If you have been researching getting your resume prepared or updated by a resume writing service, you may have heard of these terms - or - a service you may have called has told you they are NOT a resume factory.
What exactly do these terms mean?
Resume factory and resume mill are commonly used within the career services industry to describe high-volume resume operations that process large numbers of clients in a production-style system.
It is important to understand the difference between assembly-line resume processing and personalized strategic career consulting before investing in any resume writing service.
How a Resume Factory Typically Operates
A resume factory / mill generally focuses on volume. Clients are moved through a standardized process as efficiently as possible.
Intake forms are heavily automated, communication is very limited, actual consultations are not available and multiple staff members will work on different parts of the project instead of one dedicated individual handling your account and your career advancement.
In this type of resume writing environment you will likely go through many individuals preparing your resume.
- One person may handle intake.
- Another may draft the resume.
- Another may edit formatting.
- Another may process revisions.
This approach allows these companies to handle a large number of clients quickly, quite often at lower price points than a dedicated career strategist resume writer.
For some individuals, that may be perfectly acceptable.
If a person only wants basic cosmetic changes such as a basic resume update or simple formatting assistance, a high-volume service may meet their expectations.
The Problem With This Assembly Line Approach
Uninformed job seekers are conditioned to believe that a resume is simply a document that needs to “look better.”
Realistically, successful resume and career development involves much more than formatting and cosmetic changes alone.
A resume is a tool meant to qualify you as a viable candidate for the position for which you are applying and should communicate:
- Professional value
- Career direction
- Accomplishments
- Leadership ability
- Industry relevance
- Transferable skills
- Measurable impact
This crucial level of positioning – regardless if your upper movement is vertical or lateral - requires strategy, conversation, analysis, and collaboration.
In a high-volume environment, the focus is on processing as many resumes as possible in a short period of time.
There is no time to dedicate to having an in-depth knowledge of and way to succinctly narrate a client’s deeper career values such as:
- Career goals
- Employment history
- Industry challenges
- Career transition concerns
- Leadership background
- Interview obstacles
As a result, the final resume may appear polished on the surface while failing magnificently to communicate the candidate’s strongest value to employers.
Exploring This Problem Even Further
The very outdated belief that a resume alone “gets someone hired.”
A resume is actually a marketing and positioning tool showing up as a document. The purpose of this tool is to demonstrate to a prospective employer why a candidate stands out from the crowed, deserves further consideration and ultimately an interview opportunity.
The cosmetic refresh such as changing or using multiple fonts, reorganizing bullet points, adding color, inserting keywords and using a template is often believed to make the resume effective.
Older resumes contain outdated structure, weak keyword targeting, poor accomplishment development, or content that does not align with modern Applicant Tracking System (ATS) standards.
The Solution
Cosmetic changes are important, especially on older resumes and especially on poorly prepared resumes that are not cohesive and structured.
However, it is not just a matter of shuffling information around. Of course a clean looking document is far preferable than one that screams chaos. That goes without saying.
Personalized career strategy and cosmetic cleanup work hand in hand. Every profession, industry, and career level presents different hiring expectations.
A manager, director or C-Suite executive pursuing senior leadership opportunities requires a very different resume strategy than a:
- Recent graduate
- Healthcare professional
- Career transition candidate
- Project manager
- Sales executive
- Nonprofit administrator
The personalized, strategic career process, consultation and subsequent resume writing exercise allows for deeper discussion regarding:
- Goals
- Branding
- Positioning
- Interview preparation
- Strengths
- Concerns
- Employment gaps
- Career transitions
- Career direction targeting
This level of collaboration cannot be replicated in a production-line environment.
Choosing the Right Type of Resume Service for Your Needs
The important thing is understanding the difference between assembly line resume preparation and strategic career positioning resume writing before choosing a service.
Bottom line, it is your career on the line. Your resume’s job is to communicate your value most effectively in a highly competitive hiring market.
How you present yourself to prospective employers with your resume is no different than how you present yourself in any given situation with the clothes you wear. Would you wear worn jeans and sloppy sneakers to a formal event? Of course not. That’s great for yardwork or fixing the car.
When presenting yourself to prospective employers, putting your absolute best foot forward with a value focused resume and interview preparation gives you the upper hand advantage every time.
Consider how you want to present yourself when choosing your resume writing service. It’s not just about getting the document done in a day at the cheapest possible price because the resume is just a piece of paper.