PSA: That $50 resume writing service I hired actually got me less interviews

I paid $50 to some online service to rewrite my resume for a marketing job and it came back full of buzzwords that made me sound fake. After 3 weeks of silence I rewrote it myself using plain language and got 2 callbacks within days. Has anyone else had better luck ditching those fancy templates and just being straightforward?

2 comments

2 Comments

zara_hunt2d ago

The "buzzwords making you sound fake" part is SO real. I think recruiters have gotten so used to seeing the same polished nonsense that plain language actually stands out as more genuine and competent.

gibson.sean1d ago

The quiet part nobody talks about is how buzzwords actually help bad employees hide. If you write "results-driven team player with strong communication skills" you could be the laziest person in the office and nobody would know until week three. Plain language forces you to actually say what you did, which weeds out the folks who just copy-pasted a LinkedIn template. Plus it makes it harder for recruiters to skim past you when your resume says "I fixed the scheduling mess that caused three missed deadlines" instead of "leveraged cross-functional coordination.