Industry Reputation

A few bad apples are creating problems for legitimate resume writers who do business online. Yet another example of this is a scam warning posted on the Rip-off Report website.

A few months ago, I came across the "Best 10 Resume Writers" website, and it piqued my curiosity because I thought -- "Hey, I'm bound to know a few of these folks!" The site purports to offer "independent reviews of resume writers by Stanford Writing Institute." In reality, there is no such organization (and, as evidenced by similar sites, "Top Choice Resume Writers" and "Top 10 Resume Writers"), they exist only to promote the services of a true resume mill that also goes by several different names, including Resumeprowriters.com, ResumespoweredbyHeadhunters.com, and Resumeprimerwriters.com. With packages starting at $79 (including a $129 deal for executives!), you can imagine that quantity is more of an emphasis than quality.

There are unfortunate consequences associated with this practice. The first is that unwitting consumers might buy into the "slick" websites and low prices and believe that they are buying the services of a "professional resume writer." Bolstered by the apparent "objective" review of the affiliated company's services, the prospective client puts his career services documents into the hands of a firm who -- from the Rip-Off Report's reviewer -- handles its customer service and writing services off-shore. (Not that there's any issue with legitimate professional resume writing services conducting their services overseas, but the quality of the correspondence cited by the reviewer suggests that the offshore services being contracted are being sought out for their pricing, not their expertise.)

The second issue is that legitimate professional resume writers -- including highly experienced and credentialed practitioners -- are being used to help perpetuate the scam. For example, on the Best 10 Resume Writers site, you'll find a link to Maria Hebda's Career Solutions website. (She received a 71% approval rating, by the way, well below Resume Pro Writers' 96% rating.) Or our Australian colleague Jennifer Rushton, whose Keraijen Professional Services site only got a 55% rating, despite Jennifer being a four-time TORI award winner. Apparently, she was being punished for her turnaround time ("This was one of the slowest resume writing company online."). And they created a new adjective to describe the work of resume industry veteran Sue Montgomery, who received a 56% rating. ("The resumes produced by Resume Plus were very merchanical.") Of course, keep in mind that a site offering Resume Templates garnered a 52% rating ...

Other sites listed don't even appear to offer resume services (see this one for Progress Enterprise that redirects to Career Diagnostics) or claim credentials that can't be verified (Perfect Resumes and Cover Letters, a service of Business Advisors Press, claims PARW membership but there are no members in Oregon that match the information provided on the site.)

I'd love to hear from any of the resume writers listed -- including whether you can track an actual customer to these ratings (or if they just made up the reviews based on information on your website and what action, if any, you're taking to remove your name -- and reputation -- from being affiliated with these sites.

More Ways to Get the Most Out of Now

This blog post draws on the previous tips in "Three Ways to Get The Most Out of Now."

• Get ready the night before. Completing a few simple tasks before you leave the office can help you get started faster the next day. Write a "to do" list for the activities you need/want to accomplish the next day, and number them. Clear off your desk, and assemble the resume projects you have to write the next day. Make sure you have everything together so you'll be able to get started right away.

• Accomplish one task for your project. If you're having a hard time getting started, tell yourself that you'll just write one section -- for example, the Education and Affiliation section. The satisfaction of getting one thing done can spur you to do one more section.

• Do just one more thing. At the end of a long day, faced with a long to-do list for the next day, can you look at the list and find one more short task? If you get in the habit of working until you are finished -- and then finding one more thing to do, those little things will add up!

• Identify your time-wasters. We all have things that kill our day ... unintended interruptions, a short web-surfing session that turns into an hour. Think about a typical day and see where you typically waste time. For example, if you tend to do a lot of research in support of a client project, you might be "over-researching." If you find this to be a problem, use a kitchen timer, and set it for a pre-defined period of time, say 15 minutes. If you haven't found enough information in 15 minutes, you can either quit, or set it for 5 more minutes.
  

Preparing a Professional Will

What would happen to your clients if you died?

It's a morbid thought to be sure. But with last week's tragedy in Omaha -- and the recent death of a mental health therapist I know -- it got me to thinking again about how we have a responsibility to our clients to set up a "buddy" system and prepare a professional will.

What if you didn't die? What if you just got sick or disabled?

While it's difficult to think about, the reality is that the resume writing industry has lost some members in recent years. And it's prudent to take steps now to help your clients in the event that you're not able to.

First, start by identifying a short list of colleagues you can trust to make decisions for you. Each "emergency response team" member needs to agree to be your buddy. Make sure that at least one of the buddies is close enough to you that he or she would be notified quickly if there was an accident or illness. This individual would, in turn, notify the other buddies. A family member or friend needs to know your passwords and have access to your files and office (including a key, if necessary).

Then, prepare your professional will. It should include your buddies, with contact information. It should also include a list of your current professional association affiliations, with contact information, so the organization can be notified in the event of your death. If you subcontract write, it should include contact information for that individual or firm too. The will should detail how to find your open cases and pending appointments, including contact information. (Provide the code to access your voice mail messaging system too.)

Taking an hour or two to develop your professional will and pick your buddies will save your family -- and clients -- a lot of trouble and heartache in the future.

Three Ways to Get the Most Out of Now

I've written two editions of "Write Great Resumes Faster" and I still continue to collect ideas for how to produce effective resumes in a shorter amount of time.

(I was talking with a colleague recently, however, and want to clarify that by "faster," I don't mean in 20 minutes. But if you routinely take 4-5 hours to write a mid-level professional resume, we might be able to shorten it by an hour or so -- without diminishing your results!)

Here are a couple of ways to help you improve your productivity, without sacrificing quality.

• Write the most difficult resumes first. If I have two resumes to write, and one is for a sales professional and one is for an IT analyst, I'd like to write the sales one first, but I make myself start with the technology one. We tend to do what we like first, yet the resumes we find the most difficult to write often require the most creative energy.

I often find myself overwhelmed by some projects, and procrastinate getting started because I'm not confident I can put together an effective resume for this particular client. I need all my mental energy to tackle these projects. If you find yourself consistently flummoxed by a certain career field, however, it might be time to team up with a colleague to refer those projects out.

• Create a regular writing area. When you use the same place to write each day, your mind and body become trained. When you set up in that particular place, you can focus on the task at hand more quickly. I write best sitting on the floor of my office in front of my space heater -- all year long. I can't write when I'm cold, and I have a lap desk to make the writing more comfortable. When I get down on the floor, the words just seem to flow naturally.

In the same vein, I don't recommend writing in bed. For one thing, when I get into bed, I aut0matically feel tired. Second, it's important to separate your work area from your personal area. Writing can be stressful, and writing where you sleep can make it difficult to get to sleep when it finally is time to put the pen down for the day.

• Get a focus on your focus. I have a mild form of attention deficit disorder. I think mine is "environmentally based" -- that is, it's developed because of being self-employed. When you constantly switch between dozens of tasks in a day (client management, accounting, IT guru, collections specialist, etc.), distractability is inevitable. Breaks in concentration can be caused by internal or external interruptions. Minimize external disruptions by closing your e-mail program and turning off the ringer on the phone, and shutting the door.

Internal distractions are harder to shut out. I sometimes get distracted by all the other stuff I should be doing. One option is to do that other task right now ... or write yourself a reminder note and do it later. You have to figure out what works best for you.