CV writing websites

[Mrs Seabiscuit]

Hello Guys,
Are these CV writing websites good or bad? They seem to range in price from very cheap to crazy expensive. I had a free review one from top cv site and it seems it needs re doing.

Or if there is someone here that would possibly help me re do my cv, that would also be appreciated.

Thank you
Hayley

 

[malachi]

Hello Guys,
Are these CV writing websites good or bad? They seem to range in price from very cheap to crazy expensive. I had a free review one from top cv site and it seems it needs re doing.

Or if there is someone here that would possibly help me re do my cv, that would also be appreciated.

Thank you
Hayley

This is who I used last year as my CV writing skills are rubbish https://taylor-cvs.co.uk/

I paid for the top package, which was £250 back then and is way cheaper now. I recommend them.

 

[dowie]

They generally seem to be a load of guff tbh... plenty of templates out there that you can find yourself. Unless your attempts are really bad then I don't see the merit in paying someone else £250 to fill out a template and copy in a load of generic copied and pasted waffle.

You're perhaps better off finding a friend who perhaps studied English and/or works in journalism, PR, marketing etc.. to help you out or give feedback.

 

[Jony27]

My updated CV is probably the most basic it's ever been. Name,contact details,address, experience, education and skills/qualities.

Whereas during my placement year, it was a load of guff put in just for the sake of having it in.

 

[NickK]

I tried one of these back in 2009. I also have had had Penna Sunrise as part of a redundancy package go through and work with me 1:1.

The first tactic is they gave brutal feedback (actually verging on the abusive) to someone still going through the redundancy mental rollercoaster attempting to capitalise to their advantage. Whereas Penna were really supportive but could not provide the right lower level advice due to not being a specialist in the technical areas.

I didn't pursue the CV writer. However I learnt a lot over that period. CVs now are different yet again - almost a page max, tailored precisely to the application. Any attempt to generalise seems to be penalised by the CV sifting algorithms now used by many companies.

 

[malachi]

I tried one of these back in 2009. I also have had had Penna Sunrise as part of a redundancy package go through and work with me 1:1.

The first tactic is they gave brutal feedback (actually verging on the abusive) to someone still going through the redundancy mental rollercoaster attempting to capitalise to their advantage. Whereas Penna were really supportive but could not provide the right lower level advice due to not being a specialist in the technical areas.

I didn't pursue the CV writer. However I learnt a lot over that period. CVs now are different yet again - almost a page max, tailored precisely to the application. Any attempt to generalise seems to be penalised by the CV sifting algorithms now used by many companies.

That's why I paid to get mine done because the average Joe doesn't know about the CV sifting algorithms.

a lot of money I paid....maybe...worth it....yes. It was for me, a CV, cover letter, Linkedin Profile created for me and someone on the line when I needed extra help with tweaking my CV.

I went from hardily nothing to interviews every week for 3 months. Sometimes I had two interviews on the same day. That also gave me the perfect opportunity to practice my interview skills during those months.

 

[Jony27]

@malachi it's probably something I would consider in the future when I'm earning enough to warrant the price for it.
The new role actually went like this LinkedIn>Recruiter>Company which I thought went pretty smoothly.

 

[dowie]

The site mentioned above seems to be the same one mentioned last time this discussion came up, they seem to insert generic waffly phrases into linked in introductions, CVs etc...

I'd suggest that is counterproductive if you've already got a reasonable CV as they're not adding things hiring managers are interested in seeing but are seemingly, at best, just padding it out with noise and trying to make it look good.

No one is interested in general claims that you're "commercially astute" and have a "wealth of high end professional expertise" or that you describe yourself as a "self starter" etc... they're interested in what you can do (your skills, qualifications), what you have done/achieved etc...

Getting interest from recruiters isn't hard, just update your linked in with relevant details and they'll generally connect, add any that come up as suggested via mutual connections. They're like flies around a turd sometimes, a newly updated profile and connecting with a couple of them just prompts more to connect as plenty of the recruiters in the same industry are connected with each other. That doesn't require a service, linked in already provides you with the template and can assist there.

 

[chroniclard]

Just by reactivating linkedin and updating my linkedin profile got me several recruiters a week offering to put me forward for positions. Almost dont need to do anything for some areas(Software dev in my case). May be different in other areas.

As for my CV, its 1 page. Short summary of aims and goals, education, relevant skills, work history.