Resume Delivery Services

January 30, 2005 4:44 PM

A friend of mine is looking for a Construction Project Manager job here in Miami, and together we've googled to find what we think are decent job sites (also, we've been to the obvious, monster, careerbuilder, etc.). He's submitted his resume repeatedly but is getting no results and is now considering using a resume delivery service like resumexposure.com. Has anyone had any experience with that specific company or other similar services that they can recommend? Also, aside from networking in person (which is what he says works best in his field) and applying for every job that he can get his hands on, are there any other basic steps he should take?
posted by sa3z to work & money (3 comments total)

Well, resume distribution services have a pretty bad reputation. You have to take their word as to the number, quality, and location of employers and others that have received your (faxed?) resume.

Regarding resumexposure.com, the website says:

we distribute your resume directly to recruiters working in your field.

It's not clear to me that there are that many recruiters out there who are looking for construction project managers in Miami - wouldn't it be cheaper for an employer to post a newspaper or internet ad than to pay a recruiter?

In case you haven't seen it, you might want to try directemployers.com, which has 250,000 postings that come directly from member websites (with links back to those postings).

Also, while certification is available (according to this site with job postings for construction project managers, some employers want a CCPM), I have no idea if it would make any difference. (And there are other certifications - for example: here.

Finally, you might want to have others review your friend's resume - if there are spelling or formating or other problems, they may get in the way of companies seeing his qualifications. (Sorry, can't find a relevant Ask Metafilter question at the moment, but I think there are some.) Similarly, cover letters are important - see this October 2004 question and answers.
posted by WestCoaster at 8:50 PM on January 30, 2005

Resumes are to screen you out of a job -- not to get you a job. You need to have one, and absolutely you should send it out where it seems appropriate. That's just the first thing you do when looking for a job though. It's not the end all. I'd also probably avoid services that are intended to bulk send the things. You're even less likely to rise up out of the noise through that method.

Have your friend identify the companies in the field where he'd like to work. Then start working his network to try to find somebody who knows somebody who well, you get the idea. If he doesn't know anybody, then he should get busy trying to get to know somebody. Networking groups, volunteer work, information interviews, etc. Finding a new job is a full time job.

Good luck.
posted by willnot at 10:43 PM on January 30, 2005

Thanks so much WestCoaster. This is exactly the kind of information we were looking for. I had a bad feeling about the kind of service they provided, but no real reasons. Hearing someone else mention the reputation thing, plus the point you made about recruiters in his specific field really helped. Thanks again!

On preview, thanks willnot. Sound advice as well.
posted by sa3z at 10:47 PM on January 30, 2005