Best Resume Writing Services [8 That Passed My Test]

I can’t tell you how many horror stories I hear on the daily about people who paid good money for a resume and were left with something worse than what they began with. The worst part is that the services they hired to help them with their resume are often recommended by big publications and have high scores on sites like TrustPilot.

I’m convinced that the people writing about who the best resume writing services are either have no clue about how hiring works or they’re just out to make a buck at the expense of job seekers. The people writing these roundups and reviews are usually marketing and research teams with no recruiting or hiring experience.

Today, I’m hoping to plug this gap and help you avoid hiring the wrong resume writer.

As you read these reviews, remember that no one is going to be perfect at everything. That’s why I’ve taken such great detail to list out multiple facets of each company so you can decide what is most important to you - whether that be how you work with a writer, the level of expertise they have, or even your budget.

Why You Should Listen to Me

In case you’re new around here, here’s a little bit about my background and how I review resume writers. I have over 10 years of diverse recruiting experience and over 20 years of hiring experience. I’ve reviewed tens of thousands of resumes as a recruiter and worked with hundreds of companies and thousands of hiring managers throughout my career. I know what they look for and what they don’t.

I also ran a resume writing service myself, so I know how they operate or should operate. I’m also very aware of the shortcomings in the industry. I know how companies game the system to inflate reviews, hide negative press, and get themselves featured in big-name publications to make themselves look legitimate.

So rather than tell you the best resume writers based on TrustPilot, LinkedIn, or JibberJabber reviews, I set out this week to talk to people who had worked with different services. Many of those people shared with me their before and after work and discussed what it was like as a client working with these companies. That inside information is what guided me to recommend the below companies.

Often the loudest and most visible companies have the worst product in many instances. So this article was designed to help you weed through the noise. Here are the resume writing services I would use and how they rank based on my real-world, modern-day recruiting experience.

My Review Process

Having run a resume writing business and being a former Director of Recruiting, my review process probably looks a little different than most others. Here are the things I looked at (and the things I think you should look at when evaluating a professional resume writer). And no, it’s not all about whether or not they offer a free resume review.

Writer Backgrounds

I evaluated who each company employed or contracted with to write their resumes. Certifications did not weigh heavily, because I’ve rewritten a ton of resumes over the years from “certified resume writers.” I put little weight on resume certifications. Rather, I look for diversity of recruiting and hiring experience in writers. I also value writers who have senior management experience in a particular field that they write for.

If you’re new to the resume-writing industry, you should know that most companies use contractors or freelancers as resume writers. In other words, they don’t work for the company you’re hiring to write your resume. They often work for themselves and a handful of other companies on a freelance basis. I did give bonus points to companies who actually employed and trained their own writers. Employing a writer gives these companies more control over the process and quality. I also dinged companies that had freelance writers who worked at too many different companies, especially for companies that I wouldn’t recommend.

And finally, I only approved companies that employed writers that were in the US. There’s one exception in the list for those of you reading this who are not US-based. Outside of that, no writers outside of the US were listed. That’s because hiring is done differently across the globe and that includes resume standards. Most of my readers are US-based and it’s important that writers understand how resumes work in this country.

Turnaround Time

The average turnaround time in the resume writing industry is about 1 week for a first draft. If companies took longer than this, I scored them negatively. I also took note of companies that delivered sooner or that offered an expedited delivery for a small fee because sometimes we need a resume fast for an immediate job we want.

Resume Quality

Quality of work is a big one for me. There are many ways to write a resume that works; however, there are some ways that most recruiters and hiring managers agree don’t work. In other words, there’s not one way to write a resume but there are wrong ways to do so.

I looked at samples and work products that others shared with me and evaluated them based on how factual they were, the organization of the content, whether the right concepts were being discussed for the appropriate job, whether the information was supported by evidence and metrics, and a few other items.

This also helped me evaluate trends and spot potential training programs within companies. For example, one company employs people with minimal hiring experience, but they must have a great quality control process or training program because the work quality is fantastic. They’re also run by a couple that runs a 30 year old nationwide recruiting firm, so I’m not surprised that they know what they’re doing.

In other words, I considered resume quality as a potential balance to writer backgrounds depending on what I saw.

Complaints

I know I’m going to burst some bubbles here, but TrustPilot and similar sites are about worthless when determining how good a service is. I know, what? It’s true, I’ve worked with many marketers who do reputation management and I’ll tell you many of these are farmed and negative reviews are buried.

While I did look at review sites and each company’s score, I put more stock in the number of complaints and validity of complaints that were filed in other places such as the Better Business Bureau. I also evaluated complaints that I’ve received and that others were willing to share with me who have worked with these services.

Writing Process

I evaluated each company’s writing process too. Most importantly, I assigned positive points to companies who were willing to speak with their clients one-on-one. I’ve written a lot of resumes over the years and I don’t see a way to produce a quality product without speaking to a client.

If you knew everything you needed to know to write a great resume, you wouldn’t be here looking for a resume writer. You’d be able to do it on your own. The biggest struggle for most people isn’t formatting - it’s what to write and what not to write. Having someone interview you in-depth, ask smart questions, pull information out of you, and help you think about your background from different perspectives is key to writing a successful resume.

Transparency

I only listed companies that were transparent about their process and their pricing. No one likes surprises or deceptive marketing. I think this one is pretty straightforward, but it’s an important factor I considered.

Pricing

Yes, I looked at pricing models and costs. Let’s face it, if I can get the same quality resume for less, I’d like to pay less. But if I pay more and it’s significantly better, I’m on board for that too. As you’ll see in the reviews below, I’ve listed pricing as a factor.

Guarantees

Many companies offer some type of guarantee. I took this into consideration and factored a risk assessment into using each company based on what they offer. Some companies offer refunds, but most don’t. I assigned more weight to those who don’t offer refunds but instead were willing to work with their clients at no additional cost if they didn’t receive a job offer or interview within so many days.

The reason I did this is because a resume isn’t an end-all-be-all, golden ticket to a job interview. Job interviewing in this market is complex and involves much more than simply hitting a quick apply and attaching a resume. Companies who had people on staff who understand the current job market and were willing to go above and beyond just a resume for their clients scored bonus points in my review.

---

The 8 Best Resume Writing Services

Top Stack Resume - My Top Pick, You Don’t Pay Upfront

Resume Spice - Only Service that Hires Staff Writers and Not Freelancers/Contractors

Resume Zest - Best Access to Writers

JRC Professionals - Best Mid-Career Writing Service

MJW Careers - Best Executive Service

The Muse - Best Marketplace to Search for Independent Writers

Resumeble - Best for Non-US Professionals

Optim Recruiting - Best Accounting, Sales, HR, and Operations Resume Writing Service

---

Comparing the 8 Best Resume Writing Services

Top Stack Resume Review (My Top Pick)

Top Stack Resume is based in North Carolina and was founded by Steve Marcum. What I love about this company is that they don’t make you pay up front. You can work with a resume writer and see your completed resume draft before you have to pay a thing. This also encourages them to do good work because otherwise they won’t get paid.

They’ve been in business for 6 years and are a pretty sizable company. I also love that they give 5% of every sale to Fisher House Foundation which supports the military and veterans.

Writer Backgrounds

Top Stack is a larger resume writing firm with quite a few resume writers employed as contractors. This is very common in the industry.

What I appreciated when reviewing their writer’s backgrounds is that most of them had HR and recruiting experience and they were all US-based. Furthermore, their writers didn’t work for multiple companies like some others that I reviewed. I’m always skeptical of the companies that employ the same resume writers as the companies that I wouldn’t recommend. This was not the case with Top Stack.

They not only have people with recruiting experience on their team, but they also cover a lot of different industries with the diversity of experience they have.

They have good quality control and selection of their writers. They are experienced and committed.

Quality of Work

I would rate their quality of work equal to that of Resume Spice. Their resumes were factual, well-organized, and included the right skills and experiences for the jobs they were written for. Similar to Resume Spice, the only thing that I wish it had more of was metrics, but the ones I saw may have been lacking simply because the client may not have had many to use. A writer can only write based on what they are given after all.

Resume Writing Process

Phone consultations and interviews aren’t included with their packages, but they can be added for $25 which is still a great deal considering that they are one of the most affordable resume services I found.

And for some people who already know their accomplishments inside and out, this may be a good thing because you can save yourself $25 if you don’t need help flushing out your background and expertise.

Turnaround Time

Top Stack Resume doesn’t turn around resumes as fast as some of the others but I found their timeline consistent with most quality resume writers. It takes about 1 week for them to present you with a resume draft. This didn’t bother me much because I’d rather have someone take their time instead of rushing me a resume draft (unless I was in a pinch of course).

If you need a resume sooner, they do have an expedited option where they turnaround the draft in 48 hours which is pretty fast. So you’re covered there too.

Guarantees

Not only do they not charge you until you approve your draft (which I’ll talk about later), but they also have a 60-day interview guarantee on their top 2 packages. If you apply to 10 jobs and don’t receive an interview they will offer you up to 2 hours of consulting to help you get an interview.

I personally prefer this over rewriting a resume because there’s so much more that goes into securing an interview besides applying with a resume. Their team wants you to succeed and they will do what it takes to help you. Basically you’re getting more than just a resume with this service.

Reviews

Top Stack Resume is one of the busiest resume writing services I reviewed. Considering that, I was quite impressed that I could only find 5 complaints in the past 3 years. They also have a TrustPilot score of 4.8/5 with over 2,000 reviews.

Pricing

Not only does Top Stack have the best pricing out of the services I reviewed, but they also are the least risky. I know what it feels like when you’re job searching while being unemployed and watching every dollar you spend. It’s scary to pay money for a resume not knowing what you’ll get.

Top Stack allows you to sign up for the service without a credit card. They will work on your resume and present you with a draft free of charge. Only after you see your final draft and approve it do you have to pay. In other words, if you were to get something terrible back, you’re not out any money.

I also think this is why they do good work, because if they don’t, they won’t get paid.

Their resume service starts at $139 for a resume, one of the most affordable out there. But I recommend upgrading to the $279 package which includes a cover letter and LinkedIn profile update. You get the more experienced writers when you pay more and you also get their 60-day interview guarantee. And remember, you only pay if you like what you see.

They also offer a premium package at $1,149 which includes coaching and reverse recruiting if you’re looking for a more complete A-Z kind of service.

Another thing I found interesting about their pricing model was that it didn’t matter how many years of experience you had. Their model is based on equality meaning it’s the same price regardless of your experience level.

You can try Top Stack Resume at no up-front cost by clicking here.

Resume Spice Review (Runner Up)

Of all the resume services, this was my favorite. They don’t employ hundreds of writers and they’re one of the few companies that hires resume writers on staff instead of contractors.

The company is based in Texas and has been in business for over 30 years. They’re built and owned by owners of a recruiting company and produce good work for a fair price.

Writer Backgrounds

The owners of Resume Spice have owned a recruiting practice for 30 years and know a lot about how recruiting is done. They still own the practice, Murray Resources.

This is one of the few companies I could find that doesn’t hire hundreds of freelance contractors to write resumes. Their resume writing staff works for them exclusively and is 100% US-based.

When I looked up the writers, they did appear to be a young team with minimal recruiting and hiring expertise, but the owners must have a solid training and quality control program in place because they do good work.

That’s not to say they don’t have any recruiting experience on their team outside of the owners. Some do have 2-4 years of recruitment experience and some have been former Directors of Product and other heads of departments which is also very valuable. Overall, they have a pretty diverse team for being as small as they are.

Quality of Work

When I reviewed the quality of the resumes written by Resume Spice, I thought they were good. They were factual and well-organized. They didn’t have a lot of filler words or fluff. They talked about the right concepts based on the job they were written for. The only thing I wish some of them had more of was more metrics and evidence, but overall they were good.

Resume Writing Process

One thing I appreciate about Resume Spice is how transparent they are about their team and their process. In fact, they’re probably the most transparent of anyone I reviewed.

Not only does every service include a phone consultation or interview to uncover your background and relevant skills, but they also have two writers sign off on each resume draft before you see it. In other words, you get two perspectives before a draft is even completed.

Having run a resume writing business myself, my guess is that the reason they can streamline their service so much and work this way is because they actually hire their staff as opposed to outsourcing them.

Turnaround Time

This company has one of the fastest turnaround times I’ve seen - 3 days. You don’t have to pay extra for that either, it’s standard across every package. Plus you get 2 rounds of revisions after your draft is completed.

Guarantees

No one can guarantee a job, not even the best resume writer, but they can be committed to your success. Resume Spice does that. They have a 60-day interview guarantee. If you don’t get an interview, they will offer to rework your resume at no additional cost.

Reviews

Resume Spice writes quite a few resumes each year. In the past 3 years, I only found one complaint which is pretty good. They also have a TrustPilot score of 4.9/5.

Pricing

Resume Spice bases their pricing on experience level which I think is very fair. For entry-level professionals with less than 2 years of expeirence, they charge $479 for a resume. They also have a mid-tier price and an executive level price for Directors and Executives which is $699.

They’re not the cheapest in town, but they’re more affordable than many qualified writers I’ve worked with and seen.

Click here to find out more about Resume Spice.

Resume Zest (Best Access to Writers)

Resume Zest is based out of Colorado and was started in 2020 by Mike Podesto. Mike was a former agency recruiter turned resume writer. Today he has a pretty sizable operation and multiple companies that he’s involved with.

Writer Backgrounds

Resume Zest is another company that employs a large number of freelance contractors to write their resumes. Again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s very common in the industry.

All of their writers were US-based and they have a pretty diverse team. I found backgrounds in HR, recruiting, marketing, sales, academia, and administration. That’s a good thing because if you can get someone who knows how hiring is done in your respective field, that can be an advantage.

The only thing that gave me some pause was that several of their resume writers also work for places like Top Resume and Zip Job - two companies I do not recommend. If I used this company, I would want to know who my writer was going to be and I would pay for a higher level of service to get one of the more qualified writers.

Quality of Work

Overall, I found the quality of the resume samples I reviewed to be pretty good. They were factual, well-organized, and contained appropriate content. They also included good metrics and evidence to support the candidate’s qualifications. They were specific and detailed.

The only thing I noticed on a few resumes was that some were more dense than I think they should have been, meaning they had too much content crammed into a page. This was not the majority of their resumes, but of the few that did do this, I think the content could have been written more concisely.

Resume Writing Process

Every package includes a phone consultation/interview which is great. You will actually get to talk to your writer and they can help you uncover the right information for them to write the best resume.

They also have a dashboard or portal that you can log into where you can chat with your writer anytime Monday through Friday 9-5 which is great if you think of something after your phone call and want to inform your writer.

Turnaround Time

They are not the fastest service, but they are one of the fastest with a 3-5 day turnaround time on the initial resume draft. That’s pretty quick.

Guarantees

Resume Zest offers a 60-day interview guarantee. If you don’t secure an interview within 60 days using your resume, they will rewrite your resume for free until you’re happy. While it’s not as good as the consulting option I think Top Stack offers, it’s still better than most.

Reviews

For being in business for 6 years and being one of the larger resume writing companies, I was impressed that I could only find 1 complaint in the past 3 years. They also have a TrustPilot score of 4.6.

Pricing

I found Resume Zest’s pricing to be very reasonable. They base their pricing on your level of experience.

For professionals with less than 2 years of experience, they charge $270 for a resume. For 3+ years they charge $379 and for senior managers, they charge $479. These are very affordable and fair prices for resume services.

Learn more about Resume Zest.

JRC Professionals (Best Mid-Career Service)

JRC Professionals is owned by Jessica Coppens who is a Colorado-based resume writer.

Writer Backgrounds

The owner of this company, Jessica, writes all the resumes herself. She does not outsource any of the work, so you know exactly who you’ll work with every time. She has two resume writing certifications, a CPRW and an ACRW as well as 10 years of experience writing resumes.

She has several years of hiring experience as a retail district manager and then as an HR Manager after that.

Quality of Work

Of the resumes I saw created by her, I had no complaints. They were factual, well-organized, provided evidence of accomplishments, and were very concise.

Resume Writing Process

Jessica’s process is very straightforward and includes an hour-long consultation/interview where she gets to know your background and will help you uncover relevant accomplishments to include in your resume.

Jessica’s process is smooth and she takes the time to understand who you are and help you uncover how your background best aligns with the jobs you want to pursue.

She also doesn’t invoice clients until after they’ve had their consultation and interview. This allows everyone to get a sense of what she can do and the depth of her interview skills.

Turnaround Time

Because Jessica writes all the resumes herself, her turnaround time can vary between 5 to 10 days. If you need a resume fast, I would ask. You can call her directly with questions, something that many services don’t offer. Most companies only have email support, but Jessica offers phone support too for questions. She’s also very upfront about her current workload and expectations regarding deliverables.

Guarantees

JRC offers no guarantees for their work, which is standard for most independent writers. From those I spoke with and my experience speaking with Jessica, I found her to be very fair, however. As long as you approach her respectfully, she’s usually willing to look at things and help you if you’re not getting an interview.

Reviews

JRC Professionals is a pretty small shop, so there aren’t many reviews out there. With that said, I found no complaints in the past 3 years.

Pricing

JRC Professionals prices their services based on both experience level and deliverables.

Entry-level resumes start at $200 for just a resume and go up to $375 for a resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile update.

There is a mid-career tier with prices ranging from $300 to $475, a director level that ranges from $400 to $575, and an executive level ranging from $500 to $675.

Learn more about JRC and mention Optim Careers if you schedule a free consultation.

MJW Careers (Best Executive Resume Writing Service)

If you’re a director, VP, or above, MJW Careers specializes in executive-level resume writing. It’s owned by Matt Warzel and headquartered in North Carolina. If you don’t want to think about your resume much, Matt runs a white-glove service and does the heavy lifting.

Writer Backgrounds

If you work with MJW, you work with Matt directly. He doesn’t outsource any part of the writing and he doesn’t use any AI. It’s all hand crafted by Matt.

Matt spent around 12 years as a recruiter working with multiple Fortune 500 companies and in 2008 he started his own recruiting firm and resume writing company. Today, writing resumes is his full-time job.

Matt has written for over 20,000 clients and knows how to connect the dots for hiring managers.

Quality of Work

Of the resumes I saw created by him, I had no complaints. They were factual, well-organized, provided evidence of accomplishments, and were very concise.

Resume Writing Process

Every resume Matt does is a build-from-scratch project. You’ll end up with something fresh every time. When you sign up to work with Matt, he asks for your current resume, LinkedIn profile (if you have one), and about 9 other questions. He will also ask you to upload any documents you have such as performance reports or notes which he will use to craft your resume.

Matt does offer a phone consultation, but much of the time you can upload documents and he can do the rest from there without much effort on your part.

Turnaround Time

Matt’s turnaround time is industry standard, taking about 5 days.

Guarantees

Matt takes your success very seriously and he knows a resume isn’t a silver bullet into a job interview. If you’re having trouble securing an interview, Matt offers free email advice for your resume and will help you with strategy on how to use it or tailor it.

Reviews

Through all my digging, I found 0 complaints in the past 3 years for this company. They have a Yelp review score of 4.2/5 and over 870 positive recommendations on LinkedIn.

Pricing

This is the most expensive service I recommend, but based on how much senior managers and executives stand to make when finding a new job, it’s well worth the investment for that level of individual.

Their pricing is based on deliverables and not experience level. A resume and cover letter costs $800. You can also package a LinkedIn profile with your resume and cover letter for $200 more.

Learn more about MJW Careers here.

The Muse (Best Marketplace)

When I think of hiring a resume writer I often think of marketplaces like Upwork, but everyone and their mother is on Upwork selling resumes. The Muse is different because they vet writers and don’t allow everyone onto their coaching platform.

If you’re looking for a marketplace of resume writers, this would be my starting place. The Muse’s primary business is operating a US job board, so you can look for jobs there too!

Writer Backgrounds

Unlike other resume writing companies, The Muse doesn’t employ any writers and you don’t actually work with them. You work with the writers and they collect a commission because you found them there. It’s the same as Upwork or any other marketplace.

That means it’s hard to rank writer backgrounds because they’re pretty diverse. Some are really good and some I wouldn’t go near. It’s not as bad as Upwork because they don’t admit everyone, but after researching a handful, I wouldn’t say they’re all the best either.

You can see a small snippet about each person’s background, but it’s mostly marketing. It’s not their resume or LinkedIn profile that you can see. If you use this site, I would Google and search LinkedIn for each writer’s name and dig more into their qualifications prior to hiring them.

Quality of Work

One of the downsides of The Muse is that they don’t require writers to include samples of their work and there are so many independent resume writers that it would be impossible for me to vet them all by tracking down former clients.

I would recommend using The Muse as a starting place to find resume writers and then vet them individually by researching them and asking for samples ahead of time.

Resume Writing Process

One thing I really like about The Muse is that you’re not hiring the company, but a specific writer. Most other companies will assign you to a writer that they think is the best fit which is great, but with this site you can choose exactly who you want to work with before hiring them.

The Muse also requires that every resume writer on their marketplace conducts a 30 to 60 minute video or phone call with you which is great. If you hire someone on this site, you’ll get a predefined process that is straightforward.

One thing you should be aware of is that resume writers on The Muse do not write resumes from scratch. They only offer a service of enhancing an existing resume so you have to have a resume for them to work with. If you need a complete rewrite or new resume, this is not the place to look.

Turnaround Time

The Muse does not offer a predetermined turnaround time for drafts. That is something that you and your resume writer will discuss ahead of time and agree on in writing. The Muse does guarantee that resumes are delivered on time.

Guarantees

The Muse does offer some protections for people who work with resume writers through their site. If final drafts have spelling or grammar errors, or there are missed deliverables, you can request a refund. The guarantee is not as good as the others I’ve mentioned in this article, but there is something.

Reviews

It’s hard to evaluate the site as a whole in the same way as the others because it’s a marketplace. Complaints are often with individual writers and not with The Muse itself and it’s hard to tell if it was through hiring them independently or through the marketplace. The website has a TrustPilot rating of 3.3.

Pricing

The Muse sets defined pricing for the writers on its website by their experience level. Those prices range from $139 to $549 for a resume depending on the writer’s qualifications which are predetermined by The Muse.

Resumeble (Best International Service)

If you’re applying for jobs outside of the US, this could be a good service to consider. Resumble was founded by Olena Mazur and is based out of Singapore. I find their marketing to be a little sensational and have some claims that I don’t 100% agree with, but they passed the quality test. So if you can get past the ATS ate my homework language, I would still consider this company.

Writer Backgrounds

Their writers are based all over the world. There are a few in the US, but most are outside of the country. They employ freelance contractors like the majority of the industry. I found a few writers who had senior manager experience and then transitioned into resume writing, but the majority of the writers are younger with minimal real-world management or recruiting experience.

The reason I included them is because hiring is done differently outside of the US and resume norms vary in different regions of the world. Given that their writers are spread out across the globe, this could be an asset if you’re in the Philippines, or Saudi Arabia, or even Europe and need a resume or CV.

Quality of Work

I had the chance to review some of the resumes they put together and they were pretty good. They were well organized, factual, and included metrics. A few of the resume summaries had what I would consider fluff and unnecessary words, but all of the experience sections were written well.

Resume Writing Process

I found their marketing on their process to be a little sensational for my taste, but I chalk that up to them being a foreign company. I see this kind of marketing and language commonly from companies throughout Asia. I used to live there, so I know.

They say they have a unique approach because they don’t use templates, but all of the credible resume writing services in this article could say that same thing. Most good resume writing services don’t use templates.

By default, you communicate with your writer through a user dashboard, but they do offer a free 30-minute consultation/interview with their premium package. If I was going to use this company, I would buy that package and request it. It’s well worth the money.

Turnaround Time

They have a fairly quick turnaround time of 4 days for resumes.

Guarantees

This is the only company I could find that offers a money-back guarantee. They only offer it with their premium package, but given how affordable they are, I would buy the premium anyhow.

If you don’t have a job offer within 180 days, you can email them with proof that you used the resume to apply to 10 jobs that match what the resume was written for. You have to sign a promise that you will not use the resume they created and that you will delete it from your computer and any public job boards, but if you do so, they will refund you your money.

I do like companies who are willing to put their money where their mouth is.

Reviews

I found no customer complaints for this company in the past 3 years and they have a TrustPilot score of 4.7.

Pricing

Resumble’s pricing starts at $157 for a resume and cover letter, but this package doesn’t include any direct contact with a writer - only messaging.

They offer a $297 package that includes a LinkedIn profile and then they have a $397 service that includes some additional deliverables plus the 180 job offer money-back guarantee and a phone consultation.

Learn more about Resumeble.

Optim Recruiting (Best for Accounting and Finance)

Ok, let’s cut to the chase. Optim Recruiting is my company and it owns this website. So yes, I’m trying to write about myself as objectively as anyone can.

Writer Backgrounds

Cole Sperry (that’s me) owns the company. I used to own a site called Optim Resume which was a full-service resume writing company, but I closed that down a few years back. Today I take on resume clients on a limited basis, mostly in accounting and finance, human resources, and operations roles.

I have over 10 years of diverse recruiting experience. I’ve reviewed tens of thousands of resumes over the years and worked with hundreds of different companies. Today I spend a lot of my time writing the Optim Careers blog.

For several years, I sat on the board for the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) and have met some of the best Controllers and CFOs on the West Coast.

I’ve led teams of recruiters as large as 15 individuals and these past few years I’ve been consulting with recruiting agencies on their operations, candidate attraction, and sales strategies.

Prior to recruiting, I spent the previous 10 years in various hiring manager capacities involved with hiring at one company at a time.

Quality of Work

I’m not going to try and rate the quality of my work. If you want to know what my work looks like, just read any of my articles about resumes and you’ll quickly get an idea of how I write, my depth of knowledge, and my work product. I’ve written dozens of resume guides that are job specific and have published resume samples that you can view along with a detailed description of how I would write each one based on the job title.

Resume Writing Process

I like to keep the process pretty simple. If you choose to have me write a resume for you, we will set up an hour-long call so I can ask questions about your background and help you gain new perspectives. Most people tell me they get a lot of good interview prep out of that call based on the questions I ask and our conversation. I like to think that’s a double win.

Before our call, I will ask you for any previous resumes that I can reference and a job listing or two that you’d like to pursue. I don’t just write any resume you want, I want to make sure you’re really qualified for those jobs before you spend a bunch of money on a resume and get too far down the rabbit hole.

Turnaround Time

Resume writing isn’t my primary business so my turnaround time is usually about one week for a first draft. This gives me time to walk away from your resume for a day and come back to it with a fresh set of eyes at least twice before I finalize a first draft.

Guarantees

Like other independent writers, I have no formal guarantee that I offer. I do care about the people I work with and my reputation though. Most clients I stay in touch with to make sure they have success and I also offer some of the most affordable coaching sessions for people who need extra help.

Reviews

Because I don’t run a resume operation per se and it’s just me, I don’t have any formal reviews or reputation management that is done for the company or myself. I do have several clients who have written about working with me on LinkedIn from when I owned the Optim Resume practice. You’re more than welcome to view my profile and see what others have to say.

Pricing

I base my pricing on the amount of work and complexity of your background. I know that’s vague, but again, I don’t run a resume-writing business, this is just something I continue to do on a case-to-case basis.

Most of the time I will charge anywhere from $500 to $800 for a resume and I’ll always quote you up front before you buy anything. I’ll also make sure we talk about your goals and background before you buy anything too. I don’t like taking money from people unless I know that resume writing is going to benefit them.

If you’re considering working with me, you can book a consult here to see if we’re a good fit.

Resume Writing Services I Chose Not to Recommend

While I didn’t review every resume writer or service out there (everyone and their mother seems to be a resume writer these days), I did review a lot of big name companies. Many of these companies I chose not to recommend because they didn’t score high enough based on my methodology. That doesn’t mean these are bad companies, but I would use caution before hiring any of them and I’d ask a lot of really good questions.

For some of these companies, a few minor changes would change my viewpoint entirely. But for now, I want to briefly mention some of the other companies I reviewed (many are recommended by big publications) and why I chose not to include them.

Craft Resumes

My first impression about this company was that they had misleading information on their website regarding how ATS (applicant tracking systems) work and that their site had a lot of fluff and few specifics. If they write resumes anything like their website content, I would be very disappointed.

I also couldn’t find any US-based writers. Most were from Pakistan and let’s face it, resumes and recruiting in the US is not the same as it is in the Middle East or Asia. They also didn’t give any sample work online which made me wonder about the quality.

Let’s Eat Grandma

This service had many good things going for them. The only reason I didn’t feel comfortable recommending them was because of the writers’ backgrounds.

They are run by someone from the food and beverage industry who appears to have limited recruiting and executive-level experience. When I reviewed the other writers that they employed, they consisted of former receptionists, customer service representatives, cruise ship administrators, and long-time career coaches with limited real-world expertience.

The samples they offered on the website weren’t bad, but they didn’t wow me either. That combined with their writers’ backgrounds caused me to not recommend them.

JobStars

I chose not to recommend this service for the same reasons as Let’s Eat Grandma. Not only did they not provide samples on their website, but there was minimal information about who was actually writing your resume too.

When I did some digging, I found that the writers had limited recruiting and executive-level experience. The owner was a former salesperson turned resume writer, another has spent the past 30 years as only a resume writer, and another was a project coordinator for 2 years before becoming a resume writer.

There just wasn’t enough depth of recruiting and hiring expertise on their team for me to recommend them.

Blue Sky Resumes

This is a company I used to recommend to people. It was founded by an HR VP, but they sold the company in 2021. Since then some things seem to have changed. They don’t offer 1:1 consultations/interviews. Instead, they give you a self-assessment that you complete and then they write your resume based on that. There are no guarantees and the pricing is not clear.

They still have good resume samples on their website, but they’re the same samples that were there under the previous ownership. It’s hard to say if the quality still meets those standards. From what I could see, the current ownership and team lacks any recruiting experience.

Resume Writing Service

This service is recommended by several other publications. I don’t recommend them simply based on sample quality. The samples look exactly like Canva templates and I do not recommend writing resumes like this. I just couldn’t get behind that.

In addition, you have to submit your information and they write based on that. If they have questions, they may reach out to you, but they don’t have to. As a former resume writer, I can tell you it’s hard to produce a quality product that way.

Top Resume

Top Resume has a lot of partnerships and spends a lot of money on marketing. They’re one of the biggest names in the business. I chose not to recommend them because there was limited information about their resume writers. I also have spoken with several of their customers and from what I can see, they use the best resume writers to do free reviews and then outsource the actual work to writers with minimal real-world hiring experience.

Furthermore, there were over 151 complaints for this service in the past 3 years and the Better Business Bureau has an alert for them based on patterns of complaints. For these reasons, I chose not to recommend them.

Zip Jobs

Zip Jobs is owned by the same company that owns Top Resume and Career.io and they employ many of the same resume writers as freelancers. For this reason, I again chose not to recommend this company.

Indeed Resume

I’ve known several people who have worked for Indeed over the years and a few years back they started heavily outsourcing their resume writing to writers overseas. With that the quality also decreased greatly.

This is evidenced in the 591 complaints they’ve had filed against them in the past 3 years through the BBB. For this reason, I chose not to recommend them.

Storeyline Resumes

From those who have hired Storeyline resumes, it appears the quality is very hit or miss depending on who gets assigned your work. They employ freelance contractors and some seem to be much better than others. It also seems from my research that there is next to no quality control. Each writer does their thing and this is often a problem with contractors.

They do offer a 1:1 consultation/interview but it’s not with your actual writer. Someone on staff does the phone call and then passes it all over to another writer. I have to assume that this causes some of the quality issues that others have told me about. In addition, I found 38 complaints in the past 3 years and they explicitly offer no guarantee for their work. Once you finalize your resume, you’re on your own.

Because of these reasons, I chose not to recommend them.

Best Resume Writing Services Review FAQ

What is the best-rated resume writing service?

In my opinion, based on conversations and research, I would rate Top Stack Resume and Resume Spice as the best-rated resume writing services. Both have few complaints from previous customers, have great work products that I’ve seen, and have people on their team that know how hiring is currently done.

How much does it cost to have someone write your resume?

I’ve seen quality resumes starting at $250 and ranging up to $1,500. Most quality resume writing services usually cost around $500 for professionals and around $800 for senior managers. But prices can vary greatly from one service to the next depending on your career level and progression.

Is it worth paying for a resume service?

Many times it is. If your job doesn’t involve skills similar to resume writing, many times it’s faster and easier to pay someone else to do it for you. While I do believe that you will ultimately have a better product if you write your own resume, I also know that learning a new skill takes time and you could spend months building your resume writing skill. For some people, that’s not feasible.

Best Resume Writing Service Recommended Reading

Best AI Resume Builders [The Only 7 I Would Use for DIY Resumes]

How to Determine If You Should Hire a Resume Writer or Do It Yourself (Coming Soon)

How to Vet a Resume Writer Before Hiring Them (Coming Soon)

Cole Sperry has been a recruiter and resume writer since 2015, working with tens of thousands of job seekers, and hundreds of employers. Today Cole runs a boutique advisory firm consulting with dozens of recruiting firms and is the Managing Editor at OptimCareers.com.