Is Resume Writing a Profitable Business? was written for Playlouder by a contributing author. Please note that contributing opinions are that of the author. They are not always in strict alignment with my own opinions. –Joe.
In recent years, there has been a huge shift toward remote work. Do you work from home? Are you looking for a career that will allow you to work from home or work from anywhere?
If so, you may have considered becoming a resume writer. But you may wonder, is resume writing a profitable business? Can you make a living as a resume writer?
As an experienced freelance writer with a history of resume writing, I’d like to introduce you to the pros and cons of this career path. We will talk about the knowledge and experience you need, operational costs, special challenges to resume writing for clients, and how much money you may expect to make.
Resume Writing Experience
If you’ve been in the job market for a long time, you may have a lot of experience writing resumes. In fact, writing successful resumes for yourself is a good precursor to a resume writing profession.
Knowing how to format resumes is very important. Experience in organizing and designing your own documents will serve you well. Thinking about the needed information can help you formulate the right questions to ask your clients to streamline the resume writing process.
But even if you can write good resumes for yourself, you may still have a lot to learn. We will talk about that more in the next section.
The Challenges of Resume Writing
If you enjoy writing resumes, freelancing as a resume writer might be a good career choice for you. But before you get started, consider the following challenges that you may face.
Getting to Know Each Career Field
Likely, you have written resumes for yourself. It’s not hard to pick out key experiences and keywords because you know the career field well. You know what’s expected of you on the job.
Maybe you’ve even composed resumes for family or friends. This, too, is simple, because you have easy access to the person. You may have heard them talk about their job in the past. You can ask them questions and have them relate experiences.
This task becomes a bit more difficult when you’re working with a client, especially remotely. You may be completely unfamiliar with the field of work that your client pursues.
For example, let’s assume you’ve been asked to write an entry-level copywriter resume. First, you will need to research what a copywriter does. You need to understand the hard and soft skills required to do the job, as well as common experience and educational requirements. You also need to research each previous position that the individual has held so that you can pull meaningful hard and soft skills from these experiences – tailored to the copywriter position they seek.
Getting to Know Each Client
The best resumes not only present cold, hard facts – they allow a bit of the personality of the applicant to shine through.
When you write a client resume, you will be working with a limited amount of time with and information from the individual. If you are writing an inexpensive resume, you may have nothing more than a survey-style list of information acquired via email.
More comprehensive resumes may involve in-person meetings or phone calls with your client. In order to get the information you need, you may need to spend hours conversing with the individual.
Sometimes, it is difficult to pull the needed information from a client. For example, they may not have job listings available to which they want to apply. At other times, they may have ideas about their resume that run contrary to your writing style. And, some clients will send your resume back for multiple revisions.
Resumes Styles Around the World
If you work remotely, you may obtain clients from different countries. You’ll always need to research resume styles in that country and ask the person exactly what they want and where they are applying. Otherwise, you may spend your time writing a resume that they cannot use.
The Cost of Operation
One of the benefits of freelance resume writing is the cost of operation. Likely, you will have little or no overhead, as you probably already have a computer, office furniture, and an internet connection.
Even so, you should learn how to run your business well. For example, you will need to keep up with your income and expenses accurately for tax purposes.
How Much Can You Make?
According to indeed, resume writers can charge between $50 and $100 for a basic resume, or up to $300 per resume for executive-level clients. For all writers, including resume writers, the median annual salary is estimated at just over $62,000 per year.
In Conclusion
Resume writing as a freelancer or for a resume writing company can be an interesting, profitable, and affordable career option. Before I’m barking on this path, however, you should make yourself aware of all the potential challenges.
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