These are answers to some commonly asked questions regarding our process, pricing, qualifications and services. If you have a question that has NOT been answered by this website, require additional information or would like to request a quote, please contact our office directly by phone or email.
At Lightspeed Résumés we use a simple four step process to ensure that your Resume is prepared in a timely and effective manner:
Contact our office by phone or email to arrange a one on one consultation. This consultation provides an opportunity for us to find out about you and answer any questions we may have regarding your experience, qualifications, education and training. It also gives you an opportunity to request additional information. Consultation times can vary depending on your career, level of experience and seniority. Consults over 2 hours are typically broken into two meetings.
The Resume is fully prepared and proofed by the Owner. This step typically requires two to four business days once all consultation work is completed.
A second and final meeting is set to review, proof and finalize your new Resume. This is an opportunity for you to make modifications, request additions or identify any corrections.
Once all modifications, additions or corrections have been completed and approved by the client, electronic files are sent via email for use during your career or job search.
The reason we don’t use template pricing is the same reason we don’t build template Resumes. Each person has unique experiences, training, education, accomplishments, successes, contributions and skill sets. This means that each Resume must be custom built to the clients requirements and specifications. As such the amount of time required can vary widely from client to client and even field to field. We’ve discovered over the years that even clients with similar titles or roles can have quite different responsibilities, experiences and accomplishments.
Resume companies that use template pricing typically treat clients like a factory product failing to take into account the time necessary to prepare a customized resume. Others allow a maximum consult time of one hour and then charge additional fees for any time that exceeds that maximum. In either case this is not and will never be the proper way to accurately assess the worth of each persons resume.
At Lightspeed Résumés we provide a quote that is customized according to your experience and needs. Since Resume Writing and Consulting is a service and not just a product we believe this is just the right way to do things so that everyone is treated fairly and individually.
There are a number of warning signs to watch for when selecting a Resume Consultant or Writer. Being aware of what some of these are can help you make an informed choice.
The first warning sign of a poor or less than qualified Consultant or Writer is pricing. Professionals in this industry will charge according to their expertise and knowledge. As with any field you would not expect to pay someone who has 10 or 20+ years of experience the same as someone who has 1 or 2 years of experience. The same applies to Resume Writing. Someone who says they have a lot of experience while charging extremely low prices or below value often do so because they lack experience, under value their own work, are operating on volume or worse yet do not themselves understand the value of a Resume. As such they can and often do disappear leaving you (the client) to start the entire process of writing all over again with a new company. Taking the cheap approach can often end up costing significantly more than what the resume itself is priced at.
Find out how much experience your Consultant or Writer has. Resume Consultants or Writers who list multiple certifications or associations may line the pockets of those organizations with which they are affiliated but do little to add value to you the client. Likewise unrelated experience does little to lend credibility. For example, someone stating they were the Executive of a large company or have many years in Career Placement or have Graphic Design experience does not necessarily reflect on their expertise or capability as a Resume Consultant and Writer. All Resume Consultants and Writers get their experience the same way. They begin from the bottom up with a single client and acquire their knowledge through time and working with clients from multiple fields. Someone who has reviewed or read a thousand Resumes is quite different from someone who has written a thousand Resumes. As with all other fields of knowledge there are no shortcuts or substitutes for good old fashioned experience.
While having expertise in one area or field may be helpful to clients in that specific area or field a much broader range of knowledge is extremely valuable to clients seeking the services of a professional Resume Consultant and Writer. If you’re not sure whether a company has experience writing in your field ask them. By the same token be aware that some niche areas (e.g. Rocket Scientist, Earthquake Geophysicist) can be extremely rare and as such it may be the first time that your Consultant or Writer has encountered or written a Resume for these specific areas of expertise. This does not mean that they will be unable to provide you with the support necessary to write a Professional Resume. It just means they may need to spend more time getting to know you and as such expect them to charge accordingly.
With very few exceptions, general cover letters are a surefire way to NOT GET NOTICED by a potential employer. Resume services that include these types of cover letters with their resume packages do more harm than good for their clients since employers will often discard the general cover letter along with the resume in the wastebin if it is not targeted to the employers application and requirements.
Companies that give away a bunch of free extras or charge an additional fee for these often do so to cover up their lack of experience and make customers believe that they are getting something for nothing. With so many free online services related to interviewing techniques, job placement and recruitment it is of little worth to have a company email you a pre-packaged batch of information that does not relate directly to you or your career goals when a simple GOOGLE© search will often provide this and more information. Charging you to submit your completed resume to recruitment companies (all of which can now be located online for free) is of questionable value when you can do it yourself at little or no cost.
Companies that state they have a 90% or 97% success rate have little or no way to justify or even verify this number. All clients who use a professional Resume Consultant or Writer want their job search to remain confidential and those that do reveal what has happened often do so only after they have been successful in their career placement or return for an update. Tracking this kind of information across hundreds of clients and fields is virtually impossible even with a survey. I know of one highly advertised college that used these types of job placement numbers only to later discover that they achieved them by eliminating those who were not placed within a certain number of weeks and by using only those who had gotten jobs in their specific fields. Not exactly an accurate or honest way to assess success. Unfortunately most clients who select a company based solely on these types of numbers discover this after it is to late.
Any guarantee is only as good as the company or individual offering it. If the company or individual offering a guarantee is no longer around to honour them then they are of zero value. Others state ludicrous money back guarantees with guidelines so restrictive that the client will generally never to be able to file a claim. Since you are not purchasing a toaster or other appliance be wary of companies that promise money back guarantees, a certain number of interviews or promise that you will get a job in your field. No reputable Resume Consultant or Writer can honestly or will make these types of guarantees as there are multiple variables and factors that affect both the success and placement of a specific client in either their field or new career. Only an employer can offer an interview, make an offer of employment and decide who will get hired. That said, any Resume company worth their name will re-write or make modifications to your Resume prior to your approving the final draft. In most cases they will even make corrections or modifications for free within 30 days if you notice an error or need to add an additional piece of information that was overlooked during the consultation process. This is just the right way to do things. All career services whether they be Resume Consulting, Resume Writing, Career Coaching or Job Placement have a cost associated with them. You may be willing to pay someone to do Mock Interviews, write a LinkedIN profile, or upload your Resumé but determine first whether it is a critical service that you need. If not, forego the extras and reward yourself with a nice meal or that extra tank of of fuel.
Our office hours are Monday to Friday (9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) with last consult meetings at 3:30 p.m.
As we are often in meetings with a client or completing a Resume, please contact our office prior to dropping by. All consultation meetings are by Appointment and must be booked in advance.