Ready to become a professional resume writer?
Welcome to your Resume Writing Roadmap™
Your roadmap to learning what you need to know to write and design professional resumes.
Whether you’re pursuing a second career or have always had a passion for writing and helping others, professional resume writing can be incredibly rewarding and just as lucrative.
Resume writers come from all types of backgrounds usually citing the fact that they’ve enjoyed helping friends, family, and even colleagues with their resume writing in the past.
They see this as a rewarding and flexible career they can easily take on once they learn the ins and outs of professional resume writing.
If you’re ready to learn how to turn those DIY resume writing skills into a professional goldmine on your terms, then this is the course for you!
There are so many rewards to be had when you build your skills in professional resume writing:
Do job seekers really invest in professional resume writing?
The answer is, “Yes! Absolutely!”
I remember when I first got started in the mid-90s and I didn’t think ANYONE would have ever heard of hiring a resume writer.
But my phone was ringing (and later my email was pinging)! As early as 1996 I began bringing in $100,000+ in revenue as a professional resume writer.
When you produce targeted, quality resumes that get rapid results, it’s easy to appeal to an unlimited audience of worldwide prospects.
The reality is that everyone you meet knows someone who needs help with their resume.
Over the past 20 years I’ve helped resume writers to achieve success like this:
Your script was like some kind of magic. He tried to give me his credit card while driving! In the past they used to tell me they were driving as a way to get off the phone. But, by using your tried-and-true method, driving was not an object, it’s like I was giving away gold.
I can’t express how critical Laura and CDI have been to the success of my resume writing business.
I made $20K in only the FIRST WEEK of implementing a new package-based system for my service offerings.
I have 100s of stories like this for my business consulting, courses and CDI, but some of my favorites are told to me in elated confidence:
“I keep raising my prices and they keep buying. I closed $11,000 last week, which is my highest ever.”
“I wanted to let you know we are on target to break one million in sales this year as we’ve already closed over $800,000.”
“Thanks for liking the photos of my new riverfront home. I wouldn’t have been able to purchase that without you.”
This profession isn’t just viable, it’s almost recession proof!
When it’s a good market for job seekers, they’re confidently ready to invest in themselves to stand out and move up.
When it’s a bad market for job seekers, they need somewhere to turn for professional help that gets them out of the struggle and financial drain of a protracted job search.
Plus, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of saving the day for someone and then getting to celebrate their success!
But if you’ve been writing resumes casually, why do you need a resume writing course?
This may be the most important info on this page!
It is possible to make an incredible difference while earning an exceptional living as a professional resume writer, but you’ve got to step out of the mundane and mediocre DIY style of resume writing to do so.
Member Grant Cooper recently shared, in an interview with me, a story that perfectly illustrates the importance of professional resume writing training.
He said that at the beginning of his career he thought of resumes as a quick project, similar to that of a fast food drive through experience.
It makes sense because that’s basically what non-pros are exposed to with the DIY resume — boring, responsibility-based, keyword stuffed documents.
That type of resume doesn’t give anyone an edge and instead often leads to a long and stressful job search.
He said that once exposed to the CDI way, he immediately realized it was actually more like a 4-course gourmet dining experience.
A true professional resume is a unique, branded marketing tool that sells instead of tells.
It let’s a job seeker stand out from equally qualified competition by emphasizing unique value ROI.
It is in no way the resume you are accustomed to!
If you’re open to learning on your path to making an exceptional living while making an incredible difference, then this course is your next best step!
“I found CDI and Laura when I was struggling to grow my career development business. Even though business was stable, I wanted to take it to another level with personal branding. CDI and Laura’s tips have been a complete game changer!
There has been a phenomenal improvement in my resume writing skills after taking part in the TORIs this year and for some reason, my clients seem to be overjoyed with my post-TORI resumes! The number of revisions has drastically dropped, client referrals have gone up and the number of appreciative client testimonials is increasing rapidly.
All credit goes to Laura and CDI for the amazing, helpful, and mind-blowing strategies that are helping my business grow 2X faster! Thank you so much, Laura, for everything you do!”
Yuvika Iyer
Careerlinko
Why should you pick this resume writing course over those taught elsewhere?
Simply put, there’s again no room for the mundane and mediocre if you want to build the expertise that gives job seekers the edge and turns them into raving fans for your business.
I founded CDI out of necessity when other organizations and training entities in this unregulated industry continued to follow dated methodologies and rely on lackluster trainers who collectively failed to recognize resume writing as marketing and personal branding vs bland writing and tired layouts.
This industry is always changing so when I hear of an organization leader saying that, “nothing ever changes so you don’t need to learn anything new” I want to weep over the damage this collectively causes.
My life’s mission in CDI is to ethically uphold the highest of standards necessary when we hold a job seeker’s livelihood in our very hands.
At CDI you can confidently know you’ll gain the best possible knowledge and training because it’s from award-winning, multi-certified resume writers who continue to learn, stay open, see this as marketing, and challenge boundaries.
Resume writing career highlights that make me the best instructor for this resume writing course:
- Resume writing awards from two industry associations + former VP of Awards (PRWRA now CDI).
- Author of Resumes for Dummies, 7th and 8th edition + featured resumes in 18+ resume writing books.
- Former resume expert for 50+ professional associations from AMA and ASAE to ACME and PMI.
- 15 certifications in resume writing, career coaching, and career services.
- 7 annual job placement awards out of 11 university campuses in 2 countries based deeply on quality resumes.
- Recognition for training and certifying many of the industry’s top award-winning resume writers worldwide.
- Hundreds of documented success stories from job seekers landing roles in record time.
- Expertise in crafting almost all of CDI’s programs, courses, certifications, and expert content.
I want you to start out with the best opportunity possible. I’ve shared all my strategies to set you up for future resume writing success in Resume Writing Roadmap™!
NOTE: There’s one other resume writing course I do recommend. That’s Resume Mastery 2.0. Unlike this course it gets you 1-1 support on each module and leads to CDI’s Certified Advanced Resume Writer (CARW) credential.
This CDI course is created by our Director of Resume Certification, multi-award winner, Gayle Howard. You can learn about it here.
You’ll gain the confidence to write and design resumes in Resume Writing Roadmap™.
With my collective wisdom as a trainer, placement director, and award-winning resume writer and author of Resumes for Dummies, I’ve poured 30 years of expert knowledge into this course. It’s perfect for those who are just getting started as a professional resume writer as well as those who know they would benefit from insider secrets and strategies for handling job seeker challenges and more.
Program Modules and Lessons include:
- What is resume writing?
- Understanding resume audiences.
- Keys to attaining resume wins.
- What to avoid in resume writing.
- Master / core resume as starting point.
- Resume examples.
- The resume funnel explained.
- Resume templates for different situations.
- Multi-page resumes.
- One-page versus two-page resumes.
- Busting blank page syndrome for effective information gathering.
- Resume hooks.
- Questions to ask and ways to dig deeper for gold.
- How to show how action and results overcome challenges.
- Identifying resume keywords from job target descriptions.
- Where to find and how to mine keywords.
- How to use keywords and phrases.
- Supporting resume examples.
- Magic of the unique selling proposition (USP) / brand summaries.
- USP examples.
- Cross-the-bridge language to make unrelated work history relatable.
- The military transition candidate.
- College to career transition and career changers.
- Mature candidates and age discrimination.
- Overqualified candidates who seek a lower-level job.
- Candidates who took a lesser job and now want to reposition.
- Candidates with gaps in employment timeline.
- Balancing wording with design for resumes that get attention.
- Easy yet eye catching resume design elements.
- Color and advanced design in the resume.
- When to add more creative elements in a resume.
- Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).
- ATS workarounds.
A must for your success, this group will allow you to ask questions and get support from both your fellow aspiring resume writers and me. It will also give you first access to challenges, live events, announcements, and more.
It’s important for me to point out that while CDI has members from around the world and I’ve personally taught resume writers and worked with job seekers worldwide, that these materials are primarily focused on U.S. resume writing. Everything IS adaptable to different countries but international CVs are only lightly touched upon.
When you register for Resume Writing Roadmap™ you also receive these registration bonuses:
($199 value)
Q&A Coaching Replay
Q&A coaching replay with Laura DeCarlo, course creator and 6-figure success coach.
Get indispensable hot seat coaching, support, and strategy on resume writing when you watch the replay of this former event.
($1100 value)
Bonus Resume Writing Lessons
Amp up your resume writing with core lessons and tutorials.
There are 24 deep dive resume writing lessons, video tutorials, tip sheets, job seeker tip sheets, and more compiled as relevant to each module.
If you are not currently a CDI member, this represents over $1100 in bonus training. For members, this easily points you to where you should focus.
($19.97 value)
Resumes for Dummies, 8th edition
Get more samples and strategy with Resumes for Dummies.
This course companion book will provide you with numerous professional resume samples along with advice and different scenarios to explore in order to deepen your resume writing knowledge and skill.
NOTE: Bonus Kindle edition is guaranteed for those residing in the United States. So far we have been able to send it through Kindle to other countries, but we cannot guarantee it will work.
($50.00 value)
CDI’s Resume Writing Guide
Leverage MS Word and more to enhance your writing and design.
This guide is the companion to CDI’s Certified Advanced Resume Writer (CARW) credentialing process. We’re sharing it here with you because it will:
- Enhance your knowledge and skillset in resume writing.
- Deliver screenshots of MS Word (2007+) for various layout functions.
- Provide a variety of certification (and success) worthy resume samples.
- Enlighten you about next steps in CARW certification.
Now is your time to amp up your skills for a career in professional resume writing.
I’ve worked hard to pinpoint what you need to know to transition to true professional resume writing. CDI and I do nothing half way. When you embark on Resume Writing Roadmap™ you are on your path to a solid foundation in elite professional resume writing. It’s time to get started!
Sign up now and get started!
Save big when you order today:
When you purchase this special package today, you receive bonuses and savings totaling $1968.97!
* Membership auto-renews. Cancel at any time.
Learn more about Member Benefits or choose monthly membership.
* Membership auto-renews. Cancel at any time.
Learn more about Member Benefits or choose monthly membership.
This course is designed to educate you on professional resume writing. It does not teach the business aspects of starting and running a practice. Those resources can be found in CDI membership or the companion course, Resume Business Roadmap™.
This course does not include private mentoring by email or phone. Recommended homework assignments are not mandatory but students are encouraged to share them in the private community and ask questions there for feedback and support from fellow students and the instructor. This course does not result in a training certification or credential. You can learn more about CDI’s Resume Mastery course with CARW certification and our CARW credential on our programs and courses page.
Bundle Success with Resume Writing Roadmap™ + Resume Business Roadmap™
Ready for a complete roadmap to success?
With all the benefits of Resume Writing Roadmap™ and Resume Business Roadmap™, this 2-part system has everything you need to build skills, start up, and grow your resume writing business.
Save $97! Yours for only $897.
* Membership auto-renews. Cancel at any time.
Learn more about Member Benefits or choose monthly membership.
* Membership auto-renews. Cancel at any time.
Learn more about Member Benefits or choose monthly membership.
IMPORTANT: Current members must be logged in to receive member pricing in the cart.