A Little Straight Talk

Each resume service has its own policies, procedures, and ways of doing business with its clients. Here are mine.
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Free Critiques?

Let's face it . . . no one works for free. In order for a resume service to survive, at some point it has to convert some of those free critiques into paid work. At 1stResumes.com, I charge $75 to critique a resume which also includes a critique of your cover letter if you have one. This is fair compensation for my work. I can do the rewrite for you if that's what you want but I don't need to get that additional money to survive in this business. Since I'm not dependent on your resume rewrite business, you'll receive an unbiased evaluation of your document. In addition, I'll give you more information than you're likely to receive with a free critique. My critiques run 6 to 9 pages in length and many of my clients have been successful at reworking their resumes into outstanding documents just by following my recommendations.
Read what one of my clients had to say about the free critique he got.

Free Samples?

I don't use my clients' finished resumes for marketing purposes, advertising tools, or "samples" to generate new business. Not only do I not show actual resumes to anyone, I don't show "fictionalized" versions either. Why? Because resume shoppers are notorious for taking the formats and wording from resume "samples" and using them to make their own resumes for free. If you pay me good money to write your resume, I'm not about to give freeloaders the opportunity to take your work for free . . . especially since the freeloader might very well be someone in direct competition with you for a job. You can rest assured that if I write your resume, you'll never see it displayed as a sample on my Web site, in a resume "how to" book, or anywhere else. . . not even a fictionalized version. Besides, it's your resume, not mine. It belongs to you and I have no right to use it for my own purposes (see "Ownership of Your Finished Resume?" below.)

Ownership of Your Finished Document?

Unlike some resume services, I don't retain any copyright or ownership rights to your resume, I don't print my company name at the bottom of your resume, and I don't ask you to sign a release that grants me the right to use your resume in my marketing efforts. When I'm done with your resume, it becomes your property. You acquired all rights to it when you paid me to write it. It belongs to you, not to me.

File Formats?

Some resume services will only deliver the finished resume file to their clients in Adobe .pdf file format. This format is very useful in certain situations and is an important file to have in your job search "tool kit". However, a .pdf file is a "locked" file format that cannot be edited. Generally, this doesn't present a problem since you'll want to contact your resume service to assist you with major updates and revisions. However, if you need to make an address change or some other quick change, you'll need the Microsoft Word file to do so. I include all the following file formats with every resume I write. I don't charge an extra fee to prepare these because they're easy and fast to do and they don't cost me anything: 

1. Microsoft Word (.doc) file  - for printing and faxing resumes and for attaching to e-mail messages when the recipient uses Microsoft Word.

2. Rich Text Format (.rtf) file  - for attaching resumes to e-mail messages if requested by the recipient or if you know the recipient cannot read Microsoft Word files.

3. Adobe (.pdf) file - for attaching resumes to e-mail messages if requested by the recipient because of its cross-platform and virus-proof characteristics.

4. ASCII text (.txt) file - for "cutting & pasting" into the body of e-mail messages when requested to do so.

Subcontracting?

Some resume services contract their resume writing work out to other writers. This is perfectly fine if the client is informed about this up front. As for me, my policy is very simple. I never subcontract my work out to other writers. If you pay me to write your resume, I'm the writer who's going to do the work . . . all the work. If you hire me to write your resume, I figure you've done so based on my experience, qualifications, professional affiliations, and certifications . . . not someone else's. So, your resume work will be done by me and no one else . . . not ever.

Turn-Around Time?

I'm tough to beat when it comes to fast turn around time and staying in touch with you during the resume development process. I'll confirm your order right away (usually within an hour or two during regular working hours.) Typically, I'll have your 1st draft completed and ready for you to look at by the end of the next business day and I'll complete subsequent drafts no later than 1 business day after you return your review comments back to me. Should it ever happen that I'm not able to keep this schedule, I'll notify you. If you're expecting a communication from me and don't receive it, in all likelihood there's been some sort of e-mail delivery snafu so I encourage you to contact me again.

Fees?

If you've spent any time at all researching resume services, you've discovered that fees vary considerably. No doubt you've also discovered that the most qualified and experienced resume writers can also be the most expensive. Even though I have over 26 years of resume writing experience and am a Certified Professional Resume Writer (one of the first resume writers to achieve this national recognition), I think you'll find my fees to be very reasonable. I base my fees on what I believe to be fair compensation for my work . . . not on what the traffic will bear.

For those of you who think my fees are expensive, I leave you with this sentiment that I read on a sign a while back:

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