THANK YOU for your interest in assistance with your resume—and possibly one or more cover letters, as well as your LinkedIn profile. If you want a strong resume, there are basically two tracks from which to select. You can choose between saving time and energy, on the one hand, or saving money, on the other, depending on your priority.
If your priority is saving money, I have two "secrets" to share with you, the two of which can be used in combination with each other, if appropriate. (If saving money is not a priority for you, then please scroll down past these two paragraphs.) The first "secret" is the existence of (virtually) free online resume building tools. You can access these at websites such as LiveCareer.com/resume-builder, MyPerfectResume.com and ResumeHelp.com. At sites such as these, you can create your resume for free, using a database of helpful prompts, customized to your particular situation. By copying and pasting, section by section, into a Word file on your system, you don't have to pay anything to use these services. If you want to download the fully formatted file, you will need to pay a minimum one-time fee of $2 or $3, depending on which service you use. So far, I've been most impressed by LiveCareer.com, which allows the user to directly download plain text at no cost and offers free live chat and a variety of other potentially useful related tools such as career tests and a salary calculator. If you want to go beyond their free version, the 14-day trial is $1.95. You will be automatically renewed for a $19.95 monthly subscription, billed every four weeks, but you may cancel at any time. (Similarly, if you are automatically signed up for a recurring membership fee on any of the other services, be sure to cancel within the time allowed, so as not to be charged on an ongoing basis.) UPDATE: It seems that LiveCareer.com has purchased MyPerfectResume.com. Here's another one I used with a client previously, with excellent results: ResumeGenius.com (you would need to pay $1.95 for that one). Please note that changes to the information offered above may occur at any time. I do not purport that everything in this paragraph is completely up-to-date.
The second "secret" is a technique that you can begin with, before you access an online service like the ones at MyPerfectResume.com or ResumeHelp.com, because if you hit pay dirt with this, you may not need to use an online tool: Search the Internet for resumes of persons in situations that are roughly similar to yours, in terms of both background and objective. Identify at least several. Take the parts that you like best of each and combine them into your own unique resume. I can then edit your final product. This calls for you to invest some time of your own but you will SAVE a lot of money in terms of what you would pay a resume writer/editor. (Same thing for a profile on LinkedIn, which is easy to search.)
Experienced resume writers are charging as much as thousands of dollars for resume service "packages." If you send me a draft that I can edit asynchronously (without your direct participation in real time), I will quote you an editing fee that will be only a small fraction of what you would pay for such a package. Please be aware that, as a general rule, asynchronous editing can only cover correction of language issues and formatting. Content modification usually calls for participation in real time with the author of the resume. People often seem to gloss over this key point, so I'm going to repeat it: As a general rule, asynchronous editing can only cover correction of language issues and formatting. Content modification usually calls for participation in real time with the author of the resume.
Will a resume that is developed asynchronously be as good as one that is developed interactively, with the applicant working together in real time with the writer? Probably not, simply because the writer's ability to clarify ambiguities and tease out the gems within the applicant is what leads to a superlative end product—and this necessitates discussion in real time. The methodology above is offered for those whose top priority is spending as little out of pocket as possible.
If you would like me to work with you together in real time, face-to-face or remotely using Google Drive, my hourly rate is $300. That's the second track, which offers you savings in terms of time and energy—as well as a superlative end product—if that's your priority. If this is your preferred option, simply tell me your preferred days and times (indicating your time zone) for meeting. I will match those with my schedule, to offer you an appointment. (Interview prep and career coaching are available, at the same hourly rate.) My minimum for a remote/online session is $300, while the minimum for an in-person session is $600. UPDATE: In keeping with "best practices" during the COVID era, all sessions are curently conducted remotely/online (using Google Drive, a free and easy-to-use tool, in combination with a voice connection, phone or Skype).
How long would it take for me to help you accomplish what you wish to accomplish? Typically, a new resume from scratch for a recent graduate takes about an hour. A new resume from scratch for someone with an extensive employment history usually takes about three hours. Interview training can normally be done within an hour. (Please note that these are ballpark figures, for reference, rather than one-size-fits-all guarantees or promises. Everyone is different, of course, so your individual situation may call for more or less time than average. As my reviews indicate, I always make my utmost effort to go the extra mile for you, erring on the side of generosity.)
How do my rates compare with rates charged by others offering similar services? One major difference is that, unlike some other service providers, I do not oblige you to purchase a pricey "package"—which may include things that you don't necessarily want, such as access to a video training series (which you could probably find the equivalent of for free on YouTube anyway). The other leading resume service provider on Yelp in my area will oblige you to pay $2,999 for a package, in order to access his services at the highest ("elite") level. I provide services on an á la carte (individual) basis, in response to whatever it is that you happen to need. If you need a quick edit done remotely, for example, you might be able to get that done with me for less than $100. If very little work is involved, I might not even charge you anything at all, as I often do for people. On average, clients typically invest $600 with me, putting my fees in the middle range of the spectrum.
Am I actually charging for ALL the time I devote to assisting someone?
No, I'm not, which makes this an important point. Typically, a two-hour
online session involves: (1) 1-2 hours of offline prep work (I study your
existing resume—if you have one—prior to the session and tell
you what to prepare in advance of the session so as to make it as productive
as possible, I engage in email correspondence to ask questions/understand
your situation and I set up several Google Drive documents to use during the
session) and (2) another hour or so of offline time following the session (I
download the document(s), I make touch-ups/adjustments in MS Word if
appropriate and I respond to any follow-up questions in email). Adding up
all the time, the client typically pays for only two of the five hours or so
that I devote to the session and the resulting work product. The nominal
hourly rate is $300 but the effective hourly rate is usually less than $100.
Why not just say, then, that I am charging a "package" fee of $600, for all
the services just described? When I've tried that in the past, the problem I've run into is that some people consider that an invitation to stretch out the work for multiple hours over multiple days. When they are not paying an hourly rate, they lose the incentive to be concise, work expeditiously and make the contributions that I ask of them (for example, working out a draft version of an individual mission statement based on a methodology I share with them, as opposed to me writing it for them entirely). Doing the math, it became clear that I wasn't recovering enough that way to make it worthwhile for me, so I went back to a system of charging an hourly rate—nominally, at least.
How does the quality of the services I offer compare with other providers of similar services? In terms of experience, training and education, you are unlikely to find anyone with the combination of what I have to offer: decades of experience, preceded by professional training as a writer at one of the country's top journalism schools (the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University), followed by graduate work at Harvard, a PhD and tenure as a college teacher—in a number of departments, including communication. Most importantly, I care about the people I help. It's important to me that I do an outstanding job for them, as dozens of five-star reviews on social media such as Google and Yelp (see link at bottom for numerous "filtered" reviews) indicate.
What else about you or your approach distinguishes you from other providers of similar services? What I create for most clients is something they end up recognizing as more than just a resume. It is truly a work of art, at various levels. I do things for clients that, to the best of my knowledge, no one else does: I help you create an effective mission statement, for example. I show you how your "personality inventory" (Myers Briggs) results can be used to bolster your resume and job applications. I employ a systematic methodology to incorporate into your resume the critical keywords that applicant tracking system (ATS) software uses to separate applicants who make the cut from those who don't. I provide you with powerful job search and interview techniques, if you are interested. I show you how to integrate your resume, cover letter and LinkeIn profile into a cohesive set of collateral that will maximize your chances for success.
How does my satisfaction guarantee for resume work compare with that of other providers of resume services? The satisfaction guarantees offered by other service providers are LIMITED in scope: Typically, they are limited to a 60-day period and offer only to rewrite your resume (generally only once). I work so energetically, so conscientiously and so effectively to produce top-notch resumes for clients that no one so far has ever been anything other than thrilled with the results. For that reason, I am able to offer a 100% unconditional, no-strings-attached full money-back satisfaction guarantee. If you are not pleased with the work I've done for you and want your money back, at any time, I will promptly refund it to you in full. That's how confident I am in the quality of my work and the level of satisfaction I consistently achieve for my clients. As far as I know, no other service provider offers this type of unconditional risk-reversal scenario.
After you have developed a strong resume—one way or another—you may wish to proceed with one or more cover letters, as well as your LinkedIn profile.
For assistance, you are invited to EMAIL ME (Dan@SolidGoldResumes.com), with a brief description of your needs or questions. I'm often able to respond within minutes. (Please note that because of time constraints, requests for free exploratory phone conversations—"Call me"—will not receive a response.)
ONE FINAL NOTE: The single biggest mistake made by many people is thinking of resume work solely as a cost (a negative) rather than as an investment (something positive). This reflects a failure to understand that, as a general rule, THE JOB OFFERS YOU RECEIVE AND THE SALARIES YOU ARE OFFERED WILL BE DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE QUALITY OF YOUR RESUME. If you "save" $X on your resume work but end up missing out on job opportunities and getting a lower salary than you otherwise would have, the idea of savings is questionable. Cumulatively, over the years, the loss can easily translate into tens of thousands of dollars, at the very least. If you "save" a couple of hundred and end up—over time—losing tens of thousands as a result, are you really saving? Clearly not, as this is what's known as a false economy. Those who are inclined to say they are on a very limited "budget" would do well to keep this in mind. That being said, if you are willing to invest into your resume the time and energy that it deserves, you have been provided above with the information you can use to substantially reduce your out-of-pocket expenses in this regard. This brings us back to the statement in the second paragraph: "You can choose between saving time and energy, on the one hand, or saving money, on the other, depending on your priority." One way or another, however, you will need to pay the price for a compelling resume, if that is what you are trying to accomplish.
CASE HISTORY (STORY): "Sally" approached me shortly after New Year's Day one January about making a career transition, from insurance sales to human resources. Her existing resume was a hodgepodge of experiences, including stints as a caregiver and retail store employee, in addition to her years as an insurance salesperson. We needed to sort out all her skills in the context of her career objective and build a new narrative of her life—showcased in a compelling new resume—demonstrating how her previous experiences could be leveraged to transfer effectively to a new career in human resources. From my work with others in similar situations, I knew that this would take at least a couple of hours. Sally's priority, however, was limiting her investment in such a new resume to $300. For this reason, she passed on working with me at that time. More than a year later, Sally contacted me again, with an update on her situation. She had paid someone a couple hundred to help her with a new resume that she had been sending out for 15 months to dozens of companies, with only an occasional initial interview, invariably leading nowhere. She was finally ready, she said, to make the necessary investment in an effective resume and related collateral. I also provided her with a job search strategy that she followed, not long afterward procuring a position in HR that together with benefits offered a value of more than $100k annually. "I feel so foolish," she said, when she shared the good news with me. "I lost out on a six-figure annual income for 15 months, suffering all the negatives that went along with being unemployed for more than a year—not the least of which was the stress—all in order to save a couple hundred dollars, which I didn't really save anyway because the cheap resume didn't do me any good." She urged me to share her story with others, as a cautionary tale. (Here's a thank-you card, from a different client, that makes the same point.)