Monster.com / TopResume Review

TopResume and its parent company, Talent Inc, were originally the digital marketing department of Universum Global, one of the biggest employer branding companies globally.

When Jeff Berger came up with the idea of offering resume writing services, it grew so fast they had to break off and form a separate company. Today, he is the CEO of TopResume, one of the biggest professional resume writing services and an official partner of Monster Inc.

In the four years they have been around, the company has helped over 300,000 people find jobs by crafting compelling resumes, effective cover letters, and professional LinkedIn profiles.

They offer three types of services based on what package you choose: resume writing, cover letters, and LinkedIn profile makeover.

They also offer a free professional critique of resumes, helping job finders understand how to make their resumes stand out.

TopResume serves job seekers looking for jobs in a wide variety of industries, from tech to financial services and many others.

Their professional resume writers are especially skilled at crafting your resume to fit your industry.

This includes using formatting and inserting keywords that apply to your job and industry. The way they write a resume for someone seeking a job as a software engineer in Silicon Valley is not the same way they’ll write one for a financial analyst looking for a position in a Wall Street firm.

Anyone can use TopResume.com regardless of area of expertise or industry.

When you place an order, they will pair you with a writer who understands your industry and can package your resume to appeal to potential employers.

You can also use their services whether you are seeking an entry-level job or an executive position.

Unlike most other online resume writing services, TopResume does not have any professional resume writing certifications.

Furthermore, the company does not specify whether their writers are certified in resume writing.

While the lack of certifications is not a deal breaker, it would give job seekers, especially those paying for the pricey packages a bit more confidence in their services.

If you already have a resume you have written yourself, you can take advantage of their free resume review. Upload your resume, and they will give you feedback after a couple of days, telling you how you can improve your resume to make it stand out.

If you want a professionally written resume from scratch, start by comparing available packages and choosing the best one for you. Once you choose your preferred package and place an order, the process begins.

The first step is filling out a short questionnaire where you describe yourself, your expertise and what you hope to accomplish with your resume. The questionnaire is used to create the first draft of your resume.

You will be assigned a writer with whom you will work together to create the best resume. The writer will get back to you several times with additional questions about various aspects of the resume such as experience, educational background and so on.

You can suggest inclusions and omissions as well as formatting and language. If there is a factual error, you can request a correction.

This back and forth goes on until you are satisfied with the final copy of the resume.

When complete, the finished resume will be available to download in a Microsoft Word document format. This ensures you can edit the resume in the future should anything change.

The whole process takes a maximum of two weeks though the usual turnaround time is one week. This includes writing the first draft and making necessary revisions.

The company does not provide a rush option.

Customer feedback is mixed.

Before TopResume.com came along, Monster Inc’s partner was Career Services Group, and they had an excellent track record. But since they were acquired by Talent Inc (TopResume’s parent company), customer complaints have gone up.

But there are also a large number of people who praise the service, saying they were able to get a professionally written resume quickly and without much hustle. They attribute finding jobs to the resume and LinkedIn makeover they got from TopResume.

The one thing I noticed when reading customer reviews is that the writer you get can make a huge difference in the quality of service. Many people mentioned their assigned writers by name when praising the company while others complained they got unprofessional and unresponsive writers.

Unfortunately, you cannot choose a specific writer to work with.

Professional Growth: $ 149 (or three installments of $59)

Includes resuming writing service only. The resume will be formatted and optimized for your specific industry.

Career Evolution: $ 219 (or three installments of $ 79)

The most popular option which includes both resume writing and a cover letter. This package comes with a 60-day interview guarantee.

Executive Priority: $ 349 (or three installments of $ 99)

This package covers three services: resume writing, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile makeover. It also includes the 60-day interview guarantee.

Read our full resume services buying guide and top resume reviews to see how TopResume’s packages compare to those of other resume writing services.

TopResume.com provides a 60-day interview guarantee to customers who choose the Career Evolution or Executive Priority packages. Here is the guarantee from their website.

We guarantee 2x more job interviews within 60 days, or we’ll rewrite your resume for free.

So if you are feeling a bit jittery about paying over 200 bucks for a professional resume, this should give you some confidence. Looking at customer feedback, it seems most people did not have to use the guarantee since they soon started getting interviews.