I spent $2,400 on resume writers before I figured out what actually gets you hired.

That number still bugs me. Not because the writers were all bad. Some were solid. But I paid for services I did not need, skipped questions I should have asked, and assumed "military resume expert" on a website meant the person actually understood my DD-214 or knew what a GS-12 Logistics Management Specialist position requires. After separating as a Navy Diver and spending 1.5 years applying to federal jobs with zero callbacks, I learned the hard way that the resume was the problem. And I learned that not every service billing itself as a military resume writer actually delivers.

This article breaks down 10 of the most visible military resume writing services in 2026. I am going to tell you what each one does well, where it falls short, what it costs, and who it is best for. No affiliate links. No paid placements. Just an honest look from someone who has been on both sides of the hiring table.

What to Look for Before You Pay Anyone

Before I get into specific services, you need a framework for evaluating them. I have reviewed hundreds of resumes from paid services through BMR (15,456+ veterans helped so far), and the quality gap between writers is enormous. A good military resume writer should meet all five of these criteria.

1. They ask about the specific job you are targeting. If a writer takes your money and starts writing without asking what roles you are applying to, that is a red flag. A resume that is not tailored to a specific job posting will rank lower in any ATS and will not grab a hiring manager in those first few seconds of scanning. If you are unsure what questions to ask before signing up, read questions to ask a military resume writer before you pay.

2. They understand federal vs. private sector formatting. Federal resumes require specific details that private sector resumes do not. Hours per week, supervisor name and phone number, series and grade, detailed duty descriptions. But modern federal resumes should still be 2 pages max. If a writer tells you federal resumes need to be 4 to 6 pages, they are working off outdated advice. For more on federal-specific services, check best federal resume writing services for veterans.

3. They can translate military experience without dumbing it down. Your MOS, rating, or AFSC carries real weight. A good writer translates it into language a civilian hiring manager can evaluate. A bad writer strips out everything military and replaces it with generic corporate buzzwords.

4. They offer revisions. One draft is never enough. You need at least one round of revisions included in the price. Two is better.

5. They show you real samples. Before and after examples from actual military clients. Not generic templates. Not stock samples from a content library.

The 10 Services and How They Stack Up

I organized these alphabetically so nobody can claim I ranked them by preference. Each breakdown includes what the service offers, approximate pricing (as of early 2026), turnaround time, and my honest assessment.

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1. CareerPro Plus (CareerProPlus.com)

What they offer: Federal resume writing, military-to-civilian resumes, SES applications, LinkedIn profiles. They have been around since 1986 and specifically market to military and federal clients.

Pricing: Starts around $600 for a basic military-to-civilian resume. Federal packages run $800 to $1,500+ depending on grade level and add-ons like LinkedIn or cover letters.

Turnaround: 5 to 7 business days for initial drafts. Rush options available.

What they do well: They genuinely understand federal hiring. Their writers know USA Staffing, know how to format for USAJOBS, and understand the difference between a GS-7 and a GS-13 resume. They have been doing this longer than most competitors have existed.

Where they fall short: Price. At $600+ for a single resume, you are making a significant investment. And that resume is tailored for one job or one type of position. When you pivot to a different career field (like I did six times in federal service), you need a new version each time. I wrote a full CareerPro Plus review that goes deeper on the specifics.

Best for: Veterans targeting senior federal positions (GS-13+) who have the budget and want a hands-off, done-for-you experience.

2. Hire Heroes USA (HireHeroesUSA.org)

What they offer: Free resume writing, career coaching, and job search assistance for veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses.

Pricing: Free. They are a nonprofit funded by corporate sponsors and donations.

Turnaround: Varies widely. Some veterans report getting matched with a coach within a week. Others wait several weeks, especially during peak transition seasons (summer and around the holidays).

What they do well: The price is unbeatable. Their coaches are often veterans themselves. They offer a full package of resume help, mock interviews, and job matching. For veterans with zero budget, this is the first place to look.

Where they fall short: Quality depends entirely on which volunteer or staff member you get assigned to. Some coaches are former HR professionals who know ATS inside and out. Others are well-meaning volunteers with limited hiring experience. The resume you get back may be excellent or may need significant rework. Turnaround can also be slow if they are overwhelmed with demand.

Best for: E-1 through E-6 veterans with no resume budget who need a starting point. Also great for military spouses. If you want to explore other free options, see free resume builder options for veterans.

3. Hiring Our Heroes (HiringOurHeroes.org)

What they offer: Resume workshops, career events, a resume builder tool, and fellowship programs through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Not a traditional resume writing service. More of a career ecosystem.

Pricing: Free for service members and veterans.

Turnaround: Self-paced for the resume builder. Events and fellowships have application windows.

What they do well: Their fellowship programs are legitimately valuable. If you get into a Corporate Fellowship or SkillBridge track through them, you get real work experience with a company before you separate. The networking events connect you with employers who have committed to hiring military talent.

Where they fall short: The actual resume builder tool is basic. It walks you through a template, but it does not tailor your resume to specific jobs or optimize for ATS keyword matching. You get a clean-looking document, but clean-looking and effective are different things. See the full Hiring Our Heroes review for a detailed breakdown of the tool.

Best for: Active duty within 6 months of separation who want the fellowship track. Less useful as a standalone resume service.

4. ResumeEngine.org

What they offer: A free veteran resume builder built by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and Hiring Our Heroes. It is technically a separate tool from the main HOH site.

Pricing: Free.

Turnaround: Self-paced. You can build a resume in one sitting.

What they do well: Simple interface. Walks you through each section step by step. Good for veterans who have never written a resume before and need guided structure. It generates a clean, readable document.

Where they fall short: No tailoring. No keyword optimization. No federal resume format option. You get a single generic resume that you will need to customize for every job you apply to. For someone applying to 15 to 20 positions (which is realistic for most job searches), that is a lot of manual rework.

Best for: Veterans who want a quick, free first draft and plan to customize it themselves afterward.

5. Military Resume Writers (MilitaryResumeWriters.com)

What they offer: Resume writing specifically for military-to-civilian transitions. Packages include resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile optimization.

Pricing: $300 to $700 depending on the package. Add-ons like LinkedIn and cover letters push the total higher.

Turnaround: 3 to 5 business days for initial drafts.

What they do well: Focused exclusively on military clients. Writers claim military backgrounds, which helps with understanding your experience. Reasonable mid-range pricing compared to premium services.

Where they fall short: Limited transparency about who the actual writers are and their specific credentials. "Military background" can mean anything from 20-year combat veteran to someone who worked on a military base as a civilian contractor. Ask for your writer's specific qualifications before committing.

Best for: Mid-career NCOs and junior officers who want a human-written resume at a moderate price point.

6. Empire Resume (EmpireResume.com)

What they offer: Military-to-civilian and federal resume writing. They also do executive resumes and LinkedIn profiles.

Pricing: $350 to $1,000+ depending on career level and package.

Turnaround: 5 to 7 business days.

What they do well: They have specific federal resume packages and seem to understand the formatting requirements for USAJOBS. Their portfolio shows before-and-after samples, which is more transparency than many competitors offer.

Where they fall short: Their military-to-civilian samples sometimes lean too heavily on generic action verbs without enough specificity about what you actually accomplished. "Led a team of 15" reads differently than "Supervised 15 logistics specialists managing $4.2M in supply chain operations across 3 forward operating bases." The specificity matters. When you are deciding between a service and doing it yourself, this breakdown of DIY vs. hiring a resume writer can help you weigh the trade-offs.

Best for: Officers and senior NCOs targeting private sector leadership roles.

7. ResuFit (ResuFit.com)

What they offer: AI-powered resume builder with a military-specific option. Generates tailored resumes based on job descriptions.

Pricing: Free tier with limited features. Premium plans $10 to $30 per month.

Turnaround: Instant. AI generates output in seconds.

What they do well: Fast and affordable. You paste a job description and it tries to align your experience. Low commitment to try it out.

Where they fall short: The military translation is surface-level. It recognizes common MOS codes but does not deeply understand the duties, qualifications, or context behind them. Output often needs heavy editing. And AI-generated resumes tend to use the same buzzwords, which means your resume can look identical to other veterans using the same tool.

Best for: Veterans who want a quick AI draft to edit and refine on their own. Not a replacement for a properly tailored resume.

8. TopResume (TopResume.com)

What they offer: Professional resume writing for all industries, including a military specialty. They also offer a free resume review (which is really a sales funnel, but the feedback has some value).

Pricing: $150 to $350 for resume writing. Executive packages go higher.

Turnaround: 7 to 10 business days. Rush options available for extra cost.

What they do well: Scale. They have a large network of writers and can usually match you with someone quickly. The free resume review gives you a baseline assessment of where your current resume stands. Pricing is on the lower end compared to military-specific services.

Where they fall short: TopResume is not a military-specific service. Your writer may or may not have military hiring experience. Some veterans report getting matched with writers who did not understand their MOS at all and produced generic output. The lower price point reflects this. You get what you pay for in terms of military expertise. If you want to make sure your resume is ATS-optimized regardless of who writes it, check ATS-friendly resume builder tools for veterans.

Best for: Veterans targeting civilian industries where military experience is secondary. Less effective for federal or defense sector roles.

9. iHire Military (Military.iHire.com)

What they offer: Job board with resume writing add-ons. Part of the iHire network of industry-specific job sites.

Pricing: Resume writing starts around $200. Job board access has separate subscription tiers.

Turnaround: 5 to 7 business days for resume services.

What they do well: The combined job board and resume service means you can apply to military-friendly employers directly from the platform. The job matching algorithm tries to connect military skills to relevant civilian positions.

Where they fall short: Resume writing quality is inconsistent. Some writers are strong on military translation, others are generic career writers handling military clients as one of many specialties. The platform is better as a job board than as a resume service.

Best for: Veterans who want a one-stop shop for job search and basic resume help. Not ideal if resume quality is your primary concern.

10. Bradley-Morris / RecruitMilitary (RecruitMilitary.com)

What they offer: Military-to-civilian recruiting, career fairs, job matching, and resume assistance. They are more of a staffing firm than a resume writing service.

Pricing: Free for job seekers. They make money from employers who hire through their platform.

Turnaround: Resume feedback comes as part of the recruiting process. Not a standalone resume service with guaranteed turnaround.

What they do well: They connect you directly with employers. If a recruiter picks up your profile, they will help tailor your resume for specific positions they are trying to fill. The career fairs are genuinely useful for making direct connections.

Where they fall short: They are a recruiting firm first. Resume help is a side benefit, not the core service. If your profile does not match their current openings, you may not get much attention. They are best for certain industries (manufacturing, logistics, operations, engineering) and less useful for veterans targeting other fields.

Best for: E-5 through O-4 veterans targeting operations, manufacturing, or engineering roles who want recruiter-driven placement.

When a Resume Writer Makes Sense (And When DIY Is Better)

After going through 6 federal career fields myself and reviewing resumes from thousands of veterans through BMR, here is what I have seen play out repeatedly.

Hiring a writer makes sense when:

• You are targeting one specific high-value position (think GS-13+ or a director-level private sector role) and the investment pays for itself if you land it.
• You have a complex background that is hard to translate. Think: special operations, intelligence, or highly technical ratings where a civilian hiring manager needs serious context to understand your qualifications.
• You genuinely do not have time. Active duty with 30 days until separation and a PCS happening simultaneously. Paying someone is a legitimate time trade-off.

DIY is better when:

• You are applying to multiple jobs across different fields. A writer gives you one resume. If you need to tailor for 15 different job postings (and you should be tailoring for each one), a single paid resume becomes a starting template at best.
• You want to understand the process. Learning how to tailor your own resume is a career skill you will use for the next 20 to 30 years. Outsourcing it every time you change jobs gets expensive fast.
• Your budget is tight. If $500+ on a resume means you are skipping something else you need during transition, it may not be the right call.

I wrote a detailed comparison of DIY vs. hiring a military resume writer that digs into this decision deeper. And if you want a middle ground, free veteran resume help covers ways to get expert feedback without paying full price.

Where BMR Fits In

I built Best Military Resume because I was frustrated with the options that existed when I was transitioning. Paid writers were expensive and gave me one resume at a time. Free tools gave me a template but no tailoring. I wanted something that could take my actual military experience, match it against a specific job posting, and produce a resume that a hiring manager would read past the first paragraph.

BMR is not a resume writing service. Nobody sits down and writes your resume for you. It is an AI-powered platform built specifically for veterans and military spouses that lets you generate tailored resumes for individual job postings. The free tier gives you 2 tailored resumes, 2 cover letters, LinkedIn optimization, elevator pitches, an email signature generator, company reports, and a job tracker. You put your experience in once and can tailor it as many times as you need.

Is it right for everyone? No. If you want someone to do all the work and hand you a finished product, a paid writer is your move. If you want to learn how your experience translates and have a tool that helps you do it across many applications, that is what the military resume builder was designed for. For federal positions specifically, there is a separate federal resume builder that handles the additional formatting requirements.

The Questions That Actually Matter

Whatever route you take, these are the questions you should be asking before you commit money or time to any service.

Has your writer been hired into the type of role you are targeting? Writing a resume for a GS-11 Contract Specialist is different from writing one for a private sector project manager. A writer who has only done civilian resumes may produce something that looks professional but misses the keywords USA Staffing is scanning for.

How many revisions are included? One round is the minimum. If revisions cost extra, factor that into the total price. A $300 resume with $100 revision fees is really a $400+ resume.

Will they tailor for a specific job posting or give you a generic resume? This is the single biggest differentiator. A generic "military-to-civilian" resume will rank lower in any ATS because it is not matching the specific keywords and requirements from the posting. Every job you apply to should get a tailored version.

What is their turnaround if you need revisions? Some services take a week for revisions. If you have a job posting with a closing date in 10 days, that math does not work.

Do they have before-and-after samples from your branch and career field? An Army infantry resume is nothing like a Navy nuclear engineering resume. "We specialize in military resumes" is not enough. You want to see that they have worked with someone whose background looks like yours.

What to Do Next

If you have the budget and want a done-for-you experience, CareerPro Plus or a similarly established military-specific writer is a solid choice for federal roles. If you have zero budget, start with Hire Heroes USA.

If you want to build the skill of tailoring your own resume and apply to multiple jobs without paying $500 each time, try the BMR military resume builder. Two tailored resumes are free. You will see in about 10 minutes whether the output matches what you are looking for.

And whatever you do, do not hand your money to someone without asking the right questions first. Read through the questions to ask a military resume writer before you pay before you sign anything.