Originally published in the January/February 2008 edition of Resume Writers’ Digest
From the Editor: Behind the Numbers of the Industry Survey
By Bridget Ann Brooks, CPRW
There’s some famous quote about “lies, damn lies … and statistics” that always pops into my head when we talk about surveys. Not that the results of the Resume Writers’ Digest 2007 Industry Survey aren’t anything but factual — I’m referring to the fact that you can often manipulate data to say whatever you want it to say.
In that vein, I could tell you that things are looking up for the industry — our “average” resume charge has gone up from $250 (2005’s average) to $629; the range of services practitioners are offering is growing (more resume writers are providing career assessments than in the past, for example); and the “seasonality” of resume demand seems to be evening out (except for the summer months).
But the reality is that the looming “crisis” I talked about in the 2005 Industry Survey (we did not conduct one in 2006) is still a threat.
While I’ve been buoyed by a number of new writers in the field in recent months, the reality is that the aging of the providers in this industry continues. While it’s a testament to the career services industry that we’ve been able to create a profession out of resume writing, we’re not doing a lot to ensure it’s still going to be around 20 years from now. Fewer than 1 in 5 of the respondents to the survey have been writing resumes for at least five years.
What that says to me is that new businesspeople aren’t taking a chance on the industry. Perhaps they see resume writing as the “horse-and-buggy” of career services … with the Internet and certain new screening and hiring processes heralding the era of the “horseless carriage.”
Maybe, like the vast majority of the general public, they don’t realize that people do pay to have their resumes prepared.
While the barriers to entry are fairly low (computer, Internet connection, and writing skills, at a minimum), the challenges to succeed in the field are markedly more difficult.
This is supported by the feedback I hear from new resume writers … as well as by the names of former colleagues that come up as returned postcards and bounced e-mails … and “ghost” website domains.
Things are changing too quickly for individual resume writers to keep up. For example: You’ve got social media sites (like LinkedIn and Facebook) to learn about. I learned last week that some resume writers aren’t including physical addresses on resumes anymore. There’s a concept called “Structured Interviewing” that I just blogged about.
How can you be effective as a careers industry professional if you don’t keep on top of this stuff?
If we do not do a better job as an industry of promoting the profession and keeping abreast of changes impacting the job search process, this industry will be irrelevant in 10 years.
We need to work together to make things happen. I’m disappointed there isn’t more cooperation between the various professional associations. (For example, a planned joint 2008 conference between Career Directors International and the National Resume Writer’s Association was scrapped.)
I’m still frustrated by the inability for someone to create a comprehensive technology system to manage this process (combined with the absence of a consistent method of production). Surely someone can come up with a “Salesforce.com”-type of solution to help resume writers manage their clients and connect with/reactivate past customers.
I hate to be the harbinger of “doom and gloom,” but I talk to resume writers every day who are struggling. Can’t we do a better job of working together as a profession to ensure our own survival??
