What's worse than being rejected after submitting your résumé for that perfect job? Getting no response at all. In either case, we provide four options to solve your problem:
Note: If you're wondering which résumé service is best for you, start with our FREE 15-point Résumé Critique. It'll tell you if your résumé's already perfect, or if it needs a Polish or a Rewrite, and whether a Consultation is necessary.
Do you think your résumé is top-notch, but don't understand why you're not getting results? Are you having trouble deciding which Life's Work resume service is best for you?
The Life's Work Résumé Critique offers you an insider's insight into what hiring managers look for when evaluating your résumé. Benefit from our recruiting expertise and learn the first step to passing this test.
How the Résumé Critique will help you
We'll provide an expert, objective opinion using our comprehensive critique to point you in the right direction. We've identified the top 15 criteria that hiring managers consider when reviewing applicants' résumés. Our critique defines these criteria and assesses your résumé relative to those of other jobseekers. You'll quickly gain an understanding of where your résumé excels and where it could use some improvement.
Our customers agree—the Life's Work critique really helps:
"I can honestly say I didn't expect to learn so much from a free service." —K.S.
"I was impressed by the detailed and professional nature of the free critique, and the fact that it was so 'on target'." —P.M.
"The critique's scoring system addressed all the major characteristics of a résumé." —A.B.
"It has been extremely helpful to have someone with a fresh perspective and extensive experience provide such valuable feedback." —E.I.
Visit our Testimonials page for an expanded version of these and other Life's Work testimonials from customers, recruiters, and hiring managers.
Send us your résumé as an MS Word attachment to email and we'll deliver your critique within 3 business days of confirmed receipt, at no cost to you.
2) Polish, $75 For those seeking to improve their résumé's appearance, consistency, grammar, and spelling, we provide:
15-point résumé critique
Stylistic consistency
Attractive format/layout
Typography solutions
Accurate punctuation
Proper grammar and spelling
When to order the Résumé Polish
You like your content exactly as it is, but you're concerned about your résumé's overall appearance and/or mechanics (grammar, style, punctuation, spelling, and so on).
When it comes to résumés, appearance is everything—initially. If hiring managers don't like what they see, you've already got one strike against you. And they haven't even begun reading yet!
Also, it's dangerous to rely solely on the validation of your friends, colleagues, teachers, or that unemployed English major you met at a pink-slip party. As recruiters, we know what hiring managers want to see. And as certified professionals, we can arrange your résumé so they'll find the right information quickly and keep on reading.
The Life's Work Polish will perfect your résumé's visual and mechanical presentation. If you're already convinced of the strength and coherency of your résumé, a thorough Polish will make it irresistible.
How the Résumé Polish will help you
First, we'll evaluate your résumé using our 15-point critique to indicate which areas require the most attention. We'll email you this critique before we begin our revision to confirm that the Polish is most appropriate for your needs.
The Life's Work Polish eradicates grammatical errors, misspellings, typographical inconsistencies, punctuation problems, and formatting faux pas. We'll prevent your participles from dangling and your infinitives from splitting. It's our job to know all the rules you've tried to forget since grade school—semi-colons, hyphens, serial commas, quotation marks, nonsequiturs, capitalization, abbreviation, even syllabication and ellipses. Don't worry about it; we've got you covered.
In addition to resolving mechanical errors and inconsistencies, we'll enhance your résumé's appearance by addressing visual issues such as margins, balance, shape, alignment, justification, pagination, word and line spacing, and size and selection of bullets and fonts. We'll ensure that your résumé's layout is both attractive and consistent with its own 'personality'—no one-size-fits-all templates here. Have a look at our 'before-and-after' samples to see how beautiful a résumé can look.
Please note: If you're unsure about your résumé's focus, organization, or content, we suggest you consider option 3, the Résumé Rewrite (below). Or, you can order the Polish now and trade up to the Rewrite later; just pay the balance and we'll get straight to work!
3) Rewrite, $185 For those wanting to perfect both the form and function of their résumé, we provide:
15-point résumé critique
Precise, fully supported objective
Quantified, qualified accomplishments
Focused, prioritized content
Assertive, goal-driven statements
Flattering, compelling organization
Engaging, pertinent headings
Impactful wording and tight sentences
Stylistic consistency
Attractive format/layout
Typography solutions
Accurate punctuation
Proper grammar and spelling
Phone communication, as appropriate
When to order the Résumé Rewrite
You're not getting enough interviews.
In today's job market, résumés receive an average of ten seconds of attention before being trashed or added to the 'maybe' pile. Have no illusions; during the first-round screening, hiring managers are scanning your résumé for a reason to reject your candidacy.
Not only must your résumé persuade the reader that you have the right qualifications, but it must also anticipate and compensate for any information or lack of information that may be perceived in a negative way. Hiring managers refer to these as 'red flags'. If they find one on your résumé, guess which pile it gets dropped into.
Your résumé is your first—and often only—chance to present your goals and qualifications. If it doesn't persuade the decisionmaker to interview you, it is not doing its job.
That's where we come in. As former recruiters, we know how hiring managers think and what they look for in candidates' résumés. As certified résumé writers, we have the techniques and talent to transform your résumé into a highly effective marketing document that will grab the hiring manager's attention and make him or her want to learn more.
The Life's Work Rewrite will solve all of your résumé worries.
How the Résumé Rewrite will help you
First, we'll evaluate your résumé using our 15-point critique to indicate which areas require the most attention. We'll email you this critique so you can comment and ask questions before we begin our revision.
We'll then work with you to create or refine your objective and/or summary statement—the key to constructing a cohesive, persuasive marketing document.
We'll show you what's missing in your résumé (i.e. why you're getting overlooked) and help you generate content that will 'hook' the reader. We'll identify and resolve irrelevant, misleading, or otherwise harmful information to ensure that you're making the right impression.
Our goal is carefully to deconstruct and rebuild your résumé one line at a time to ensure clarity, consistency, and directness. We'll tighten sentence structure, rephrase clauses, hone your tone, optimize organization, and amplify appropriate achievements.
Of course, your résumé will also be visually and linguistically perfect because we'll provide all of the services listed in option 2, the Resume Polish.
The Life's Work Resume Rewrite will make your resume so assertive and compelling, so clean and concise, you'll want to show it off immediately. Have a look at our before-and-after résumé samples to see what we mean. Then let us work our magic.
The prices for options 2 and 3 (above) assume that you have a two-page résumé. Longer résumés are sometimes warranted, and we are happy to accommodate them for an additional $20 per page.
4) Consultation, $60/hr For jobseekers who need help 'fleshing out' their accomplishments or restrategizing their résumé, we provide:
One to three hours of in-person or phone consultation with a certified résumé expert
Techniques for identifying your qualifications and aligning them with your new objective
Focused, personalized questions to help you generate new, relevant content
Options for organizing your résumé to reveal your strengths and hide your weaknesses
When to order the Consultation
There's not enough relevant, compelling content in your existing résumé and you need help with generating new material and/or focusing your qualifications to better support your objective.
As former recruiters we're used to searching for "needles in haystacks." We are expert at digging for information as well as at casting it in exactly the right light. Because we understand the hiring manager's perspective and how the hiring process really works, we can help you optimize your résumé for the real world—all the guesswork about what to include and omit is a thing of the past.
The Life's Work Consultation will provide you with the proper tools to reinvent your résumé so it accurately reflects your professional profile. If you're re-entering the workforce after a long absence, are changing careers, suspect that your work history is problematic, or need help brainstorming content for your new résumé, the Consultation option is your answer. All we ask is that you know what kind of work you want, and what kinds of skills the job you seek requires.
How the Consultation will help you
Before our meeting, we'll evaluate your existing résumé using our 15-point critique. This way, when we sit down to discuss your options, you'll have a baseline perspective on how we believe your resume can be improved.
We'll help you clarify and articulate your objective, then collaborate with you to explore and isolate your relevant experience and talents. We'll also offer specific, information-mining questions to help you uncover valuable—albeit dormant—skills.
If necessary, we'll discuss the pros and cons of the various résumé formats (chronological, functional, hybrid, creative, and so on) and agree which one most flatters your background and qualifications.
From here, it's up to you whether you'd like to purchase our Résumé Rewrite service or construct a new résumé on your own. If you choose to do the work yourself, please let us know ahead of time and be prepared to take several pages of notes; there's a lot of ground to cover!
Please note: Our consultation service is not the same as career coaching. We lack the credentials to help you decide on a new career path or job goal. Our expertise is in helping jobseekers build focused, compelling résumés.
Three Delivery Formats
We'll deliver your résumé in ALL of the following formats:
Adobe Acrobat (PDF)
ASCII (text only)
Microsoft Word
Standard Three-Day Delivery
We will email the new version of your résumé back to you within three business days of our most recent exchange.
24-Hour Rush Delivery (Options 2 and 3)
If three days is too long to wait, we'll accept a rush order for options 2 or 3 (above), for an additional fee*. Just pay by credit card and be sure to specify your need for Rush Delivery on our order form. We'll deliver your résumé to you within twenty-four hours of receipt of payment.
*24-Hr Rush Delivery is only available to customers of the Polish (option 2) or Rewrite (option 3), and requires payment by credit card.
Expert Advice
We'll email the following original articles to you in Acrobat format:
Remember: If you're wondering which résumé service is best for you, start with our FREE 15-point Résumé Critique. It'll tell you if your résumé's already perfect, or if it needs a Polish or a Rewrite, and whether a Consultation is necessary.
