In the last month I’ve had three very angry Adelaide people complain bitterly about their experience at a ‘so called local’ resume writing franchise in Adelaide.
This franchise ranks high on Adelaide Google Maps yet the writer lives in Melbourne.
The clients sent their resumes and cover letters to me for a rewrite.
The work is bad, so lacking in results, so over-written and ungrammatical, it’s a travesty. It could have been written by AI. The writer is not a resume writer.
Another out-of-town resume ‘business’ advised one client to not include his most recent casual work, even though that work was crucial. It goes directly against recruitment best practice.
They ignored the client’s ten years of quantifiable achievements, replacing them with standard position description duties, which were cut and paste jobs.
They confused tickets with licences.
Their summary – a critical part of the resume – was meaningless rubbish, cut and pasted from someone else’s resume.
The resume was three pages of crap, which, with an equally meaningless and poorly written generic cover letter, cost the client $300.00.
The damage this does can be calculated by their client not getting a job, not being able to pay the mortgage or rent or put food on the table.
Here are some things to look out for:
If they use a 1300 number, there’s a high chance they’re not local. They trick Google into showing their business in Adelaide, when really, it’s in Sydney, Melbourne or Hobart. Pick a local writer who knows the Adelaide and South Australian economy.
Republic is local as is Winning Resumes.
If people don’t return your call or email within four or five hours, that often means they’re working two jobs. You want a dedicated, professional resume writer. Not a university student.
If they say 85 per cent of clients are employed within three months, ask for names. Resume writers get people short-listed for jobs. If they write statements such as, “The days of fact-based resumes are largely over,” run a mile.
If you only want your resume written, beware of those who will try spruik a generic cover letter, a LinkedIn site and a raft of interview training modules. You’re consigning your employment future to a ‘copy and paste’ franchise. Avoid.
Professional resume writers use a drafting system. If the business you’ve contacted doesn’t show you drafts of the resume or cover letter within a 24-48 hour period, go elsewhere.
You need to be kept updated and to see the standard of their work.
In future, I will direct these angry and disappointed clients to the ACCC.