Which professional resume writing certification is best?

October 21, 2008 3:56 PM

Prior to staying home with the kids, my wife was a recruiter. Over the last few years she has made a decent sideline helping people craft their resumes. Now that the kids are a little older, she is considering focusing more on resume writing and career coaching.

She has come up with the following associations/designations that she is considering pursuing.

-National Resume Writers' Association (Designation: Nationally Certified Resume Writer)

-Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches (Designation: Certified Professional Resume Writer)

There is a pronounced difference in the cost/effort associated with pursuing each of these. I am interested in opinions from people with experience with these groups about which designation provides the most leverage and opportunity. Thanks in advance.

posted by jbradley to Work & Money (3 answers total)

Frankly, speaking as someone who 1) is a writer but 2) hates rewriting her resume more than she hates moving, I would give a rat's patootie about a potential resume writer's certifications and far more about what she could actually DO for me.

She will need glowing recommendations, and a clean and professional website with great before and after cases (sanitized for people's privacy) - e.g., Bob came to me with THIS, here's what I did for him.

honestly, that's all anyone is going to care about. well, that and price.

this isn't like pet sitting or child care, ya know? save the cash.
posted by micawber at 7:24 PM on October 21, 2008 [2 favorites]

I'm a former recruiter myself, and the 'professional resume writer' designations always struck me as total bullcrap. These days there are people trying to sell certifications for everything.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 9:54 PM on October 21, 2008

Yeah...certifications don't mean much in that field. Micawber is right, what she needs is a clean, clear, website with glowing recommendations, and snippets of before and after examples.
posted by dejah420 at 12:26 PM on November 6, 2008