Best Resume Services... resume builders (Note: for those who would prefer a professional writer to handle the project, see Review of Resume Writers.) What exactly is a resume builder? Quite simply, it's an interactive tool (software) to help you craft your own resume. If you can compose a straightforward sentence and follow step-by-step directions, you can write a professional-looking resume yourself--with help from a good resume builder. But which ones are good? Glad you asked...
Company...	Go.To....	Rating........	Pricing................	In-Depth...
	Website		$14.95   per month	Satisfied clients create 100,000 resume every month with this builder. Powerful, intuitive and quick to master. Includes cover letters, email, faxing, plus your own webpage. Free to try... [read_REVIEW]
	Website		$49.99 now $29.99	One of the better resume builders, with a one-time price to build unlimited resumes and cover letters. 25,000 templates to pick from. Multiple formats, and submission tracking. Try demo... [read_REVIEW]
	Website		$49.95 now $39.95	A good product offering a money-back guarantee, lifetime updates, spot-on advice, and 3 free valuable gifts. Build as many resumes as you need. Just beware of one thing... [read_REVIEW])
	Website		$ 29.99 now $9.99	A good, step-by-step resume builder with fully customizable templates and a vast list of pre written phrases. Cover letter builder is included. Not as comprehensive a list of features as Pongo... [read_REVIEW]
	Website		$18.95   per year	Clean, simple service delivering relatively professional results, though it lacks key features standard with Pongo and others. Worse, we found it suffers from obstinate technology at times... [read_REVIEW]

... because we've been all over the Web comparing services and putting companies through their paces. Before we go any further, keep in mind that a resume builder won't write the resume for you. You've still got to do some work. But with the better resume builders, much of that "work" has been reduced to filling in blanks and composing a few sentences. The resume builders themselves do the heavy lifting of template design, layout and organization, formatting, help with phrasing, and error checking.

Here's what we looked for in a resume builder:

Resume Builder - We Looked for Access to Real Live Human Beings.

You know, just in case one needed a bit of technical support. Or needed to insure that the company makes good on a guarantee. Speaking of which, we found two companies offering rock-solid guarantees: Amazing Resume Creator for those looking for an instant download, andWinway Resume Deluxe 12 Mini for those who don't mind waiting a few days for a shipment from Amazon.

Then again, Pongo Resume, which was our Top Pick of resume builders, doesn't need a guarantee because you're able to see exactly what you're getting with a free trial before you ever plunk down a dollar. Read our Review of Pongo Resume.

Resume Builder - We Looked for Relevant Bells and Whistles.

The key word is relevant. Help with phrasing is relevant. Spell check is relevant. A list of action verbs is relevant. The ability to work up a companion cover letter is relevant. Besides Pongo Resume, which we've already mentioned, another good choice in the 'relevant bells and whistles' category is EasyJob.net . This company's program displays thumbnails of all the resumes you've created, organized by the modification date. And it keeps track of which companies you've submitted to, and which resume version each received. Read our in-depth Review of EasyJob.net.

Resume Builder - We Looked for Options in Resume Formatting.

MS Word is still the standard format for resumes. But formatting in MS Word doesn't solve all problems. For example, posting your resume to many if not most online job boards will require formatting in ASCII text. So we gave extra points to a resume builder that also offered or facilitated formatting in ASCII text, PDF, HTML, and RTF.

Resume Builder - We Looked for Ease of Use.

You can often tell a lot about a product by the website that promotes it. Especially if that product prides itself on its ability to organize words and facilitate the writing of those words. Thus, we put a good deal of stock in a resume builder whose website navigated smoothly. Where key information was readily available and well organized. Where pricing was up front and clear. And sure enough, as we discovered, a finely tuned and easy-to-use website usually led to a finely tuned and easy-to-use software product.

Resume Builders - We Looked for Value.

As we mentioned above, free is usually worth exactly that. At the other end of the spectrum, fifty bucks is about as high as we would want to go. Much more than that, and a full-service Professional Resume Writer begins to look like the better deal.

You Can Do This.

If you have some writing skills, you have it within yourself to craft a resume that is competitive in the marketplace. A good resume builder can prompt you with the necessary questions, help you phrase your answers, and organize those job responsibilities and career accomplishments in a manner that opens doors.

And you can start within minutes.

- David Alan Carter

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