After I separated from the Navy as a diver, I spent $400 on a resume writer. She had great reviews, a professional website, and promised a "military-friendly" resume in five business days. What I got back was a generic corporate document that buried my clearance, stripped out every technical qualification, and used the word "synergy" twice. I applied to 47 jobs with that resume. Zero callbacks.

Then I tried doing it myself. Took me weeks of trial and error, but once I figured out how ATS keyword matching actually works, how hiring managers scan resumes, and what federal applications need that civilian ones do not, I started landing interviews. Six federal career fields later, I turned that process into BMR's Resume Builder so other veterans could skip the 1.5 years of frustration I went through.

So when someone asks me "should I write my own resume or hire a professional?" my answer is: it depends on four things. Your timeline, your target sector, how much you know about ATS and hiring manager psychology, and how willing you are to learn a repeatable skill. This article breaks down each option with real costs, real trade-offs, and a decision framework you can use right now.

What Does a Military Resume Writer Actually Do?

A resume writer who specializes in military transitions does two things: translates your military experience into civilian language and formats the document to rank well in applicant tracking systems. Some also offer interview coaching, LinkedIn optimization, or federal resume packages. Prices range from $150 for a basic template fill to $2,000+ for a full executive career package.

The good writers know which keywords map to which industries. They understand that a 91B Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic translates differently for a fleet maintenance supervisor role at Penske than for a GS-1811 Criminal Investigator position at ATF. They handle formatting, structure, and the professional summary. You do an intake call, answer questions about your service, and get a polished document back in 5-10 business days.

The bad writers -- and there are plenty -- hand you a generic template with your name swapped in. They do not understand military career progression. They do not know the difference between USA Staffing keyword matching and a Workday ATS. They charge $800 and deliver something you could have made with a free tool in an afternoon. I reviewed some of the most popular services in my federal resume writing services breakdown, and the quality gap is enormous.

What Does DIY Resume Writing Look Like for Veterans?

DIY means you research, write, format, and tailor the resume yourself. That could mean starting from scratch with a blank Word doc, using a free template, or using a resume builder tool that handles the translation and formatting for you.

The skill you are building when you go DIY is the ability to tailor a resume for each specific job. This matters more than people realize. A single generic resume applied to 50 jobs will sink to the bottom of every ATS ranking. A resume tailored to a specific job announcement -- with the right keywords pulled from the posting, the right accomplishments highlighted, and the right format for that employer -- will surface near the top. Hiring managers look at the top of the list first. If your resume is sitting at position 47 out of 200, nobody is scrolling down to find you.

The downside of pure DIY is the learning curve. You need to understand how ATS platforms rank resumes (they do not reject -- they rank), how to translate military terms into civilian equivalents, what hiring managers actually look for in the first six seconds of scanning your document, and how federal resumes differ from private-sector ones. That is a real time investment.

The upside is that once you learn it, you own the skill forever. Every job application after that gets faster. Every career pivot gets easier. You are not paying someone $500 every time you want to apply to a different type of role.

Applying to Jobs but
Not Hearing Back?

A generic resume won't cut it — federal and private sector jobs need completely different formats. Our builder knows the difference and tailors your resume to each position you apply for.

Federal (USAJOBS) & private sector formats Translates military jargon into civilian language Tailored to each job — not a generic template

Build Your Resume Free

2 free resumes — no credit card required

How Much Does Each Option Actually Cost?

Cost is usually the first question, so let me lay it out clearly.

Hiring a Resume Writer

• Basic civilian resume: $150-$400. You get one document, maybe one revision. Some of these are template mills where a junior writer fills in blanks.
• Military-specialized civilian resume: $400-$800. A writer who understands military-to-civilian translation. Typically includes a phone consultation and two rounds of edits.
• Federal resume package: $600-$1,500. Federal resumes require specific formatting -- hours per week, supervisor contact info, detailed duty descriptions. A good federal writer knows the difference between GS-7 and GS-12 qualification requirements.
• Executive/SES package: $1,500-$3,000+. Full career documents including ECQs for Senior Executive Service applications. This is a niche service and most transitioning veterans do not need it.

The catch: that price is per resume. If you want to apply to a supply chain role at Amazon AND a GS-1102 Contracting position AND a project management gig at Booz Allen, you need a tailored resume for each one. At $500 per resume, three applications cost $1,500. Ten applications cost $5,000. Some veterans I talk to through BMR have applied to 30+ jobs before landing an offer.

DIY Resume Writing

• Fully free: $0. Use a blank template, research ATS formatting yourself, and write from scratch. Time cost: 15-40 hours for your first resume if you are starting from zero knowledge.
• Free resume builder tools: $0. Several tools exist for veterans -- I compared the best ones in my free resume builder breakdown. Quality varies enormously. Some are just templates with a veteran skin. Others handle the military-to-civilian translation for you.
• Paid resume tools: $10-$30/month. Some platforms charge monthly subscriptions. BMR offers two free tailored resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn optimization, and more with no paywall on the core features.

When Does Hiring a Resume Writer Make Sense?

I am not going to pretend resume writers are useless. Some are genuinely skilled, and there are situations where hiring one is the right call.

You are targeting one specific high-value role. If you know exactly what job you want -- a GS-13 Program Analyst at DHS, for example -- and you are willing to pay $800-$1,200 for a resume laser-focused on that one announcement, a good writer can deliver. The keyword research, the formatting, the language mapping -- all dialed in for that single target. But this only makes economic sense if you are applying to one or two positions, not twenty.

You have zero time and money is not a constraint. Some veterans separate with a concrete job offer in hand from SkillBridge and just need a polished resume for HR processing. Others are retiring O-5s and O-6s with enough savings to outsource the whole transition. If time is truly the bottleneck and budget is not, a quality writer saves you hours. Check my CareerPro Plus review for what a premium service looks like.

You need SES-level executive career documents. Senior Executive Service applications require Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) that follow a specific narrative format. This is genuinely specialized work and most veterans applying at this level benefit from professional help.

Outside those situations, hiring a writer has diminishing returns fast. Especially if you are going to apply to multiple jobs across different sectors -- which is what most people transitioning out of the military actually do.

When Should You Write Your Own Resume?

For the majority of transitioning service members, DIY is the stronger long-term play. Here is why.

You are applying to more than five jobs. The math breaks down quickly when you hire a writer. Even at $300 per resume, five tailored applications cost $1,500. And a generic resume applied to five different types of jobs will rank poorly in every ATS. You need tailoring. Either you pay someone to do it every time or you learn to do it yourself.

You are changing career fields. If you were a 92Y Unit Supply Specialist and you are considering logistics, project management, AND federal contracting -- that is three different resumes with different keyword profiles, different accomplishment framing, and different professional summaries. A resume writer gives you one. You need to own the ability to pivot your own story for each target. I changed career fields six times in federal service. Each pivot required a different resume approach, and the skill of building those resumes was more valuable than any single document.

You want to understand what makes your resume work. When a writer hands you a finished product, you get a document. You do not get the knowledge of why that document works. When it stops working -- when you pivot industries, when you target a higher GS grade, when you move from private sector to federal -- you are back at square one. DIY means you understand the mechanics. You know how to read a job posting, pull the right keywords, translate your military skills, and build a resume that ranks well and reads well to a human.

Your budget is tight. GI Bill BAH does not stretch far in most cities. Separation pay runs out. If you are choosing between a $600 resume service and groceries, the answer is obvious. Free tools exist. Hiring Our Heroes has a free builder. BMR gives you two free tailored resumes. The money is better spent elsewhere in your transition.

What Are the Real Risks of Each Approach?

Both options can go wrong. Be honest about the failure modes before you commit.

Risks of Hiring a Resume Writer

• You get a generic product. Many "military resume writers" use the same template for every client. An Army 11B and a Navy Nuclear ET get the same format, the same structure, the same buzzwords. Your resume does not stand out because it was built on an assembly line.
• The writer does not understand your target sector. Federal resumes and private-sector resumes are different documents. A writer who is great at corporate resumes may deliver a federal resume that is too short, missing required fields, or formatted incorrectly. I have seen writers deliver one-page federal resumes -- that is a problem when the application needs hours per week, supervisor contact info, and detailed duty descriptions.
• You cannot tailor it yourself later. The resume looks professional but you do not understand why certain phrases were chosen. When you need to adjust it for a different job, you either pay for another session or start guessing.
• Quality is impossible to verify upfront. Reviews can be faked. Portfolios show best-case outcomes. You do not know what you are getting until you get it. By then, you have already paid.

Risks of DIY

• You do not know what you do not know. Military jargon, bad formatting, missing keywords -- if you have never written a civilian resume, your first attempt will probably be rough. That is normal. The question is whether you have the time to iterate.
• You spend too long perfecting one resume. Some veterans spend three weeks on a single resume and never actually apply to anything. Speed matters. A good-enough resume submitted today beats a perfect resume submitted next month.
• You skip the tailoring step. Writing one resume and blasting it to 50 jobs is the most common DIY mistake. Each application needs to be matched to the specific job posting. Tools like ATS-friendly resume builders can speed this up dramatically.

How Do You Decide? A 4-Question Framework

I have talked to thousands of veterans through BMR about this exact question. Here is the framework I give them.

For the 15,000+ veterans and military spouses who have come through BMR, the answer breaks down roughly like this: about 80% are better off going DIY with a good tool. They are applying to multiple jobs, targeting more than one sector, and they have at least a few weeks before they need to submit applications. The remaining 20% have very specific needs -- SES applications, one high-value target role, or zero bandwidth -- where professional help makes sense.

What If You Want the Best of Both?

The smartest approach I have seen veterans take is a hybrid one. Use a tool or DIY process as your baseline, then get a professional review on the final product if your budget allows.

Here is what that looks like in practice:

1. Build your base resume with a tool. Use something that handles military-to-civilian translation and ATS formatting automatically. BMR does this. Hiring Our Heroes does a version of this. Get a solid first draft without spending anything.
2. Tailor it yourself for each job. Read the job posting. Pull the keywords. Adjust your professional summary and bullet points to match what the employer is asking for. If you need help with translation, check this before-and-after rewrite guide for real examples of what good tailoring looks like.
3. Get a one-time professional review. Some writers offer resume critiques for $50-$150. They review your document, give feedback, and you make the changes. You keep the skill and the money stays manageable.
4. Apply early and iterate. Do not wait for the perfect resume. Submit, track responses, and adjust. The veteran job search timeline is typically 2-6 months. Use that window to refine.

This hybrid approach gives you the cost advantage of DIY, the quality check of a professional eye, and the long-term skill of knowing how to build and tailor your own resume. It is the approach I recommend to most veterans I talk to.

How to Vet a Resume Writer (If You Decide to Hire One)

If you decide that hiring a writer is the right call for your situation, do not just pick the first one with good Google reviews. Ask these questions before you pay:

• Have you written resumes for my specific branch and MOS/rating? A writer who has done Army 11B resumes is not automatically qualified to write a Navy Nuke ET resume. Military career fields are different enough that branch-specific experience matters.
• Do you write federal resumes or only private sector? These are fundamentally different documents. Federal resumes need hours per week, supervisor information, and detailed duty descriptions. A writer who only does corporate resumes will produce the wrong product for a federal application.
• How many revisions are included? One revision is not enough. You need at least two rounds of edits, and you need to be able to give specific feedback. If the writer pushes back on revisions, that is a red flag.
• Can I see a sample resume for someone in a similar role to mine? Not a template. An actual redacted resume they wrote for a client with a similar background targeting a similar job. If they cannot produce one, they are probably using a one-size-fits-all approach.
• What ATS platforms are you optimizing for? If they cannot name specific systems -- Workday, iCIMS, USA Staffing, Greenhouse -- they are probably just using buzzwords. ATS optimization is real, but it requires knowing how specific platforms handle keyword matching.

What to Do Next

If you are still early in your transition -- three months or more from separation -- go DIY. The time you invest now in learning how ATS works, how to translate your military experience, and how to tailor for each job will pay off for the rest of your career. Start with this full resume walkthrough to see what each section should look like, then build your first tailored resume with BMR's free Resume Builder.

If you are separating soon and need something fast, consider the hybrid approach: build a base with a tool, then pay for a one-time critique from a writer who knows your target sector. You get speed without giving up the skill.

And if you have already hired a writer and the result did not work? You are not stuck with it. Pull up the resume, compare it against the job posting you are targeting, and look for the gaps. Are the right keywords there? Does it read like your actual experience or like a corporate template? Use the military-to-civilian career crosswalk to find what civilian titles match your background, and rebuild from there. The first resume is always the hardest. Every one after that gets faster.