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Ask HN: Have you used a resume writing service?

8 points by hbcondo714 ↗ HN
I was recently laid off and haven't received much a response to my resume submissions[1] so I was contemplating having a 3rd party re-write my resume for the first time in my career. The resume writing company[2] my previous employer recommended looks outdated so I'm skeptical to pay them their asking price of $600. Has anyone here used a resume writing service?

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13082757

[2] http://www.career-resumes.com

13 comments

[ 4.0 ms ] story [ 44.5 ms ] thread
kasey_junk
Your resume will not get you any job you want. Finding a connection with a decision maker, however you can & then following their guidance on how to jump through their company hoops is infinitely more effective.
DarthMader
I don't disagree with this, however, what is the best way to reach out to these decision makers? Is there a good template or a good way?
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raybb
I used a resume reviewing service before (can't remember which one) just because my friend had a free credit. They were not very helpful at all they basically send some pre typed suggestions that you could find on anywhere. Granted, I already had have several people look at it and considered it well done. If you're interested in having a second set of eyes on your resume I'd be glad to give you some feedback.
hbcondo714
Thanks, resume can be found on my website:

https://www.amarkota.com/resume

stephenbez
I don't see anything terrible with it.

You should definitely remove your high school and elementary schools from your resume.

Your resume seems unfocused. You list a wide range of skills from Business Continuity and Budget Accountability, to Machine Learning, to NewSQL and UML. There is nothing in this resume that suggests to me that if I was looking for candidate for a machine learning role, that you would be the right one.

What type of jobs are you applying for? I would focus your resume on the specific job requirements they are looking for.

If the job is looking for a backend engineer, I would not list due diligence / compliance at the top of the resume.

If you are looking for CTO level positions, I don't think you'll have that much luck with random online job submissions. Finding people through your network would probably go better.

The book "Never Eat Alone" has some good tips: https://www.amazon.com/Never-Eat-Alone-Expanded-Updated/dp/0...

raybb
You took the words right out of my mouth. I think the descriptions of positions are really well written but resume as a whole seems unfocused. The second I go to your resume I should know what your greatest skills/achievements are. When I see that you say your "areas of expertise" include strategic planning, machine learning, recruiting, and angular I instantly get the feeling that you are aren't actually an expert in any of these areas. I might suggest trying to limit your areas of expertise to two or three that are related to the type of job you're seeing and give examples of work you've done in those areas. Then just move the rest down to skills. Put a link to your stack overflow (just to give more legitimacy). It would also be nice if this was printer friendly (though I assume you're submitting a pdf to most apps). You might also want to swap the instructor and Ria Financial positions since the latter is newer.
hbcondo714
Thank you all for taking the time to review and write feedback. I thought the 'Technology Executive | Chief Technology Officer | IT Strategy Executive' title would make it clear the kinds of roles I am looking for but maybe not since multiple commenters here weren't sure.

Yes, there is a PDF version[1] that I submit to job postings / recruiters (which I should have probably linked to instead) that I just updated based on the feedback. It now includes a re-written Area of Expertise section to be more on the management side but moving actual technologies I am hands-on with to a new Skills section on the second page.

I haven't updated the /resume web page yet but may retain my k-12 education since I get asked a lot if I'm authorized to work in the US or if I need sponsorship. Maybe I should just write US Citizen :)

[1] https://www.amarkota.com/resume/pdf

jaclaz
Instructor 2005 <- typo? - 2015 Information Technology teacher for the University of California, Irvine Extension
hbcondo714
Thanks for catching this! My official title was Teacher.
NetStrikeForce
In line with what others have said, your accomplishments are really impressive (I'm a mere mortal next to your CV!), however the CV is unfocused.

I usually have one "template" CV and I adapt it to every offer I apply to. Apart from that, I think the cover letter is way more important because there's no structure and it gives me the chance to pitch my product (me!).

If you were a product (and you actually are), what would you rather do to get a serious interview with a VC?

- Send them a link to your "features" page? Or...

- Pitch your product for 1-5 minutes to said VC?

I think most people would choose the second one. The cover letter is somehow and equivalent of the elevator pitch.

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dsschnau
A few years ago we used this service for my wife's resume who works on the business end of IT. It worked great, her callback rate went through the roof and she landed a gig in our new city in no time.

I don't know as much how well it would work out for programming jobs, IMO the best thing to do there is just to know someone.

https://resumetointerviews.com/