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Beware! Resume Scams Are Common


We got a call from a man who asked if he had been ripped off by a resume company he'd found on the Internet. They'd charged him $800 to write his resume. Since there are legitimate resume writers who charge that much, I asked to see it. He emailed me the resume and cover letter, and they were terrible. A quick Google search turned up dozens of complaints about this company.

Email blasts & Nothing else
Another man came to me after a company had charged him thousands of dollars to write a (mediocre) resume and email it to companies. Some of the companies weren't even in his field. The list of emails was full of people who had left the company or who weren't appropriate targets. Many of the emails weren't personalized, but were addressed to "Dear Sir or Madam." It's a turnoff for anyone to get an email like that!

The odds that these resumes would reach and be read by a hiring decision maker were close to zero. In the unlikely event that they were read,  they would be promptly deleted, given the poor quality.

Further, the company had done zero work to help this man articulate his skills and accomplishments or develop any job search strategy other than to wait for a response. If it sounds too good to be true that you'll get a great job just by emailing (or mailing) a bunch of resumes, it probably is.

This is not to say that email blasts are necessarily a bad idea. They are sometimes  a small part of a campaign.

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Are you struggling with your resume? Is your job search stalled? Not sure where to begin?  Call for a no-obligation conversation  847 673 0339 -- or send us an email.  

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Free Resume Reviews
Another company that operates a major career website offers free resume reviews. I've found them to be rather unethical. One client submitted a highly-polished resume he and I developed together, and they tore it apart. In fairness, I think every resume can be improved, and they did make a couple of good (minor) points, but most of their advice was formulaic and unrelated to the resume at hand.

One woman said after paying this company to write her resume, she submitted the same resume they had written for her for a free review. This company trashed their own resume, and recommended that she pay them hundreds of dollars to fix it. NOTE: I'm not saying that anyone offering free resumes reviews is necessarily scamming you.

The super cheap resume
Then there are the really cheap resumes. Hey! This guy will do a resume for only $75! Wow! Often, these people do little more than plug your name, rank and serial number information into a template. They don't interview you to delve into your background and find what you want or to make you stand out.

Please. Beware of the career scam artists. Here's how you can protect yourself:

1) Check to see if there are complaints online.
2) Get references.
3) Ask to see samples.
4) Ask around to see if friends/colleagues can recommend someone.
5) Get what you need.  If you ONLY need resume help, that's fine. But many people really need (or want) comprehensive career help that can include helping you to figure out what's next, developing a powerful written and verbal presentation, guidance in networking, job interview and salary negotiations assistance, and guidance and support through the ups and downs of a job campaign.


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