Getting Started
After you’ve taken the tour, If you’d like to know more, give me a call. I’ll take the time to answer your questions, and learn what you’re looking for. (This is what other résumé services call a “free consultation.” But I take more time. The individualized service starts here.)
It helps a lot to e-mail me your existing résumé first:
info[at]crystalresumes.com
We’ll discuss your situation and your objectives, and what services you need, and agree on fees and a schedule.
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The In‑Depth Interview
During the first week or so after we make our arrangements, I’ll develop lines of inquiry for the in‑depth interview.
The interview is pretty intense, typically 2.5 to 3 hours for senior-level clients, about 45 minutes for entry-level clients.
I suggest you have a cup of coffee first, and then settle down someplace comfortable, with a glass of water handy.
This is not the usual generic scripted interview.
It’s so thorough, detailed, and individualized that it teaches clients, by example, about how to look at and present their own backgrounds. They say things like “I never realized I did all that!” One called it “résumé therapy.” I could call it “coaching,” but I’m an information professional, so to me it’s just professional information gathering, and I like to keep things simple.
The interview can be scheduled afternoons or evenings, including late evenings after the kids are in bed. Weekends, too, subject to availability.
— read the details —
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Production: Writing
Writing: A résumé has to be effective at every stage of the hiring process. I analyze the information I’ve gathered, develop an overall strategy, and then write and structure the résumé so that it works at multiple levels:
• content that will speak to every member of an executive team considering the short list, including people in other sections of the organization
• bullet points that combine into stories of performance and achievement
• prominent main points for a quick scan by an HR person
• keywords for scanning by automated résumé-processing systems (and also by people).
(Most résumé services only talk about the last two points.)
This is where I sweat.
— read the details —
I don’t need to rely on the common fluff that makes employers groan over nearly every résumé they see. They’ll remember your résumé for that alone.
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Production:
Technical Phase
Formatting: Custom-fitted, with the format and visual structure appropriate for you. No templates.
I use expert-level Word techniques, and exceptional technical production knowledge, to format résumés that are compatible with current automated résumé processing systems.
(Many common Word techniques, used by most résumé services, are not appropriate for the kind of processing that résumés get.)
Review and quality control: Based on years of editorial and technical QC experience. I spend more time on QC than some résumé services spend on the whole job.
The production phase (writing, formatting, QC) typically takes two to three weeks, depending on my workload. It has to be done in stages, and spread out.
— read the details —
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Approval Phase
I’ll send the résumé, in MS Word, for you to review.
When you’ve gone over it, I’ll work with you to make sure that I’ve covered everything that needs to be covered, that all the information is accurate, and that everything is expressed in language you’ll be comfortable responding to questions about.
One or two approval rounds is typical.
— read the details —
When I’ve had your OK, I’ll do the final round of review and quality control, format the plain-text version of your résumé, create the LinkedIn profile and/or letters, if you’ve ordered them, and put together the final package.
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The Final Package
Every digital format you’ll need, so you won’t have to interrupt an on-line application or a phone interview to think about résumé formats.
• MS Word, the standard for visually-formatted résumés to be read by humans.
• Plain-text (ASCII). Specially formatted for pasting into the on-line application forms that are increasingly used for jobs at all levels.
• PDF
Plus, you’ll also get information about how and when to use each format, along with other information and tools.
— read the details —
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Fees
Typical fees for the Résumé Consulting Service are range from $250 for entry-level job-seekers to $800 for corporate executives.
If you find someone who charges more for the same services, I’ll match their price. Guaranteed.
I don’t think you’ll find anyone else at any price who offers what I can. By all means, shop around—my best clients are smart shoppers.
For full detail on fees for all services, see the Services page.
Payments
(Sorry, we cannot accept cards issued by non-U.S. banks.)
If you’re paying by Zelle or PayPal, click here for instructions. It’s super easy—you don’t need any special accounts. I’ll be notified the moment you pay.
Terms
Like all résumé services, I require payment in advance*: in my case, a 50% retainer up front, and the balance when we’ve done the interview, before I start writing.
Like all résumé services, I have a no‑refund policy.*
*If you think you’ve seen exceptions, click here.
— read the details —
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Time Frame
Three to four weeks is typical: from the time we agree on a schedule and take care of the payment, to the time when I send the approval version. This may vary with my workload and the size of the project. I’ll need about a week or so to prepare for the in-depth interview, and two to three weeks to complete the approval version.
Rush service is never an option. Please don’t ask.
— read the details —
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The Results
With the résumé thoroughly nailed down (and all the information I send with it), you can go about the rest of your job search without further trouble over the résumé.
My clients have gotten enthusiastic feedback about their résumés from employer-side decision-makers. The résumés have opened doors that were previously shut, and turned around many job searches.
— read the details…
…and read some feedback about my résumés from people in your field—and from HR specialists, on the TESTIMONIALS page.
Value for the Future
I’m with you after the résumé is done—for questions, technical or otherwise, about using the documents I’ve sent you.
(“You’ve saved me HOURS!” said a client when I walked her successfully through a tricky upload process.)
A résumé that you can revise and update yourself. Plus tips on how to do it.
One client said that this alone made it the best investment he’d ever made.
(Of course, I can do updates for you, too.)
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What the Résumés
Look Like
I don’t slap résumés into templates. Different industries and specialties involve different types of information. The qualifications of different people in the same field may be best presented in different ways.
But they’re all clean, plain-vanilla. Because nothing else will survive the electronic processing that résumés are subject to. I did demanding type and graphics projects for years for leading ad agencies. But visually distinctive résumés turn into garbage at the employer’s end.
Hiring decision-makers don’t like fluff and eye-candy, either. They have no time for it, and they’re sick of seeing it.
With my experience, I can make clean, plain-vanilla look at least a little better than just about anyone else can.
— read the details —
I Show What I Sell
This plain-vanilla site is an indication of what I can do with information presentation in a plain-vanilla résumé. You can read the main points, and then go down one or more layers deeper whenever you like.
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Résumé Realities
The extensive consumer information on this site is meant to be a special resource to résumé shoppers, even if they are not potential clients for us.
Take a look at Killer Myths, conventional wisdom about résumés that wrecks many people’s job searches.
A lot of what “everyone says” about résumés—everyone from the “experts” to your in-laws—is just guesswork, sales hype, and partial information, carelessly copied, chopped up, mixed together, taken out of context, and repeated for decades, often long after it’s outdated. (How does this happen? See our #1 Résumé Tip.)
There’s also a lot more to résumés than people think. A lot more to the writing, to the visual presentation, and to the technical aspects of creating and using résumés.
The résumé business is also a lot more complicated than people think. There are no standards for anything. The price/quality relationship can be very loose. Certifications mean next to nothing. See The Résumé Business in General.
That’s why I’ve prepared the Résumé Realities page, and the many pages it links to.
There’s a lot of valuable information on those pages. Some of it you may not find anywhere else, and I doubt very much that it exists all in one place anywhere else.
It’s also an example of my own approach to the résumé business. I invite you to compare it to what you see elsewhere.
ABOUT CRYSTAL RÉSUMÉS
Crystal Résumés is basically me, Ken Dezhnev. I started it in 2008, and have owned it and done all the work ever since. I’m a lifelong communications professional who eventually decided to specialize in résumés. I’ll do all the interviewing, writing, and formatting on your résumé. I don’t farm work out. (That’s why I can take only a limited number of projects.)
Before starting Crystal Résumés, I had over twenty years of experience doing writing and editorial work for leading national ad agencies, corporations, and publishers in New York City (where I started out), along with digital typography and graphics work (including technical consulting, quality control, font consulting, and production with InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Fontographer) for similar clients and for design studios and specialized type houses. I then did similar work in Minnesota for five years.
I’ve edited and re-written proposals and key business communications for marketing consultancies and other firms, consulted on editorial style, and edited scholarly and technical books, reference works, and doctoral theses.
I’ve also been a hiring manager on the technical production side. And having gotten myself hired as a freelancer or staffer in just over one hundred different organizations since I first entered the world of work, I’ve had quite a bit of practical experience with hiring processes in a variety of businesses.
Some of the better-known organizations I worked for directly in New York were:
• Ogilvy & Mather
• Time magazine marketing department
• KPMG
• Estée Lauder
• Gerstman & Meyers (now Interbrand)
• Grey Direct
• RAPP Worldwide
• Doremus Advertising
• Wells Rich Greene
• Bozell Worldwide
• Macy’s
• Scholastic, Inc.
• Miramax
• Crain’s N.Y. Business
• Atlantic Monthly
• American Lawyer magazine
… along with dozens of lesser-known ad agencies, design studios, and specialized production houses, some of whom were names to conjure with in New York at the time. (At one of these, known as PDR, one spring night, I had the complete annual reports of three of the Fortune Five on my desk at once, for quality control.)
Before that, while I was in grad school, I did proofreading and copy-editing for Penn State University Press, and edited graduate theses and papers for the Penn State University Thesis Office.
In Minnesota, before starting Crystal Résumés, I worked for:
• Martin/Williams
• BI Worldwide
• Thomson West (Reuters)
• Campbell Mithun
• Allina Media Services
• and other ad agencies and design studios
People who knew my work occasionally asked me for help with résumés. When they saw the results, they always told me I should make a specialty of it. Eventually I did, starting Crystal Résumés in 2008, a few years after moving to Minnesota.
I serve clients all over the U.S., and I’ve worked directly with clients in the U.S. and around the world to create international CVs for foreign employment. Of course, I have a strong client base where I live, in the Minneapolis—St. Paul metro area and the Upper Midwest. (I’m located in Plymouth, MN, near 494 and 55.)
Letters after my name? I could put “M.A.” if I wanted to. B.A. and M.A. in Philosophy, including three years of grad school on academic fellowships. I sweated blood for that. But, as guarantees of even minimal competency in any professional or intellectual skills or knowledge, those degrees are meaningless to anyone who doesn’t already know me. I'm also IRTFM-qualified in several key technical specialties and software applications—validated by years of professional experience for the sort of clients listed above.
Beware of imitations! Remember: it’s crystalresumeS-dot-com.
Since I started in 2008, I’ve accumulated some imitators, including some who have “borrowed” text from this site. Some have even tried to steal the Crystal Résumés name.
When looking for Crystal Résumés on the Web, it’s best to use the URL, crystalresumes.com, rather than searching for “Crystal Resumes.” You are not dealing with Crystal Résumés if you are dealing with anyone under that name using a Web site other than this one, or a Web or e-mail address other than crystalresumes.com.
“Crystal Résumés” is a registered trademark and registered d.b.a. of Ken Dezhnev. Crystal Résumés is a registered business in the State of Minnesota. Neither Crystal Résumés nor Ken Dezhnev have any relationship with any other persons or firms offering résumé services.
Specialties
Executive & Upper Management
About one third of my clients are in executive management: CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CIOs, company owners, board members, presidents, and VPs. They’re in all sorts of industries, in corporate, public-sector and non-profit organizations. They’re in every area of corporate and organizational management: enterprise leadership, sales, accounts, finance, operations, technology, human resources, planning, marketing, facilities, security, and so on.
So I’ve probably got a good deal of experience that’s closely relevant to your career, and I can also anticipate the perspectives of the entire management team that may be considering your résumé.
The in-depth information I gather from you will enable me to tell stories with a few bullet points—portraying complex projects, challenges overcome, important achievements, and trends of continual advancement—all of which points straight to your value to your next employer.
Sales & Accounts
I’m particularly happy that my many sales and accounts clients appreciate my own specialized sales communications skills. They’re in a range of fields: in B2B products and services, in commodities, in consumer products, in manufacturing or specialized technology, in outsourcing, in logistics or distribution, in consulting services, in all sorts of specialties. Some of my sales clients have huge portfolios of simpler products, some have small portfolios of highly-specialized and complex services or technology products.
Senior-level sales and accounts responsibilities can cover a lot of ground, and I make sure to cover all that ground when I interview you. Then I select and arrange the information to tell the full story, a story more widely relevant to employers than what they’re used to seeing.
IT, Engineering, & General Technology
An information-based approach to résumés is especially appropriate to technology—not only for the obvious reasons, but because you have to go beyond the technology, with information about how you achieved your results—not only how you used your resources and how you led teams and projects, but also how you worked with senior management, with clients, and with the non-tech parts of your own and of client organizations. The “how” side, in combination with a fully professional presentation of the technical side, will make your résumé stand out clearly from most technology résumés.
A large portion of my clients are in IT, particularly at project management, department management, and executive levels.
Many other clients are in various fields of engineering, at all levels up to senior management and company ownership.
Healthcare Business & Management
In Minnesota, where I’m based, healthcare, both for-profit and non-profit, is big business. I’ve had many clients in all areas of the field, from nurse administrators to CEOs: executives in all management roles, sales and accounts people, IT and telecom specialists, research and testing managers, technicians, and caregivers. I’m experienced with the special requirements of regulated healthcare businesses and licensed healthcare providers.
In addition to résumés, I have extensive experience in healthcare industry communications—healthcare advertising and corporate communications, documentation and packaging for many dozens of prescription and OTC pharmaceuticals, and technical documentation for more medical devices than you can shake a stent at.
Where my executive clients come from:
Clients with management and senior tech positions in the following organizations (and many others) have come to me to help prepare them for their next move:
• Target*
• Cargill*
• U.S. Bank
• Wells Fargo
• UnitedHealth*
• HealthPartners
• Boston Scientific
• Supervalu (United Natural Foods)
• 3M
• General Mills
• Ecolab
• Express Scripts
• Digital River
• Medica
• OfficeMax
• Polaris
• Deluxe Corp.
• Delta Air Lines
• Schwan’s*
• General Motors
• UPS
• Wal-Mart
• Accenture*
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Defense Intelligence Agency
• United States Navy
• Ameriprise
• Andersen Corporation
• Avnet Electronics
• Carleton College
• Digi International
• Dynamics Research Corp. (now part of Engility)
• Equus Computer Systems
• Graco
• Harland Technology Services
• Hunt Electric Corp.
• Landscape Structures
• McGough Construction
• Minnesota state government*
• National Co+op Grocers
• Nilfisk Advance*
• Opus Architects & Engineers
• Sovran
• Sun Country Airlines
• U.S. Corrugated (now part of McKinley Paper Co.)
• University of Minnesota
• DHL Ecommerce
• Enterprise Rent-A-Car
• Google Creative Lab*
• Kohler
• Principal Financial Group
• Reinhart Foodservice (now part of Performance Food Group)
• Sentara Healthcare
• Wolters Kluwer Health
I’m inevitably less well-informed about where my clients have gone with the help of my résumés. But from repeat clients, and letters of thanks from others, I know they’ve gone to the organizations marked with asterisks above, to positions ranging from middle and senior management and tech on up to C-suite. (I’ve also had clients coming from some of those organizations.) You can read feedback I’ve had from clients in various fields on the Testimonials page.
Entry-level College Grads
I’ll give you the best start possible by careful interviewing to make the most of your life experience and training. You’ll learn a lot from the interview process about presenting yourself, and about how to think about background of interest to employers. Note: Your resumé and presentation will change in important ways in the first few years of your employment—I’ll send you information on what changes you will need to make, with tips on revising and updating your resumé yourself.
“The buyer has need of a hundred eyes, the seller of but one. But dash my vig, they require the seller to make up in tongue what he economises in wision.”
— John Jorrocks, in R.S. Surtees, Handley Cross (1843)
“Form follows function, function creates form.”
— Louis Sullivan, American architect,
in “The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered” (1896)
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