Anyone use a professional CV writing service?

[Deus Ex]

You're kidding?

@ HP we binned every written CV we got. Only bothered looking at info graphic CV's

pipe down jay...

 

[atpbx]

Rofl, the same templates that every googles. Your talking rubbish.

One thing most people agree, is template doesn't really matter as long as it's straight forward and easy for them to skim read to find if you are suitable. It's the content that matters.

If you insist, all I would say to anyone out there thinking of using them is don't, save your money write your own and tailor it to the sector you are applying for.

Glaucus here had more success using one he paid for, good for him.

Anybody else who has a solid grasp of written English and a spell checker is better off doing it themselves.

 

[glenimp617]

OP, you don't work for Danwoods do you?

 

[da_mic_1530]

Those infographic CVs look absolutely awful.

As someone who often interviews people for IT development (Oracle pl SQL) jobs I would not be able to take that kind of CV seriously. If its a current trend in the market I haven't seen it yet or else HR are vetting them first

 

[Em3bbs]

You're kidding?

@ HP we binned every written CV we got. Only bothered looking at info graphic CV's - and this was three years ago and they still do it. I know IBM, CSC, Fujitsu - all the big IT employers - employ similar CV screening.

Utter balderdash (including at HP).

Although you seem to have turned into a deliberate troll since becoming unemployed so I'm guessing your contribution to this thread is no different.

 

[Nitefly]

I'm curious, do people still write 'Curriculum Vitae' within the actual document? I have previously included CV in the document title (e.g. on a soft copy), but not in the document itself... it's bloomin' obvious what it is and it's just horrible olde worldy language

Layout:
Personal / contact details
Employment history
Education
Other skills and experience
Sentence re: references

 

[dowie]

I'm curious, do people still write 'Curriculum Vitae' within the actual document? I have previously included CV in the document title, but not in the document itself... it's bloomin' obvious what it is and it's just horrible olde worldy language

I don't bother - ditto to 'references available on request' at the bottom - it is stating the obvious, of course you're going to provide references when asked

 

[Nitefly]

I don't bother - ditto to 'references available on request' at the bottom - it is stating the obvious, of course you're going to provide references when asked

I think omitting the references bit could unintentionally lead to an inference that you're not willing to be up-front about giving them.

 

[dowie]

not sure why it would indicate that - they're generally required and you've already listed your current/previous employers

if their policy is to contact the last two employers then I don't think it matters whether you've put down a sentence of waffle or not

 

[slinxy]

As someone who often interviews people for IT development (Oracle pl SQL) jobs I would not be able to take that kind of CV seriously. If its a current trend in the market I haven't seen it yet or else HR are vetting them first

I've asked three different HR girls from three different company's.. one of them has just switched jobs from the education selector to the medical selector, and teaches HR skill in the education. One works for the "biggest" company in the world (yeah it's an IT company) admittedly shes based in a different country from the main HR and my school friend who until 6 months ago travel the country re-training HR staff for companies.

All three was like WTF!?

 

[Nitefly]

Also, that infographic CV in this thread - wut.

 

[dowie]

I think it was a troll post - he's just whacked a bit of career info into a dodgy template - I mean look at the non-specific hobbies section and the meaningless '4 certifications' + the wasted space with '0/ honours' '0/ tests' whatever the hell those were supposed to represent....

he's actually left the logo of the company that produced the template on the thing so if it was supposed to show any creativity then it has massively failed: http://resumup.com/


I can see why someone sitting down and doing one properly might help for some 'creative' jobs... I mean there is even a trend for some people to go over the top and do things like bake a cake with their 'CV' on or send some gift box with their custom packaging describing themselves etc.. but for most professions I'd stick with the standard CV for now.

 

[Deleted member 66701]

he's actually left the logo of the company that produced the template on the thing.

Lol - I said that in my first post:-

use something like ResumUp to generate a CV

It can generate traditional text heavy CV's as well.

It wasn't a troll post, I was just throwing something different out there - feel free to ignore it (which most have, as is their perogative).

FYI - I produced an infographic CV (used resumUp then modified in PS - don't re-invent the wheel) for use when I was looking for my year two work placement - three companies are now fighting to get me, two of which have offered to pay me during my placement (which is v. unusual) - so infographic CV's do work - but this is in a web dev scenario so I concede that point (i.e. more appropriate for creative industries).

So I concede that some some companies might reject infographic CV's (but they'd be the backwards, traditional, inward looking companies that I wouldn't want to work for anyway) and you'd want to tailor your CV to the comapny/role you're applying for - which you should do anyway.

 

[dowie]

out of interest - why the non-specific hobbies and what on earth are the 4/certifications 0/ achievements, 0/tests supposed to represent? Ditto to the rather ambiguous 'identity' section - what were those results based on?

but this is in a web dev scenario so I concede that point (i.e. more appropriate for creative industries).

if it is suitable for 'creative' industries then what does it say when you've clearly used a template and just filled out some basic information?

 

[Moothead2]

This is rather amusing. Please, do go on.

 

[Deleted member 66701]

out of interest - why the non-specific hobbies and what on earth are the 4/certifications 0/ achievements, 0/tests supposed to represent? Ditto to the rather ambiguous 'identity' section - what were those results based on?

That was just a demo - that's not my actual CV.

It pulls in info from your linkedin profile, so if some sections on your profile aren't complete then you'll have spaces/empty fields. You can customise the templates though (depending on subscription level but we only get the mid tier sub with my Uni).

http://vizualize.me/ is another.

 

[D.P.]

If someone handed one of those infographic CVs, I would have to invite them in for an interview.. I would need to see the type of person who would do such a thing.. Lol

I can see that there's a place for them, if your a designer of some sort. As a quick splash on your personal website. Heck even as a faded b/w image on the back of a CV for a summary, for people to say.. "Interesting".

My personal three pet hates about reading other people's CVs.
Rubbish email addresses like [email protected].

IT literate, a waste of two words.. not needed in the modern word and should be as dead as the phrase "words per min".

Information overload, People who explain too much.. Yeah I know how SCCM works, there's no need to explain it on your cv; wait your explanation is wrong.. Humm. It's ok to create an air of mystery about yourself, let me use google, then I may invite you in to discuss it more.

You can add things like "driving license with no points." You re going to sit in front of a computer for 8 how, why the heck do I need know this?

"Hobbies: socializing". So you don't have any and are just lazy waster who regularly gets drunk and spends half the morning recovering slumped at their desk. Reject. In fact unless your hobby includes something like caption of a regional sports team or helping run and manage a local charity or some such then it is largely irrelevant.

School grades when they have an undergrad or even grad degree. Who cares.

Work experience including delivery Newspapers at 16. Useless. Only include the most recent and most relevant work.


Living about language (or anything really). We had some say they have excellent Chinese skills. It just so happens someone from our team is Chinese, hilarity ensued. Same goes for any technology people list being proficient in.

 

[slinxy]

Lol - I said that in my first post:-



It can generate traditional text heavy CV's as well.

It wasn't a troll post, I was just throwing something different out there - feel free to ignore it (which most have, as is their perogative).

FYI - I produced an infographic CV (used resumUp then modified in PS - don't re-invent the wheel) for use when I was looking for my year two work placement - three companies are now fighting to get me, two of which have offered to pay me during my placement (which is v. unusual) - so infographic CV's do work - but this is in a web dev scenario so I concede that point (i.e. more appropriate for creative industries).

So I concede that some some companies might reject infographic CV's (but they' be the backwards, traditional, inward looking companies that I wouldn't want to work for anyway) and you'd want to tailor your CV to the comapny/role you're applying for - which you should do anyway.

That kinda resolves the issue then.... Fresh out of education, lacking in real world work, responsibilities and experience to get two pages of text explaining why they should hire you, so you drew some pictures to fill up the page.

 

[Deleted member 66701]

That kinda resolves the issue then.... Fresh out of education, lacking in real world work, responsibilities and experience to get two pages of text explaining why they should hire you, so you drew some pictures to fill up the page.

Fresh out of education and no "real world work, responsibilities and experience"?

Try again.