Day 2: Biased "Resume Writer" Evaluation Websites

I wrote about this type of website before -- the website that purports to "rate" professional resume writing services, but is really a shill (or shell!) site for a resume writing company with multiple websites. My initial post on the subject got more than 20 responses.

Here's the latest website of this type -- Resume Shopper.

My problem with Resume Shopper is that they advertise The "Top 7 Resume Sites" but it appears to be a site that resume sites can pay to advertise one (and therefore be listed as a "TOP" resume site). Furthermore, in looking at the sites that are linked, it appears that they are all owned by the same company, as the contact information for many of the sites is "535 W. South Boulder Road, Suite 240, Lafayette, CO 80026." (That's the contact address for KSA-Help, Federal-Resumes.us, Career Change Resumes, and Entry-Level-Resumes.)

Furthermore, although Resumes Guaranteed lists "Andrew Greenstein" as a member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (which he is), according to their website, he's not using the official PARW logo, which is strange. Here are the logos he displays:

1-on-1-resumes, which Greenstein also owns, is also listed as one of the "Top 7" sites. Resume Perfection, another of the sites listed, has the same design/structure as 1-on-1 Resumes and even references 1-on-1 Resumes:

I think this is deceptive advertising. There is certainly nothing wrong with having multiple sites dedicated to different segments of the job market (i.e., an executive-targeted site, a new-college-grad website, etc.), but setting up a website that purports to be an objective source of information about resume writing services (saying, "NO resume service is permitted to advertise here until they have been thoroughly reviewed and tested by our analysts") is misleading to consumers.

And it reflects poorly on our industry. This is a scam that reputable resume writers don't engage in.

This is the second in a series of blog posts as part of the "The Jessica Swanson 50-Day Blog Post Challenge." Today's challenge is: "Expose a scam in your industry."

Facebook Fan Page Resources

Great blog post by Joan Stewart (The Publicity Hound) about what to do if your Facebook Fan Page disappears.  The best resource in the blog post is Facebook expert Mari Smith's listing of 120+ Facebook forms that will help you reach the right person.

Day 1: What I Love About the Careers Industry

Today is the first day in my quest to complete "The Jessica Swanson 50-Day Blog Post Challenge."

Today's blog post is based on Idea #49: Talk about what you love about your industry.


There is lots to love about the careers industry. For one thing, there is a spirit of cooperation (not competition) that I've seen throughout my 15 years of involvement in the industry ... and that hasn't diminished, even though resume writers now technically "compete" against one another for clients (which wasn't the case as much in the 1990s, when geography primarily determined which resume writer you worked with). From sharing ideas and information on e-lists and at conferences, I was amazed at how much resume writers were willing to share with their colleagues ... and this hasn't changed.

The careers industry is also great for someone like me, with what I call "mild ADD." I'm your typical entrepreneur -- I like wearing lots of hats, and I get bored if I work on the same thing every day. The careers industry is perfect for this. I can write resumes for a huge variety of industries (if I want -- or I can specialize). If I don't want to write resumes, I can be a career coach. I can teach job interviewing skills. I can produce informational products for job seekers. I can work for myself, or I can be a subcontract writer and never have to talk to a job-seeker directly, if I don't want to. I can write career-related books. And I can do all of those things in the same week, if I want.

There's always something new to learn in the careers industry. It's like being a scientist, or a pioneer. You're constantly learning new things and testing new theories. Fifteen years ago (heck, 5 years ago!), there wasn't social media. Writing LinkedIn profiles for clients are all the rage now. Looking back at the January/February 2000 issue (11 years ago), you can see how things had changed. Back then, I remember, working from a home office was pretty hotly debated. Now 76% of resume writers work from a home office (according to the 2009 Resume Writers' Digest Industry Survey). Also in that issue was an article, "Resumes Stink: Start Asking for a Portfolio." Funny.

The careers industry is also great because it offers the potential for great income for resume writers. Whether you write 1-2 resumes a week or 10 or more, you can make a couple hundred dollars, up to a six-figure income. It all depends on what you want to specialize in, what kinds of clients you want to work with, whether you want to work with clients yourself or subcontract, and how much you charge.

What do you love about the careers industry? Leave me a comment below.

How I Got Started in Resume Writing

I've been writing resumes since I was 12 years old. I wrote my dad's resume when he was looking for a new job, after leaving a family business owned by my uncles. I was in sixth grade. Ironically, it was my first federal resume (they didn't actually have a federal resume format back then, because Kathryn Troutman hadn't created it yet).

In high school, I joined my school's Future Business Leaders of America chapter, and this is where I really developed my resume writing skills. As a senior attending the State Leadership Conference (SLC), we were allowed to compete in a Job Interview contest. You would prepare a resume and cover letter for a fictional company and they would bring in real HR folks and hiring managers from businesses in the community to interview for this job. The top candidates would receive awards, and one lucky contestant would compete at the National Leadership Conference (NLC). I'm sorry to say that I didn't win the Job Interview competition (I think I came in fourth ... due to wearing a black-and-gold interview outfit, instead of a black or blue suit ... oh, what I know now!!), but my scores did qualify me to place very high in the Ms. Future Business Leader competition (I think I was runner-up) ... this was 20 years ago, don't quote me!

But in putting together my resume and cover letter, I learned that I enjoyed writing resumes -- and I was good at it. In fact, I came back every spring for the next 5-6 years and taught each year's class of seniors how to write their resume and cover letter for the competition, and basic interviewing skills. I'm thrilled to say that several of my candidates WON the job interview competition ... and my younger sister was even selected as Ms. Future Business Leader [Nebraska] (and competed at the national competition, coming in fourth in the nation).

As I was getting ready to graduate from college, my then-boyfriend (now-husband) and I were thinking about starting a business. We were getting our degrees in journalism/public relations and we wanted to work with small business owners. (A futile effort I detail in this post.) Anyway, when that market failed to materialize, I decided to write resumes. I joined PARW, read "How to Start a Home-Based Resume Business" (1st edition), and dived in, with a Yellow Pages ad.

I've been writing resumes now (as a paid resume writer) for 15 years. I've written resumes from A to Z (an accountant I'm currently working on a resume update for, to a zookeeper at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo). For a period of time, I subcontract wrote (for an individual writer as well as for CareerPerfect). And, in 1998, I decided to publish a newsletter for other professional resume writers.

That's how I got my start in resume writing!