Based on the information compiled from the 2012 Resume Writers' Digest Annual Industry Survey, here is the profile of the “average” resume writer:
She (the majority of
resume writers are female) is in her 50s, and has been writing resumes for 10
years as a self-employed resume writer. She is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and is a member of both the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC) and the National Resume Writer’s
Association (NRWA).
Our average resume writer works from home almost exclusively. She spends 25-30 hours a week
writing, and another 15-20 hours a week on administrative and marketing
activities. She writes 2-3 new resumes a week, and works on 1-2 updates weekly.
Her average package — for which she charges $300 — includes a resume,
cover letter, and references page.
Lately, she has added
LinkedIn profile development to her service offerings, and she charges her
existing resume clients an additional $129 for that. (She has just started
getting serious about LinkedIn herself in the last 12 months, updating her own
profile, joining a couple of LinkedIn Groups for resume writers, and attending
a LinkedIn training webinar to learn more about how to use it.)
She collects payment
upfront and uses a combination of a questionnaire followed by a brief phone
consultation to gather information from the client.
Her biggest frustrations
revolve around marketing her services (especially finding clients who are
willing to pay the rates she is charging without too much push-back) and
figuring out how Applicant Tracking Systems technology affects the resumes she
writes.
As for income, she
brings in gross revenues of $3,800-$4,600 each month, and she nets around
$44,500 a year after taxes.
Information
compiled/analyzed by Résumé Writers’ Digest/BeAResumeWriter.com
© 2013–2014 | Bridget
(Weide) Brooks for Image Building Communications
