On June 1st, I was contacted by Andrew from TheLadders.com, who introduced himself and the service, and provided a worksheet for me to fill out. The purpose of the worksheet was not to reiterate what was on my resume, but to add to it. It asked for career objectives, core competencies, and for each job in the last 10 years or so, more detail on the company, the job itself, and significant accomplishments. It also asked for any job posts that would be reflective of the position that I would be looking for.
I started to fill it out, and in the meantime asked Andrew a couple of questions about the service and how we would be proceeding.. Here is what I asked and how it was answered:
1. You obviously have my current resume, do you also have a copy of the critique that was done by Tyler? Will you be using that as part of re-drafting my resume? Are there other things you see that Tyler may not have? I have your resume and Tyler's critique. It's something I will review, but since I'll have your resume and your worksheet, I'll be able to develop a more comprehensive strategic game plans, because I'll have more building blocks to work with.
2. What are some of the most important things you think I need to highlight or re-do that my resume might be lacking or need further clarification? The most important thing you can provide is the results of your actions. I don't think resumes necessarily come down to metrics. I do believe that every action has a result and that results are the most tangible and employer-focused demonstration of your qualifications you can provide
3. If I also wanted to use this resume to target government jobs, at the SES level, would I need to do anything differently or answer different or other questions? Government resumes are different than traditional business resumes. We will need to define the target for the resume we are creating (I asked this question, because I had seen a couple of SES positions, and all signs pointed to a need for a specific resume format to submit to the openings. Just wanted to see if Andrew agreed)
4. How long from when I send you back the worksheet can I expect the first draft? I will have the initial draft back to you within one week of receiving and reviewing your materials.
5. Whats the process on edits after the first draft, are there a limit on how many times we can discuss and tweak the resume? Technically, you have 30 days of writing services. Not that it takes 30 days, but, I want you to know that quality supersedes a time table. We're going to create something that fits you and I'm not going to be counting 29 days or 30 days. The policy is there because sometimes people come back 6 months or a year later looking for a free update. So, again, getting a top-performing resume supersedes a schedule
6. Are you part of TheLadders.com staff, or are you an outside consultant/resume writer? I am a subcontractor with the ladders. I own my own business (URL omitted). Though I'm not on staff, I hope it's not boastful to say that my team and I are considered one of the Ladders premier "closers". I've been asked to write documents for the friends and family of several of The Ladders co-founders and I'm often the one they call for VIP clients or clients with particularly challenging or unique careers
As you can see, Andrew is not on staff, has his own business, and subcontracts to TheLadders.com. It is interesting to note a comment on my June 1st blog post ResumeKing commented that I had "disparaged" home resume businesses. I don't believe that is true, what I said was that a home based resume business is not necessarily a negative. The concern is determining if the person you are dealing with is really good at writing resumes, or just really good at marketing and sales. Going with a larger company I think alleviates some of this, as they screen the people they hire or subcontract with, and I would expect that they get rid of the folks that are not up to par. I am positive there are some great resume writers out there who work from home and own their own businesses..
I filled out the worksheet, and submitted it back to Andrew on June 9th, and received back the first draft last night, 6 days after I submitted the worksheet, well within the week he quoted me. I am reviewing it today, and I will post tonight or tomorrow on my first thoughts on the resume.
So far all communication has been via email, but Andrew offered several ways to review the draft, including a phone call, email, or exchanging word documents with tracking. Once I review, I will see what makes the most sense.
Couple of questions for someone from TheLadders.com on the service.. if they read this and can send back answers to me via email, I would appreciate it..
1. What is your policy on hiring subcontractors? What is your screening process and criteria?
2. How do you determine whether a subcontractor or a staff writer gets the resume?
3. What is the percentage of resumes written by internal staff vs subcontractors? What about the critiques, similar percentage?
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