Resume Writing Business

A resume writing business is an excellent home based business idea you can start part time.  Your clients (especially millennials!) may find themselves in perpetual job hunting mode as they continue to look for better career opportunities and a well written resume is the first step to get their foot in the door. 

A concise and effective resume has become even more important in the current age of online recruiting and job postings.  While it's definitely not hard to post a resume online, the work comes in making it sparkle and competitive for highly sought after positions. 

When you help your clients create a well written resume, it can mean the difference between an interview and a "thanks for your interest" form email.

A resume writing business can be started as a part time home based business.

So my hubby is terrific at developing quality resumes -- it's a business/skill he understands and he's sat on the other side of the table as a hiring manager for years. His experience comes from years of reading poor resumes (and of course some very good resumes too!) 

Over the past few years, I've learned to appreciate the skills you'll need to be successful with your resume writing business include:

• Good listening skills
• Ability to interview your clients and learn about them quickly
  
• Determine strengths, marketable skills, and identify specific results
  
• Great writing skills to compile the information to concisely describe their skills and
• Ability to concisely organize information regarding experience/education
  

Online resume databases (e.g. Monster and CareerBuilder, etc.) provide recruiters the capability to search by specific keywords. So you'll want to make sure you're integrating actionable, results-oriented keywords into each resume to aide the recruiter in finding what he/she needs and getting you clients discovered.

You may have experience in a specific niche such as health care, energy, government, or you may have worked in a particular discipline like Information Technology. Utilize your past experience to specialize your resume writing business and to target your marketing activities. 

Several social media sites, such as Linkedin, are now available to professionals and job seekers.  In order to promote your client and be a full-service professional, you can provide additional services to your resume writing business by helping them with an effective social media profile.  

This might even include Fascebook and Google+ since employers are now visiting these sites to get a sense of "character".   Can you help you clients portrait a positive, personal image on these sites.   Some of what is on these sites can be detrimental when attempting to get a job -- you can do an assessment and provide insights into what employers want to see. 

If you have website skills, I've also seen some "slick" online resumes.  This may require graphic design capabilities, but you can up your pricing to accommodate these special types of "resumes".  Especially for executive level positions. 

According to the Examiner, there are other trends emerging in the resume industry which you should be aware of -- while I believe we'll see more color (especially for creative positions), I would think certain industries like the financial sector will not be welcome to color (just yet!)  :)

There is quite a bit of competition in the resume writing business and the more you can specialize and differentiate your business the more successful you will be!

Niche Notes!!

A resume writing business can offer many additional services and to your clients.

1)  Write and/or critique social media profiles to ensure consistency between the resume and what is online.

2)  Develop unique cover letter templates for your clients' specific positions.

3)  Provide coaching and practice interviews to help prepare your clients for the very important meeting.

4)  Assist in a busy clients job search by researching current openings in a particular field and/or area and forward those openings to your client.

5)  Develop unique approaches to help clients effectively follow up on a job prospect and/or an  interview.

6) Work with your clients to develop their own unique website to send their prospective clients for more information.

7) Provide specific networking coaching -- help your clients get in front of other business people (in a positive way without spamming their email contacts).  Just the exercise of getting in front of busy executives (job or not), will help them with the experience of talking to others and can lead them to other individuals.  Job hunting is a numbers game -- and this one works!   You'll be a hero if you can teach these skills to your clients!

8) Be an accountability "coach".   Meet with your client weekly to discuss approach and accomplishments during the week.   Help them set goals and follow-through.

9) Specialize your business based upon the industries or specialties you're most familiar with so you can "hit the mark" with results-oriented resumes for your industry.  

Resume Writing Business - What's It Take?

Social Media Consultant

Service Business Opportunities

Event Planner

Interests/Skills:

• Good listening and interviewing skills.
• Effective writing skills creating concise summaries from client interviews.
• Experience in a specific field, as a recruiter or as a hiring manager.
• Comfortable with the computer and word processing software like Word.
• Great grammar and punctuation skills.

Resources:

You can utilize many resources on the web to help you launch your resume writing business.  There are several training and certification organizations to help build your resume writing business and credibility.  These packages can run a couple hundred dollars to several thousand dollars so do your homework wisely.  You can also contact local organizations which help individuals struggling to get back in the work force and volunteer to assist their clients.

Time Required:

Part time 10-15 hours per week, full time 30-40 hours.  Very flexible hours.

Home Based:  Yes

Internet: Yes

Location:  Locally, Nationally or Globally

Start-Up Costs:  $500-5,000 depending on training and certification desired.

Minimizing Start-up Costs:

Utilize your existing computer and software. Research various resume templates online and pick out ones you would like to customize and develop your own template.  Get business cards printed and go to networking groups in your area.  Advertise on free sites such as Craigslist.  Volunteer your services to local organization and groups.  Start a web site, utilize social media, and post on other career websites to get your name out in the market.

Business Ideas . . .

Internet Business Ideas . . .

Resume Writing Business Back to Service Business Ideas . . .