Stand Out by using a customized resume service

My communication style is simple – my interaction with you will be via email and phone, which is typical for resume writers. If you prefer to meet in person and are in Ventura County in Southern California, we can set up an appointment at a local coffee house on a Friday or Saturday.  
 

📌 You need to read both the Rules of Engagement and Fees pages which you can find by scrolling down below. I’ve been through a LOT over the years with hundreds of clients and I want to make sure that you believe we would be a good fit before we move forward.
 

After you’ve read over those pages and you think we could possibly be “Job-Fetching-Partners-In-Crime” together, feel free to reach out to me either by filling in the form at the bottom of this website or via email or phone. However you decide to reach out, I will most definitely need to see your latest resume copy so email that to me for sure… even if it’s older and/or you can’t stand it. If you don’t have one at all, that’s okay. I can create one from scratch for you but I just like to ask.  

 

My email address is: stephanie@artisancustomresumes.com

My phone # is: 805.813.5032
 

📌 If you are on LinkedIn, please also send me your "URL" within the email so that I can find you and take a look at your profile. If you are having trouble figuring out what your LinkedIn URL is, feel free to hunt me down and ask to connect. Here is my URL: www.linkedin.com/stephaniehHRprofessional

📌 I will set up a phone appointment with you so we can discuss your situation and what your career goals are, how I can help etc.

During that phone appointment is when I will give you personalized pricing and an overview of what I can provide for you. Should you decide to move ahead, I will send out 1 of 2 intake packets of homework (yes homework – ugh!). Once you send the 1st completed intake packet back to me, I will know you have skin in the game and then we’ve started the ball rolling. Yahoo! I will also require payment in full at this point and I offer PayPal, Square, or Venmo.
 

📌  Once you've been able to make payment, I will work to compile personalized questions for you in the 2nd intake packet within the next few days. Once you've been able to hit me back with answers, I get to work on it. I’ll disappear for a while to work on it. Don't panic! I haven't run off to Tahiti, I'm actually putting all the puzzle pieces together and formulating the magic.
 

There's a pretty good chance I will email you during this stage of the game to ask some further questions, just to make sure it's going to be awesome.
 

📌  After approximately a week to 10 days goes by from the time I've received all the info I need, I present you with your finished product(s). As I mentioned above- I have a full time job in HR Monday through Thursday so most of my intense writing work happens on a Friday or Saturday.
 

I submit the resume copy to you in both an editing enabled Microsoft Word version and an Adobe PDF format.
 

If you also order a cover letter, it will be submitted in an editing enabled Word doc, and you'll be able to tailor it to any positions you see or know about which interest you.
 

📌  While we always encourage our clients to NETWORK and use their documents in person, we will additionally send you what I call the "TBK Version" of your resume along with instructions on how to use it. What the heck is a “TBK” you ask?

(This part is important so pay attention!)
 

TBK stands for Taleo, Brassring, and Kenexa which are Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) software that more and more companies are using to screen their applicants before any human beings even LOOK at a resume. There are 194 (!) different kinds of ATS programs in existence as of this page launch, and they are typically all finicky. I know all the tricks of the trade to get you through their stringent filters and alter my clients' resumes accordingly for no extra charge. This different version is the TBK version - I also submit instructions on how and when to use it so you are ready to go!
 

📌 You look everything over and ooh and ahh, OR you hit me back and say "Can you please fix XYZ?" Then I promptly do so. I will do up to 2 edits with you- I do not have time to go back and forth with you 14 times because you weren’t really paying attention the other times (ugh!)… my time is valuable.
 

📌 You submit your resume to various companies you've been targeting and/or you apply to positions you see directly using your LinkedIn profile, (yeah, that's a thing now!) and your phone finally starts ringing with requests to discuss new employment.  
 

Disclaimer/Legal Junk: I am not guaranteeing anyone a job or you will get a refund. Some companies do this, and that’s just downright ridiculous. I have no control over you once you leave my phase of your “job hunting journey”, and all of my clients are different with their styles... some use the tools we give them aggressively, and some act like a sloth. 

Now, you might be thinking to yourself “Wait, she has rules and requirements when I’m going to be PAYING HER to do this work for me?” You bet your sweet bippy I do. 

“The process with each client will be organic, yet structured.” I have worked with a very WIDE array of professionals including but not limited to: 

Alaska Float Plane Pilots • FCC Directors • Sea Wrights/World-Famous Explorers • Jewelers • Fashion Industry Merchandisers • IT Gurus • Mechanical & Electrical Engineers • Marketing & Advertising Executives • Presidential Limo Communications Peeps • Strategic Marketing/Branding Powerhouses • Graphic Designers • Healthcare Industry Professionals • Restaurant GMs, Servers & Mixologists • Cooks Catering Company • Financial Services & Insurance Professionals • DJs • LCSW's & MFT's Retail Store Managers • University Professors • Famous Authors • Celebrities • Screenplay Directors • Kick-Ass Military men and women including basic Supply Sergeants up to Commanders and Captains • Hospitality & Hotel-Industry Management • Journalists • PR & Media Relations • Software Sales • UX Developers • Attorneys, Lawyers & Paralegals • Executive Assistants • Biologists & Physicists • Teachers & Librarians • Psychiatrists • Massage Therapists, Kinesiology & Nutrition Experts • C-Suite Executives • Bankers, Mortgage & Loan peeps

…you get the idea. 

Because of this, I provide as much “structure” as I can with the different steps involved, but my experience with YOU will be unique and organic, just as with all our past clients. 

I'm all about effective time management and so I run a well-oiled machine. That being said, I can't have you getting panicky if you reach out to me and I can't get back to you right away...I will respond as quick as I can, scout's honor. 

I'm pretty open to when you can reach out to me, but I expect some common courtesy. For example, if you're on the east coast and decide to call me at 7:30 am your time, that's 4:30 am my time. I get up early, but not quite THAT early, and I certainly won't be coherent enough to talk job hunting. I also won’t really be happy when you’re texting me at 11:02 pm at night because “something” popped into your brain. (These things have happened more times than I would like to admit. Seriously people. Give a girl a break.) 

Do you have a sense of humor? I realize that if you’re looking for a job, chances are you’re going to be in an anxiety-ridden or (quite possibly) a catatonic state. I get that. That doesn’t mean that we can’t make our experience together HUMAN… I will do my best to lighten up the situation while still creating a remarkable product for you and teaching you about the current job market. I've been referred to as a cheerleader and “Giver of Hope”. 

So can you mark “check!” next to that sense of humor box? If not, move on. 

Along those lines…this is a straight up, “No Jerk Zone”. 

Just like we’ve all seen that sign that says “We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone”. Ummm, yeah. Totally. While we will never go by the mantra “No shirts, no shoes, no service” (cuz heck, we don’t care if you’re answering our questions in your jammies and barefoot or not!) we will stick to the NO JERKS rule.

I refuse to be treated poorly… so if you’ve blown through 3 other resume companies and demanded refunds from each and every one of them before you’ve landed on this page? Move along. We aren’t going to be a good fit. 

I am not your mother. Nor do I want to be. 

Are you willing to put some work into this from your end or do you expect me to be psychic about what your career has entailed for the last 15 years PLUS you expect me to know what all your career hopes and dreams are? Ummm… I hate to break it to you, but sometimes my crystal ball is foggy so I give out homework (those intake packets I previously mentioned). Not the kind of homework your least favorite teacher gave you just to piss you off and ruin your weekend, but the kind that will involve questions about what you really DON’T want to do in your next job, and what the heck you were trying to say on your 3rd bullet point under your 2nd position you listed that reads out loud like someone has a mouth full of marbles and doesn’t make a lick of sense. (!!!) 

If you can’t get your act together to answer the 2nd intake packet I painstakingly sat to compile for you, then, well… that’s a shame. 

I will nudge you a couple of times like a good professional should, but after 60 days have gone by with no answers coming in and not so much as a peep out of you about why etc., you are officially forfeiting all of the funds you sent to my company. End of story.

Secrets. Skeletons. They’re in your closet. 

Are you willing to disclose All The Things to me when we begin our working relationship? Because if you don’t think it’s important for me to have all the facts and the ~big picture~, or you are scatterbrained or just plain lazy, I might have to curse your name while reading your email that says "Oh! These drafts you just sent are all great, but you're missing an entire section that I guess I forgot to give you. My bad."

This is a true story for a military resume I poured over TWENTY HOURS into. I still can’t believe it happened and if it happens again?  It will make me want to stick you in the Bad Jobseeker Corner and send you an additional invoice as punishment. 

So be transparent. Be forthcoming. I don’t necessarily need to know that your guinea pig’s name is Dynamo (although I love pets! Go Dynamo!) BUT I do want to know what’s going on with your current job, and WHY I'm doing this for you. What’s the end goal? Etc. Tell me that stuff. 

Oh, and tell me things like the fact that you’re a felon. 

You know, important crap like that which I will keep in the Artisan Vault in accordance to my strict confidentiality clause. Why would you need to tell me something like that? Because I can most likely give you advice on what jobs you should and shouldn't waste your time applying for... I have all that good "insider's knowledge" on junk like that and I love to share. 

Are you “teachable”? Or do you suffer from “Know-it-all-Itis”? Can you be taught? Are you willing to take instruction and advice and embrace the latest resume and hiring trends that I will share with you? Or are you going to come back at me after I submit your beautiful, cutting edge document drafts and instruct me to basically put it back the way you gave it to me in the first place?

Newsflash! If you are used to running the show at work (whether it be directing a team of 70 Marketing Department Reps or yelling at Marines at Camp Pendleton) and you insist on arguing with me about how an Objective still needs to be on the top, and your references, along with all their very private information, should still be listed on the bottom, you will be wasting your money! Resume writing is NOT what YOU DO for a living; it’s what I DO for a living. I promise not to show up at your work and tell you how to do your job if you promise to be open minded, release some control, and trust me AND the process. 

 Most frequently asked question I get: "But will it really help to hire a resume service?" Of course.. unless you like wasting time and potential money coming into your bank account by way of a better job. If all the requirements I listed above sound perfectly reasonable to you, then please scroll down and read the Fees page next, and then contact me so we can get your New Job Party started!  

Each resume, cover letter, or LinkedIn profile I do is customized; I take all my years of training and pour them into each order... no copy and pasting junk over here! This translates into many hours invested in YOU, from initial contact to final drafts.
 

Fees for our customized services are quoted on an individual, case-by-case basis and are calculated according to different career level and education categories. That being said, I personally hate it when websites don't at least give me a general guideline of the company's pricing structure, so that's why I'm including this info here. Please keep in mind that you may fall somewhere in-between these packages depending upon our starting point. Here is the basic breakdown for resume work: 

This level is for you if you've recently graduated with a Bachelor's degree and you have either a small amount of work history or years in a different field. You most definitely need a professional resume writing service to assist. Let's get you started on that career path you studied so hard for, shall we? 

This level is for those who have graduated from high school and have been clocking in and out of a job for 5-10 years. Let's help you move up the totem pole! 

You've logged in at least 10 years in the workforce by now and you have any number of degrees under your belt. You've created a rock solid skill set you regularly use and want to be acknowledged for what you bring to the table. You are seriously ready to move up the ladder, because... well enough already, am I right? 

Always a hotly debated topic as to whether or not one actually NEEDS a cover letter, I can tell you 2 things right now: the latest stats from my industry are reporting that 60% of hiring managers and recruiters actually read them, so it may not be worth it to you to spend the money on it, and that's fine- completely your choice. BUT, the other thing I will tell you from a personal perspective as an HR professional during my day job, if someone actually personalizes a cover letter and addresses how their skill set would be a good fit for the positions I'm trying to fill, I actually stop what I'm doing and READ IT. I will naturally mentally rank a candidate higher on the totem pole for the effort they've put into their submission vs. someone who just shot me their resume and hope I'll pay attention.
 

Also (and this is very important for my clients with special circumstances) - are you interested in any of the following?

• Relocating
• Changing industries/learning a new profession

Then guess what? With the exception of an initial contact email (which they don't always give you the option to do), you need a place to EXPLAIN your life/what you are after etc. The cover letter is a professional space that allows you to have a voice and get their attention.
 

I create cover letters that are personalized yet also "all-encompassing" so you'll be able to manipulate it according to various jobs you may be applying for.
 

Add a cover letter to any of the above resume options for an additional $65. 

 Are you on LinkedIn? If not, despite whatever excuses you can muster, including how much you hate social media, HOLY COW, you need to be! Individual quotes given, pricing is dependent upon your existing profile, and yes, I create them from scratch as well. Costs are typically $65 if ordered WITH a resume, $125 for a kick-ass profile put together without prior resume work completed by Artisan.
 

Also included in this option: A list of fantastic tips and tricks on how to get the most traction out of your profile once it's complete.