The answer may be yes, if your resume is going to be fighting for attention in an extremely competitive field, or if your work history or job qualifications are difficult for you to express in a promotional and unbiased manner. But how to pick a good resume writer? At a minimum, insist on these three things.
1 - Your Resume Writer Should Offer Samples
If you're considering the services of a professional resume writer, see if he (or she) has an online presence - a website. If so, he'll likely have samples of resumes he's written for past clients (hopefully with the names changed). Look over these samples. If you don't like the samples, you won't like your resume. If your writer lacks an online presence (an increasingly rare animal these days) he should still be able to offer hard-copy samples for you to look over.
Online or not, if a resume writer you're considering doesn't have samples available for viewing, that's your cue to exit.
2 - Your Resume Writer Should Conduct A Telephone Interview
Practically every resume writer is going to request that you fill out a questionnaire, either online or in their office. That's fine - for starters. A questionnaire gives them the nitty gritty scoop necessary for any resume: contact information, employment dates and details, education particulars.
But no questionnaire, regardless of how probing the questions, can give the resume writer a true sense of his client. The questionnaire delivers a flat, one dimensional side of you, and frankly it's only as good as your written answers to the standardized questions. In order to flesh out the real person and keep the resume from becoming just another assembly-line product, the resume writer will need to interview you.
Most often conducted by phone, the interview needn't take up much time. It's really just an opportunity for the resume writer to ask some probing questions and develop a greater insight into your accomplishments and workplace value. All of which translates to a better, more competitive resume. So many resumes today have a cookie-cutter feel to them. That can be avoided - to a large extent - by making sure the resume writer you choose will be conducting a telephone interview.
3 - Your Resume Writer Should Guarantee Your Satisfaction
The Internet has opened up a world of online services; some good, some bad. Today, anybody with a computer and an internet connection can call himself a resume writer, but that doesn't mean he's any good at it. Here's one thing that helps separate the pros from the hacks: a guarantee. Now, there are different kinds of guarantees, so you have to be careful and study the wording. At a bare minimum, you should expect to be offered a guarantee of satisfaction. Typically that means that if the first draft doesn't meet your approval, the writer will polish it further or re-write all or parts of it until you're happy.
Better yet is a resume writer who offers to revise and edit your resume at no charge if - after a set time - it's just not working in the marketplace. Meaning, it's not generating call backs or interviews. For example, one online company offers to re-write your resume free of charge if you haven't gotten any interviews after 30 days (after applying for openings that meet your qualifications). And they'll continue to re-write until you get those results. Hard to argue that this group isn't confident in their services.
In sum, the best professional resume writers will stand behind their work. As a prospective client, make sure you pick one that does.
About the Author
Former recruiter David Alan Carter can be found at the website BestResumeServices.org, where he evaluates and ranks the web's most popular Online Resume Builders, as well as some of the better Professional Resume Writers.
Source: Resume Writers, Free Resume Samples at goarticles.com
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