Write Great Resumes Faster (CEU)

Looking for Continuing Education Units (CEU) for resume writing? 

Here's a free training that can earn you one CEU!

How long you spend on writing a resume depends on you — but what resume writer doesn’t want to learn strategies to write better resumes even a little more quickly — without sacrificing quality? In this presentation, Bridget (Weide) Brooks, CPRW will give you tools and resources to help you reduce the amount of time it takes you to write a resume — while simultaneously improving the effectiveness of the resumes you write.

Are you ever stumped on where to start when writing a resume? Do you keep track of how long it takes you to write a resume? Would you like to shave 45 minutes, an hour or two — or more — off your writing time? Looking for ideas on how to create more effective resumes to win your clients an interview? How much more money could you make — or how many more clients could you serve — if you could write resumes even just a little bit faster than you do now — without compromising the quality of the work you produce? 

The premise of this training — “Write Great Resumes Faster” — is to help resume writers make more money, with less work! Designed for new resume writers and veterans alike, this presentation will address three main areas. 

• The first is the “pre-writing process,” or strategies to implement before you sit down in front of your keyboard to actually write the resume. 
• The second section is on technology and the tools that will help you with the writing part — and the “getting faster” part, which has a lot to do with research and client management. 
• Finally, you’ll get some solid strategies that will help you when it’s just “not working” — when you get stuck. 

One of the hallmarks of Bridget’s presentations is you’ll get actionable tips and information you can put to use right away, including formulas, cheat sheets, and worksheets.

Take the free course here:

There is also a CEU quiz in the course. If you score 80% or above, you will receive a certification for one CEU.

Bridget (Weide) Brooks, CPRW, has been writing resumes with Image Building Communications in Omaha, Nebraska, for the past 16 years. She is editor of Resume Writers’ Digest, a trade newsletter for professional resume writers, and the founder of the BeAResumeWriter.com resource site for careers industry professionals. Bridget has authored numerous information products, including “Feed the Media,” “Developing Strategic Alliances and Partnerships with Recruiters,” and “Making Money as a Resume Subcontractor.” She is a prolific blogger and social media specialist. Bridget has a bachelor’s degree in public relations from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Which Resume Writing Certification Do You Recommend?

Which resume writing certification do you recommend: NCRW or CPRW?

Jennifer asked this question on LinkedIn, and I realized I should share my answer on this blog too.

When choosing a certification, it's really up to you to decide what you want out of certification (in other words, WHY do you want to get certified)?

I've written a couple of blog posts on the topic, and this is another reminder that I need to update my guide to resume writing certifications (mentioned in this blog post -- http://rwdigest.blogspot.com/2013/02/to-get-certified-or-not-to-get.html), but I will tell you that the most common certification is the CPRW (it's also the easiest to obtain), but the CPRW won't "teach" you anything about resume writing. The NCRW and the ACRW are probably the two that are geared towards both assessing skill level AND teaching you concepts of resume writing. Gayle Howard also teaches a program for Career Directors International that leads to a CARW certification. (Gayle is amazing, by the way.)

Some questions to ask yourself:
1. Am I already a member of an association that offers a credential? (CPRW for PARW, NCRW for NRWA, CARW for CDI, etc.). If so, your cost of acquiring the credential is lower, as membership is required to apply for certification. PARW also requires ongoing membership to keep your credential "current."

2. Speaking of keeping your credential "current" -- look at what the standards are for renewing your credential. Does it require continuing education? How much? How likely am I to be able to achieve the continuing education standards and therefore renew my credential?

3. Do I just want to test my mastery of resume writing, or do I want to learn principles and concepts of great resumes along the way? Again, the CPRW would be a "minimum competency" credential, while the MRW (Master Resume Writer) offered by Career Thought Leaders would demonstrate an elite level of competency.

4. Why do I want to become certified? If, for example, you want to subcontract as a resume writer and certification is required by the contracting writer or organization, ASK which credential(s) they accept, and which they prefer. If you're getting certified as a way of attracting interest from resume prospects, be aware that the vast majority of consumers don't understand the difference between the credentials, so becoming a "certified resume writer" is good enough for them ... they can't tell them apart.

5. If you are looking for more clients, being listed in certain organizational directories as a certified writer can help you get business -- I don't have concrete figures, but I believe the PARW website gets more traffic than the NRWA or CDI websites, and therefore, being listed in their certification directory would probably yield more leads. And again, if you're using it for business development purposes, once you're certified, join CertifiedResumeWriters.com and be listed in their directory too.

What do you think of these questions? Which certification do you have -- and what do you think of it? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!