Celebrating 15 Years of BeAResumeWriter!

In October 2011, I launched BeAResumeWriter.com, a membership site for resume writers and other career industry professionals.

This October marked 15 years!

But this story starts a little earlier.

In 1999, I launched Resume Writers’ Digest, a trade newsletter for professional resume writers. I had questions about how to help my own clients be more effective in their job search, so I started reaching out to other resume writers to learn what they were doing.

I interviewed some of the industry’s top writers, shared information from industry conferences, and published articles about resume writing, marketing, and running a resume writing business. Over time, Resume Writers’ Digest grew to several hundred paid subscribers.

In 2011, I decided to create another resource for resume writers — this time, a membership site with materials they could use in their own businesses.

When BeAResumeWriter launched, the two main membership benefits were a monthly Special Report and Pass-Along Materials.

The Special Reports covered topics like marketing, business development, client acquisition, and improving resume writing skills.

Pass-Along Materials were done-for-you resources that members could customize with their business information and share with jobseekers. Instead of having to write their own guides about salary negotiation, interview preparation, LinkedIn, or other job search topics, members could use the materials I created.

We also offered monthly Career Worksheets licensed from Evelyn Salvador, with members voting on which profession they wanted covered next. Those worksheets were discontinued when we moved to the new website earlier this year.

Fifteen years later, we’re still publishing a Special Report and Pass-Along Materials every month. But we’ve added quite a bit more!

Today, Bronze members have access to:

• Special Reports covering marketing, pricing, client services, and other topics related to running a resume writing business.
• Pass-Along Materials that members can customize and share with jobseekers.
• Tools for Resume Writers, including Canva templates and other resources for client work and business operations.
• More than 900 Social Media Graphics members can use in their marketing.
• Office Hours, where members get together twice a month to ask questions, share ideas, and talk about what’s happening in their businesses. Recaps are available afterward.
• Power Hours, focused working sessions where members set aside time to work on their businesses. Replays and handouts are available afterward.
• Norine’s Closet, featuring done-for-you presentations and other resources from Norine Dagliano.
• Courses and training on resume writing, pricing, product creation, and other business topics.

Some of these resources came from ideas I had for helping resume writers with their businesses. Others came directly from conversations with members about what they needed.

Revisiting Our Very First Pass-Along Material
For October 2026, I thought it would be fun to revisit the topic of our very first Pass-Along Material.

The October 2011 resource was called “Do You Have Any Questions For Me?” It helped jobseekers prepare questions to ask during a job interview.

For the 15th anniversary, I created a new version: “15 Questions to Ask at the End of a Job Interview.”

It includes 15 questions, explanations of what jobseekers can learn from the answers, an interview preparation worksheet, and 15 bonus questions.

The questions have changed a little over the years, but the advice is still relevant. Jobseekers should be prepared to ask questions during an interview, not just answer them. They need to find out whether the job is a good fit for them, too.

What’s Next for BeAResumeWriter?
One of the things I enjoy most about BeAResumeWriter is talking with other resume writers about their businesses.

I’ve been writing resumes since I was 12 years old, and I’ve been publishing information for resume writers for more than 25 years. But I still learn things from the conversations we have during Office Hours and Power Hours.

Sometimes those discussions give me ideas for new resources. Other times, members share something they’re doing in their businesses that might help someone else.

I also know how difficult it can be to find time to work on your own business when you’re busy with client projects. That’s part of the reason I introduced Power Hours — to give members a specific time to work on something they’ve been putting off.

As we head into our 16th year, I plan to continue publishing the monthly resources, hosting Office Hours and Power Hours, and adding materials that help resume writers with their businesses.

If you’ve been a BeAResumeWriter member at any point over the past 15 years, thank you! I appreciate your support, your participation, and the ideas you’ve shared with me.

Bridget (Weide) Brooks
Founder, BeAResumeWriter.com

AI Can't Replace a Resume Writer (And That's Good News for Jobseekers)

Every few weeks, someone asks me whether I think AI will put professional resume writers out of business. I don’t. A resume I wrote for a nurse recently is a good example of why.

Her most recent job was as a school nurse, but the job she wanted was a remote clinical quality position with a healthcare organization. If I’d written her resume around the day-to-day work of a school nurse, I could have given her a good resume for another school nursing job. For this application, I needed to know more about how she documented care, followed regulations, and coordinated with other healthcare professionals.

That experience was already there. I had to ask about it, figure out which examples would matter to the employer, and give those examples room on the page. Some of the duties she performed most often could go in a short description of the job. Her work in clinical documentation, compliance, and quality improvement deserved more space.

I see the same thing with cover letters. A draft can say, “My experience closely aligns with the requirements of this position,” and still leave me wondering why the person wants the job. In this client’s case, I asked her what drew her to clinical quality work. Was there something she’d done as a school nurse that she wanted to do more of? Her answer would give me a place to start the letter, and it might tell me something I hadn’t thought to include on the resume.

If someone hires me to write a resume, part of what they’re paying for is that conversation. My client could tell me a lot about what she did as a school nurse. My job was to help her see which parts of that work could get her an interview for the job she wanted next.

I Built the Kind of Community I Wish Still Existed

For a long time, most of the “community spaces” in our industry have been tied to individual associations.

And those absolutely serve an important role.

But there hasn’t really been a single place where resume writers and career experts can connect across those lines — or without needing to belong to one at all.

Years ago, LinkedIn Groups filled some of that gap. You could jump into a conversation, ask a question, share ideas, and connect with peers from all over the industry, regardless of which association you belonged to.

But those groups have largely faded. And nothing has really replaced them.

So I decided to build one.

Introducing: Career Expert Collective

It’s a FREE private community, on Facebook, for professional resume writers and career experts who care about doing high-impact work.

Not just getting words on a page, but actually helping clients move forward. 

This isn’t tied to any one organization, or even to BeAResumeWriter membership.

If you’re part of NRWA, CDI, PARWCC, Career Thought Leaders (or all of them), you’re welcome.

If you’re not part of any association, you’re welcome too.

That was intentional. I named it “collective” because we’re not just another Facebook group. We’re a community, building on shared ideas, shared standards, and shared responsibility for the quality of work we put into the world.

The job market is changing. Client expectations are changing. And the work we do as resume writers and career experts continues to evolve.

But there aren’t a lot of spaces where we can talk openly about that, especially across different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. That’s what this group is for. 

If this sounds like your kind of space, you can join here:

Career Expert Collective (a free Facebook group for resume writers and career experts)

If this works the way I think it can…it won’t just be another Facebook group. It will be a community that works together to help jobseekers and our members be successful.

Professional Resume Writers Aren’t Disappearing … They’re Adapting

By Bridget (Weide) Brooks

There has been a lot of concern in the professional resume writing community lately about the impact of artificial intelligence on the profession. I’ve been a resume writer since 1996 and have seen a lot of changes in the industry during that time. The threat from AI-written documents has had an impact on the profession — but so did resume-in-a-box software, the introduction of LinkedIn, and the rise of Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software. The industry adapts.

Hot take: AI is making the good resume writers even more valuable than ever.

Jobseekers are flooding the market with AI-generated resumes. 67% of hiring managers say AI resumes are slowing down hiring. And 65% report it’s harder to verify real skills because the resumes sound the same.

AI-written resumes lack strategy, storytelling, and the ability to position someone for a specific career move. Recruiters and hiring managers recognize AI-generated content, and it doesn’t stand out in a sea of identical applications.

Professional resume writers aren’t disappearing. They are adapting, applying their skills (career strategy, personal branding, interview preparation, etc.) to help jobseekers with the resume, other career documents, and more.

Jobseekers who use AI to write their resumes may be unprepared for the job interviews, as they weren’t invested in creating the content. One of the best things about working with a professional resume writer is the process of self-discovery and validation as the career documents are created. I can’t tell you the number of clients who have told me over the years, “Wow! I sound great!” My response is always: “You did the work. I just helped tell your story.” 

In the resume development process, a good resume writer elicits accomplishments and added value from the candidate. My extensive client questionnaire requires clients to reflect on what sets them apart from other candidates with the same job title. If you post a job description and a job posting into AI, it will return results that contain the right keywords, but there’s no “soul” to the document. It still reads like a job description. There’s no transformation, no insight into how the results were achieved. That’s the difference between an AI-written and a professionally written resume.

Hiring managers can spot AI-written content more easily (generic phrasing, perfect-but-generic bullet points).

Demand for human expertise and assistance in the job search isn’t disappearing. It’s shifting to higher-value services.

Clients aren’t just paying for a "resume" anymore. They need real strategy, storytelling, personal branding, executive positioning, job interview preparation, and help fixing bland AI-written resumes.

Career professionals who pivot will develop their skills in:

• Career coaching
• Career counseling
• Career assessments
• Job search strategy
• Job interview preparation
• LinkedIn optimization
• Executive positioning

AI can draft basic documents, but clients value the human-centered, strategic side of getting help — career advising, coaching, training, and helping jobseekers stand out.

There are 7,000-8,000 pure “resume writers” in the U.S. as of 2025-26. 

These are:

• People who treat resume writing as a primary or significant professional service — typically independent practitioners, certified writers, or those in small agencies who specialize in client-facing resume/career document services. Many in this group are self-employed freelancers or small business owners. 
• PARW claims 2,800-3,000 members
• Additionally, there are writers employed at larger resume services/agencies (estimated at around 1,880 professionals).

This market is expected to remain steady over the next 5-7 years, with retiring practitioners replaced by newcomers in the market. 

The resume writing service market in the U.S. is estimated at around $1 billion (2024-26 figures). For dedicated ”resume writing and editing services,” as of 2026, IBISWorld estimates the market size at approximately $304.6 million.

The larger figure of $1-$1.5 billion includes:

• Related services (LinkedIn optimization, career coaching, outplacement services, etc.)
• DIY tools, resume builder software platforms, and enterprise offerings 

If you want to be part of a connected careers community that is helping jobseekers for the now and the next, join BeAResumeWriter.com.