The majority of websites offering resume advice were written during the Reagan administration. This was the conclusion I came to after a quick and dirty Google search of said services.

Awful. “Check the newspaper (!) classifieds for current openings and customize your resume for the job.”  Yep, go ahead, do that  –  you’ll get hired on the 12th of Never.

With apologies to the small handful of savvy, reputable, honest resume editors who perform a valuable service for inexperienced job seekers, most of these resume services are nothing but a drain on your wallet.

If I asked 100 employers on what makes a winning resume, I’d get 100 different answers. More than a few would say they don’t even want to look at one!

It’s not about writing a resume. It’s about telling a story –  the story of you.

And if you spend even a few minutes researching your target company, you’ll be ahead of most resume uploaders who couldn’t be bothered.

Of course, there are some basic elements of a resume that are universally needed. No need to get fancy here – just tell us your story, briefly. Show us the person you are.

Send me yours. I’ll look at it for free. I do this for a living and I’m good at it. Save your money. I’m paying the universe back for being so good to me when I was down, out, and unemployed. Contact me on Twitter @johnscottsf and show me you’re serious.

I’ll also send you a free PDF version of my latest little eBook.

John Scott is the Career Services Manager and an instructor at the School of Multimedia Communications, Academy of Art University, San Francisco. His latest book “You. Employed: why winners get jobs” is in the Amazon book store.