A simple question but difficult to answer simply. If we could buy resumes off-the-shelf at a retail outlet, then this would be a simple answer.
For the purposes of this blog we will try and simplify this as much as possible. We will eliminate the resume typists who masquerade as professional writers. We will also eliminate individuals who only operate on a part-time basis. We will focus on statistics from a cross section of full time resume professionals who have dedicated their efforts to helping individuals improve their quality of life through gainful employment. Please note that we are also including career marketing resume professionals (specialists) which are a level above the typical resume professionals (general practitioners).
First a little history to give some perspective. There was a time when a handshake and a typed list of a person’s employment history was all that was needed to land a new job. The more prestigious the company was that you worked for the more valuable you were seen and the quicker you got hired. Since the advent of trade certifications and job specific training, getting a job got a lot more complicated. The employment world progressed at a rapid pace, but resumes were, and still are, slow to adapt and evolve. Even by today’s employment needs, chronological resumes still fall short. Skill-based resumes were developed to fill in the missing elements that are needed today.
Not all resume writers are equal and this is where pricing matters. The picture for this blog is a fairly recent list of actual pricing which is still quite accurate. These were obtained from an organization called the Career Professionals of Canada which surveyed eight professional resume writers across Canada. Remember, these are resume professionals and not resume typists.
A resume is an investment in your future. A resume professional has spent years constantly upgrading and perfecting their knowledge and skill in creating the most current and successful resumes. It is no longer a matter of typing up a dry list of facts with dates. This is about marketing your career. A proper resume today takes hours, if not days, to create. Research needs to be done. Familiarity with your career is crucial to understand how to best market you to an employer. The layout and format of your resume has to be carefully selected for best results. This time and effort must be compensated for or one would not remain in business long. If the resume company is in a commercial location then extra charges are built in to the cost of your resume to pay for that office space. Then they must calculate other expenses like repair and replacement of office equipment, office supplies, hydro, telephone and other necessities. These must also be built in to the cost of a resume. Then comes the most important of all and that is the writer’s wages. By the time the above is taken into consideration, the writer can sometimes make little more than minimum wage.
The days of the $50 resume are long gone and although you can find typists in that range, you now have to consider quality versus cost. You really do get what you pay for.
At Resumes with Results, we are a residential based office that writes skills-based resumes, which are a minimum of 85% more effective than chronological resumes. Our pricing is lower than the chart above and that includes all the additional services that others charge for. Also, some writers ask for full fees up front, but we only ask for a retainer to contract our services and final payment is not requested until you come into our office to review and approve the resume. We will not sell a product until you are pleased with it. We have over three decades of experience which allows us to produce superior quality resumes quicker and for less than others. We are the only career marketing resume company in Western Canada and we back up our success with writers that have real life knowledge and experience in the careers we market.
We Are Career Marketing Professionals That Professionally Market Careers …. not just type resumes.