Do your research first

Beware dodgy resume franchises

In the last six weeks I’ve had three very angry Adelaide male clients working in heavy industry and the mining sector, complain bitterly about their experience at a ‘so called local’ resume writing franchise in Adelaide.

This franchise ranks high on Adelaide Google Maps yet it’s an empty office.

The clients had to send their resumes and cover letters to me to be professionally rewritten.

The work of one franchise is so bad, so lacking in results, so over-written and ungrammatical, it’s a travesty.

This business advised one client to not include his most recent casual work, even though the 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 jibber, 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 $340.00.

The damage this does to the job seeker in incalculable. They keep getting knock back after knock back.

Here are some things to look out for:

If they use a 1300 number, there’s a high chance they’re not local. Pick a local writer who knows the Adelaide and South Australian economy.

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 part timer.

If they say 85 per cent of clients are employed within three months, ask for names. Resume writers get people short-listed for jobs and even top grade recruiters don’t get placement levels like that. 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.

Put your best foot forward

Malcolm builds expert resumes, cover letters and LinkedIn profiles, which unleash an unbeatable business case to promote you as a ‘must have’ asset to an employer.