We reviewed Rocket Resume to find out if their resume builder and resume templates are good enough to recommend.
Rocket Resume is one of the top resume builder websites available today, offering resume builder services, free resume writing tips, and other career resources.
We tried out their builder to help you decide whether Rocket Resume is worth your time and money.
The Rocket Resume Builder
The primary service that Rocket Resume offers is a custom resume builder.
We used Rocket Resume’s builder to create a resume. Here’s what we thought:
Getting started
First, Rocket Resume asks you how much work experience you have:
Then, it asks you how much education you have:
Finally, you’re prompted to choose a resume template, which you can change later:
Entering your contact info
Next, Rocket Resume asks for your basic contact info and gives you the option to use this info to share your resume with “relevant hiring managers.” The website does not explain what this means.
Work experience
Rocket Resume then asks you for your work experience information and recommends bullet points based on the position you select.
Their resume builder provides many pre-written resume bullet points specific to your industry to help you write your experience section. This can be helpful if you’re not sure how to describe your skills and achievements, or if you’d just like some extra ideas.
However, some of the bullet points that the builder suggests aren’t very good. Here’s an example of bullet points suggested for a barista resume:
These bullet points aren’t specific to a barista role, and they don’t follow our advice for writing resume bullet points.
Use strong action verbs to begin each of your resume bullet points. For example, instead of saying you “Suggested a seasonal gift card campaign,” say you “Spearheaded a seasonal gift card campaign.” And, include numbers that show what your contributions accomplished for the company.
It also suggested some bullet points that are fragmentary or meaningless:
Skills suggestions
Based on your work history, Rocket Resume suggests skills to add to your resume:
Some of these skills are pretty generic, and one or two were unrelated to the position we entered. The skills can all be customized, and you can easily search for other skills by job title.
Resume summary suggestions
The Rocket Resume builder suggests sentences to build your resume summary, but it doesn’t follow a proper resume summary format.
It just gives you a few separate sentences that look like resume bullet points to paste into your summary:
Reviewing your resume
After you’ve created all the resume sections you need, Rocket Resume lets you review your resume and edit your template, reorder sections, fill in any missing information, and name your resume (so you can edit it later).
Here’s what their editor looks like:
Subscription plans
Once you finish your resume you’ll be asked to pay before you can download it.
There are two payment plans:
- Pay $1.95 for 14 day access, after which you will be charged $34.95 (which repeats automatically every month unless you cancel)
- Pay $5.95 for 30 day access, after which you will be charged $71.40 (which repeats automatically every year unless you cancel)
The payment choices are not immediately clear, though, and it looks like “Unlimited Access” is a third payment option (with no price listed). It’s not, though. You choose one of the two payment plans by checking the box next to “14 day access” or “30 day access”.
The website states that you can cancel any time for any reason.
Rocket Resume templates
Rocket Resume claims to offer resume templates on their homepage, but when you click on “Resume Templates” the page reloads with that button now missing.
When you first enter the builder, it asks you how many years of work experience you have, as well as your level of education. Supposedly, this will give you personalized template recommendations:
But when we tried the builder, the same three templates ended up being recommended regardless of what answers we entered, so don’t rely on this feature when deciding which template to use for your resume.
In their resume builder, they offer 13 templates to choose from, and the option to “create your own”:
At first glance, all of Rocket Resume’s templates appear to have several color options. In reality, only a few of the templates will allow you to change the color.
The feature to create your own template doesn’t work as advertised. Selecting this option only gives you a basic-looking template that you can then change the formatting of.
You’d expect this template to be highly customizable, but surprisingly, the colors cannot be adjusted.
Choose a resume template that’s suitable for your profession. If you work in a creative field you can choose a more innovative design, but if you work in a more formal industry it’s better to stick to a traditional template.
Comparison between Rocket Resume and Resume Genius
To compare Rocket Resume and Resume Genius, we also tried creating the same resume with the RG resume builder. Here are a few key ways that Rocket Resume’s resume builder is different from the Resume Genius resume builder.
Tips for each section
The Resume Genius resume builder includes tips for writing each section, which can help when you aren’t sure what to write or how to write it:
Templates
The Resume Genius resume builder recommends different templates based on your job title and education level:
Auto-generated bullet points
The work experience bullet points generated by the Resume Genius resume builder were more complete and better written than the Rocket Resume bullet points:
These bullet points are much more specific to the job title, unlike the bullet points we got from Rocket Resume:
AI generated resume summary
Resume Genius has an AI resume summary generator that created a great resume summary for our job title:
This resume summary follows a standard resume summary format and is much more effective and impactful than what Rocket Resume gave us:
Additional sections
Resume Genius gives you the option to add more additional sections to your resume, including languages:
Rocket Resume only offers four additional sections:
Customizability
Resume Genius has an easy to use resume editor with an attractive user interface and the option to email or save your resume.
You can even download your resume as a text file for free:
To compare, Rocket Resume’s final editing mode is flat and grayscale, and doesn’t include the option to download your resume before purchasing:
Frequently asked questions about Rocket Resume
Still not sure whether Rocket Resume is right for you? Here are answers to some of the most asked questions about their builder and website:
Is Rocket Resume really free?
No, Rocket Resume isn’t really free. There are no free downloadable templates, and to download your resume after building it, you need to pay a fee that ranges from $1.95 for 14 day access to $71.40 for a yearly subscription.
Here are Rocket Resume’s two subscription plans:
- Pay $1.95 for 14 day access, after which you will be automatically charged $34.95 every month unless you cancel
- Pay $5.95 for 30 day access, after which you will be automatically charged $71.40 every year unless you cancel
Is Rocket Resume easy to cancel?
Yes, Rocket Resume is easy to cancel according to reviews from the website’s customers.
How do I stop paying for Rocket Resume?
To stop paying for Rocket Resume, either edit your account settings or reach out to the support team for assistance.
How do I contact Rocket Resume?
You can contact Rocket Resume via email at support@rocket-resume.com or via phone at 1 (888) 586-8975.
Additional resume builder reviews
For more information, check out more of our resume builder reviews:
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About the Author
Nathan Soto is dedicated to providing practical guidance to job seekers, especially people with nonlinear career paths.
Nathan graduated from the University of Nevada with a double B.A. in French and Music. His articles and career advice have been featured on multiple platforms, offering insights into resume writing, interview preparation, and personal branding.
