“Seven Tips on Choosing A Resume Professional” – I almost wrote “resume writer” in this title. But today, being a resume “writer” isn’t enough. I know because in the last six months, three people have asked me to re-do the resume they paid to have written for them. Why? Because it did not result in the phone calls it is supposed to generate. That’s its job.

Certainly, writing and command of the language is vital. The wording should be easy to read, marketing-oriented, honest and real for the client, current, and it should communicate energy. But other knowledge comes into play:

1. Make sure they know careers and the workplace. Not only career fields and job categories — yours in particular —  but job titles, how people move up and around various types of organizations, product vs service environments, and so forth. Experience in business in a variety of roles helps. And evidence of their knowledge through articles that they’ve written, for example, is a strong indicator they truly understand their job.

2. Make sure they know that a resume is part of a job search marketing plan. That it’s not just a document that needs to get done and out of the way. And it’s not the whole marketing approach. In fact, I discourage my clients from using them unless they absolutely have to, because I coach clients to do a networking-based job search, not an ads-based one. I’d rather have the resume be used as a proof source AFTER a client is in the door, than as a door-opener because it seldom works that way.

3. Make sure they spend much more than a total of 15-20 minutes with you on the phone to learn about your background. It’s impossible to spend that little amount of time with most job search candidates to learn enough about them to even begin a new resume. I walk people through their background and work history from college (or sometimes earlier) through to today, and that takes at least an hour. And I learn so much, and love hearing each person’s story. How else can you hear what each person’s gifts are?

4. Make sure they understand how the resume screening technology works. How it looks at the resume, what it looks for, how to best present the candidate’s background so that the resume makes it through the system to human eyes. This knowledge includes key words, which, whether screening technology is used or not, are vital.

5. Make sure they know how to share resume material with the candidate’s LinkedIn profile, that they know how LinkedIn works and how employers/recruiters use it to find candidates, and LinkedIn’s role in the job search. And how other social media play a role in today’s job search. This grows more important by the day. In fact, I see the partnership between the resume and LinkedIn as so strong, that I won’t do a resume without also coaching a client in how to best do — and continually update — their LinkedIn profile.

6. Need I say it: be sure they write resumes that focus on your VALUE to an employer, not on your history. So dispense with “responsible for” and instead make sure they point out achievements and accomplishments. Constantly.

7. Last, make sure they show you how to update and tweak the resume as you use it. After all, it’s your resume and you need it to be flexible enough for you to customize for all kinds of companies or organizations. You don’t want to have to call the writer to do it.

You may be wondering why I don’t mention “make sure they’re certified”. I’m a certified coach, and there are many fine people in the field who are certified, especially around resumes. But there are students and then there are people who can truly use well in real life what they’ve learned. So make sure the professional has the most important certification of all: the endorsement of clients who began to land interviews once they had their new resume. AND those clients’ referrals of friends and family to the writer. In other words, business built by word-of-mouth and networking, not by saturation of ads.

When you find someone who fits this profile, grab ‘em. They’re good. Really good.