What might surprise you is that industry credentials are not required to become a resume writer ... nor are they always needed. I've been shocked viewing works from highly credentialed, yet low quality, resume writers, yet pleasantly surprised at works from someone with no or limited resume writing experience. Quality of your resume writer really boils down to dedication to the industry and their commitment to your writing project.
Credentials, such as published resumes, resume certifications, and years of experience, do add value to your resume writer because it shows you that this resume writer is serious about their profession and takes an active stance to qualifying to handle your (or anyone's) project. For a "quick-view" of resume credentials, here's a chart of those most popular: Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW); noted as one of original certification processes pioneered by the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches. Resume writers with limited professional experience oftentimes take and pass this credential before tackling other difficult credentials — or branching out into other career programs that will complement their resume service such as interview training or career coaching. Credentialed Career Master (CCM) is a challenging certification to obtain and currently held by a small (yet growing) number of resume writers. Unlike other certifying programs, the CCM credential requires renewal every couple of years. Meeting re-certification requirements involve academic and professional advancement, adding challenge, yet well worth the effort. Nationally Certified Resume Writer (NCRW) is unique in that it requires a certain degree of Continuing Education Units (CEU's) before qualifying to take the exam. Once the exam has been taken and passed, the NCRW credential is active for a 3-year period. A follow-up exam every 36 months is required to maintain the certification. | 
