularly online, like most Internet services is based 80% on pure emotion. Sure, the job seeker needs a resume and starts looking for a writer. But job seeking and resume preparation are emotional things, no matter whether you are currently employed, recently laid off, looking to change careers, or re-entering the workforce. Everyone is nervous. So, resume writers naturally often end up being part writer and part counselor to their clients. That in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing; however, on the sales side, sometimes it can lead to “selling the farm” as a way of soothing the fears of potential clients and getting them to put their trust in your services.
The biggest way that happens is by making promises or guarantees that no writer can be 100% sure of. The second way is by misrepresenting the role of the resume. A resume does NOT get you a job. You do! A resume is a tool. And like any tool, the more well made it is, the better results it will produce for the hand that wields it.
Although the resume-writing industry has done remarkably well at selling job seekers on the need for a well-made resume, it has not done so well at also selling them on the idea that they need to learn how to use it. Most job seekers lack proficient job hunting skills, thinking that a flashy resume and the Internet are all they need.
I look at it this way: I want to make a cabinet, so I buy the nicest saw there is. I can read all the product instructions. Peruse consumer reports. Watch demos. But unless I learn how to actually use my fantastic saw, chances are my cabinet will either not get made or turn out poorly. Why? Because I expected the saw to do all the work. Listen. Everyone wants the dream job, but not everyone is willing to do what it takes to land it. Many expect the resume to do all the work.
2.Using tactics that disparage other writers. It has become common practice with many resume-writing services, especially large ones, to offer free resume critiques to potential clients. In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with this practice and is often useful to job seekers as a way to test out the communication and expertise of a firm. The problem comes when these firms are so desperate for a sale that they take to tearing apart the work of other professional writers. It’s usually pretty obvious to anyone with resume-writing experience when a resume has been professionally done. Certainly the person performing a critique is well within his or her rights to offer up suggestions and recommendations, but knowingly trashing another professional’s work in order to make a sale is unethical and a disservice to the job seeker.
3.Job seekers who get in the way. One of the biggest obstacles to resume writers is the fact that many candidates think they know something about preparing resumes. They’ve read up on it. They’ve spoken to their colleagues. They fancy themselves as grammarians. Now I am in no way insinuating that job seekers shouldn’t ask lots of questions or become knowledgeable on the subject. But please don’t hire a professional to write your document and then proceed to argue with everything he or she does. I’ve seen many resume writers reduced down to nothing more than typists.
Recognize the fact that like other professional services you may employ, you do so because it is not your full-time job and you are not an expert. If you want to get the most out of your resume-writing service, don’t just get a resume, take advantage of the expert advice of your writer.

Before I begin, let me start by saying that I happen to be a certified professional resume writer (CPRW) and job search coach. I’ve been writing resumes since 2002, both for myself as well as for larger resume writing firms. Before that, I was a hiring manager for a large truck rental firm, running a 150-person call center. So I have had the opportunity to be on both sides of the job search process, representing the employer and representing the job seeker.
Professional resume writing in itself is a relatively new industry. If you look hard enough, you can find some writers out there who have 25 years (or slightly more) experience under their belt. But by and large, the bulk of writers out there have 10 years or less, with new writing services popping up daily. The reason is that the growth of the Internet as a business tool as well as the willingness of more and more professionals to invest in resume services has blossomed over the last decade, causing more people to consider resume writing as a full-time career.
As a result, the amount of press regarding the industry as a whole has started to increase. And, unfortunately, a lot of it has grown more and more negative. My goal here is to provide an insider’s view and get to the real deal behind those professional resume writing services. This first article will focus on the positives behind resume-writing services. I will be following up this article with two more segments (the Bad and the Ugly).
The Good
Let’s start out with some of the positives about resume writing that often seem to get overlooked.
1. Without a doubt, the quality of resumes has certainly increased thanks to the influx of people purchasing professional services. And hiring managers are now seeing better quality documents come across their desks. Instead of simply writing professional obituaries, candidates can now produce targeted resumes that seek to marry the needs of the employer with the skills of the candidate.
2. Writing your own resume is a difficult task. It’s somewhat like doing your own taxes. You certainly can try and figure it out. You can buy the software and read through the myriad directions. You can devote the time and muddle your way through. But at the end of the day, you are still no tax expert. And you submit your taxes on a wing and a prayer.
When constructing a resume, you are marketing a product, and that product is YOU! It’s tough to look beyond yourself, understand the wants of your target market, and produce a well-written, quality document that appeals to your target market. Too many job seekers look for resumes that appeal to them and care very little about the audience they are trying to reach. A resume writer can help you take an objective look at yourself, sift through strengths and weakness, and understand what an employer in your industry is looking for.
3. The industry is filled with many sincere, high-quality writers who bring corporate, communications, and recruiting experience to the table. Most candidates get more than just a resume; they also get loads of job search advice. Are there bad apples? Of course, and my next article (Professional Resume Writing Services: The Bad) will focus on why that is. But overall, what drives most people to the industry is the desire to help others. Certainly resume writers want to make money (don’t we all?), and they want to have thriving businesses, but they also want to see clients succeed.
4. Although the cost of purchasing a resume writing service has increased, it is still a relatively small investment. Of course, shelling out a few hundred bucks when you are unemployed seems like a lot. But this is your career we are talking about, after all. And first impressions do still matter.
5. The industry does have a way for job seekers to sift through the plethora of services out there. Most job seekers are unaware that there are organizations out there who offer certification testing for the resume writing field. One of them, the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC) offers the CPRW exam, which requires individuals to undergo a testing process that includes a review of their work by their peers.

There’s been a lot of talk about how great functional resumes can be for career changers. You know, all those job seekers out there who are looking to head into a new direction, be it a new field entirely or new industry.
The premise behind a functional resume is to provide the candidate with an opportunity to highlight transferable skills and basically to “connect the dots” for the potential employer. Not to mention that candidates can downplay their lack of industry experience while playing up their soft skills.
Overall, it is a nice thought. And in theory it should work.
But it doesn’t.
The problem, of course, is that this reasoning places the candidate at the center of the resume. And if the candidate were supposed to be the main focus of the resume, then it would work out perfectly.
But once again, it doesn’t.
Why? Because the main focus of the resume is the audience, the target market, the potential employer. And most potential employers prefer to see a chronological work history combined with job summaries and accomplishments. They want to know where you have worked, for how long, and when. They want to see your career progression, and they want to see the context in which you developed those soft skills.
Also, with the 30 seconds a hiring manager is likely to give to your resume, he or she doesn’t want to have to try and figure out where you saved $5M in costs or generated $3M in sales. They want to see more than you just saying these things happened. They want to know where it happened and under what circumstances.
Therefore, by providing a functional format, you aren’t giving them what they want, no matter how nice it looks, how fantastic you are, or how much time or money you invested in creating the document.
That is why most recruiters will balk at functional resumes. They know that their clients (employers) don’t like them. I can’t tell you how many job seekers insist on having a functional resume only to have them shut down by recruiters. The seeker is then left stunned that the recruiter can’t see the genius in preparing the resume this way, how it shows them off in the best light. But the recruiter knows that no matter how great this candidate looks, the employer is going to want to see a chronological career progression.
“But how can I showcase my transferable skills then?”
You can still do a semi-functional format that profiles those skills, but you also need to highlight your work history. Listen. Employers aren’t dumb. You aren’t hiding anything with a functional format, and it doesn’t serve you to try and do so.
Instead, go ahead and admit it. You are a career changer. But that doesn’t mean all that work experience you gained over the last few years should be shoved to the bottom of p. 2! Instead be proud of that experience. They’re going to figure it out anyway.