BY ELISABETH MARTIN Staff writer
Sandy Killeen knows a thing or two about how to get hired.
The 48-year-old Oak Lawn resident has worked in human resources since she was 18, giving her plenty of hiring experience over the years. So when Killeen's hours at her company were cut by 20 percent last year, she looked to her strengths to supplement her paycheck.
Thus was born Resume Pros Now, a custom resume and cover letter service Killeen runs from her home. She estimates that she's helped 100 clients, many of whom come from Oak Lawn, with their resumes and cover letters since she started the company in February 2009.
"It makes me feel good that I'm helping people in the area," Killeen said.
When Killeen started the business, she figured her main market would be recent college graduates looking to land their first job. But as word of mouth traveled, she's drawn business from people in every phase of their careers.
Her clients include teachers, administrators, laborers and plant managers, many of whom have been out of work for a while. She's even polished a resume for a mortician, which she calls her most unique job to date.
"One guy said to me, 'Do you turn water into wine, too? I could have worked on my resume for months and I wouldn't have been able to do this,'" Killeen said.
Although many people are reluctant to spend money on spiffing up their resumes, Killeen said, it can pay dividends during the job hunt.
"I posted a job at the company I work at now and I've gotten 200 resumes," she said. "You need a resume that's going to stand out."
Some of Killeen's most common tweaks to her clients' resumes?
Swapping wordy paragraphs for neat bullet points and including more action verbs. She's also a strong advocate for cover letters, which she said are job candidates' best chance to pitch why they're right for the job.
"If the cover letter doesn't offer any kind of contribution that the candidate can make, it will be passed over," she said.
Killeen typically works with clients by phone or e-mail, and then meets them in person to hand over the completed draft. As part of her fee, she provides six months of unlimited editing for clients who need to update their resume.
"I ask them all to keep me posted if they've gotten a job," she said. "I've had clients who said they recruited for different jobs for months, and once they update their resume, they get an interview the next day."
Though Killeen's back to working full time at her company, she plans to keep up Resume Pros Now on weekends and evenings.
"Even though I'm a human resources manager, I don't do a ton of recruiting," she said. "When I'm doing the resumes in the evenings, it kind of relaxes me."
Killeen charges $100 for resume services and $150 for a resume and cover letter, with a 15 percent discount for Oak Lawn residents.