"Free" Resume Critiques can be Costly

FACT #1: All free critiques come with a sales "hook".

FACT #2: Because of FACT #1, free critiques cannot be objective.

FACT #3: Because of FACT #1 and FACT #2, I don't do free critiques.

Here's why . . .

Like all businesses, resume services have to generate income to survive. If you've spent any time at all checking out resume services on the Web, you've come across services offering free resume critiques. You may think, "What a great deal. I've got nothing to lose with this." 

. . . But you might. 

Free resume critiques are marketing tools, plain and simple. No resume service (or any other business) can last very long if all they do is give away their work. These "free" resume critiques have to be converted into paid work in order for the business to survive. So the question is, "How can a free resume critique ever be an unbiased, independent appraisal of the resume when the ultimate goal is to convert the "free" client into a "paying" client." The answer is, "it can't".

The goal of a resume critique should not be to find fault with the resume so the resume service can sell additional services to their clients, but to provide an honest, unbiased, independent appraisal of the document. If the resume has problems, of course it's important to point out these problems to the client. But, it's just as important to point out what is "right" with the resume and to tell the client when he/she is on the right track. This is much less likely to happen with a free resume critique.

So, do people who have their resumes critiqued for free end up being sold services they don't need? Are they being told that their resume has serious defects when it really doesn't? It's hard to say. The only thing you CAN say is that this is more likely to happen when the goal of the resume critique is to generate additional paid work. And it's certainly not likely that the free resume critique will tell you how to fix what's wrong with your resume because that's what the resume service wants you to pay for.

At ResumeCritiques.com, I charge $75 for a resume and cover letter critique. That's fair compensation for the work I invest in the job. My critiques are stand-alone products. I don't need to write my resume critiques in a way that turns them into a marketing tool to sell you rewrite services. In fact, my business could survive quite nicely if I never wrote another resume and concentrated 100% of my efforts on resume critiques. 

What this means to you as a consumer is that you'll get an honest review of your resume when I do your resume critique. If your document has problems, I'll tell you exactly what they are. If your resume is just fine, I'll tell you that, too. There's no advantage for me to do otherwise. Not only that, I'm going to give you a lot more help than you'll get from a free resume critique. My critiques are very detailed and typically run from 6 to 9 pages long with pointers, suggestions, examples, and help. Most of my clients are able to rework their documents into excellent documents on their own just by following the recommendations I make in their resume critiques.

Still not convinced about the value of a free resume critique? Read this client's comments about his "free" critique.

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