If you have questions about the professional resume writing or other career services offered by Distinctive Career Services, we are here to help. Please review the frequently asked questions below to see answers to common questions. If you do not see your question or just want more information, please contact us.
There’s a famous maxim we’d like to share with you:
“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”
Across the U.S. charges for resume preparation services range from as cheap as $99 to well over $5000. The expertise behind them varies just as much, and price is not the best indication of quality.
Michelle Dumas is one of the most highly credentialed resume writers in the U.S., and is a well-known, recognized authority in the industry. Despite her superior expertise, the top-notch credentials of our entire team, and our unique process that brings together industry masterminds in an unprecedented,
collaborative team effort to deliver top‐notch quality and service for EVERY client, our prices are in the mid-range.
The investment we ask you to make is a reflection of the professionalism, service, and quality that you will receive in return.
Michelle has built Distinctive Career Services, LLC to the level of success and recognition that it enjoys today by always stressing QUALITY over quantity. Our business model is based on providing outstanding quality and service to a select number of clients. Our services are most appropriate for individuals who understand that a professional resume is an essential investment in their career, and who value the unmatched professional expertise, personal attention, focus on details, emphasis on quality, and commitment to helping you achieve your career goals successfully that we bring to every project.
As always, good jobs are at a premium and the competition for those jobs is fierce. It is critical that you differentiate yourself from your competition in the job market. A powerful, professionally written resume is essential. As pioneering industry leaders you can trust Distinctive Career Services to deliver, and to not only meet your needs but exceed them.
100% Satisfaction Guarantee!
We are completely committed to supporting you in achieving your goals, winning your long-term loyalty, and establishing a lifelong relationship.
Your 100% satisfaction and success is our #1 concern and we bend over backwards to make sure we have it. Our business has thrived and grown for 20+ years based on referrals from our past satisfied clients and we want to turn you into a “raving fan” of our service as well, so that you send your friends, family, and colleagues to us when they need help.
Rest assured by choosing us you’ll be getting the strongest resume possible combined with the finest service in the industry.
That’s not only a guarantee, but our promise. Integrity, Quality, and Commitment to Customers are key elements of our Core Values. If ever you feel we’ve haven’t lived up to our promises or your expectations we want you to reach out and talk with us.
We’ll do everything we can to make it right. No excuses. No double talk.
The technical details of our guarantee:
If you are not completely satisfied with the quality of the documents that are produced for you, just let us know before the 15-day proofing period ends. If we are unable to alleviate your concerns with the prepared document, we will assign a new writer and rewrite for free. If you have asked for revisions to draft documents that we believe, in our professional opinion and experience, will negatively impact the document strategy, focus, or results, we will discuss this with you and attempt to find a compromise that satisfies your concerns while maintaining the integrity of the document. If you choose to have us make changes that are against our professional advice, we will do what is necessary to satisfy you, but may ask you to sign a release indicating that the changes were made at your directive.
You agree to take full responsibility for your own success. Results from the documents we produce and the services we provide can and do vary based on a number of factors outside the control of Distinctive Career Services, LLC. If you have not secured an interview within 3 months of using the documents we have created, we will provide a FREE 30-minute consultation to review and evaluate your search strategies and recommend alternate approaches. To take advantage of this free consultation, you must contact us between 90 and 120 days (after 3 months, but not over 4 months) from the delivery of your final documents to schedule an appointment. Any additional editing or writing services agreed upon as a result of this consultation will incur a new fee.
You may review our pricing here. We do not negotiate our fees. As we are not willing to compromise on the quality we deliver or the time and expertise it takes to deliver that quality, we are not able to compromise on pricing.
Our current range is $425 (entry-level project) to $1875 (top executive project, depending on the options you select). The vast majority of resumes that we write fall in the middle of this range.
How much do you think it is costing you to be unemployed or under-employed?
Imagine for a moment that you are currently employed and have been toiling away in a job paying you $70,000 a year. You know you are worth more, and you have your eye on a job – a promotion – for which you would be paid $95,000. That’s a $25,000 difference.
An increase in YOUR salary of over $2,080 per month.
So, can I ask you again? How much does it cost YOU to be underemployed?
Currently employed? Calculate your returns from having us write your resume
| Example 1 | Example 2 | Example 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current pay | $35,000/yr | $55,000/yr | $75,000/yr |
| Anticipated pay in new job | $50,000/yr | $75,000/yr | $100,000/yr |
| Total increase in pay | $15,000/yr or $60/work day | $20,000/yr or $80/work day | $25,000/yr or $100/work day |
| Estimated investment in resume writing | $425 | $675 | $875 |
| Your Return on Investment (ROI) | Your new resume pays for itself in less than 8 days. In the first year alone your ROI = $14,575 | Your new resume pays for itself in 8.5 days. In the first year alone your ROI = $19,325 | Your new resume pays for itself in less than 9 days. In the first year alone your ROI = $24,125 |
Just a week or so in your new job, and just the INCREASE in your salary is already paying you returns on the charge for your new resume.
But a $25,000 increase is moderate. As you will read in our client testimonials, it is not AT ALL uncommon for clients to come back telling us about increases of $30,000, $40,000, even $50,000 and more.
But, what if you are currently unemployed? How much is it costing you to be out of work?
Let’s imagine for a moment that in your last job you were, again, earning $70,000.
Now, unemployed, every day counts. Each week of unemployment you lose $1,346. Every single unemployed weekday represents $269 in lost wages.
So, how much is it costing YOU to be unemployed?
Currently unemployed? Calculate your returns from having us write your resume
| Example 1 | Example 2 | Example 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay in your most recent job | $35,000 per yr. | $55,000 per yr. | $75,000 per yr. |
| Daily lost wages | -$140 per day/yr | -$220 per day | -$300 per day |
| Estimated investment in resume writing | $425 | $675 | $875 |
| Your Return on Investment (ROI) | Your new resume pays for itself in just 3 days in your new job. | Your new resume pays for itself in just 3 days in your new job. | Your new resume pays for itself in less than 3 days in your new job. |
Of course, for many people, this return on investment would be MUCH higher. Approximately 70% of our clients claim personal incomes that exceed $100,000…many far in excess.
Could you produce these results with a resume you have written yourself? It is possible, but are you willing to gamble with your career and your financial security?
Answer this question honestly: In today’s competitive job market, which approach do you think will be most likely to open doors, generate interviews, and land the job you want? Your self-written resume or a professionally written resume from Distinctive Career Services?
If our professionally written resume gets you back to work just a few days sooner than you would have achieved on your own, you immediately begin reaping returns on your investment. We think the answer is obvious! Your career is worth it!
Our services are not cheap, rushed, or cookie-cutter. If this is what you are seeking, our services are not right for you. On the other hand, if you want to work with the BEST of the best, you are in the right place. Our services stress quality over quantity. Our business model is based on providing outstanding quality and service to a select number of clients. Our services are most appropriate for individuals who understand that a professional image is an essential investment in their career, and who value the unmatched professional expertise, personal attention, focus on details, emphasis on quality, and commitment to helping you achieve your career goals successfully that we bring to every project.
Our services are NOT a one-time transaction. Unlike many of the high-volume firms that treat their work with job seekers in a transactional way (and never expect to see you again), we take a much longer-term outlook. When we tell you that we are completely committed to supporting you in achieving your goals, winning your long-term loyalty, and establishing a lifelong relationship you know we mean it, because our entire business model depends on it. We have clients we have worked with on each and every step of their career for the past 20+ years. Others who have sent every single member of their family, their neighbors, and co-workers to us for help. This is what we strive for.
We NEVER outsource your project to inexperienced freelance writers. Some firms even send their projects to offshore writers who do not speak English as a first language. Our team of writers are handpicked and personally vetted by our founder Michelle Dumas. Each is highly trained, certified, active in the resume writing/employment services industry, and has proven top-notch skills. We treat our writers right and in turn we have their loyalty and our clients receive top-notch quality. We also take the ongoing, continuous mentoring and training of our writers seriously and have a professional proofreader, editor, and mentor on the team (and a highly credentialed professional resume writer herself) who collaborates with our writers on every project behind the scenes, advising on grammar, content, and overall document strategy.
We do not believe in holding your documents hostage. Some firms lock their documents so that you will never be able to make even minor changes yourself in the future. We don’t agree with this policy! At the end of a project with us we send you all the source files for all the documents we have prepared for you. While we hope you will come back to us for updates in the future, we want to make sure you have everything you need now for a successful job search (and that requires your documents in multiple formats) and also so you can make minor changes to your documents (updating a phone number, for example) in the future.
We recognize that a resume is just a tool and many people need support in using that “tool” in effective ways. Unlike other resume firms, we do not just write your resume and send you on your way. We provide you with access to our exclusive, back end client portal with a vast library of resources to help you on every step of your search, from career planning and goal setting, to using LinkedIn more effectively, interviewing, and salary negotiations, and much, much more. Differentiating us further, we also have a team of highly accomplished career and job search coaches on our team who are available to meet with you one-on-one to consult with you and coach you on any aspect of job searching and career management.
We aren’t a fly-by-night service provider that is going to disappear tomorrow. When Michelle Dumas, our founder, first brought Distinctive Career Services to the internet in 1996, we were one of just a handful of professional resume writing firms offering our craft on the Internet. Literally, we were one of the very first resume services on the Internet. Today there are thousands, but we have seen thousands come and go, as well. We have outlasted them all! The reason for this is simple. We consistently provide outstanding service and deliver on our promises. We are as good as we promise you we are. We are in it for the long haul and we will be here for you when you need our support in the future.
Absolutely! Just click here for examples of our resumes and other documents.
Our “who we are” page includes links to various books we have contributed to, as well. Numerous examples are included in these published books and can be viewed at your local library or bookstore.
Many resume writing firms will refuse to show you examples of their work. We suggest that you be very, very wary of this policy. They often cite concerns that potential customers will “steal” from them and copy their work and then never hire them. While there is some validity to this concern, we choose to believe that our customers are smarter than that and realize that copying a resume created for someone else is absolutely NOT the same thing as having a resume custom-written and created specifically for them.
Additionally, we can’t imagine hiring a firm to perform a highly specialized, creative service without first reviewing the quality and style of past work. All it takes is to call yourself a “resume writer” is to hang out a sign and say you are one. Skill and experience in the field is not a prerequisite, and as a result, there are many “fly by night” resume operations. If you are comparing our services to others we ask that besides considering professional associations and credentials (you will find that ours are unmatched), you also compare the quality of our work.
However, please do be aware that the samples on our website are meant only to demonstrate our writing style and quality. We do not provide specific samples on request. The fundamentals of good resume writing are the same for every profession. While there are nuances in design and presentation (resumes for a sales associate and a graphic design artist look very different, for example) what changes the most is the particular vocabulary for each profession. You are an expert on that and we have many sources if research is needed.
Our website provides many samples of our work to give clients a clear sense of our writing style and quality. We encourage prospective clients to take a look and see if our style appeals to them. You can be assured we will produce a similar quality product for you, and we will work with you until you are satisfied with your resume. Plus, your resume must also meet *our* high standards of excellence.
Absolutely!
We know that some people are hesitant to purchase a service like this one on the Internet. We want you to be completely comfortable and confident in your decision to hire us.
Feel free to verify our credentials and professional standing with the various professional associations –Michelle is most active in NRWA. She served on the NRWA Board of Directors for 5 years, including 3 years on the Executive Board inclusive of her term as president of the organization in 2017-2018. Michelle has also served for more than a decade on the Certification Commission, most recently on the NCRW Advisory Board. Michelle was also the 2018 Vivian Belen Award winner, recognizing her extensive volunteer contributions to the organization.
Read testimonials from our past clients
Review examples of our award-winning resumes (you can review other samples in the books listed on the Who We Are page of this site).
Finally, take a look at Michelle’s LinkedIn profile.
We use a combination of techniques to gather information about your career goals and dreams, your professional experience, and your most important achievements.
Our career insights intake worksheet is the backbone of this process. The worksheet has been specifically designed and refined over the past 20+ years to extract not only the details of your career, but to distill information about your most important achievements and the value you have added in each position.
Once we receive the completed worksheet from you, we begin drafting your resume and then follow up with one-on-one email and/or telephone consultation with you to clarify issues and prompt your memory about additional accomplishments and qualifications.
The worksheet requires some thought and time on your part, but many clients tell us that this is a valuable experience for them, prompting them to think about their experiences in new ways and add focus to their career goals.
If you are comparing our services to others, be aware that some resume writing firms use worksheets ONLY and you will never have the opportunity for personal interaction with the writer. There are obvious problems with this method! Other firms use telephone interviews ONLY. While this may sound good, we have found that it is actually NOT the best way to gather the detailed and accurate information that we need as resume writers to do our jobs.
To write a truly excellent resume requires that you put some time and thought into gathering data, and sometimes this requires a bit of digging beyond what you remember “off the top of your head.” Our worksheet takes you by the hand and leads you step-by-step through this process. It gives you the time to make sure we have accurate data to work with rather than just what you “think you remember” in a telephone conversation. Once you have returned the completed worksheet to us and we begin working with what you gathered for us, we are in a much better position to ask you clarifying questions and dig for more information.
Our worksheet is intellectual property representing years of working with clients. We only send it out once someone has become our client.
Yes, but before the consultation will take place AFTER you have completed our career insights worksheet with answers to our questions about your background and objectives. We’ve found that we get much more complete and accurate information when clients have the opportunity to sit with the questions, go away and think about them, do research – all on their own timetable – rather than being on the spot to answer them in a phone interview.
Once that worksheet is complete, we allow up to an hour of telephone consultation for each project as needed.
Using phone, email, web conferencing, and other technologies, we have been working virtually with clients around the world since 1996. Among other benefits, this allows us to be much more efficient with time, and clients who work during the day can still have ample access to us.
We offer two payment options.
1) In full at the time of the booking or
2) To accommodate your budget, for a small convenience charge we accept 50% at the time of the booking and 50% charged automatically 30 days later via Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express.
Our online order system makes it easy for you to order and make payment.
At the time of the service booking, you will be offered a two-installment payment plan. This must be set up at the time of the booking (it can not be done retroactively). This route allows you to begin the process–perhaps even complete it if you are efficient in returning your intake materials–before the second half of the project is charged.
In nearly all cases, your first proof will be ready for you to review within 10-15 business days of the day we receive your completed worksheet.*
We work on projects in the order they are received. When we receive your completed career insights intake worksheet we schedule your project for completion in the order that it was returned to us and immediately email you to inform you of the schedule.
We have always emphasized quality over quantity and believe that “rush job” resumes will sacrifice quality.
Because we are almost always booked “solid” we are unable to accommodate requests for rush orders. We encourage you to plan ahead and begin working with us before there is an urgent need for a resume.
In short: Quality simply can’t be rushed and we have consciously chosen to focus on providing top-quality services rather than the cheap, high-volume model followed by some of our competitors.
Our services are best for those who are planning ahead and who value quality and personal service over a “rush job.”
* During high-volume times we may need to extend turnaround slightly, but we only do this when we have no other choice (we will NOT sacrifice quality just to rush a project), and we will do our best to let you know if this is a possibility at the time you return the worksheet, so you can plan appropriately.
We will email you the proofs of your documents within the promised turnaround time and give you a chance to thoroughly review them. Then, we will be available to work with you (by phone or email) to make any corrections or refinements necessary to obtain your complete 100% satisfaction.
Our agreement allows up to three revision sessions within a period of 15 business days (3 weeks), if you need them.
Many times clients approve the first proof just as it is. With no changes at all!
If changes are needed, they are usually just minor corrections to dates, company names, or places. But, whatever you need we will work with you.
We have two goals: 1) to make sure you have a document that will generate the best possible results and 2) to make sure you leave our engagement absolutely, 100% satisfied.
Once you approve the final proof, we will finalize the project and email you the document in two formats:
- Microsoft Word file (unprotected – you can make changes yourself in the future, if you wish)
- PDF file (you would need the free Adobe viewer to access this file)
Essentially, we provide you with ALL the document source files and formats you will need for a successful job search. Unlike some service providers, we don’t nickel-and-dime you with all sorts of unexpected charges. Our top priority and our entire mission is centered on helping you achieve your career goals…and we make sure you have ALL the tools you need to make this happen!
Note that in the past, we also provided documents as plain ASCII text. While this format was useful in the past, for a modern job search, this format is rarely, if ever, needed. However, if you do find you need it, ask us, and we will happily provide it.
How much money did you or your parents just spend on your new degree?
$40,000? $50,000? $60,000? $80,000? More?
Let me ask you…do you think it is unreasonable to ask you to invest a few hundred dollars promoting that degree? Professional assistance is the sure way to ensure you have an edge over the thousands of other new graduates you are competing with for jobs.
We think of a resume as a self-marketing document. It is essentially an advertisement that communicates your qualifications and the value that you would bring to a prospective employer or client through your ability to solve their problems and deliver a return on their investment in hiring you. Furthermore, you only have 15 – 30 seconds to convey this value and to capture the reader’s attention, convincing them that your resume is worth reading in more detail, or that they should call you for an interview. Clear, succinct writing is essential. Knowing what to include and how to present it is part of our craft. We begin each resume from scratch and develop a strategy that best portrays your experience in conjunction with your career objective.
With the above in mind, and a goal of achieving the best results possible, every resume that leaves our office incorporates the following:
1) Immediately discernible focus and value proposition.
2) Emphasis on benefits and results rather than just tasks and responsibilities.
3) Clear demonstration of why the employer needs you, how you can satisfy those needs, and that you have superior ability to meet those needs.
4) Dynamic and compelling yet succinct writing style to sustain reader interest.
5) Visually attractive design to set your resume apart in the stacks and draw the eye to key qualifications.
We do not edit resumes.
If you choose to hire us for our resume preparation services, we will be starting completely from “scratch” to develop a totally new, dramatically improved resume.
We are perfectionists and believe in excellence. If we try to edit an “average” resume, all you have in the end is a reworded and somewhat stronger “average” resume.
If you work with us, we will undergo a very intensive information gathering process that will help us uncover your unique value proposition and the success stories that support it.
At the end of the process you will have a superb resume that provides you with incredible competitive advantage in the job market.
Most clients have us write at least their LinkedIn profile and one cover letter for them in addition to the resume.
We also write biographies, networking resumes, follow-up letters, and many other types of job search documents.
If you know you will need these, we encourage you to look at our money-saving and bundled options that provide a discount for ordering multiple documents at the same time.
However, if you decide to move ahead with having just your resume written now we would be happy to assist you with any of these documents in the future, on an a la carte basis.
You can see our current offerings and individual prices for documents here.
It’s very important that your resume be written with your career goal clearly in mind. Sometimes searching a job board and conducting additional research can help you determine a direction. If you prefer more one-on-one help, we can refer you to a career coach, and then you can come back to us when you’re ready for our resume preparation services.
Yes, we can help! It is important that your resume is written properly to avoid pigeon-holing you for the industries you previously worked in. If you will be doing the same type of work in a different industry (e.g. sporting goods sales vs. car sales) we will emphasize the skills (sales skills in this case) that transfer from one industry to the next while deemphasizing the industries in which you gained this experience.
Here is an example of a resume we wrote to help a client change industries. Of course, every resume we write is different and specific to the individual client, but this industry-change example should give you a better idea of the way we might approach this for you. You may also find these tips for changing industries helpful as you prepare for your job search.
If you are truly changing careers (e.g. going from IT into nursing or teaching into sales), you will need a resume that is specially prepared for such situations.
Career change resumes require strategic, outside-the-box thinking about best showcasing the transferable skills you will bring to your next position. They require an understanding of the elements that will be most compelling and persuasive to your target audience. This is our expertise!
We enjoy the challenge of writing career-change resumes and are experts at demonstrating how existing skills can transfer to the new career.
As you prepare for your job search you may find the tips and advice in this career change article helpful.
That depends. While our client base is global, our resumes are written in English only, and are prepared in a US/Canadian style. Resume/CV styles vary throughout the world. Before hiring us, ask yourself these two questions:
1. Will a resume written in English (American spelling) be appropriate for your job search?
2. Will the recipient of your resume be receptive to one written in the U.S. style?
If you are uncertain whether a US/Canadian style resume is correct in your situation, contact us and we will help you determine if our service is the correct one for you.
It’s possible, depending on your background and the objectives, and provided that you have cover letters that are specifically written for each objective. But, if your multiple career objectives are in completely different areas, more than one resume will be necessary. We can help you with this.
Michelle has spent years vetting and putting together a team of the industry’s most deeply credentialed and accomplished resume writers to deliver our resume preparation services. Each and every one of our writers holds at least one certification in resume writing and many hold more than one. These are certifications such as Nationally Certified Resume Writer (NCRW), Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW), and Master Resume Writer (MRW). Most of the writers also have credentials that include some combination of certification and training as vocational counseling, career coaching, personal branding coaching, and interview coaching.
The backgrounds of our writers range from small business settings to Fortune 500s and everything in between. While each writer has years and years of experience in resume writing, they also have experience that includes such fields as recruiting, human resources, and counseling.
When you return your worksheet, we review it to better understand your experience and career goals, and then we assign your project to the writer whose strengths are the best match for you.
As soon as we have made this determination, we send you an email confirmation that provides you with a brief bio on the writer you will be working with, along with their direct phone number and the email address at which you can reach them. We also let you know what to expect over the coming days as the writer works on your project and the exact date on which you can expect to receive the first proof of your project.
You can expect to hear directly from your writer in the first few days. While they probably won’t have questions for you that quickly, they will want to introduce themselves and start to establish a dialogue with you. You can be as involved or not as you wish, but we really do encourage you to reach out to the writer with any questions or with information that you think may help them in developing your resume. Again, you will be provided with both a phone number and an email address, and they would be happy to hear from you and speak to you at any point in the process.
We also “subscribe” to the theory that “two heads are better than one.” Unlike any of our competitors (that we are aware of), we have developed a process that ensures your final documents are of the absolute highest quality, created using the best possible strategy, and that they incorporate all of the very latest trends and expectations in the job market. While you will be working directly with your writer, behind the scenes Michelle Dumas oversees and supervises all the projects, consulting with writers and advising on content and design strategies. Additionally, a highly credentialed professional proofreader and editor (and accomplished resume writer with 30 years of experience and instructor in the resume writing industry) reviews and collaborates with writers on every project. This is a HUGE BENEFIT because it means that you actually have THREE of the industry’s most accomplished resume writers conferring and working together on your project.
Michelle Dumas manages and collaborates with the Distinctive Career Services writing team. She is not currently available for one-on-one writing projects with clients. But, if you are interested in benefitting from Michelle’s resume writing expertise, you may book a consulting call with her.
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Yes!
We’ve been in the resume preparation services business since 1996, and at this point, a very major part of our business is servicing our existing family of clients. Many of our clients have been with us through every step of their careers!
Please consider us to be life-long PARTNERS committed to ASSISTING and SUPPORTING YOU through every step of your career development now and in the future.
We are here for you to serve you with all your career marketing needs, keeping your resume and all the documents in your career marketing portfolio up-to-date and ready to go whenever the next opportunity arises. Charges for updates are nominal and you can read more about them and get a quote for your resume update here. Please fill out the quote request form thoroughly, to aid us in providing an accurate quote for your update. Of course, if you have any questions, call 800-644-9694.
Please note that we provide resume updating services only for our existing customers. If your resume has been professionally written and your original resume writer is unavailable, we may be able to assist you. To learn more about this, we encourage you to book a free Discovery Consultation.
We have prepared resumes for thousands of executives including those in COO, CFO, CIO, CTO, CMO and CEO roles. Many of our clients have been employed by large organizations such as the World Bank, General Motors, General Electric, Walmart, and Phillip Morris to name a very few. We’ve also prepared resumes for those in high government offices including Presidential staff members. When we last analyzed the demographics of our clients, 64% of our client base was at the executive level and 67% were earning a personal income of six-figures or higher.
You may wish to review some examples of resumes that we have written for executive clients such as this one for a CTO/VP candidate, this one for a Vice President, and this one for a CEO/President.
If you are a senior executive seeking to have your resume professionally written, we encourage you to book a free Discovery Consultation.
Step-by-step, here is how we can begin working together today:
STEP 1
We are happy to assess your needs and provide a personalized quote. If you wish, we will call you for a consultation to discuss your unique needs and determine together if we are a good fit to work together. If you would like to request a quote, you may do so here.
STEP 2
Familiarize yourself with our terms of service and then place your order using our 24/7 online order system. When your order is placed, you will immediately be directed to a page with instructions for downloading our career insights worksheet, which includes instructions for you to gather the information we need to complete your project. You will also receive a receipt for your project via email and a welcome email from me with more instructions and information. Our career insights worksheet is crucial for our work, so please complete it as soon as possible.
STEP 3
As soon as your career insights worksheet is complete, email it to us. Some clients complete it and return it the same day they get it. Others take a few days or even a few weeks. As soon as we receive it from you, we will immediately schedule your project. It is at this stage that we assign a primary writer for your project–a decision that takes a variety of factors into consideration. We will get back in touch with you to introduce you to your writer and provide the exact date you can expect your proof (our turnaround is generally about 15 business days) – along with the direct telephone lines and email addresses you will need to reach us while we are working on your project.
STEP 4
We will reach out to you (by phone and/or email), so that we start to get to know you better and ensure that we have a full understanding of your needs while we work on your project. Your project includes up to one hour of telephone time as necessary. Your writer will often have additional questions and schedule a telephone consultation with you. For routine questions, because it is easier for most people, we often use email. If you ever wish to speak to your writer, feel free to pick up the phone and give them a call (we will give you their direct telephone number).
STEP 5
We will email you the proofs of your documents within 15 business days and give you a chance to review them thoroughly. Then, we will be available to work with you (by phone or email) to make any corrections or refinements necessary to obtain your complete 100% satisfaction. Our agreement allows up to three revision sessions within a period of 15 business days (3 weeks), if you need them.
STEP 6
Once we receive your written (via email) approval of the proofs, we will convert the documents into the various final formats (Word, PDF) and provide them to you. Now, it is time to get results!
STEP 7
Our relationship doesn’t end there! Many clients have us assist with sending their resumes to recruiters, jumpstarting their LinkedIn presence, or providing assistance through coaching in select areas such as interviewing, networking, and salary negotiations. We also know you will be blown away by the quality of our work and the results you get from your new resume. Because of that, many of our clients have been with us throughout their careers. We will be here for you in the future if we can help you with resume updates or anything else.
We offer a high-touch, individualized service. Our process is designed to help us get to know you personally and to really understand your career goals. This is essential, because every resume, LinkedIn profile, and other document we write is one-of-a-kind, infused with your personality, and strategically written to tell your career story in a way that is memorable, meaningful, succinct, relevant, and interesting to your target audience.
To achieve these goals, we use a combination of techniques to gather information about you, your goals, your experience, and your stories of success. Our Career Insights worksheet is the backbone of this process and we follow the worksheet with one-on-one consultation with you. As soon as you book a project with us, you will receive this worksheet and we urge you to complete it right away while your new resume is fresh in your mind. Once we receive your completed worksheet we begin writing your resume and often conduct some preliminary research to better understand your industry and any technical details of your profession. At this point, we will follow up with you for some one-on-one consultation to get to know you better, clarify issues, and prompt your memory about additional accomplishments and qualifications.
Throughout the entire resume writing process, you have access to the phone number and email address of the writer you are working with and may reach out to your writer with questions or concerns.
You can expect to receive the first proof copies of your resume, LinkedIn content, or other documents approximately 15 business days from the day you return your worksheet to us. We’ll ask you to review it thoroughly and will then work with you on any revisions or corrections necessary to gain your complete satisfaction. Once your documents are perfect, we send you the source file in all the formats you will need for your job search: MS Word, PDF, and plain ASCII text.
But our relationship doesn’t end there. If you need additional support, we can assist in various ways, including providing coaching support on any job search or career management topic and helping you send your resume to recruiters and other decision-makers. We have clients we have worked with on each career step for 25+ years. We want to count you among our family of long-term clients as well.
25+ YEARS, 10,000+ LIVES POSITIVELY IMPACTED
Resume Services Testimonials
You Have One Chance to Make a First Impression. Make it Count!
“I just want to let you know that this week I had four interviews and 3 job offers! One is with my mentor’s company, XXXXX, another with XXXXX, and a third with XXXXX. The salary ranges are from $80-$100k. I’m deliberating now about my options, and will start “negotiations” this afternoon. Two job offers came on the same day (yesterday). Three of the interviews came from my on line responses to ads. The XXXX interview was arranged by my mentor…This all happened (the callbacks) between 1-3 days after I posted my resume. The VP at XXXXX who interviewed me said that he reads thousands of resumes, and that mine was really exceptional. He was talking about your work. Thank you!” – C.R., New York
Not All Resume Firms are Equal. Distinctive Career Services is Renowned for Consistent Excellence!
“Thank you for your services and the excellent resume you produced…There is no question in my mind that this distinctive resume provided me with far more opportunities to talk to recruiters and principals than I would have had otherwise. More than once I heard recruiters say “I pick out two resumes from over 1000 internet responses and you were one of them”…Bottom line I achieved exactly what I was looking for in terms of position, location, and income AND I had choices in terms of multiple offers. It all started by getting someone to notice my resume in with a thousand others.” – C.M., Indiana
An Investment In Your Career & Resume Is An Investment That Will Pay Rewards For Life!
“Great news ! After not much success with my job search I had your company rewrite my resume. Immediately after I received my resume from you I started to get interviews. Sometimes up to 3 different companies a week. After only 4 weeks of interviewing I am delighted to tell you today I have received a job offer for a wonderful job. Not only is a great company and location it is also a pay increase of 28%. I did the math and the cost of my resume was only 1% of my pay increase. The HR Manager said that she literally received hundreds of resume and mine stood out among all of them. Thanks so much.” – M.B., New Hampshire
