Do You Need a Résumé Writer or Career Coach? Start With Your Situation.

You can be employed, experienced, and successful on paper—and still need help figuring out your next career move.

Maybe your responsibilities keep growing, but your pay hasn’t. Maybe you want to leave a difficult manager without walking away from the career you have built. Or maybe you have rewritten your résumé, tried AI, and submitted applications, yet still aren’t getting the conversations you hoped for.

Those situations can all lead someone to look for career help. They deserve different questions before anyone recommends a service.

While working on the OSPP website, I kept returning to that idea: you shouldn’t need to understand our service menu before you can explain what is happening in your career.

After more than 15 years in this work, I believe the conversation before the recommendation matters. The starting point should be the problem you want to solve, what you have already tried, and what you need your next move to make possible.

“I need a new résumé” may be the beginning of the conversation

A résumé is a familiar place to start. It is something you can open, edit, and send. When applications aren’t producing results, changing it can feel like the most practical action available.

Sometimes your materials do need attention. Your responsibilities may be clear while your accomplishments are hard to find. Your LinkedIn profile may tell a different story from your résumé. Or the language you use may make sense inside your current organization but need more explanation for a different employer.

Other times, the first question is about direction. Which roles are you pursuing? How closely do they match your documented experience? Are you aiming for a promotion, a different industry, remote work, or a more sustainable schedule?

Those answers influence what your résumé should communicate. A rewrite is easier to evaluate when you know the role it needs to support.

If you’re applying without interviews, look at where the search begins

Repeated silence can be discouraging. It can also leave you making changes without knowing what you are trying to improve.

A useful review looks at your target roles alongside the materials you submit. Are your relevant qualifications easy to recognize? Do your achievements support the level you are targeting? Is your experience aligned with the opportunities you are choosing?

That is the purpose of OSPP’s 3-Point Career Positioning Review: examine your résumé, LinkedIn, and positioning, then identify findings and priorities you can act on. A review can help you decide what deserves attention before committing to a full rewrite.

No one reviewing an application from the outside can know every reason an employer did or didn’t respond. The goal is to examine the evidence available and make your next changes more intentional.

If you’re employed but unhappy, define what needs to change

You do not have to be unemployed to seek career support.

You might like your profession and need a healthier working environment. You might enjoy your work but want compensation that better reflects your responsibilities. You might need flexibility, a shorter commute, or a clearer path to leadership.

Before planning an exit, it helps to separate what you want to leave from what you want to move toward. Would a different manager, employer, role, or industry address the concern? What would you need to learn about the next opportunity before deciding it fits?

A Career Strategy Session gives us space to discuss your direction, target roles, positioning, and next-step priorities. You can bring uncertainty to that conversation. You do not need a finished plan.

If you’re interviewing without offers, your preparation deserves a closer look

Getting interviews means you have reached a different stage of the process. It is worth examining that stage before assuming the answer is another résumé rewrite.

You may want help choosing examples, explaining your contribution, answering a difficult question, or showing how your experience connects to the role. You may communicate comfortably one-on-one and feel less prepared in a panel or leadership interview.

Interview coaching creates an opportunity to practice, receive feedback, and prepare more deliberately. Employer needs, competition, and other factors still affect hiring decisions; preparation focuses on the parts you can work on.

Four questions to ask before choosing career support

You do not need to assess your entire career at once. Start with these questions:

1. What do I want to change? Name the concern as specifically as you can: compensation, workplace conditions, interview responses, direction, or search workload.
2. Where am I getting stuck? Choosing roles, getting interviews, advancing through interviews, and managing applications call for different conversations.
3. What have I already tried? Your previous efforts help establish where a professional review or a different approach could be useful.
4. What kind of help do I want? An assessment, a live strategy conversation, practice, rewritten materials, and managed search support involve different deliverables.

Clear scope matters. You should understand what you will receive, what you will need to provide, and what happens after you pay. A written review, a coaching session, and a managed job search are separate services.

Why OSPP starts with your situation

I want someone visiting OSPP to recognize their concern and understand the support available to address it.

Our situation selector lets you explore what you are experiencing and answer two quick questions to make the guidance more relevant. Those brief answers are a starting point; they do not replace a professional review of your circumstances.

You can then see the relevant service, price, and next steps before deciding. If your situation does not fit the options, you can ask us to clarify the appropriate support.

Your career has context. The help you choose should make room for it.

Start with what you want to change.

If you’re ready for professional career support, choose the situation closest to yours and explore the relevant services.

Find support for my situation →