Let’s Eat, Grandma, a resume writing service, published a decision framework on September 10 identifying six criteria senior leaders should prioritize when selecting executive resume writers, according to a guide posted to the company’s website. The framework addresses a common challenge faced by directors, vice presidents, and senior managers: distinguishing meaningful expertise from generic promises when nearly every provider advertises ATS compatibility, professional writers, and interview success.
TL;DR: A resume service company released a six-criteria evaluation framework for senior leaders choosing executive resume writers, emphasizing executive positioning and career-change expertise over generic ATS optimization claims.
Guide Identifies Executive Positioning as Primary Differentiator
The guide distinguishes executive resume writing from mid-career or entry-level services by focusing on how effectively a writer communicates leadership scope and business impact. The framework contrasts weak phrasing—”Managed operations and improved team performance”—with executive-level positioning that quantifies scale: “Directed a 75-person regional operations organization, redesigning workforce and performance processes that reduced operating costs by 18% while improving service-level performance,” the guide states.
According to the published criteria table, senior leaders should evaluate services across six dimensions: executive positioning, career-change expertise, ATS strategy, human expertise versus automation, customization beyond templates, and strategic support that extends to LinkedIn optimization or job-search direction. The guide notes that price alone does not determine quality, stating “the most expensive service isn’t automatically the best” and “the cheapest service isn’t necessarily a bad choice.”

Career-Change Expertise Highlighted for Leaders Pivoting Industries
The framework devotes specific attention to professionals changing functions or industries, identifying this as a scenario where human expertise becomes “particularly valuable.” The guide illustrates how a sales director transitioning to operations leadership might possess relevant cross-functional experience—process improvement, budget management, CRM implementation—buried beneath sales-specific accomplishments like revenue growth and pipeline management.
The publication distinguishes between candidates who need minor updates versus those requiring comprehensive repositioning. Self-assessment questions help readers determine whether professional help is warranted: whether the current resume reads as job descriptions rather than leadership accomplishments, whether it attracts roles below the desired level, or whether it fails to explain an obvious career transition. The guide suggests candidates who need only proofreading or formatting may not require full executive packages.
The framework addresses what it describes as a gap between provider promises and actual deliverables. Most services advertise similar features—ATS-friendly formats, LinkedIn optimization, professional writers—but the guide argues these claims mask variations in how writers handle leadership-level positioning versus tactical accomplishments. The criteria table asks whether services “communicate leadership scope and business impact” rather than simply producing keyword-optimized documents.
Strategy Implications
Senior professionals evaluating resume services face a market where differentiation claims often center on generic features rather than substantive writing approach. The six-factor framework offers a concrete evaluation structure, particularly for leaders whose application success depends on repositioning complex or non-linear career trajectories. The emphasis on career-change expertise acknowledges that executive hiring evaluates strategic thinking and scope of influence, qualities that require more than keyword insertion to convey effectively.
The guide’s distinction between cosmetic updates and substantive positioning work provides a practical decision point: candidates with straightforward progressions within a single industry may require less intensive services than those pivoting functions or consolidating experience across multiple sectors. For job seekers who have already optimized LinkedIn profiles for executive visibility, the framework suggests focusing service selection on how writers translate that positioning into resume format rather than bundling redundant LinkedIn work.
The publication arrives as senior-level job seekers navigate both algorithmic screening and human evaluation, a dual audience that rewards clear hierarchy indicators—team size, budget authority, reporting structure—over generalized leadership claims. Services that demonstrate industry-specific repositioning ability, particularly for career changers, address the challenge of making prior experience legible to recruiters in adjacent fields where terminology and success metrics differ from a candidate’s background.

