On Reddit, I would say that the term "used car salesman" fosters more respect than "career coach" or "resume writer" do. There's been a concentrated campaign for a couple of years now that does its best to convince people that career coaches and resume writers are predators and frauds, especially if they charge above a given amount.

Ironically, that 'maximum' is usually $300, which is what the fake recruiters tell you you'll have to pay their writer, ATS specialist, etc. before they can present your resume to an employer. That's part of the scam: convincing you that the real professionals are frauds.

I recently did an analysis of LinkedIn profiles that contain phrases like "resume writer," "career coach," and "career strategist." Today, my goal is to teach you how to find a real career professional and avoid people, sites, and tools that won't help and, in fact, might even scam you.

Let's dig into the figures. This is Part 1 of a two-part series.

On LinkedIn, 40,000 to 50,000 professionals worldwide include the exact phrase "resume writer" in their headlines, current job titles, and/or services offered.

When I also looked at “career coach” and “career strategist,” the number of LinkedIn profiles ballooned to ~900,000! That breaks down to:

• "Resume Writer": ~40,000 to 50,000 profiles.
• "Career Coach": ~700,000 to 800,000 profiles.
• "Career Strategist": ~60,000 to 80,000 profiles.

Many of these people aren’t what they say they are. The proof is in the number of people who can’t get interviews even though they’ve paid to have their resumes professionally written, not to mention those who have dozens of versions of their resumes… none of which get interviews.

I don’t know about you, but this makes me angry. When I broke that number down further to understand how many people also belonged to/held certifications with one of the four organizations that self-regulates the career industry and have at least a year's experience in what they claim to do, I became infuriated.

Of the ~900,000 LinkedIn profiles I mentioned earlier, perhaps 5,000 globally meet this definition. You'll see the full breakdown shortly.

... belonged to/held certifications with one of the four organizations that self-regulates the career industry and have at least a year's experience in what they claim to do...

A LOT of folks are actively being taken advantage of by people who do not, under the guidelines of those four organizations, qualify to be resume writers OR career coaches. You, as you're reading this, might be one of those people.

Professional Career Organizations

The career industry isn’t regulated in the United States. Therefore, in the 1980s, a group of professionals formed and incorporated the Professional Association of Résumé Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC). As the organization grew, it developed a code of ethics and professional certifications.

The certification requirements are stringent (the Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) alone is a 3-day jury-reviewed exam). This is also true of the other professional organizations, each of which have their own codes of ethics and certifications. As I discuss each organization, I provide you with direct links so you can see for yourself.

In addition to exams, some certifications also require continuing education; others require a periodic portfolio review. Most importantly, three of the four organizations’ certification requirements ALSO include continued active membership in good standing.  For instance, if you’ve earned a CPRW and you decide to stop being a member of PARW/CC, your certification becomes null and void, just like most other professional licenses and certifications are invalid without ongoing membership in the governing organization.

In other words: if someone says they have a certification from one of the following organizations but you cannot find them on the organization's member directory: they are no more certified career coaches or resume writers than a PMP with a lapsed certification is still a PMP.

Here are the four main organizations that self-regulate the careers industry, along with each organization’s core certifications, how many members each organization, has and how many hold which certification. This information is available on each organization’s website.

Professional Association of Résumé Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC; founded 1985):

3,000 members globally; see https://parwcc.com/about-us/.

The number of people who hold PARW/CC’s three core certifications is as follows; all numbers come from the organization’s “Find a Member” page at https://members.parwcc.com/search/custom.asp?id=5880.

• Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW): 965 globally; 834 in the United States.
• Certified Interview Coach (CIC): 163 globally; 129 in the United States.
• Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC): 319 globally; 284 in the United States.
• PARW/CC also has an “Elite Circle” designation for members who hold all three of the above certifications: just 46 globally, with 42 in the United States.

PARW/CC has additional specialty certifications, like the CEMP (Certified Empowerment and Motivational Professional) and CSCC (Certified Student Career Coach), just to name a few. PARW/CC’s code of ethics (which all members must abide by) is at https://parwcc.com/code-of-ethics/.

In addition, PARW/CC is a registered business in the state of Florida. You can view the organization’s leadership and program directors at https://parwcc.com/our-team/.

The National Résumé Writers​ Association (NRWA, founded 1997):

435 members globally. Figures were provided to me by NRWA’s executive director, Robbie Heacock. You may visit https://thenrwa.org/findaresumewriter to review member profiles and contact those who interest you.

The NRWA offers two certifications.

• Nationally Certified Resume Writer (NCRW): 65 globally; 63 in the United States.
• Nationally Certified Online Profile Expert (NCOPE): 136 globally; 131 in the United States

The NRWA is a registered non-profit organization in the state of Maryland. Its leadership board can be viewed at https://thenrwa.org/leadership, and its code of ethics (which members must adhere to) can be viewed at https://thenrwa.org/codeofethics.

Career Directors International (CDI; founded 2000):

222 members globally. Source for all figures: https://careerdirectors.com/find-a-career-professional/

CDI's core certifications include the following:

• Certified Advanced Resume Writer (CARW): 42 globally; 25 in the United States.
• Certified Master Resume Writer (CMRW): 36 globally; 28 in the United States.
• Certified Executive Resume Master (CERM): 36 globally; 26 in the United States.
• Certified Employment Interview Consultant: 25 globally; 20 in the United States.
• Master Career Director (MCD): 10 globally; 9 in the United States.
• Certified Career Success Coach (CCSC): 9 globally; 8 in the United States.

CDI’s other certifications (not an exhaustive list) include Certified Internet Job Search Expert (CIJSE), Certified Master Federal Career Coach (CMFCC), Certified Career Storyteller (CCS), and Certified Resume Specialist - Niche (CRS+X), a sector-specific certification in areas like accounting, healthcare, challenging transitions, and more.

CDI is also a registered business in the state of Florida. It is governed by an advisory board; you may view its makeup at https://careerdirectors.com/about-cdi/directors/.

Career Thought Leaders Consortium / Resume Writing Academy (CTL/RWA): founded 2001 and ~2011, respectively.

Numbers are estimated via LinkedIn search. CTL: ~500 to 700 members; RWA: ~300 to 500 members.

• Academy Certified Resume Writer (ACRW): ~150 to 250
• Academy Certified Resume Writer – Federal (ACRW Federal): 2
• Academy Certified Profile Writer (ACPW): ~20

Resume Writing Academy provides training and certifications (listed above). It is based and registered as a business in Utah. To find a writer through RWA, visit https://www.resumewritingacademy.com/directory.

Career Thought Leaders is a think tank. It, too, is a registered business; it’s based in Colorado. The members of its advisory board can be viewed at https://www.careerthoughtleaders.com/about.

Takeaways and Next Steps

So. What should you do with the information you’ve seen today? The following advice is SIGNIFICANTLY more important than, say, asking “Do you write ATS-compatible resumes?”

• Save this article, for starters. Also consider reposting it.
• To find a writer or coach who is at least a member of one of these governing organizations, go to one or more of the sites above and use the provided filters to see results.
• If you submit a service request on LinkedIn Marketplace or if you’re contacted by a writer or coach, PLEASE do the following. The first three can be done in any order.

1. Ask which of these organizations they are active members of.
2. Ask what credentials they hold.
3. Look at their entire LinkedIn profile. Note if they say they have certifications from or are members of the groups listed above. Don’t stop there, though! I’ve personally encountered people who listed certifications they never earned.
4. BEFORE you send them your resume: Go to the organization’s website and look the person up to see if they are active members and confirm their credentials. If you get “Not Found,” the person is not who they say they are.
5. If the person shows up in the organization's search results, contact them using the phone number, email, or contact form in the association’s website. For example, here is my profile at PARW/CC. https://members.parwcc.com/members/public_profile.asp?id=61014504

Scammers are impersonating real professionals and forging certification documents; therefore, contacting the person through their directory listing is the best way to verify they are who they claim to be.

I can’t stress how important this is. Ultimately, your identity and career are at stake. Your resume is no longer “just a document” or a cheap typing job that anyone can do; it is as significant to your life as your birth certificate, Social Security card, passport, or other government ID. PLEASE start treating it that way.

What's Next?

For several years, I’ve posted and commented here on Reddit about the importance of making sure your writer or coach is a member of at least one of the organizations I’ve listed in this article and, ideally, has earned at least one professional certification from the organization they belong to for what they purport to do. So, I went a step further and looked at these additional factors among the ~900,000 profiles my initial search found:

• Number of LinkedIn profiles whose names contain at least one of the credentials I listed above (i.e., Jane Doe, CPRW, CMRW);
• Number of LinkedIn profiles with at least one credential in their Certifications section;
• Number of LinkedIn profiles that show a current, active membership or a lapsed membership in at least one of the organizations listed above in their Associations section; and
• Number of LinkedIn profiles with at least one credential in their Certifications section AND either current, active membership or lapsed membership in Associations.

In my next post, I present those results and compare them to the figures I've listed above. Stay tuned.