How Much Should a Professional Resume Writing Service Cost?--Is It Worth It to Hire One?
By: Audrey Malone
Tags: Advice, Resume, Business, Job Search, Job Hunting

Your resume is often the first impression that potential employers see, besides them checking out your LinkedIn profile or some other social media presence.

When considering hiring a professional resume writing service, be sure to do your homework and research that company or individual writer.

Find reviews on any resume writing company, such as on TrustPilot or SiteJabber and read any 1- or 2-star reviews. That will tell you the truth about what you are likely to get from them and will give some information about resume prices from what other people are saying in the reviews.

Your best bet is getting the best resume created that helps you present your best self. You need a resume that is visually appealing, easy to read, informative, and highlights what you bring to the table with your credentials, experience, passion and work ethic, to name a few things.

How much should a professional resume cost?

While you should consider the price of a professional resume an investment that could reap the rewards of a steady income, a raise and/or paid benefits, you still want to be sure that you are not being overcharged.

On the other hand, you also should not expect to have the best job done for you, in terms of getting a good resume that gets interviews, by only wanting to pay as little as possible.

Oftentimes, people looking to find a job seek out resume writing services because maybe their writing skills are not as good as they would like.

Or, maybe they just don’t have the patience to write resumes on their own. This leaves the question of — how much should one pay for a professional resume?

There are many resume writing services online to choose from, and the average cost of a non-executive, professional resume package is about $200-$300.

But what you will find is this is the average because the price range for a resume and resume packages is very wide, which is anywhere from $49 to $1000+.

So how much money should you spend to get a quality resume without breaking your bank?

The answer?

Well, it depends on your current career level and whether you are targeting a senior- or executive-level position or not.

A good price range for a professional resume is $100-$700, depending on whether it is an entry level, mid-career, or executive resume.

You will find, however, that some resume services charge upwards of $700 just for the resume alone, not including any package deals. And you will find that some charge well into the $1000s for resume packages.

What you decide to pay is up to you, but your decision should be based on your due diligence and research because not all resume writing services are equal, no matter what the cost.

Understand also that just because a resume writing company has had hundreds or thousands of customers, does not mean that you will get a quality resume package, responsive service and a good turnaround time. And, just because the service costs more does not mean these things either.

The old saying, “You get what you pay for,” is not necessarily so, in either direction, because you can get an excellent resume without paying exorbitant amounts of money.

Do your research!

Believe negative reviews! Believe them even if there are hundreds or thousands of “good” reviews. Real people give warnings about bad experiences.

What justifies resume prices of $100 to $700?

This may seem like a lot, but you must remember that writing resumes and cover letters and performing other services, such as revamping LinkedIn profiles, is not an easy job.

A good deal of time goes into labor, and time is worth compensation, just like you get paid at your job. You could expect an hourly rate range for a resume writer to be $45-$85 an hour, on average.

And then there’s research, critical thought, creative writing, editing and rewriting of some of your existing content, and of course consulting with you and keeping you informed through email and phone communications.

A resume writer spends between 4–8 hours (on average) to deliver your finalized resume, cover letter and/or LinkedIn profile modification.

Let’s break down time spent producing just the resume.

Receiving order, looking over documents and sending out introductory email: 15–20 minutes

Initial phone consultation: 20–30 minutes

Continuous contact, making and responding to client phone calls and emails, over the duration of the order process: 1–2 hours

Studying and assessing current resume and other documents and online researching the field of interest to find job descriptions to pull keywords from: 30–45 minutes

Time spent on critical thought, original writing and rewriting, creativity, content creation, and formatting to deliver the 1st draft: 2–3 hours

1st draft phone consultation to discuss: 20–30 minutes

Editing the resume at least once or twice before a finalized resume is produced: 30–45 minutes

Contact to confirm final version (via phone or email): 15 minutes

Keep in mind that the time estimates above are only for the resume, not including the cover letter and LinkedIn profile makeover, which can be another 1–2 hours of work.

So, how much money one should pay to get a professional resume written is $100 to $700, ranging from entry level to executive.

But be sure this is money spent with a reputable resume writing service that is transparent on the website, has adequate contact information and one that is responsive to your calls and emails.

And remember, the cost of a professional resume is an investment that will be recouped many times over from getting paid on your new job and the benefits that come along with it.

Originally posted on Quora.com