Beware of AI slop masquerading as "Resume Writer Expert"

I had been applying across various job boards and posts but was simply getting rejected based on my resume just because of the market condition. I was distraught and felt like opting for paid services on LinkedIn to rewrite/ refresh my resume to at least have my foot in the door.

Unfortunately I fell for such "services" and paid ~$70 to rewrite my resume. I availed resume writing services from u/Fresh-Blackberry-394 based on multiple "insightful" posts made here on Reddit across various subs.

The trick of the trade:

1. The user makes such AI slop posts on various subs related to Jobs and Resumes looking out for preys.
2. Preys looking into subs related to jobs and resumes stumble upon such "insightful" posts and DM them.
3. The user sounds professional and shares their GMail ID (teamhirespark[at]gmail[.]com) with the prey to share existing resume so that Hire Spark "team" can review and point out the gaps.
4. Prey shares current resume and gets a prompt feedback from Hire Spark mail pointing out the "gaps" in the resume.
5. Prey acknowledges the gaps and assumes that Hire Spark team are indeed "experts" in resume writing and refreshing. However, prey asks for sample before and after resumes that Hire Spark has delivered.
6. Hire Spark promptly shares some obscured resume of previous preys.
7. Prey reviews the resumes (shared as images btw) which seem professional. Prey seems interested in availing the services.
8. Prey pays ~$70 on Gumroad (hirespark[.]gumroad[.]com). The next parts are interesting.
9. Hire Spark "team" share a "form" to fill out details of your work and skills and what you want to emphasise upon (Leadership vs Technical).
10. Prey fills out the form, selects a resume template from a choice of 3 :D and patiently waits for 48 hours for Hire Spark "team" to share a resume with a human touch, with high ATS score and professional.
11. In 48 hours time you will get a mail from "team" Hire Spark who share below one PDF and one editable Word document for future edits by the prey.
12. Hire Spark team is happy and prey is also happy that they got a new and refreshed resume.

What is actually delivered:

• Mostly AI generated content using generic prompts. Same statements reprhrased to emphasise based on prey target role.
• Layout is completely done using Canva. Most probably some free template.
• PDF document shared has multiple inconsistencies. Certain experience was altogether removed from the resume.
• Fonts across headlines and content were mismatching and font size was to consistent.
• All content was cramped into a single page resume, even for a mid-senior role (~13yrs experience). 9 pt font size was used for content. Even for a printed copy this wouldn't be legible.
• Line spacing was horrible, even though not outrightly legible but was evident that it was inconsistent.
• Indentation was inconsistent across sections.
• Word document shared was completely not suitable for editing purposes. Bullet points were pasted as image and wasn't properly aligned!!

I called out this as shoddy work and one should not pay a premium for using AI content and pasting it in a Canva template as "resume writing expert" and since then I haven't gotten any response over email.

Tried to call out the user on Reddit subs but got blocked and comments were removed by the OP on their posts. Trying to help other job seekers to not to fall prey to such services.

Hope this post doesn't get deleted!