CV writing services

Can I recommend that you don't and that you write your own? Reason being I am one of the guys that goes through hundreds of CV's when recruiting for my team and the ones written by these services stick out like a sore thumb. For example I recently recruited a new tech and had some 300 CV's. Around half of those CV's were indistinguishable at a glance, looking closer I think they probably all came from people that had sat a basic course like Compu+ all laid out the same with similar content and to me it looked like they were all written by the same person.

I won't lie in the end I was just dumping the CV's that all looked the same because it was obvious that the person applying for the job hadn't written them, perhaps they provided some content or whatever but for the most part they were all very similar and as somebody who hires people I want to see something that isn't the same as everybody else that applies. Your CV should be used to set yourself apart, not to allow you to get lost in all the dross.
 
I disagree, Vince. The vast majority of the many self-penned CVs I've read was utterly terrible. Perhaps the online writing services houses churn out bland, templated CVs but a proper writer will create a bespoke and punchy document that will stand out and be professional.
 
Edrof said:
I disagree, Vince. The vast majority of the many self-penned CVs I've read was utterly terrible. Perhaps the online writing services houses churn out bland, templated CVs but a proper writer will create a bespoke and punchy document that will stand out and be professional.
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We are on a discussion forum we aren't here to agree. :D It's a bit of a weird one I guess as I am sure there are services out there that will write you a cracking CV but just beware of the "churn houses" as described in my post. As I said at least half of the 300 cv's were near on identical in terms of layout, qualifications, length of sections etc. As a employer/decision maker I found it incredible that people seemingly couldn't be bothered to spend the time required to write a CV. Personally I have several CV's tuned for different roles, I have a managers cv, a proper techie CV and a cut down version that sort of includes both aspects. Depending on the role depends on how a gear the CV. To be fair though I have never had to use it as I have never had a proper interview, I have always been approached when not looking for work by people ive previously worked with. It probably helps that I worked for a small bespoke company that employed around 100 FD's who were put into FTSE and AIM listed companies on an interim basis.

So really my experience is from somebody who has to read the damn things.
 
My twopence.

Not a lot of point in having a perfectly polished CV if it doesn't reflect you IMHO.

You can get a pretty good gauge of a person through their writing style - I would tend to favour somebody that I felt was honest with a relevant covering letter, even if their CV looked like turd.
e.g. I looked at one recently which was obviously 95% filler buzzwords and egotistical BS, I couldn't even tell you what it looked like, it might have been fantastic, but I'd already made my mind up within 3 seconds.

IIRC the average stats for employers looking at a CV during a first sift is around 10 seconds per applicant.

My tips would be keep it clean, neat and relevant to the job you are applying for. If they have got to work to find the information they are looking for it is already a lost cause.
Run it through a spelling and grammar checker, get your mum/girlfriend/uncle tom to read it - whatever it takes so you don't have any obvious mistakes, a second pair of eyes is always worthwhile.

If you are applying for a specific job, take the time to work out who you are sending it to and address it correctly (check the company website, do some digging), nothing worse than "To Whom it may concern". Many places will want you to fill out their own application form, which is what they will use for comparing candidates as it keeps the information consistent, so make sure you fill it in if requested.
 
I used a CV writing service to do my CV, create a cover letter and do my LinkedIn profile last year.

I was having interviews every week for months and the reason why I have the job I have now.

So it was worth it for me but I did give them my old CV to work from.
 
malachi said:
I used a CV writing service to do my CV, create a cover letter and do my LinkedIn profile last year.

I was having interviews every week for months and the reason why I have the job I have now.

So it was worth it for me but I did give them my old CV to work from.
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Name of the company?
 
I was looking for an Deskside Engineer for the last company I worked for, the standard of CVs was appalling basically just 1 line for everything they listed, I would've welcomed a generic CV to read (some were like Facebook updates!!)

Best advice I got was to make the CV no more than 2 pages and make it stand out, apparently recruiters spend approx 30 seconds max checking CVs so you have to peak their interest.

Also make it relevant to the position you're applying to and maybe tweak a few points to emphasize key skills in relation to the job
 
dowie said:
They got mentioned last time this topic appeared, turned out they just use a template and fill it with pointless waffle/generic phrases etc...
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Maybe the do.

But I had a 45min phone consultation with them, sent them my old CV. After 2 days they improved it and that's when all the interviews started flooding in.

As the saying goes "Don't knock it until you've tried it"

I tried it and was happy with the results.
 
malachi said:
But I had a 45min phone consultation with them, sent them my old CV. After 2 days they improved it and that's when all the interviews started flooding in.
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I doubt very much that a changed CV in itself caused interviews to suddenly "flood in", I suspect that if your old CV had been dormant on some recruiting portals then *any* update to it (assuming it wasn't dire) would trigger contacts from recruiters.

Likewise if you actively applied for roles after getting a new CV then...

Its not getting so many hits in google this time but when they were mentioned before then you could search for the below waffle and get a bunch of linked in profiles:

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A highly experienced, commercially astute business leader with a wealth of high end professional expertise and technical knowledge, an individual with strong leadership and consensus building skills with expert man management abilities, and a proven track record of delivering results during every stage of the business life-cycle.

A self-starter and highly organised individual able to work well at all levels, with the ability to solve problems and make decisions enabling the efficient and timely completion of work. A professional business leader focussed on delivering first rate service on all projects from inception to completion through effective management and team collaboration
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It doesn't really matter if they've changed the waffle, the point is just that generic waffle like that is such a waste of time. Everyone can proclaim to be a "self starter" etc.. and have an "ability to solve problems" etc.. who cares? It's totally meaningless.
 
dowie said:
I doubt very much that a changed CV in itself caused interviews to suddenly "flood in", I suspect that if your old CV had been dormant on some recruiting portals then *any* update to it (assuming it wasn't dire) would trigger contacts from recruiters.

Likewise if you actively applied for roles after getting a new CV then...

Its not getting so many hits in google this time but when they were mentioned before then you could search for the below waffle and get a bunch of linked in profiles:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A highly experienced, commercially astute business leader with a wealth of high end professional expertise and technical knowledge, an individual with strong leadership and consensus building skills with expert man management abilities, and a proven track record of delivering results during every stage of the business life-cycle.

A self-starter and highly organised individual able to work well at all levels, with the ability to solve problems and make decisions enabling the efficient and timely completion of work. A professional business leader focussed on delivering first rate service on all projects from inception to completion through effective management and team collaboration
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It doesn't really matter if they've changed the waffle, the point is just that generic waffle like that is such a waste of time. Everyone can proclaim to be a "self starter" etc.. and have an "ability to solve problems" etc.. who cares? It's totally meaningless.
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Well that's your opinion. But I'm putting my experience here instead of being negative and blatantly writing it off.

I went from having nearly 0 interviews to at least two interviews every week for about 6 months. Yes, I had to stop applying for jobs for a few weeks because it was getting too much.

It may not work for everyone but at the end of the day it worked for me and I am in a better job, in a better country. No regrets here! :)
 
You didn’t really address the points other than just commenting that I’m being negative - how did the apparent flood of job interviews get triggered?

You were actively applying?

I mean I don’t doubt that if your CV was dire before then it can help but it seems like the same can be achieved by just using a template yourself if really needed.
 
dowie said:
You didn’t really address the points other than just commenting that I’m being negative - how did the apparent flood of job interviews get triggered?

You were actively applying?

I mean I don’t doubt that if your CV was dire before then it can help but it seems like the same can be achieved by just using a template yourself if really needed.
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Oh......I am so hurt I want to cry.......:D:p...Ive already explained :confused:

Ive seen how vocal and active you get in other threads so I'm not going to bother replying to you anymore as I be wasting my time. Ive already told my experience so feel free to go back and read.
 
dowie said:
were :p

I'd agree with Vince tbh... these services seem to just use a standard template and copy and paste generic statements/buzzwords etc...
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In that sentence, "majority" is a singular collective noun so "was" was correct to use.
 
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