Resume Writers' Digest

Celebrating 15 Years of BeAResumeWriter!

2026-11-11T14:11:15.629-06:00

In October 2011, I launched BeAResumeWriter.com, a membership site for resume writers and other career industry professionals.

This October marked 15 years!

But this story starts a little earlier.

In 1999, I launched Resume Writers’ Digest, a trade newsletter for professional resume writers. I had questions about how to help my own clients be more effective in their job search, so I started reaching out to other resume writers to learn what they were doing.

I interviewed some of the industry’s top writers, shared information from industry conferences, and published articles about resume writing, marketing, and running a resume writing business. Over time, Resume Writers’ Digest grew to several hundred paid subscribers.

In 2011, I decided to create another resource for resume writers — this time, a membership site with materials they could use in their own businesses.

When BeAResumeWriter launched, the two main membership benefits were a monthly Special Report and Pass-Along Materials.

The Special Reports covered topics like marketing, business development, client acquisition, and improving resume writing skills.

Pass-Along Materials were done-for-you resources that members could customize with their business information and share with jobseekers. Instead of having to write their own guides about salary negotiation, interview preparation, LinkedIn, or other job search topics, members could use the materials I created.

We also offered monthly Career Worksheets licensed from Evelyn Salvador, with members voting on which profession they wanted covered next. Those worksheets were discontinued when we moved to the new website earlier this year.

Fifteen years later, we’re still publishing a Special Report and Pass-Along Materials every month. But we’ve added quite a bit more!

Today, Bronze members have access to:

Special Reports covering marketing, pricing, client services, and other topics related to running a resume writing business.
Pass-Along Materials that members can customize and share with jobseekers.
Tools for Resume Writers, including Canva templates and other resources for client work and business operations.
More than 900 Social Media Graphics members can use in their marketing.
Office Hours, where members get together twice a month to ask questions, share ideas, and talk about what’s happening in their businesses. Recaps are available afterward.
Power Hours, focused working sessions where members set aside time to work on their businesses. Replays and handouts are available afterward.
Norine’s Closet, featuring done-for-you presentations and other resources from Norine Dagliano.
Courses and training on resume writing, pricing, product creation, and other business topics.

Some of these resources came from ideas I had for helping resume writers with their businesses. Others came directly from conversations with members about what they needed.

Revisiting Our Very First Pass-Along Material
For October 2026, I thought it would be fun to revisit the topic of our very first Pass-Along Material.

The October 2011 resource was called “Do You Have Any Questions For Me?” It helped jobseekers prepare questions to ask during a job interview.

For the 15th anniversary, I created a new version: “15 Questions to Ask at the End of a Job Interview.”

It includes 15 questions, explanations of what jobseekers can learn from the answers, an interview preparation worksheet, and 15 bonus questions.

The questions have changed a little over the years, but the advice is still relevant. Jobseekers should be prepared to ask questions during an interview, not just answer them. They need to find out whether the job is a good fit for them, too.

What’s Next for BeAResumeWriter?
One of the things I enjoy most about BeAResumeWriter is talking with other resume writers about their businesses.

I’ve been writing resumes since I was 12 years old, and I’ve been publishing information for resume writers for more than 25 years. But I still learn things from the conversations we have during Office Hours and Power Hours.

Sometimes those discussions give me ideas for new resources. Other times, members share something they’re doing in their businesses that might help someone else.

I also know how difficult it can be to find time to work on your own business when you’re busy with client projects. That’s part of the reason I introduced Power Hours — to give members a specific time to work on something they’ve been putting off.

As we head into our 16th year, I plan to continue publishing the monthly resources, hosting Office Hours and Power Hours, and adding materials that help resume writers with their businesses.

If you’ve been a BeAResumeWriter member at any point over the past 15 years, thank you! I appreciate your support, your participation, and the ideas you’ve shared with me.

Bridget (Weide) Brooks
Founder, BeAResumeWriter.com

AI Can't Replace a Resume Writer (And That's Good News for Jobseekers)

2026-11-09T14:23:00.000-06:00

Every few weeks, someone asks me whether I think AI will put professional resume writers out of business. I don’t. A resume I wrote for a nurse recently is a good example of why.

Her most recent job was as a school nurse, but the job she wanted was a remote clinical quality position with a healthcare organization. If I’d written her resume around the day-to-day work of a school nurse, I could have given her a good resume for another school nursing job. For this application, I needed to know more about how she documented care, followed regulations, and coordinated with other healthcare professionals.

That experience was already there. I had to ask about it, figure out which examples would matter to the employer, and give those examples room on the page. Some of the duties she performed most often could go in a short description of the job. Her work in clinical documentation, compliance, and quality improvement deserved more space.

I see the same thing with cover letters. A draft can say, “My experience closely aligns with the requirements of this position,” and still leave me wondering why the person wants the job. In this client’s case, I asked her what drew her to clinical quality work. Was there something she’d done as a school nurse that she wanted to do more of? Her answer would give me a place to start the letter, and it might tell me something I hadn’t thought to include on the resume.

If someone hires me to write a resume, part of what they’re paying for is that conversation. My client could tell me a lot about what she did as a school nurse. My job was to help her see which parts of that work could get her an interview for the job she wanted next.

I Built the Kind of Community I Wish Still Existed

2026-04-24T11:14:00.003-05:00

For a long time, most of the “community spaces” in our industry have been tied to individual associations.

And those absolutely serve an important role.

But there hasn’t really been a single place where resume writers and career experts can connect across those lines — or without needing to belong to one at all.

Years ago, LinkedIn Groups filled some of that gap. You could jump into a conversation, ask a question, share ideas, and connect with peers from all over the industry, regardless of which association you belonged to.

But those groups have largely faded. And nothing has really replaced them.

So I decided to build one.

Introducing: Career Expert Collective

It’s a FREE private community, on Facebook, for professional resume writers and career experts who care about doing high-impact work.

Not just getting words on a page, but actually helping clients move forward.

This isn’t tied to any one organization, or even to BeAResumeWriter membership.

If you’re part of NRWA, CDI, PARWCC, Career Thought Leaders (or all of them), you’re welcome.

If you’re not part of any association, you’re welcome too.

That was intentional. I named it “collective” because we’re not just another Facebook group. We’re a community, building on shared ideas, shared standards, and shared responsibility for the quality of work we put into the world.

The job market is changing. Client expectations are changing. And the work we do as resume writers and career experts continues to evolve.

But there aren’t a lot of spaces where we can talk openly about that, especially across different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. That’s what this group is for.

If this sounds like your kind of space, you can join here:

Career Expert Collective (a free Facebook group for resume writers and career experts)

If this works the way I think it can…it won’t just be another Facebook group. It will be a community that works together to help jobseekers and our members be successful.

Professional Resume Writers Aren’t Disappearing … They’re Adapting

2026-04-22T18:24:55.604-05:00

By Bridget (Weide) Brooks

There has been a lot of concern in the professional resume writing community lately about the impact of artificial intelligence on the profession. I’ve been a resume writer since 1996 and have seen a lot of changes in the industry during that time. The threat from AI-written documents has had an impact on the profession — but so did resume-in-a-box software, the introduction of LinkedIn, and the rise of Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software. The industry adapts.

Hot take: AI is making the good resume writers even more valuable than ever.

Jobseekers are flooding the market with AI-generated resumes. 67% of hiring managers say AI resumes are slowing down hiring. And 65% report it’s harder to verify real skills because the resumes sound the same.

AI-written resumes lack strategy, storytelling, and the ability to position someone for a specific career move. Recruiters and hiring managers recognize AI-generated content, and it doesn’t stand out in a sea of identical applications.

Professional resume writers aren’t disappearing. They are adapting, applying their skills (career strategy, personal branding, interview preparation, etc.) to help jobseekers with the resume, other career documents, and more.

Jobseekers who use AI to write their resumes may be unprepared for the job interviews, as they weren’t invested in creating the content. One of the best things about working with a professional resume writer is the process of self-discovery and validation as the career documents are created. I can’t tell you the number of clients who have told me over the years, “Wow! I sound great!” My response is always: “You did the work. I just helped tell your story.”

In the resume development process, a good resume writer elicits accomplishments and added value from the candidate. My extensive client questionnaire requires clients to reflect on what sets them apart from other candidates with the same job title. If you post a job description and a job posting into AI, it will return results that contain the right keywords, but there’s no “soul” to the document. It still reads like a job description. There’s no transformation, no insight into how the results were achieved. That’s the difference between an AI-written and a professionally written resume.

Hiring managers can spot AI-written content more easily (generic phrasing, perfect-but-generic bullet points).

Demand for human expertise and assistance in the job search isn’t disappearing. It’s shifting to higher-value services.

Clients aren’t just paying for a "resume" anymore. They need real strategy, storytelling, personal branding, executive positioning, job interview preparation, and help fixing bland AI-written resumes.

Career professionals who pivot will develop their skills in:

Career coaching
Career counseling
Career assessments
Job search strategy
Job interview preparation
LinkedIn optimization
Executive positioning

AI can draft basic documents, but clients value the human-centered, strategic side of getting help — career advising, coaching, training, and helping jobseekers stand out.

There are 7,000-8,000 pure “resume writers” in the U.S. as of 2025-26.

These are:

People who treat resume writing as a primary or significant professional service — typically independent practitioners, certified writers, or those in small agencies who specialize in client-facing resume/career document services. Many in this group are self-employed freelancers or small business owners.
PARW claims 2,800-3,000 members
Additionally, there are writers employed at larger resume services/agencies (estimated at around 1,880 professionals).

This market is expected to remain steady over the next 5-7 years, with retiring practitioners replaced by newcomers in the market.

The resume writing service market in the U.S. is estimated at around $1 billion (2024-26 figures). For dedicated ”resume writing and editing services,” as of 2026, IBISWorld estimates the market size at approximately $304.6 million.

The larger figure of $1-$1.5 billion includes:

Related services (LinkedIn optimization, career coaching, outplacement services, etc.)
DIY tools, resume builder software platforms, and enterprise offerings

If you want to be part of a connected careers community that is helping jobseekers for the now and the next, join BeAResumeWriter.com.

Lies, Damn Lies … and Statistics (From the Editor)

2026-04-08T19:18:00.003-05:00

Originally published in the January/February 2008 edition of Resume Writers’ Digest

From the Editor: Behind the Numbers of the Industry Survey

By Bridget Ann Brooks, CPRW

There’s some famous quote about “lies, damn lies … and statistics” that always pops into my head when we talk about surveys. Not that the results of the Resume Writers’ Digest 2007 Industry Survey aren’t anything but factual — I’m referring to the fact that you can often manipulate data to say whatever you want it to say.

In that vein, I could tell you that things are looking up for the industry — our “average” resume charge has gone up from $250 (2005’s average) to $629; the range of services practitioners are offering is growing (more resume writers are providing career assessments than in the past, for example); and the “seasonality” of resume demand seems to be evening out (except for the summer months).

But the reality is that the looming “crisis” I talked about in the 2005 Industry Survey (we did not conduct one in 2006) is still a threat.

While I’ve been buoyed by a number of new writers in the field in recent months, the reality is that the aging of the providers in this industry continues. While it’s a testament to the career services industry that we’ve been able to create a profession out of resume writing, we’re not doing a lot to ensure it’s still going to be around 20 years from now. Fewer than 1 in 5 of the respondents to the survey have been writing resumes for at least five years.

What that says to me is that new businesspeople aren’t taking a chance on the industry. Perhaps they see resume writing as the “horse-and-buggy” of career services … with the Internet and certain new screening and hiring processes heralding the era of the “horseless carriage.”

Maybe, like the vast majority of the general public, they don’t realize that people do pay to have their resumes prepared.

While the barriers to entry are fairly low (computer, Internet connection, and writing skills, at a minimum), the challenges to succeed in the field are markedly more difficult.

This is supported by the feedback I hear from new resume writers … as well as by the names of former colleagues that come up as returned postcards and bounced e-mails … and “ghost” website domains.

Things are changing too quickly for individual resume writers to keep up. For example: You’ve got social media sites (like LinkedIn and Facebook) to learn about. I learned last week that some resume writers aren’t including physical addresses on resumes anymore. There’s a concept called “Structured Interviewing” that I just blogged about.

How can you be effective as a careers industry professional if you don’t keep on top of this stuff?

If we do not do a better job as an industry of promoting the profession and keeping abreast of changes impacting the job search process, this industry will be irrelevant in 10 years.

We need to work together to make things happen. I’m disappointed there isn’t more cooperation between the various professional associations. (For example, a planned joint 2008 conference between Career Directors International and the National Resume Writer’s Association was scrapped.)

I’m still frustrated by the inability for someone to create a comprehensive technology system to manage this process (combined with the absence of a consistent method of production). Surely someone can come up with a “Salesforce.com”-type of solution to help resume writers manage their clients and connect with/reactivate past customers.

I hate to be the harbinger of “doom and gloom,” but I talk to resume writers every day who are struggling. Can’t we do a better job of working together as a profession to ensure our own survival??

Best Practices for Resumes in 2025

2025-12-03T11:41:00.002-06:00

By Bridget (Weide) Brooks

The job search landscape evolves quickly — and so should resumes. Whether you're a professional résumé writer striving to keep client documents cutting-edge, or a jobseeker looking to stay competitive in today’s hiring environment, staying aligned with current best practices is essential. These 2025 guidelines reflect what employers and recruiters expect right now, and how to make sure your resume stands out in the modern job market.

Eliminate the Excess

A resume isn’t a jobseeker’s life story (or “career obituary”) — it’s a marketing document. Focus on the most relevant, recent experience (generally the past 10–15 years). Two pages is the sweet spot for most professionals. Cut outdated or unrelated details so hiring managers can quickly see what makes the jobseeker the right fit.

Lead With a Personal Brand Statement

Open with a concise summary that captures who the candidate is, what they do best, and the value they have to offer to the next employer. This 3-4 sentence section is prime real estate — make it count by showcasing the jobseeker’s professional identity and unique strengths.

Demonstrate Continuous Learning

Employers want adaptable, growth-minded professionals. Include certifications, workshops, or online courses that show the jobseeker’s commitment to professional development — especially in rapidly changing fields like technology, marketing, and healthcare.

Focus on Accomplishments, Not Tasks

Modern resumes highlight impact, not job descriptions. Lists of duties should be replaced with bullet points showing measurable results, skills, and contributions. For example:
“Led a 25-member cross-functional team that redesigned a 200-page SOP manual, improving efficiency by 30%.”

Quantify Results

Numbers catch the eye and build credibility. Use metrics (percentages, dollar amounts, headcounts, timelines) to demonstrate performance and results. Quantifying achievements gives hiring managers a clear sense of the jobseeker’s impact.

Highlight Remote or Hybrid Work Experience

If the candidate has successfully worked remotely, show it. Mention tools used (Zoom, Slack, Trello, Microsoft Teams) and emphasize communication, collaboration, and self-management skills. Employers value proven remote-work proficiency, even in today’s hybrid and back-to-the-office environments.

Tackle Employment Gaps with Intention

Gaps happen. How you present them matters. If the jobseeker took time off, note relevant activities like freelancing, volunteering, or professional development. A brief explanation can prevent assumptions and show continued engagement.

Add Digital Links

Enhance the resume with links to a LinkedIn profile, digital portfolio, or personal website. Interactive elements — like QR codes — allow employers to explore work samples, certifications, or media features with one click.

Design for Humans and Machines

While Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) remain important, remember that a real person will eventually review the resume. A clean, visually appealing design with subtle color and strong formatting can set a candidate apart — as long as readability remains top priority.

Optimize for ATS

More than 70% of employers (and nearly all Fortune 500 companies) use ATS to screen candidates. Use standard section headings, consistent formatting, and industry-relevant keywords to ensure the resume passes the initial scan.

Bonus Tip: Don’t Let AI Do All the Talking

AI tools can help tailor cover letters and resumes, but resist the temptation to copy-and-paste. Review every AI-generated draft carefully — personalize it, add the jobseeker’s authentic voice, and incorporate specific details that show genuine interest and expertise. Recruiters can spot a generic AI letter a mile away.

A well-written resume remains one of the most powerful tools in your professional toolkit — whether you’re crafting them for clients or fine-tuning your own. By staying current with resume trends and technology, you’ll position yourself (and your clients) to stand out in a competitive 2025 job market.

Bridget (Weide) Brooks is the founder and editor of Resume Writers’ Digest, a publication for career industry professionals. Since 1999, she has helped resume writers and career coaches grow their businesses and serve clients more effectively. Bridget also operates BeAResumeWriter.com, offering training and resources for career pros.

Follow her on LinkedIn or visit BeAResumeWriter.com for more resources.

How Many Professional Resume Writers Are There in the United States? (2025 Analysis)

2025-10-27T21:04:00.010-05:00

How many professional resume writers are currently working in the United States?

This is something I’ve been tracking for the past 20+ years, so when I saw a statistic recently that claimed there are more than 289,000 resume writers in 2025 in the U.S., I was curious about how this number was calculated.

(To prove I’ve been tracking this for a long time, here is my blog post from 2009 answering the same question of how many resume writers there are in the United States: https://rwdigest.blogspot.com/2009/05/analyzing-professional-resume-writing.html)

If you’re a professional resume writer, the 289,000 number is dramatic and a little alarming — especially if you’re a career pro trying to stand out in what suddenly sounds like an insanely crowded market. (And I really respect the person who quoted that number, but I have no idea where the data came from.)

Here’s the problem: the 289,000 number doesn’t line up with any credible data from professional associations, industry directories, or actual labor structure in our field. In fact, the most supportable, evidence-based estimate of the number of professional resume writers is approximately 7,000-8,000.

Let’s walk through why.

What do I mean by “professional resume writer”?

First, definitions matter.

For the purpose of this discussion, a “professional resume writer” means:

Someone who sells resume development as a service (not just as a favor to friends).
Someone who is either full-time or part-time in resume writing or closely related career marketing services (resumes, LinkedIn profiles, career documents, etc.).
Someone who can reasonably be identified in the market (website, business listing, professional association, agency rosters, etc.).

I’ve also used the metric in the past of someone who writes at least one resume per month. That helps include “future career pros” — people who are writing resumes on the side.

This excludes:

Jobseekers who happen to be good writers.
Corporate HR staff who occasionally rewrite resumes for friends and family and coworkers.
AI resume template generators.
“I’ll do your resume for $5” listings from anonymous accounts (that may or may not be U.S.-based) on freelance websites

When we’re talking about people who have built a business around resume writing — whether that’s a solo practice, a boutique firm, or a writer working for an outplacement agency — that’s the group we’re trying to count.

What credible data do we actually have?

Here are the four most reliable data points available right now from public-facing sources and industry research:

Professional Associations

The Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches (PARWCC) reports “more than 3,000 members,” and in some materials notes that it “boasts over 2,800 members.” PARWCC is a U.S.-founded credentialing and membership body for resume writers and career coaches.
The National Resume Writers’ Association (NRWA) positions itself as a professional association “representing resume writers,” and refers to “500+ professional resume writers,” primarily U.S.-based.
That doesn’t count the members of other professional associations, such as Career Thought Leaders or Career Directors International, but many career professionals belong to multiple associations. (The “average” professional resume writer belongs to one or more professional associations, according to the Profile of Professional Resume Writers data.)
Career Thought Leaders (CTL) and Career Directors International (CDI) both present themselves as curated professional communities of resume writers, career coaches, and related career experts. Neither publishes a big “tens of thousands of members” claim; based on their directories and positioning, they appear to be in the hundreds to low thousands each, globally.

These are not hobbyists. These are people paying dues, pursuing certification, investing in training, and marketing themselves as resume professionals. (Maybe I should add those criteria to define a “professional resume writer.”)

Industry classification
- IBISWorld tracks “Resume Writing & Editing Services in the US” as its own industry segment (industry code 6544), which is our first clue that resume writing is established enough to be considered a defined service niche in the U.S. economy.
- Industry reports generally count firms and revenue, rather than individual resume writers, but it confirms that resume writing isn’t just an informal side hustle. It’s a recognized business category.
Business directories
- A B2B intelligence directory (ensun.io) lists roughly 3,768 “suitable service providers” in the United States under the category of “resume writing.” These are businesses, not just individual people. That includes one-person shops, boutique resume-writing firms, agencies that employ multiple writers, and outplacement-style services.
Marketplace structure
- Most resume-writing businesses in the U.S. are very small: solos, partnerships, and small boutique firms. A handful of higher-volume agencies employ teams of writers or subcontractors. This structure matters, because it gives us a way to estimate headcount.

Let’s estimate the actual number of resume writers.

If there are approximately 3,768 resume-writing service providers in the U.S. right now, how many individual resume writers does that represent?

Here’s a conservative, industry-aligned model:

About 70% of providers are solo practitioners — one resume writer doing all the client work.
70% of 3,768 is about 2,638 companies, representing ~2,638 individual writers.
About 25% of providers are boutique firms with 2-5 writers.
25% of 3,768 is about 942 companies.
If we assume an average of 3 resume writers per boutique firm, that gives us ~2,826 writers.
About 5% of providers are larger agencies or outplacement firms with teams of writers (6-20+ writers, sometimes more).
5% of 3,768 is about 188 companies.
If we assume an average of 10 resume writers per agency, that adds ~1,880 writers.

Now add those three tiers:

2,638 (solo writers)
2,826 (boutique writers)
1,880 (agency writers)

2,638 + 2,826 + 1,880 = 7,344

That gives us an estimated ~7,300 active resume writers in the United States.

Even if you adjust assumptions up or down a bit — maybe some “boutiques” actually only have two writers, or some high-volume firms use 20+ writers — you’re still generally in the single-digit thousands — or even 15,000 to 20,000, not hundreds of thousands.

So a grounded, defensible way to answer the question “How many professional resume writers are in the U.S.?” is: Approximately 7,000 to 8,000.

Why “289,000 resume writers in the U.S.” is almost certainly wrong

Let’s test that “289K+” claim against reality.

Claim: there are 289,000 resume writers in the U.S. in 2025.

Problem #1: Association numbers don’t support it.
Even the largest, longest-running U.S.-based association of resume writers (PARWCC) cites membership in the 2,800-3,000 range. The NRWA cites “500+ professional resume writers.”

“Career Thought Leaders (CTL) and Career Directors International (CDI) also serve the resume writing & career coaching industries. Neither publishes a verified total member count, but both appear to serve several hundred to maybe a few thousand practitioners — rather than tens of thousands. This further supports the estimate that there are around 7,000-8,000 professional résumé writers in the U.S.

If there were truly 289,000 U.S. resume writers, why are only around 3,000 of them showing up in the biggest, most visible associations in the field? That would imply that more than 98% of U.S. resume writers are totally invisible to the known professional infrastructure. That’s unlikely.

Problem #2: The business footprint doesn’t support it.
We do not see 289,000 active resume-writing businesses. We see on the order of 3,700 U.S. providers.

For the 289,000 figure to be true, each “provider” would need to employ, on average, more than 75 resume writers. That does not reflect how resume-writing firms actually operate. A typical resume-writing business is not a 75-writer operation. It’s a one- to three-writer operation. (Mostly one writer, as the Profile of Professional Resume Writers data over the last 20 years supports.)

Problem #3: Labor visibility doesn’t support it.
If there were truly 289,000 resume writers in the U.S., resume writing would be as common as real estate licensure and as visible as tax prep — there would be resume writers at every networking breakfast, every chamber of commerce lunch, every co-working space, every PTA fundraiser. You would already know five personally. You don’t, and neither does anyone else outside of our industry.

Problem #4: “U.S. only” is almost certainly mislabeled.
One common way to inflate these numbers is to count every freelancer on every major global platform (Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer.com, PeoplePerHour, etc.) who lists resume or CV writing anywhere on their profile, and then to call that “U.S.-based resume writers.”

But those marketplaces are heavily international. Many of those accounts are not in the U.S., not focused on resume writing as their core business, and not consistently active.

It’s very easy to scrape a big global number and then (intentionally or accidentally) tag it as “U.S. only” to make a point about market saturation.

Why marketers like the “289K” narrative

Let’s be honest: “There are 7,000-8,000 real competitors in the U.S.” sounds manageable.

“There are 289,000 competitors in the U.S.” sounds terrifying.

Which version is better at selling you a $2,000 training program, certification add-on, or “stand out in a crowded market” bootcamp?

Big, scary numbers create urgency. Urgency sells. That doesn’t mean the numbers are true.

Resume writer vs. “someone who will touch your resume for money”

There’s an important distinction here that gets blurred on purpose.

A professional resume writer:

Has an established practice (business entity, brand, pricing, intake process).
Sells resume creation/revision as a defined service, often alongside LinkedIn profiles, cover letters, and career marketing documents.
Often invests in training, certifications, conferences, continuing education, or peer review.
Does this repeatedly, for paying clients, with some kind of methodology and expected outcome.

Someone who “also writes resumes”:

Might be a general copywriter, virtual assistant, HR coordinator, or graphic designer.
Might have done two resumes ever. Or two a year.
Might list “resume help” on Fiverr next to “I’ll design your logo” and “I’ll proofread your blog.”
Might not be in the U.S. at all, even if they market to U.S. jobseekers.

Both groups technically “offer resume writing,” but they are not the same thing in terms of expertise, volume, methodology, or client outcomes.

When someone throws out a six-figure number like “289K resume writers,” what they’re often doing is counting everyone in that second bucket — anyone, anywhere, who, for any price, will touch a resume. Then they present that number as if all of those people are your direct professional peers. They’re not.

So… what’s the real answer?

Based on:

Association membership (PARWCC ~2,800-3,000; NRWA 500+).
Industry recognition of “Resume Writing & Editing Services in the US” as a defined service niche.
Approximately 3,768 U.S. resume-writing service providers identified in business directories.
A realistic staffing model of solos, boutique firms, and multi-writer agencies.

A credible estimate is: There are roughly 7,000 to 8,000 professional resume writers working in the United States.

That is the number you can responsibly cite when you talk about our industry. Not 289,000. Not “hundreds of thousands.” Not “everyone and their cousin is now a resume writer.”

Seven to eight thousand.

That’s still a competitive market. But it’s not an unmanageable one — especially if you’re doing high-quality, strategy-driven work that’s hard to replicate with a $15 gig and a template.

In other words: resume writing is not a commodity by default. It’s a craft. And there are far fewer true practitioners than the number cited would have you believe.

Profile of Professional Resume Writers: The “Average” Resume Writer (Circa 2025)

2025-08-11T14:17:00.005-05:00

Who are resume writers?

For the past 20+ years, I’ve been surveying my professional resume writer colleagues to paint a portrait of the industry. This infographic gives a snapshot of the “average” resume writer:

She (most respondents identify as female), has been writing résumés for over 15 years, primarily as a self-employed, full-time professional. She holds certifications in résumé writing and/or career coaching and is a member of professional associations, such as Career Thought Leaders (CTL), the National Résumé Writers’ Association (NRWA), Career Directors International (CDI), BeAResumeWriter.com, and/or the Professional Association of Résumé Writers and Career Coaches (PARWCC).

Her primary client sources are referrals from past clients, LinkedIn, and her website, reflecting her established reputation. (Newer writers may rely more on organic web searches, networking, and social media to build their client base.) She spends approximately 16 hours per week on résumé development, including consultations, research, and writing. She completes 1-3 résumés weekly, with each project taking 5-10 hours. She works 30-40 hours per week total, including administrative tasks, marketing, and networking.

Her standard package includes a résumé, cover letter, and often LinkedIn profile development, with an average sale price of $951. She typically speaks with prospects before closing sales and collects full payment upfront. She gathers client information using a combination of questionnaires and phone or virtual interviews.

Her challenges include inconsistent revenue, dealing with administrative tasks alone, client management, and the writing process itself. Emerging concerns involve adapting to artificial intelligence (AI) and competing with low-cost résumé mills. Mentally, she grapples with isolation, burnout, and occasional imposter syndrome, seeking stronger connections with peers to mitigate those feelings.

The Résumé Writers’ Digest Industry Survey is an opportunity for résumé writers to benchmark their progress compared to their peers. The survey was first conducted in 2001, and because it hasn’t been faithfully conducted each year, the word “annual” has been removed from the name of the survey. Also, due to the small sample size and voluntary participation, this is not a scientific survey. However, the results can be informative, giving you a peek into how other résumé writers work and offering ideas for increasing your income.

The 2025 Résumé Writers’ Digest Industry Survey was conducted in April 2025, asking respondents to look back at 2024. The results were compiled in July 2025. Sixty-five résumé writers took the anonymous survey, answering 28 questions.

Navigating a Post-DOGE Job Search: A Guide for Federal Workers and Contractors

2025-04-02T18:53:00.001-05:00

New Guide for Federal Workers and Contractors Helps Navigate a Post-DOGE Job Search

Two veteran career industry professionals have teamed up to create a “get started” guide for more than 1 million employees who are impacted by the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) plan to eliminate federal jobs and contracts. The stated goal of DOGE is to reach $1 trillion in savings by the start of the 2025-26 fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1.

The 40-page guide, “Solutions for Starting Your Federal Career Transition,” is designed for federal workers who have already been laid off or terminated, or who may be separated from their employment in the near future. It also is a resource for employees of companies with federal contracts who are affected by contract cancellations.

The federal government is the nation’s largest employer. As of November 2024, there were an estimated 3 million federal employees (including US Postal Service employees) across the United States, excluding military personnel. In addition, there are more than 3.5 million federal contractors who aren’t counted as federal employees, but whose employment is affected by government contracts. Over the past week, multiple government agencies have cut 121 contracts worth $350 million, according to DOGE.

Tens of thousands of jobs have already been eliminated across numerous federal agencies. Most government workers (92%) are considered white collar workers. The website Layoffs.fyi estimates more than 113,000 federal employees have been fired or voluntarily resigned (on the condition they would be paid through the end of September). Mass layoffs were announced Tuesday at the Department of Health and Human Services, with 10,000 employees expected to be let go.

The federal government layoffs are expected to be the biggest from a single employer in history. IBM previously had that title, laying off 60,000 workers in 1993.

The guide is designed to cover the basics of getting started with a post-federal employment job search, including accessing federal employment-specific transition services, translating ‘fed speak’ into corporate language for a private-sector resume, and providing details about common job search scams to help federal jobseekers avoid being scammed.

About the Authors:

Nancy H. Segal is the owner of Solutions for the Workforce. She started the business following her 30-year career in human resources with the federal government. She has extensive experience as a resume writer and career coach, with emphasis on federal jobs. Her certifications include Master Career Director (MCD), Certified Master Resume Writer (CMRW), Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW), Certified Federal Resume Writer (CFRW) and Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC).

Ellen Steverson opened StartingBlock Career Services, LLC in 2011. She is a Nationally Certified Resume Writer (NCRW), Nationally Certified Online Profile Expert (NCOPE), Certified Employment Interview Consultant (CEIC), and Global Career Development Facilitator (GCDF). She has written more than 1,000 resumes and coached hundreds of people on job search and interview preparation.

The guide is $7.49 and can be ordered here:

https://sftwshop.com/products/solutions-for-starting-your-federal-career-transition

The AI-Savvy Job Seeker

2025-01-09T11:41:00.004-06:00

Happy Publication Day to Michelle Dumas!

Her new book, “The AI-Savvy Job Seeker: Transform Your LinkedIn Profile and Outshine the Competition” is available today as a Kindle book ($7.99) and paperback ($15.99) — and here’s why you should check it out!

I had a chance to read a pre-publication version of the book (and provide a blurb for the foreword!) and here’s what you’ll get in the jam-packed-but-easy-to-read 313-page guide:

A holistic approach to improving a client’s LinkedIn profile using AI prompts
The EXACT prompts to plug into your AI tool to help you or your client improve their LinkedIn profile
Prompts to help you — or your client — create an effective networking strategy
Practical advice for how to use LinkedIn effectively in a job search

Here’s what I had to say about it for the foreword:

I’ll be recommending “The AI-Savvy Job Seeker” to all my clients and career industry colleagues. While there has been a lot of talk about how artificial intelligence can help in the job search, this book provides clear, actionable insights. With accessible strategies for everyone from recent college graduates to seasoned executives, the book combines detailed explanations about the WHY of the strategy with the WHAT of how to implement the idea, including specific AI prompts. The blueprints to create an effective “About” section are pure gold for populating this key LinkedIn section. This book is an essential resource for anyone looking to leverage AI in their job search.

If you purchase the Kindle, you'll get instant access. I had pre-ordered it and am reading it again today! I’ve already put some of the tactics into action with one of my clients!

Check it out.

Michelle is also the creator of Distinctive Resume Templates.

Links in this post are affiliate links, meaning I may receive an affiliate commission if you take action based on my recommendation. Don’t worry, though, I *only* recommend resources that I either personally use or would unequivocally recommend.

A Resume Writer By Any Other Name…

2024-12-19T11:08:00.006-06:00

Looking for alternate job titles for “Resume Writer” for your LinkedIn profile?

Here are some suggestions:

Career Consultant
Career Development Specialist
Career Development Coach
Career Strategy Consultant
Career Storyteller
Career Growth Strategist
Job Success Specialist
LinkedIn Profile Expert
Job Market Advisor
Senior Resume Writer
Career Services Consultant
Resume Optimization Specialist
Executive Resume Specialist
Career Coaching Expert
Job Search Coach
Job Search Consultant
Job Search Strategist
Interview Preparation Advisor
Interview Coach
Job Market Specialist
Job Search Advisor
Job Application Specialist
Personal Branding Expert
Professional Bio Creator
Client-Focused Consultant
Professional Resume Writer
Resume Project Manager
Career Transition Specialist

Mindset Monday: Avoiding Imposter Syndrome

2024-11-18T15:39:00.001-06:00

You’ve worked hard, you’ve taken the courses, you’ve learned and experienced a lot — but somehow it all just doesn’t feel real. Whenever you are praised for your skills, talents, or accomplishments, you feel fearful that you will be exposed as a fraud — even though you are obviously not a fraud.

This, my friend, is imposter syndrome. Sadly, this psychological syndrome affects women at a higher rate than men, but it exists in all sexes in all classes. About half of all people experienced imposter syndrome at one time or another, according to one poll.

If you suffer from this syndrome, it’s important to recognize it and work toward eradicating it from your life. In fact, recognizing it is the primary key to fighting it.

Retrain Your Thoughts. If you ever think things like, “this was all luck” about your success, it’s time to retrain your thoughts. Instead of thinking that, go over the reasons you could do what you did. It was more than likely due to the experience, education, and action you took.

Assign Value. When you can verify or quantify the value that you provide to others, then you can help your mind accept that what you do is valuable and not a matter of just luck. Record data about the impact your work does for people. (Number of interviews generated, jobs you’ve helped them achieve, salary increases, etc.)

Read About It. There are numerous books about imposter syndrome. These books will help you understand whether you have the syndrome and what to do to help you move past it. One to check out is “Ditching Imposter Syndrome: How To Finally Feel Good Enough and Become The Leader You Were Born To Be,” by Clare Josa.

Get Professional Help. If none of the advice given helps, you can go to a therapist or find a life coach to help you overcome imposter syndrome. Many counselors are trained in this syndrome, and many life coaches are very aware of it and now know to help you overcome it.

Imposter syndrome can cause you to miss opportunities because you think you’re not ready for it. There are many people out there doing what you want to do and doing it poorly without any issues. You’re an expert, and no matter how much you try to talk yourself out of it, you have the expertise and deserve the kudos that you get.

Career Industry Conference Update: 2024

2024-09-27T16:00:00.004-05:00

This year (2024) marks the 25th anniversary of my first resume writing conference appearance (the 1999 NRWA Conference in New Orleans).

I’ll be attending the 2024 NRWA conference virtually (and you can too – link below).

This is an update to a post from September 2023 (which was an update to a November 2019 post (“Have You Ever Been to a Resume Writing Conference?”), which built on a post from August 2011 (“When Is the Omaha Conference?”)

The 2023 NRWA Conference was awesome — great content, fabulous friends, and an incredible destination (Colorado Springs, CO).

Here’s the breakdown of where the national resume writing organizations have had their conferences in recent years. (I’ve bolded the ones I attended.)

The National Resume Writers' Association (NRWA):
2024 – Providence, RI (scheduled for Oct. 8-10, 2024 with virtual attendance available as well)

2023 – Colorado Springs, CO

2022 - New Orleans, LA

2021 – NRWA Virtual Conference

2020 – NRWA Virtual Conference
2019 - NRWA Conference at Sea (Cruise to the Bahamas)
2018 - Seattle, Washington
2017 - Chicago, Illinois
2016 - Annapolis, Maryland
2015 - Charlotte, North Carolina
2014 - Denver, Colorado
2013 - Chicago, Illinois
2012 - Charleston, South Carolina
2011 - Portland, Maine
2010 - Fort Worth, Texas
2009 - Annapolis, Maryland
2008 - San Diego, California
2007 - Savannah, Georgia
2006 - Phoenix, Arizona
2005 - Stamford, Connecticut
2004 - Nashville, Tennessee
2003 - Seattle, Washington
2002 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2001 - San Antonio, Texas
2000 - Las Vegas, Nevada
1999 - New Orleans, Louisiana
1998 - Chicago

This year (2024) will be my 14th NRWA conference (and third one I’m attending virtually).

Career Directors International:
2016 - Present: No conference
2015 - Entrepreneurial Success Secrets Live for Career Professionals: Orlando, Florida
2014 - Global Career Empowerment Summit: SOAR — Orlando, Florida
2013 - Global Career Empowerment Summit: Your Big Breakthrough — Orlando, Florida
2012 - Global Career Empowerment Summit: Blaze Your Trail — San Diego, California
2011 - Global Career Empowerment Summit: Jump On Board the Success Express — Savannah, Georgia
2010 - Global Career Empowerment Summit: You Selected & We Delivered: The Most Outrageously Power-Packed Career Conference Yet — San Diego, California
2009 - Global Career Empowerment Summit: Take Your Career to New Heights — Orlando, Florida
2008 - Annual Conference: Get Super with CDI — Seattle, Washington
2007 - Annual Conference: The Future is You! — San Antonio, Texas
2006 - Annual Conference: Live the Dream — Orlando, Florida (PRWRA)
2005 - Annual Conference: Play to Win — Las Vegas, Nevada (PRWRA)
2004 - Indianapolis, Indiana (PRWRA)
2003 - New Orleans (PRWRA)
2002 - Atlanta, Georgia (when the organization was still PRWRA)

(Thank you to Laura DeCarlo for help assembling the conference titles and locations!) I was never able to make a CDI conference (they were often in October and conflicted with my UNO Hockey obsession).

Career Management Alliance (no longer in business as of August 2011):
2011 - Las Vegas, Nevada
2010 - New Orleans, Louisiana
2009 - San Antonio, Texas
2008 - Minneapolis, Minnesota
2007 - Louisville, Kentucky
2006 - ??
2005 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (when it was still Career Masters Institute)
2004 - Atlanta, Georgia (CMI)
2003 - Kansas City, Missouri (CMI)
2002 - San Diego, California (CMI)

Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches
2025 – Chicago, Illinois (Thrive 2025)

2024 – Orlando, Florida (Thrive Orlando 2024)

2023 – Orlando, Florida (Thrive Orlando 2023)

2022 – Clearwater, Florida (Thrive 2022)

2021 – Virtual Conference

2020 – No conference due to COVID

2019 - St. Pete Beach, Florida
2005-2018: No conference
2004 - St. Pete Beach, Florida
2003 - Las Vegas, Nevada
2002 - Dallas, Texas
2001 - Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida
2000 - Toronto, Canada
1999 - Colorado Springs, Colorado

PARW/CC held conferences from 1999-2004 but then discontinued conferences in 2004. The conferences returned in 2019. The 2025 one is the first conference for the organization being held outside of Florida since 2003.

80% off Pricing Right Course (Birthday Flash Sale)

2024-09-17T16:24:00.004-05:00

It’s my birthday on Saturday and — in honor of turning 51 — I’m running a flash sale offering more than $200 off my signature course, Pricing Right: Price Your Career Services with Confidence!

Through midnight Central on my birthday (9/21), if you are one of the first 51 people to take advantage of this flash sale, you will get the FULL COURSE for just $51 (that’s 80% off the regular price of $259!).

The course is designed to help anyone who struggles with pricing their services — from new resume writers to veterans.

The “Pricing Right” course is nine lessons, and each lesson is an average of 15 minutes long. You can work your way through the lessons at your own schedule (it’s self-paced).

When you complete the course, you’ll have a CONCRETE basis for setting your prices (new clients & returning projects), strategies for communicating your pricing (including how to handle push-back on your pricing as well as how to communicate price increases), and you’ll be able to avoid the most common mistakes in pricing your career industry services. There’s also a special lesson on raising your prices — critical these days as our cost of doing business continues to increase!

Here’s what colleagues have to say about the course:

But don’t wait to enroll. There are only 51 enrollments available during this special flash sale. Enroll now.

You can watch a preview of the course here:

If you’ve ever struggled with pricing your career services (and let’s be honest … we all have!), this course is for you. Get the practical, actionable information you need to set your prices so you can hit your revenue goals the final three months of 2024.

Remember, this sale price is only available until midnight Saturday – and only for the first 51 career industry colleagues who sign up. Enroll here!

Mindset Monday: Have You Considered a Vision Board?

2024-09-16T16:13:00.007-05:00

One of the ways you can increase your positivity and grow your success mindset is to create and use a vision board. A vision board is pictorial of the success you want to achieve. The main point is that you want the vision board to be easily visible and usable after it’s created.

Know What You Want. The first course of action for you is to know what type of goals you are working on for your vision board. Some people like making an “overall” vision board that depicts their entire life, but it can also be helpful to create one for each individual goal that you have so that you can focus on one thing at a time.

Set Your Goals and Objectives. When you know which life area you’ll focus on, write down your goals and objectives. Use the SMART goal format so the goals you make also have tasks and actions associated with them.

Choose Your Tools. Now that you know what you are creating, choose the tools you will use. Plan to look at the vision board daily. It’s not going to do any good if you can’t see it when you need motivation. You can choose a print format or use a Pinterest board.

Choose Images / Words That Support Your Goals. As you choose the pictures and words that depict and support your goals, store them in one spot, such as Dropbox or a folder. Write down or copy words that help support your goals, too, because you’ll want to connect the images with affirmations too.

Design the Vision Board. Now that you have all the information and materials, start preparing your vision board. Focus on the feeling of meeting your goals. Feel it as you create it.

Look at The Vision Board Every Day. Look at your vision board every morning before starting your day and even every night as you consider your actions and set up your day for tomorrow. The only way your vision board will help you is if it’s tied to the actions you take each day.

Finally, allow yourself to experience emotions about how you’re going to feel when you succeed by meeting that goal.

Resume Writers & Estimated Taxes

2024-09-16T07:56:00.002-05:00

If you’re a self-employed resume writer, then you are responsible for paying your own taxes. In contrast, if you work for someone else then taxes are automatically taken out of your paycheck. Depending on your annual income and your circumstances, self-employed iresume writers may be required to pay taxes on a quarterly basis.

Check with your accountant or refer to past tax returns to determine if you can pay annually or need to pay quarterly. There’s no disadvantage to paying quarterly. You can, on the other hand, be assessed fees if you decide to pay annually but earn too much (and should have paid quarterly).

The 1040ES is a form that will help you estimate your quarterly taxes. It’s available here –

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040-es

You can also learn more information about quarterly tax payments and what is required here - https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/estimated-taxes

Once you know how much you need to pay every three months, it’s time to create a plan to save for it. This isn’t your emergency savings plan. This is a different savings plan designed to take the financial pain and stress out of paying your taxes.

Step One: Where Will You Save The Money?
Unlike an emergency savings plan, your tax savings doesn’t need to be stored in a separate account. If you keep good records you can simply keep your tax savings in your standard business checking account. If you believe you might be tempted to spend the money, then open up another savings account specifically for your quarterly taxes.

Step Two: Weekly or Monthly?
The easiest way to build your savings is to establish automatic deductions. For example, you may have $500 deducted from your business checking account each month and added to your tax savings account. To determine how much to deduct, simply divide your anticipated quarterly tax payment by three months or 12 weeks.

If you are keeping all of your money in one account, you’ll want to make sure you build up the amount in your account on a monthly basis so when tax time comes around you have enough money ready.

Step Three: Add It to Your Budget
Treat your quarterly taxes as any other business expense and incorporate your monthly tax savings into your monthly budget. By doing this, you’ll make sure that you always account for the expense and never fall short. When tax time rolls around you’ll be stress free and in the black.

Saving for your quarterly taxes may not be fun, and there are certainly other things you’d like to do with the money. However, by creating your quarterly tax plan you will remove the stress of paying taxes and you make sure you’re not hit with a large payment (and possibly even financial penalties) at the end of the year.

Case Study: Shortcuts in Resume Writing

2024-01-17T11:54:00.002-06:00

SHORTCUTS IN RESUME WRITING – A CASE STUDY

A client called me yesterday to tell me he had a first interview on Monday with one of his Top 4 Target Companies and that it went well. He’s been asked back for an in-person interview next week.

There were a couple of tools I used on his project that were helpful “shortcuts.” This client isn’t my “ideal” client these days. (I work mostly with Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, and Sales – or “MAPS” clients — but he was a returning client from 2014, so I was happy to work with him again.)

His previous resume (2014) had focused on his role as Warehouse Manager/Shipping & Receiving Manager (that resulted in him landing a job initially as Maintenance Technician with his current company). I did an update to his resume in 2016 for an internal role and he was promoted to Warehouse Manager. He was then promoted to QA Inspector/Lead Technical Writer (without a resume update). Unfortunately, last year his employer lost a major contract. He was given the opportunity to switch to a manufacturing position or be laid off. He decided to change to the manufacturing role (with a pay cut), but wanted to start looking for new opportunities. That’s when he reached out to me.

Quality Assurance is the focus for his current job search, but it required completely overhauling his resume. (Which was necessary anyway, with the 7-year timeframe between his last work with me and this job search.)

To gather information for his new career focus, I used one of Evelyn Salvador’s Career Worksheets. The “Documentation: Manufacturing and Production” worksheet provided insightful questions to gather information about his most recent relevant role (2019-2023). I provided him with a checklist to identify the keywords relevant to his experience, and incorporated some of the Documentation questions into my questionnaire.

Once I had his information, it was time to tackle the resume writing. Lately, I’ve been starting the writing process by browsing Michelle Dumas’ Distinctive Resume Templates to find one that feels like a fit for the client, job target, and industry. I decided on the Blue Collar Resume Template (with Blue Collar Coordinating Documents – resume addendum, cover letter, and references templates). The templates are visually appealing and ATS-friendly and I find it easy to populate them (changing the color scheme with an appropriate color for the client — in this case, blue to denote “trust, security, and stability.”

I also had this client take a DISC profile assessment (I’m a DISC administrator through Jane Roqueplot and Profiling Pro), which I culled insights from to include in his resume.

He used his new resume to apply to a handful of positions last week and got a call last Friday to set up a phone interview on Monday (yesterday). Because it had been a while since he had interviewed (especially for an outside role), I sent him a couple of resources over the weekend to help him prepare. One was my “Pre-Interview Worksheet & Checklist” (a Fillable Worksheet). I also sent him my guide to Virtual Interviews (based on this Pass-Along Materials document: Jobseeker’s Guide to Virtual Interviews).

I had previously sent him my “Be the STAR of Your Career Story” worksheet to put together a couple of accomplishment stories while I worked on writing the resume. He reported back that he had used a story about reducing production time from three months per unit to three weeks and said the interviewers were impressed.

In the phone interview, they basically offered him the job (they asked him how much it would take to get him to move on from his current employer), so his next step is doing salary research and prepping for the in-person interview. I’m going to be sending him some resources to help with that later today.

Resources mentioned in this case study:
Evelyn Salvador’s Career Worksheets
Distinctive Resume Templates
( use promo code 50offbearesumewriter on the Distinctive Resume Templates website to save 50% on your first purchase of any amount.)
DISC Testing
Tools for Job Search
Pass-Along Materials Archive 2011-2020

What did you think of this case study? Are there resources you use as shortcuts? What are they? Comment below!

Mindset Mondays: Exercise to Practice Gratitude

2024-01-08T12:08:00.008-06:00

Practicing gratitude can go a long way to helping you feel happier and more successful in life. The most interesting thing about having a success mindset is that it is indeed a mindset. Studies have been done on numerous people throughout history that show that even people you may not see as successful can feel successful if they have the right mindset.

Write It Down. Keep a small notebook by your bedside, your desk, or in your glove box. Whenever you feel a wave of gratitude, write it down. This helps you to remember the experience and even relive it when the need arises.

Record It. Almost everyone can record themselves today with smartphones and tablet computers. If you don’t want to write down your feelings, you can record them. Whenever you feel grateful, or need to feel it, make a short two minute recording to document it.

Focus on It. Allow your mind to focus on all the gratitude you feel, but in a tremendous way. Amplify the feeling by describing it as fully as possible. How does your morning walk feel? How does your morning coffee smell? What do you feel when you watch your sleeping child?

Say It Aloud. Even if you’re not writing it down or recording it, you can still state your gratitude out loud.

Feel It. Don’t just write down or record and state your gratitude. Take a moment to feel it. Focus carefully on how it feels to breathe in the fresh air, and take the moment in fully. Immerse yourself in the feelings as much as you can.

Share It. When you are feeling gratitude, it’s a great time to tell others about it. When you share your feelings of thanks to the world either by calling someone and telling them that you’re thankful for them or by sharing on Instagram or Facebook or X/Twitter your gratitude, you’ll feel it more fully.

Focus on what makes you happy and less on what makes you unhappy. It may seem silly, but it’s backed by science. Your thoughts control your feelings, and you control your thoughts. It’s that simple.

We’re expecting our first big snowfall of the season today … they’re saying 4-7 inches – so I’m going to be grateful for the moisture … and that Jon and I work from home!

What are YOU feeling grateful for today? Comment below!

Mindset Mondays: The Importance of SMART Goals

2024-01-01T12:05:00.002-06:00

Today’s tip is using GOALS to direct your MINDSET. After all, if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there. Right?

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times, right? Everyone you know — at least all the life coaches and teachers — want you to learn how to make your goals so that they’re manageable and do-able. Learning how to create goals correctly will change your life.

The best-known method for creating goals that you can achieve is the SMART goal method.

The SMART acronym stands for:

Specific. State what is precisely required to meet your goal.
Measurable. Include a number that enables you to measure the results.
Achievable. Set goals that you can realistically accomplish in the time set using the resources and methods you have available.
Realistic. The outcome must be truly possible. Some people like to use the word relevant here because the goal must be relevant to the big picture you have in mind.
Time-Bound. We all expand our time to match what is allowed, so setting a time limit is essential to realizing your goals.

You can even expand this acronym to the acronym SMARTER and add two more criteria, if you want to be great at making goals that result in success. These two additional letters stand for “evaluated” and “reviewed,” — which makes sense because the only way you can know for sure if something you do works is to evaluate it and review it.

Once you do that, you can tweak and change things to improve your goal setting for future goals. The practice of using the SMART goal method for all your goal setting needs will improve every time you start setting up your goals and objectives because you’ll be able to use past experiences to guide you.

No matter how small your objective is, try using the SMART goal technique to help you create goals that really can be reasonably met by you.

Mindset Mondays: Practice Positive Thinking

2023-12-11T12:02:00.009-06:00

Negative thoughts can affect your ability to see your success — as well as make you feel bad about yourself and the world around you — and can lead to poor choices. Thankfully, you can turn yourself around by focusing on positive thinking.

Create a Minimum “To Do” List. Each day, look at your calendar and schedule and see what you need to do for the day to be a success — but just for that one day. It shouldn’t be 12 hours of work either. It should be a realistic depiction of the minimum necessary tasks to experience success.

Keep a Gratitude Journal. Every evening, write down three things you are thankful for in general and for that day. Then, the next morning, read those three things before you start your day. When you focus on the good in your life, you’re going to feel more successful.

Meditate Daily. Take time out of your day to mediate. You don’t have to meditate for a long time to see results. Just five minutes a day can make a big difference in your mood and your thoughts. You can also meditate in different ways, such as by walking in nature, lying on the living room floor listening to music — or the typical way most people think of it. But clear your mind so you can reset and start fresh.

Time Limit Your Negativity. When you allow a negative thought to enter your mind, instead of dismissing it, try stopping and doing something else that makes you feel positive. Five minutes watching babies laugh on YouTube can pay off in numerous ways.

Practice Changing Your Thoughts. When a negative thought enters your mind, you can practice changing it. If you have a negative thought, think it out, and then turn it around to something positive. With practice, the negative thoughts will resolve themselves.

You don’t have to be overly positive for these tactics to work. If you have trouble turning a negative thought into a positive one, use a neutral thought instead.

Mindset Monday: Take Daily Baby Steps

2023-12-04T10:45:00.001-06:00

Happy Mindset Monday! To support your success, I’ll be sharing mindset tips with you on Mondays. Today’s tips are to help you succeed without getting overwhelmed.

When you want to experience success, sometimes looking at the whole project is too overwhelming. However, if you take small steps daily, you’ll meet your goal and it will be less stressful.

This will help you to:

See things more clearly. The giant goal of building a six-figure career services business can seem daunting, but the smaller goal of getting one new client a week is a lot more do-able, because you can see it happening.

Increase your focus. It’s easier and more effective to focus on what you can do today, instead of thinking too far ahead. For example, if one of your goals is to write a book, it may seem impossible. Break your goal down to write one chapter a month. You could break it down further into writing 4,000 words a month, or about 1,000 words a week, or 150 words a day.

Stop procrastinating. Knowing you need to write 150 words to meet your goal is less stressful and easier to imagine than writing 4,000 words in one sitting — so you’re more likely to jump in and get it done.

Lower stress. If the thought of writing a book overwhelms you, it’s okay. You don’t have to focus on the whole project at one time. Instead, focus on writing the chapter outline. Or write 150 words. This will help you complete the work and meet your goal without dreading the task.

Build confidence. When you take small, daily steps, you’ll be able to start measuring your success within just a couple of weeks. Being able to look back on what you’ve accomplished will build your confidence level. Having more confidence makes it easier for you to envision the big goals you’ve made.

Create habits. Building habits that affect your life today and in the future is the best way to ensure you start reaching the goals you set. Habits work much better for getting things done than trying to motivate yourself or hope for willpower. Those small daily actions end up creating patterns that become habits.

It may seem impossible to get big results by taking small steps each day, but you can. For example, if every single day you increase your walking time by just one minute, by the end of the year, you’d be walking six hours a day. (No one needs to walk that much, but it demonstrates just how powerful one minute can become, given enough time!)

Mindset Monday: Envision Your Success

2023-11-27T10:42:00.000-06:00

Today’s mindset tips are to help you with visualizing your success.

Most personal success mindset instructions tell you that before you can experience success, you should pinpoint what your vision of success looks like. Take some time to realistically “daydream” about the work you’ll accomplish — and your success.

The main reason you need a vision is because if you don’t know what you want, you won’t recognize it — even if someone handed it to you on a silver platter.

To help you visualize the success you want to achieve, try one (or more) of these suggestions:

Create a vision board. When you’re trying to achieve a goal, use a vision board to help you fully imagine what that success looks like. For example, if you want to build your career services business to six figures, create a vision board depicting what that looks like to help you create the steps to get there.

Write down your goals. If you don’t want to create a vision board, you can still visualize your success by using very descriptive writing to describe your goals. When you write down a SMART success goal, be very specific about what constitutes success to you.

Picture your goals being met. When creating your vision board — or writing down each goal — take the time to imagine it in your mind. You may want to consider doing this in a nice, quiet place in your home, where you can relax and/or find inspiration. Allow yourself to pretend you have achieved your goal. Use the following questions to help set the stage for your vision:
– Where will you likely be when you meet the goal or finish the project?
– Will someone be there when you achieve the goal? Who?
– What emotions will you probably feel?
– What clothing will you be wearing?
– Who will you call first, and what will you say?

Picture the future — and then work your plan to achieve it!

Mindset Monday: What Does Work-Life Balance Mean to You?

2023-11-13T10:31:00.000-06:00

Welcome to Mindset Mondays! To support your success, for the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing mindset tips with you each Monday. Today’s tips are to help you with your work/life balance — something a lot of us struggle with (me included!).

Before you can dream about creating work/life balance, you first must define what exactly it means to you. The main thing to understand is that work/life balance does not mean that you spend equal time on everything you want and need to do.

Instead, it more than likely means that you can spend the time needed in each area of your life even if you can’t spend all the time you want. Discover your personal work/life balance with the following suggestions.

List the things you need to do and the things you want to do. For most people, it’s helpful to put all the things they want to do and need to do in a calendar with a realistic schedule. That way, you know if you have time or not.

Set your priorities. Your priority might be different from someone else’s and that’s fine. Your personal life is yours to live, as you see fit and you can prioritize what you want to. Try to remember that there is a difference between wants and needs as you move forward. You may want to sleep until 10 a.m. every day, but your limited time to get things done might make that unrealistic.

Be consistent. Like most things, you’ll get better results when you are consistent for the long term. It works with almost everything you want to do, from finishing a certification to losing weight to running a six-figure career services business.

Track your results. Don’t assume that a step you took resulted in a specific impact until you track and measure your results. You don’t really know which actions you took that worked until you prove it. For example, if you’re working on saving money, you look your savings account and see your account balance. Do the same when you’re trying to save time, build a closer relationship with someone, and so forth.

Surround yourself with people who value you. When you do this, there is no pressure to be something you’re not. Just be yourself and do what you feel comfortable doing. However, you still need to grow and learn new things.

“Time Freedom” is one of my personal values. Having the flexibility to work when I want to work (even if that means working late one night so I can have an afternoon off to pick up my niece and nephews from school the next day) is a core value to me.

What does work-life balance mean for you? What are your core values? Are your values in alignment with how you’ve structured your business? Leave a comment below!

Solving a Problem: Getting Organized in Your Job Search (Creator Spotlight)

2023-10-23T14:20:00.001-05:00

One common problem jobseekers face in their job search is getting — and staying — organized.

Alison King has created a course — Get Organized to Get Hired: Organize Your Job Search, Reduce Overwhelm, and Get Hired – Quicker ! — full of actionable tips and techniques to help jobseekers organize all the documents, communications, and appointments throughout the job search process. “The course is especially targeted to jobseekers who plan to apply to 10+ jobs and need help keeping all the administrative details straight!”

The course is designed for anyone (“any industry, job title, or experience level,” King says) who is preparing for — or in the very early stages of — their job search, whether they are looking to move up in their current industry or switch to a new career.

King recognized the need for a course after conducting her own job search and realizing it was confusing trying to track all the details for multiple job applications. “It’s especially challenging for people like me who are not super-organized by nature,” she noted. “During my own job search, I got organized by necessity — not because I love organization — so I wanted it to be accessible to people like me.”

The course is quick — “about an hour to get through it,” King says — and offers low- and no-cost solutions so jobseekers can apply the tips immediately and feel confident and organized as they start their job search process. It includes templates for LinkedIn networking, tips for digital file organization for different versions of resumes and cover letters, and a spreadsheet to use to track all the jobs they apply for.

“This was the course I wish I had when I started my own full-time librarian-to-copyeditor job search in April 2022,” King says. “It had been a few years since I’d done a job search, and I had NEVER done one where I applied to more than five jobs.”

“The admin work got overwhelming so quickly, and I felt like my head was spinning all the time with emails, interview scheduling, and networking,” she adds. “Although I had seen some career pros allude to certain aspects of job search organization, I couldn’t find all that information in one place. When my job search ended four months later (and not a moment too soon, because otherwise I’d be going back to my school librarian job in September!), I knew I had to share the systems I developed with other jobseekers. My search was stressful, but these systems made the admin part far more manageable!”

The course is $49 and is self-paced so students can go through it at their own pace. Use promo code RWD10 to save $10 off the course price for a limited time. (Enter the promo code on the checkout page.)

For career colleagues considering creating their first — or next — course, King offers a peek into her course development process.

“My challenge is that I get really inspired to write a course, (so I) write a ton of it at once, and then leave it unfinished for too long. I lost momentum for months … or maybe a year? Seriously, I have multiple docs on my (hard) drive of potential course content in various states of ‘done-ness,’” King says. “There was some imposter syndrome mixed in there too, since I’ve only been writing resumes for about three years.”

When creating the “Get Organized to Get Hired” course, “I think I finally just set a date that I needed to release it — for my own sanity,” she added.

King also says the “Career Colleague Teachable Tribe” (CCTT) courses offered by BeAResumeWriter.com were helpful.

“I was part of both CCTT sessions Bridget offered. The sales page template was a life-saver. I had never written a sales page before, so that was a big block to launching.”

King is already working on her next course. “With my most recent course about cover letters — which I started writing ages ago during the first CCTT — I got motivated to finally finish while at the NRWA conference. I’d go back to the hotel at night to write and while touring Colorado after the conference. I told myself I needed to finish it before I landed back home in Philadelphia because otherwise, I was likely to let it linger again.”

She reports she did finish writing the cover letter course on the plane ride home and is launching the course soon.

“With the cover letter course, I actually used ChatGPT to help fill in the blanks where I was getting writer’s block. It took a lot of adjusting the prompt (“make it shorter” and “make it less formal”), but that was enough to work with as a base before making it my own tips and voice,” she said.

King also said she used some of the Pass-Along Materials content from Bronze membership in BeAResumeWriter.com to fill in the blanks in the content and help with creation of the downloadable files she created for students.

“Ultimately, I need to remind myself that ‘Done is better than perfect’ and that I can always go back and adjust things later … so just launch the darn thing!”

For more information about Alison King and her courses, visit:

Royal Career Academy

King Career Services

Alison King on LinkedIn

Day 3 at INBOUND: Two Words – Reese Witherspoon

2023-09-11T17:00:00.002-05:00

“If you want to change the stories, you need to change the storytellers.”

— Reese Witherspoon

When we decided not to attend INBOUND 2023 in person, one of my biggest disappointments came when I learned that Reese Witherspoon would be one of the Main Stage speakers.

I love Reese Witherspoon. I saw the original “Legally Blonde” in the movie theatre like half a dozen times. (I was a paid tester for the precursor to “MoviePass,” so we saw it a LOT.) We also drove to Des Moines to see “Legally Blonde: The Musical” and then saw it again when it came to Omaha. “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde” wasn’t as good as the original, but I’ve been anxiously awaiting a rumored third sequel. I also loved this pandemic skit that Laura Bell Bundy did in character as Elle Woods.

But anyway, knowing we weren’t going to Boston this year, and hearing about Reese Witherspoon being a speaker, I was bummed. So I was thrilled when HubSpot announced that the Main Stage speakers would be live-streamed — including Reese!

But before Reese, there were sessions on Brand Building (with Beyoncé’s publicist), “How to Build a $100M Community,” a panel session on “The Future of Media,” an interview with the founders of HubSpot on how they built the company, and then a session on the growth of the Angel City Football Club (I missed most of this one because I was on a client call).

One change from the first two days of INBOUND (read about them here: Day 1 and Day 2) was that it was 10:06 a.m. Central time (more than two hours in) before the first mention of artificial intelligence. (The first two days were AI intensive!)

And then it was time for Reese Witherspoon!

Her session was titled, “Lessons on Innovation, Leadership, and Navigating Change.” The one disappointing part was that the 2023 Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) strike and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) strike meant that she wouldn’t be talking about her past, present, or future work, as the interviewer, Zinhle Essamuah, anchor of NBC News Daily (NBC), mentioned in her introduction of the actress, producer, and entrepreneur.

Still, there was plenty to talk about.

Witherspoon described how she wasn’t seeing a lot of scripts with female leads, so she decided to fill that gap. “I can’t expect to make change by staying in the same circle,” she said. “I’m going to put my money where my mouth is.” So she started the first iteration of her production/media company, Hello Sunshine.

She self-funded the company. “It was high risk,” she noted. “Being famous does not equate to having business acumen.” She said she didn’t know how to be an executive, but she did know “critical life skills,” — for example: “Show up, do what you say you’re going to do, return emails, and if you tell someone you’re going to read their script, do it.”

Her experience acting helped prepare her to work collaboratively. She laughed when she noted, “10 percent of (her) job is acting; the other 90 percent is helping people get along.”

But it wasn’t easy. Witherspoon said that the award nominations flowed in, but the money did not. She said she had the proof she could create important work, but “I wasn’t paid appropriately for what I was bringing to the table.” So she retooled. She raised capital and got the company on solid financial footing. Persistence was key.

“Nobody believes as much in my dream as I do. I would wake up and do something to further my dream forward,“ she added.

Earlier in the week before INBOUND, the news broke that Witherspoon had sold a majority stake in a clothing line she had started, Draper James. It was a completely different growth path than Hello Sunshine. “Retail is hard. It’s really difficult.” But, she noted, she finally found the “right partners” and said she was excited for the company’s future growth. She will keep a seat on the board of directors, and has several family members involved in the brand’s retail presence in Nashville.

Essamuah asked Witherspoon her advice to people looking to maximize their bottom line. She responded, “It doesn’t matter where you get to in a business, you always have to be adapting.” She noted that her business has changed “again and again.” One thing that is consistent: “It’s so important that the audience is understood, spoken to correctly, and they feel seen and heard. That’s all storytelling is. That’s all media is. That’s all the relationship with your customer is,” she said. “Do you see me? Do you hear me? How do you make me feel? Do I see myself reflected in the stories you tell?”

For us as career industry professionals, this is an important message. Whether we’re telling our client’s story (in the resume) or our own story (in our own marketing), understanding our audience is critical.

After spending three days “attending” the virtual Main Stage sessions at INBOUND, that was an important reminder. Artificial intelligence is here to stay, but AI can’t replace personal connections and relationships.

Witherspoon ended by answering a question about the best advice she had ever received. She mentioned an Ava DuVernay quote she loves: “If your dream is only about you, it’s too small.”

“Every single person in this room as the ability to change another person’s life, and I think you’re going to go out and do it,” Witherspoon said.

Did you miss yesterday’s blog post? Read it here:

Day 2 at INBOUND: I Took 24 Pages of Notes (and Someday, AI Will Take Those Notes For Me