6 Steps to Starting a Resume Writing Business as a Side Hustle

I was asked a question today about starting a business as a side hustle (in addition to a 9-to-5 job). I'd estimate about 75% of resume writers get started in business this way. I know I did, more than 20 years ago.

I put together this list of advice for getting started. If you’re thinking of starting a resume writing business as a side hustle and you have questions, leave me a comment below or contact me!

Step One: Avoid Conflicts

First step is checking your current contract (if you have one) to make sure there is nothing that prohibits side work. Most important, if you’re doing work that relates to your 9-to-5 job, you want to make sure that you wouldn’t unintentionally be giving your current employer the rights to your side hustle work (or clients). That can really happen.

You also want to make sure that you’re not using company resources for your side hustle. So you wouldn't want to use your work computer for your business, for example. Or, if you have a company-provided cell phone, get a separate one for your business. (That’s smart anyway, so you can answer calls with your business name. “All About Resumes, This is Jan!” Or have your voicemail reflect your business: “Thank you for calling All About Resumes. If you want more information about how we can help you meet your career goals, visit our website, allaboutresumes.com, or leave us a message and we’ll get back to you.)

Step Two: Identify Yourself

Step two is coming up with a business name. You do NOT need to incorporate as an LLC at this point. It’s not necessary and is a lot of paperwork and expense that isn’t required.

This article explains why:

LLC vs. Sole Proprietorship: Which one is best for your business?

As a small services business (under $100K in revenue to start), your legal liability risk is low. If you want to shield yourself, an E&O policy (errors and omissions) would be sufficient (and probably overkill). If you do choose to pursue E&O insurance, check out Hiscox or your homeowner’s insurance. (If you’re seeing clients in person at your home or an office, also ask your homeowner’s agent about a business liability policy.)

Get an EIN from the IRS:

https://www.moneyunder30.com/benefits-of-getting-an-ein

Here’s how to get one (it’s free):

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/apply-for-an-employer-identification-number-ein-online

Step Three: Establish Your Business

The next step is opening a business checking account. All your income and expenses should be run through this account. It can be as simple as “Your Name dba as ___” (dba = "doing business as"). My first sole proprietorship was “YD Creations” (my maiden name is pronounced “Why Dee” — like the letters Y and D). So my bank account was “Bridget Weide dba YD Creations.”

Start as a sole proprietor. Your income and expenses will be reported on your personal tax forms. 

Register your business with the state. Google “start a business in ___” (your state). 

For example, I live in Nebraska:

https://www.nebraska.gov/osbr/index.cgi

You also want to check into whether you will need to collect sales tax on your sales.

Your state’s department of revenue can help you identify the specific services that are taxable.

Again, here’s my state’s guidelines:

https://revenue.nebraska.gov/businesses/starting-business-nebraska

This is especially important if you are providing taxable services. In some jurisdictions, resume services are taxable. In others, they aren’t. Sometimes they are taxable if it leads to the creation of a physical product (resume printouts) but not digital files. It’s important to get this right from the beginning, so don’t skip this step.

You may also need to register your business with your local city or municipality. Check to be sure.

Step Four: What Will You Sell?

Next is figuring out what services you are going to offer and your pricing for each. Will you provide resume development only, or also provide interview coaching? How about salary negotiation services? Career coaching?

Will you bill by the hour, by the project, on retainer, by results generated, or other?

Step Five: Getting Paid

The next step is figuring out how you will accept payment. You may want to set up a Square account (or similar third party service). Your bank may use Zelle but your customers would need to also. You probably don’t need a credit card (merchant account) at this point. Keep your expenses low to start.

Step Six: Now It’s Time to Make Yourself Known

The final step is all about marketing. Register your business domain (www.____.com). Set up an email (and website, probably). Register your social channels if you’re going to use them. Put the word out to your network and contacts that you’re “open for business.” Reach out to anyone who had inquired about you doing work for them in the past.

Starting a business can be daunting, but starting as a side hustle can give you the security of your regular paycheck with the ability to start growing your business on the side. These six steps will help ensure you get off on the right foot.

And someday, when you’re ready, you can make the leap to being a full-time career services professional (if you choose to!).

Two Words That Can Help You Write Interview-Winning Resumes

In 26 years of writing resumes, two words help me when I’m collecting information for client resumes: THEN WHAT.

It’s a great strategy when you’re working with a client who is having a hard time articulating their accomplishments.

Here’s how it works:

Let’s say you’re writing a résumé for a preschool photographer. I chose that one by going to Indeed.com and looking for the first non-sales job I found in Omaha, Nebraska, where I live. It’s much easier to get accomplishments from sales people than from folks in the “helping professions.” I’m not sure if “preschool photographer” is a helping profession or not, but it’s one where you might have a hard time getting accomplishments out of the person, but one where asking the right questions can yield some good stuff.
 
So I’m asking my preschool photographer about their work, and they say that they take photos of all the kids in a preschool class. I’ll ask about how many kids are in the average class, and how long it usually takes to shoot a class. Then I might ask directly about an accomplishment — for example, “Tell me about what makes you good at your job.” My future famous photographer client might say something like, “Well, sometimes the kids don’t want their picture taken. They might be shy, or just not like photographers. I’m good at getting them to smile.” 
 
I’d say, “Okay, so let’s say little Timmy is clinging to his teacher and doesn’t want his picture taken. Then what?” He might respond, “Well, first I’d put him at ease. I keep a little box of puppets in my photography bag for that very reason. He might not want to hear from me, but he’ll listen to Mr. Monkey.” “Okay, so you bring out Mr. Monkey. Then what?” He says, “Well, I put the camera down and put on Mr. Monkey — he’s a hand puppet — and I have Mr. Monkey explain — in a funny voice, of course (my client is now doing the voice) — that he wants to be able to remember what Timmy looks like, and could he get a picture of him? Sometimes that works directly, but sometimes I have to give Mr. Monkey to the child and have Mr. Monkey agree to get his picture taken with Timmy first.” 
 
“Great,” I say. “So then what?” “Well,” my client says, “At that point, they’re usually smiling … or sometimes laughing … because I’m still using my Mr. Monkey voice, and I can get a couple of shots off. And because we shoot all digital, I can see right away if I’ve got the picture. 
 
In three years of doing this, Mr. Monkey has never failed in getting me the shot I need. Sometimes it takes a couple extra minutes, but I always get the photo.”

From there, I’m able to write strong, employer-oriented accomplishment bullets.

This is just ONE of the strategies I share for writing better resumes by asking better questions.

It’s part of this course:
Ask Better Questions, Write Better Resumes

You can get the course for 60% off with our one-week sale (through Aug. 4, 2022). Get lifetime access for just $59.60 (regularly $149). Use promo code FLASH or click here to get the discount.

Get immediate access to the course, including the video, handouts (for you and homework for your clients), and more.

And, of course, it comes with our 30-day moneyback guarantee. If you’re not satisfied, I’m not satisfied, and I’ll happily refund your purchase.

You’re welcome to use the THEN WHAT strategy with your own clients to help you create better accomplishments in the resumes you write!

P.S. – Bronze members save even more – get 85% off the course by getting your discount code here. (Just $25 instead of $149.) 

"Tell me something I don't know already or don't waste my time."

Want to know how to get your client's resume to turn into a job interview?

Remember this phrase (or, better yet, print it out and tape it to your wall):
"Tell me something I don't know already or don't waste my time."

Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, a shift in resumes came about. Instead of the resume being a "career obituary" listing the job responsibilities, professional resume writers began focusing on accomplishments. Quantifying the numbers, percentages, and dollar amounts behind the job applicant's work remains relevant today.

But too many resume writers (myself included, sometimes!) are still including information that is too basic or should be "understood information" for any applicant with that particular job title.

Dig deeper. Ask the client more questions. Work to uncover information that isn't "basic" but that will "surprise" the reader by giving real insight into the client.

Tell them something they don't already know … or don't waste their time.

Q&A: Writing Applicant Tracking System-Friendly Resumes

Got this question in the mailbag today!

Q. How do I make sure the resumes I write are ATS compatible?

A. Great question! "ATS" stands for "Applicant Tracking Systems," for those who are unfamiliar with the term. (And if you're a resume writer today, you should be familiar with it!!)

Applicant tracking systems fulfill two purposes: to manage applications for positions (especially where there is a high volume of applicants), and to screen out candidates who lack the required skills for the job.

Applicant tracking systems allow companies to determine which candidates may be a match for a particular position, based on a scan of the candidate's resume by a computer program that analyzes the content of the resume and determines how well it "fits" against the description of the position, including keywords.

Some applicant tracking systems also facilitate internal communication among hiring professionals — allowing those with access to the system to share applicant resumes and notes.

The goal of the ATS is to help hiring managers and recruiters more easily identify candidates with the skills, education, and experience that are most desired of candidates. Just like you want the most relevant search results returned when you type a query into Google, the hiring manager doesn’t want to sift through hundreds or thousands of resumes to find the handful of people he or she really wants to talk to.

When there are a large number of applicants for a position, the ATS allows the hiring manager to screen out low-ranking resumes, saving valuable time. In this instance, the applicant tracking system works a bit like your email spam filter. It separates out resumes it doesn’t feel would be relevant for the position being filled. Like a spam filter, it recognizes content that might not be important.

There are no clear statistics about the number of companies using applicant tracking systems; however, it’s clear that those numbers will continue to grow as the software’s cost comes down.

You might not know if the resume you're writing is going to go through an ATS, but the chances are that it probably will, so it's wise to keep that in mind when writing the resume UNLESS you know the candidate is only going to be submitting his resume to companies with fewer than 20 employees OR she is going to be giving the resume directly to the hiring manager and won't be subject to "resume screening."

It helps to have an understanding of how the ATS works so you can ensure you're writing resumes that will work seamlessly with a wide variety of systems and software.

Note: This post will discuss resume content; I'll write another one tomorrow that talks about resume formatting for the ATS.

There are numerous different ATS software programs on the market — including a few new ones that operate “in the cloud” — and all applicant tracking systems are slightly different. However, they all work in a similar way, by allowing for filtering, management, and analysis of candidates for a particular job opening.

Applicant tracking systems “parse” the information in the resumes submitted, pulling them apart and placing information in specific fields within the ATS database, such as work experience, education, contact data, etc. The system then analyzes the extracted information for criteria relevant to the position being filled — such as number of years of experience or particular skills. Then, it assigns each resume a score, giving the candidate a ranking compared to other applicants so recruiters and hiring managers can identify candidates who are the “best fit” for the job.

Criteria used by the applicant tracking system to determine a match includes:

• Appearance of a keyword or phrase — this can be measured by its presence in the document at all — as well as the number of times the keyword or phrase appears. 
• Relevance of the keyword within context. (Does the keyword or phrase appear with other keywords you would expect?) 

The higher the resume ranking, the more likely the application will end up being reviewed by a human reader.

Success in navigating an applicant tracking system isn’t simply about the volume of keywords and phrases — it’s the right keywords — and, in particular, how unique those keywords are. Most jobseekers include the “obvious” keywords, but many applicant tracking systems put value on related keywords, not those specific terms.

Applicant tracking systems see some keywords and phrases as more “valuable” than others. Many systems also allow the hiring manager or recruiter to “weight” criteria — applying greater significance to certain terms or qualifications. Hiring managers can also apply filters to further refine the candidate pool — for example, geographic or educational criteria. They can also specify keywords as either “desired” or “required,” which affects rankings.

In many cases, however, the system itself determines the most relevant keywords and phrases, as outlined in the job posting.

Resume effectiveness goes beyond the ATS, however. Once your client's resume pops up in the ATS search results, it needs to reflect what the recruiter or hiring manager expects from a candidate with the qualifications they desire.

Think about when you’re conducting a search on Google. You type in your search criteria, and a list of results appears. You begin clicking on results and can tell within a matter of seconds if the item fits what you were looking for. If it does, you’ll read further. If it doesn’t, you’ll click onto the next result. The same is true with the ATS.

For resumes analyzed by an ATS, it is important to include as much relevant information as possible. Inadvertent omission of key data can be the difference between having your client's resume appear in a list of candidates meeting search criteria — and not making the cut.

For example, if the client is pursuing a degree or certification, it should be included in the client's resume (labeling it as “in progress” or “pending completion”), because a hiring manager may search for a specific type of degree or keywords contained in an area of study.

If the missing information is keyword-rich (i.e., a relevant job, educational credential, or certification), that can negatively impact the resume's rating — and, therefore, the likelihood of him or her being selected for an interview.

Keywords can be nouns, adjectives, or short phrases — and describe unique skills, abilities, knowledge/education/training, and/or experience.

How can you find the keywords or search terms that are likely going to be used to query the ATS?

• Review job postings for the type of position the client is seeking 
• Analyze current job descriptions (and job descriptions of positions similar to the one the client has, and the one he/she wants) 
• MyNextMove (http://www.mynextmove.org/) 
• Occupational Outlook Handbook
• Dictionary of Occupational Titles (www.occupationalinfo.org) 
• Occupational Outlook Handbook (http://bls.gov/ooh/) 

Also look for synonyms to the keywords you identify.

In tomorrow's blog post, I'll address the importance of formatting the resume correctly to comply with the ATS software.

Writing Well, Writing Brief

Yale writing professor William Zinser said it best:

"Strip every sentence to its cleanest component. Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning that's already in the verb, every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what — these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence. And they usually occur, ironically, in proportion to education and rank."

I Use the "5" Trick When I'm Stuck Writing a Resume

Ever get stuck when you're writing a resume? Psychology Today has published an article, "Want to Be Happier? It's as Easy as 2, 5, 11, 15, 20, 43" that may help you get un-stuck.

I use the "5" trick outlined in the article:

I actually read "This Year I Will" in February 2014, and I highly recommend it. Even though it's not a "careers" book, it's a great book to recommend to clients who are "stuck" in their current jobs. For example, Ryan suggests a strategy to help clients believe they can make a change. She suggests:

• Look at your past successes

• "Past performance is the best predictor of future success"

• Inventory your "islands of competence" (Steve Jobs)

• Write down 4-6 accomplishments and the strengths and skills you used

• These are your competencies

But the next time you're stuck writing a client's resume (or any other task you're procrastinating about), just tell yourself that you'll work on it for five minutes. I use the timer on my iPhone and I set it for 5 minutes. When it goes off, many times I'll keep working ... or set the timer for 5 more minutes. Even if I don't finish it, I'm a lot closer than when I started!



What are the tricks YOU use when you're stuck writing a client resume?

Six Questions Every Resume Needs to Answer

After listening to Wendy Enelow and Louise Kursmark on last week's "6-Step Process for Writing Extraordinary Resumes" E-Summit, I've identified six questions that every resume you write needs to answer.

These are six questions you must be able to answer before you write the resume, or ask yourself the questions after you've written the resume to make sure it will be effective.

The resume must answer these six questions:

1. Who are you?
2. Where have you been?
3. What have you done?
4. What can you do for me?
5. What sets you apart from everyone else?
6. What kind of job are you seeking?

The resume needs to answer these questions clearly and directly. The answers must be apparent in a six-second scan of the document, and also provide greater depth and detail upon closer review.

Writing Better Content -- from Resumes to Blogs!

As a resume writer and as a publisher, I'm always looking for ideas on how to improve my copywriting skills, because words are at the heart of everything I do. Copywriting (defined) is "the art of writing to sell or achieve a specific goal." Whether we're writing to get our clients the interview (resume/cover letter) or to get prospective clients to call us (article writing/blog), we need to be creating good content.

Headlines!
The headline of your article or blog post is vitally important. It motivates people to read your article. The same is true with the resume. A good headline (outlining our client's value proposition) can entice the reader to continue reading. The longer they read the resume (and/or cover letter), the more likely your client is to get an interview. Most resumes get anywhere from 15 to 60 seconds of attention. A good headline can help get the first 15 seconds ... good content in the resume can get it 60 seconds or more!

These techniques work for articles and blogs (starred ones work for resumes and cover letters):
* Ask a question
* Make a promise*
* Offer a benefit*
* Arouse curiosity
* Appeal to emotions
* Use numbers*
* Make an announcement

Call to Action
Once you've motivated someone to read your content, make sure they take action. This ties back to the purpose or goal for your article or blog post. (The purpose of the resume and cover letter is to get an interview; the action we want the hiring manager to take is to call the client!)

If you're writing a blog post and want people to read more about you on your website, then include a few relevant links at the end of your article. Tell them to click on the links to learn more about your niche. Always include some sort of call to action, even if you just want them to leave comments on your blog.

Use Examples
One great way to really get your reader involved in your content is to use examples. In a blog post you can use personal examples. In your article content you may want your examples to be more general. In a resume, it's about CAR (Challenge-Action-Result) examples.

Examples help paint a picture for the reader. Instead of just telling them something, you're showing them too.

Visual Aids
More and more content online is also using visual cues to make it interesting to the reader. Although you can include graphics on resumes and cover letters, you don't need images to create an impact. Your cover letter can incorporate subheadings, bold lettering on words that need to grab attention, and bullet points to draw the eye down. (Take a look at sales letters for examples of how to incorporate these tactics.) In addition to formatting your content for easy online reading, consider using photos (of a key client project for example -- not of your client), graphics (sales achievement graphs or profitability charts), and other images to help inform your reader.

It's not uncommon for a blog to include a photo in every single blog post. Additionally, if you're writing a how-to article, you might include a few demonstration photos. (Or before-and-after resume examples.)  If you're writing a review (of a career-related book, for example), you might include an image of the product you're reviewing (book cover, or photo of the author). And if you're writing an informative article, you might include graphs, charts, infographics, or screenshots.

Using a few handy copywriting tactics for your content can help improve readability and reader response and it can help you achieve better content marketing results. Try implementing a few of these ideas -- for your own projects, or your clients' -- and watch your results soar.

Free Teleseminar: The Employment Game

As resume writers, we are often the first stop for someone in the job search. But today's employment market is so very different -- how relevant is the value we provide? Are we arming our clients for battle in the short-term... or for the permanently changed employment market?

Join Janine Moon, author of "Career Ownership: Creating 'Job Security' in Any Economy" for a free one-hour teleseminar on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. Eastern time to learn strategies you can share with your clients to help them win "The Employment Game."

With both unemployment and underemployment in double digits, and with millions of jobs in the U.S. alone going begging because workers don't have the right skills, you have the opportunity to help educate your clients to the underlying structural changes that they will meet in their work lifetimes.

Consider this: One piece of the mortgage crisis is that many home buyers were not prepared to be home owners ... in a sense, the market experienced a mismatch between what's required and how an individual prepares to move from "renting" to "owning." We could say that there's an underlying structural problem in the home ownership process -- i.e., the lenders and buyers don't have the same expectations.

The same is true in today's employment market: While everyone wants that "permanent, secure" position (and they want it to be theirs), few are prepared for what that means in today's global marketplace. "Structural unemployment" may define that best: What employers need and what workers have don't match.

"Career Ownership" is the preparation necessary for that elusive "security" that so many want. Just like home ownership, however, the skills and mindset needed for career ownership are different from those needed for having a job -- or, put another way, for "renting work."

On Oct. 12, Janine will present "The Employment Game: How Are You Preparing Your Clients." In this teleseminar, she will review the employee skills and mindsets needed for any security in today's workplace. You'll receive a Career Ownership quiz that you can use with your clients to provide clear direction on what today's organizations must have from workers for both parties (employer and employee) to succeed. You'll also understand how the Career Ownership model differs from traditional job search and career-pathing models, and the value of a holistic approach to your clients' career assets. While it's a model that places the responsibility for security squarely on the shoulders of workers, Career Ownership maximizes worker value to employers and creates a core of security in the midst of workplace upheaval.

Janine is a Master Certified Career Coach and author of "Career Ownership: Creating Job Security in Any Economy." The teleseminar is sponsored by BeAResumeWriter.com and Resume Writers' Digest. 

To register, visit: bitly.com/JanineMoonRWD.

(When you register, you'll receive a confirmation email with the call-in details.)

The program will be presented live on Wednesday, Oct. 12 from 7-8 p.m. Eastern time via teleseminar. The teleseminar will be recorded; if you are unable to attend live, you will be able to access the recording in the "Free Level Resources" section of the BeAResumeWriter.com website.

Six Steps to Find Your Voice

In the first part of the four-part series on "Writing Well," I talked about "Finding Your Writing Voice as a Resume Writer." Then I talked about "Strengthening Your Voice." The third installment is on "Technology and Its Impact on Voice." The final piece is "Six Steps to Find Your Voice."

"Writing may be magical, but it's not magic," says nationally-known writing consultant Chip Scanlan.

He outlines a series of steps all writers take:

• The Idea: Who is this client? What is their job objective?
• Collect: This is the "reporting" function of the resume writer's job. Read, observe, question, research -- amass information, without judgment.
• Focus: Make sense of the material. Is anything missing?
• Order: Organize and prioritize the information you have to make, to make sense of it in relation to the client's job objective, skills, and qualifications.
• Drafts: Begin to write. Search out examples (accomplishments, case studies, supporting facts).
• Revisions: Review the writing to ensure everything is relevant to the "the idea."

It may seem like an oxymoron, but "writers need to be more creative and more disciplined at the same time," Scanlan notes. "Writers are looking for permission."

They're often looking for permission to leave out information. That's often the right approach.

"You think you're overcollecting (information), but you're really underthinking," Scanlan says.

"Your job as a writer is to make the reader see," Scanlan says.

Getting better at resume writing is really about three things: practicing, sucking it up, and just asking people to share their lives.

Technology and Its Impact on Voice

In the first part of this series on "Writing Well," I talked about "Finding Your Writing Voice as a Resume Writer." Then I talked about "Strengthening Your Voice." Next up is "Technology and Its Impact on Voice."

The newest challenge to finding personality in resumes is the role of technology. Requests for ASCII resumes -- and the problems retaining fonts and formatting in Word documents places a greater emphasis on content. The story must be compelling, regardless of the visual package.

This is also the area of emphasis which benefits the resume writer in the face of resume templates and resume software. Most resumes submitted for critique feel sterile -- devoid of voice and personality of the job seeker.

Job seekers have been cautioned to reveal enough to get an interview, but not too much.

Every resume writer understands this challenge -- and it's a delicate balancing act.

In the next article: Six Steps to Find Your Voice

Strengthening Your Voice as a Resume Writer

In the first part of this series on "Writing Well," I talked about "Finding Your Writing Voice as a Resume Writer." Next up is Strengthening Your Voice.

When writing resumes, remember that you're writing, "one writer to one reader." What do you want that reader to feel when he or she is finished reviewing the cover letter and resume?

Your writing must be compelling and distinctive to evoke a feeling in the reader. There are certain verbs that can evoke a voice and tell a story.

Is there any room for feeling in resumes? Of course. In traditional journalism, "the embrace of objectivity was to counter the inflamed political rhetoric of the news media and replace it with the informed reason of the scientist," says nationally-recognized writing consultant Chip Scanlan. "It was not meant to produce a totally sterile, objective piece."

In resume writing, sterility was introduced in response to complaints of discrimination in the hiring process. Many issues related to this were unfairly attached to the resume's role in the screening process.

Next up: Technology and Its Impact on Voice

Finding Your Writing Voice as a Resume Writer

"Creative work, critical thinking, and courage is the 'Magic Formula for Writing,'" according to nationally-recognized writing consultant Chip Scanlan of the Poynter Institute.

All writers have to have a philosophy to guide their writing -- a "way of looking at your work and way of doing your work," he says.

The perspective that a writer has on a subject is the writer's "voice." Voice is made up of perspective and tone. It's a personal and honest expression that reveals the writer's background and personality.

Where does the resume writer's voice fit in when writing a client's resume?

Without voice, a resume is incomplete.

"Voice illuminates fact," Scanlan says. "It attracts and holds readers. It is tuned to the purpose of its message and the ear of the reader."

A resume without voice is a fact sheet. Voice brings a storytelling quality, incorporating what you bring to the story without getting in the way.

"Voice is the music to your words that is distinctly your own. (It's) the rhythm the world hears when they read it," Scanlan adds.

This is the first in a four-part series. Next post: Strengthening Your Voice.

Face-to-Face or Virtual?

In the September/October 1999 issue of Resume Writers' Digest, in my Letter From the Editor, I talked about how resume writers interact with their clients -- and how that interaction was likely to change over time. It's interesting to look back at what I wrote:

From talking to a lot of other resume writers, I know that many resume writers (including me!) are unwilling to give up on face-to-face interactions entirely. I personally prefer to work with clients in person, although I have done long-distance and Internet-based consultations in the past.

The key issue is meeting your client needs. There will be clients who are unwilling -- or unable -- to meet with you in person. There will be other clients who do not have the technology to work with you by computer. Each resume writer will be able to carve out a niche that will suit his or her needs.

Despite all the hype about the Internet, not everybody is online yet. We all have clients who have virtually no computer skills. They will need to "upgrade" themselves to meet the changing demands of the workforce ... just as the resume writing profession will need to change to meet the demographic trends of the new millennium.

Interesting. I changed to working virtually with clients in 2004, when I got married and moved my business into my home. Looking back, my sentiments were right on at the time -- but I've only had a handful or two of clients I haven't worked with virtually during that time. That's mostly because I have referred clients who preferred to work with someone in person to another writer in town who maintains a home-based office that accommodates working with clients in person. But it's also because I work primarily by questionnaire now, instead of interviews.

It's fascinating to see what has changed in the past 5 -- and 10 years. I wonder how resume writing will be different in 2014 ... and 2019. I hope I'm around to find out!

Analyzing The Professional Resume Writing Industry

I received an e-mail today from a professional resume writer who was wondering if I knew how many professional resume writers there are out there. Because we conduct an annual Industry Survey, I think I've got a pretty good handle on this. I'll share the results that I gave to her.

My research shows that there are approximately 4,000 to 6,000 resume writers in the U.S. But some of those are career counselors who write resumes only occasionally (or who "consult" on resume writing, but don't write them themselves). Some of those are secretarial and typing services that "do" resumes, but don't necessarily focus on the craft of writing as heavily.

Many people trying to get a handle on the industry just look at the number of resume writers who are listed under "Resume Writing" in the Yellow Pages (SIC Code 73380101 = "Resume Writing Service"), but this is under-reported, according to my analysis. 

Current SIC Code counts are between 800-1300 resume firms -- but my own database shows more bona-fide resume writers than this. (My database is compiled from these Yellow Pages listings plus the major professional associations, plus "self-reporting" resume writers -- that is, they don't belong to associations and don't list themselves in the Yellow Pages, but still write resumes. Some of these might be those secretarial and typing services that also offer resume writing -- or even career coaches/life coaches/therapists who write resumes but don't advertise that service publicly. Others are "newbies" who haven't yet launched their businesses and therefore don't advertise.)

Also, there is no measurement  of what a "bona-fide" resume writer actually is. Do they write 1 resume a week, or 10? Are only certified resume writers counted (not the way I count them!). Do they have to actually WRITE resumes, or can they provide feedback to clients to help them write their own documents (I count both).

One analysis of a commercial mailing list targeting Resume Writing Services found 1012 listings.

1-4 employees -- 777 businesses

5-9 employees -- 141 businesses

10+ employees -- 94 businesses

I didn't find their sales data to be believable, so I won't share that information.

Businesses that are a single entity -- 921 (91%)

Businesses that are a headquarters for multiple branches -- 64

Years in business:

Under 1 Year - 10

1 Year -- 23

2 Years -- 25

3-5 Years -- 231

6-10 Years -- 200

10+ Years -- 523

Because this list was likely compiled from Yellow Pages listings, keep in mind that not all bona-fide resume writers in an area advertise in the Yellow Pages -- and that more established businesses are more likely to advertise than new resume writers.

Core Competency Sections on Resumes

Recently, I received a question from a colleague:

In talking to several resume writers and after reading in different publications about Core Competency sections on resumes, there are differing schools of thought about their inclusion in a resume, particularly when it comes to resume scanning software. What are your thoughts on the subject?
-- Alice

My response:
As with any resume strategy, there are usually differing opinions. The use of core competency sections, as you suspected, has a lot to do with building keywords into the resume to assist with resume scanning software.

Competency sections and keywords have reaaly become more of a focus over the last five years as companies (especially large companies) integrate applicant tracking and screening systems into their human resources departments. Creating a truly competency-based resume (instead of just including a listing of keywords in the Qualifications Profile at the top of the resume) is an approach that does usually yield better results for clients.

I wrote about "Competency-Based Resumes" in the November/December 2007 issue of Resume Writers' Digest. (Back issues are available for purchase for $3 each.)

As the article notes, the key with integrating competencies into the resume effectively isn't just built on sprnkling as many of them into the resume as possible, but really building the resume around the competencies that the employer is looking for.

There is a difference between keywords and core competencies. Keywords are nouns, phrases, and acronyms, including degrees, job responsibilities, computer applications, job titles, training, licensure, education, professional organizations, company names, awards, key industry terms, and geographic locations. Competencies are specific skills relevant to the job -- defined as "a written description of measurable work habits and personal skills used to achieve a work objective."

I wrote about keywords in resumes in the September/October 2007 issue of Resume Writers' Digest. You'll find some helpful tips for where to find keywords, choosing keywords, and integrating keywords into the resume in that article.