Professional C.V writing services ?

[Edrof]

CVs are life-changing bits of paper. Why you wouldn't want to pay a few quid to significantly raise your chances of a better life is beyond me.

No thanks, I don't think they're completely bizarre, but obviously we have a difference of opinion and clearly as a professional writer yours is going to be skewed towards justifying your own existence. I'm not saying there isn't a use for professional writers I just don't believe that there is much utility gained from using one to create a CV and I'm also rather skeptical re: whether lots of these services are even employing "professional writers".

Wrong again. My advice is impartial and I don't have to justify my existence at all because even though I do write CVs for people I would happily stop tomorrow. I mostly write copy, marketing scripts and other things - CVs are quick jobs that I fit in because people ask for help and I genuinely like giving people a hand. I don't go looking for the work and if someone's CV is good I won't touch it. That puts me very well-placed to give neutral advice that comes from experience, research and talking to recruiters.

As for going to CV companies - I cannot comment and you might be correct in that regard. I don't know how much they charge and have never seen their end-product (I would be interested to see one, I guess).

 

[Energize]

I used one about two years ago, seemed like a good service. Had to tone it down a bit (and the accompanying generic cover letter) as I thought they'd "over egged" my experience, achievements, skills etc, but then again, I've always suffered from impostor syndrome so maybe they were right!

Every position I've applied for since using their cv/cover letter I've got an interview for, so I suppose that's the ultimate measure on whether it's worth it or not.

I used Taylor-vs.co.uk

I'm in the market for a cv rework as I'd rather pay someone else to do it then spend the time on it myself, I've taken a look at that site, but find it dubious because they have no examples/portfolio of work and their responses to negative reviews on trustpilot is disturbing...

 

[dowie]

Indeed, stuff like the below review seems to confirm my initial cynicism/suspicion re: the "professional writers" employed by these companies. Sure maybe there are professional writers such as the poster earlier who occasionally work on CVs, but I suspect a company producing lots of them can't just rely on people like that and will likely have some people whose main job is to produce CVs.

"Took package including LinkedIn and cover letter. assigned to a 'writer' who I wasted 30 mins on the phone to only to be sent a draft 'personal statement' which was verbatim the same as at least 5 others I found with quick google search. Not only that but he hadn't even understood my skills or bothered to work out the most basic of facts like my years of work experience. I noted this to him and I didn't hear anything only to be given new writer who then did a better job however I find myself editing this CV to make it resemble what I actually do and make any sense at all.

Only reason for giving 2 stars and not 1 is the layout and structure are useful and now using. I wouldn't recommend but look online for some example CV structures instead."

And sure enough if you put the following into google search as the reviewer suggests you get a bunch of linkedin profiles all showing permutations of the same template:

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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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This is the sort of self-aggrandising waffle I'm really not interested in seeing within CVs/cover letters. I'm not claiming to be some big shot senior exec but I've had to sift through CVs and interview people in the past. I mostly want to see their qualifications, tangible skills, previous work experience and ideally some progression/achievements within that experience. IMHO the stuff I actually want to see could mostly be covered by bullet points/short sentences and for an entry level hire can probably fit on a single page. The rest of it re: unsubstantiated claims of being a team player, self starter, having leadership qualities etc.. is generic waffle that wastes time. When there are plenty of other CVs to sift through each one is only getting looked at briefly and the waffly bits just increase the chance that important bits get missed.

I think a nice enough layout can be found via easily available templates online and these are frequently going to be butchered anyway by both the recruiter and HR. Recruiters will often want to remove your contact details and may even decide to make their own edits to other parts of the CV. HR might want to remove your name and anything else indicating your race, religion, ethnicity and/or disability. The hiring manager may not even be given a copy of your cover letter - though you should still write one.

 

[Edrof]

That CV provider sounds terrible, to be honest. It's unfair, though, to hang them high for using a template (if it's their own work and designed to present well). Template or no template, the content should always be entirely tailored to the client.

Last point: I detest CVs written in third person.

 

[ChrisD.]

Anyone gone through with one recently, particularly in the IT industry? My contract is up in March so I think I may get one done, just not sure which company to choose.

 

[S@njay]

Anyone gone through with one recently, particularly in the IT industry? My contract is up in March so I think I may get one done, just not sure which company to choose.

I did, 6 months ago.

Was it worth it? Well it cost more than any other company (£250 odd), but there was "some" coaching included. But this company guaranteed that my CV would be at the top of the search results by ensuring the key words were present in the document.

Before I had my CV updated I received a few calls, after the CV was updated there was a noticeable influx of calls. In the end I did get a new job, this was from a recruiter who saw my CV online, so it could have been my CV having better visibility. (This was within 3 months of uploading the new CV, and really taking an active part in my Job Search).

Its taken me over a year to find a new job (With and Without the new CV), that’s mainly due to my skills being so varied (IT Industry / Product Manager) and only looking in my local area. However, the job I have landed seems perfect and is in an industry that I absolutely love.

Personally, I have been happy with the service, and it did get me more calls that I originally had with my old CV.

The company I used was http://www.worklifers.com/home/ and specifically a lady called Jo Bent. Now I don’t know how accurate their claims are with CV Optimisation, but for me it did work. I presume its very similar to SEO for CV’s.

The odd thing was they didnt want me to mention to recuriters that i used thier service, again it could all be smoke and mirrors.

 

[ChrisD.]

I did, 6 months ago.

Was it worth it? Well it cost more than any other company (£250 odd), but there was "some" coaching included. But this company guaranteed that my CV would be at the top of the search results by ensuring the key words were present in the document.

Before I had my CV updated I received a few calls, after the CV was updated there was a noticeable influx of calls. In the end I did get a new job, this was from a recruiter who saw my CV online, so it could have been my CV having better visibility. (This was within 3 months of uploading the new CV, and really taking an active part in my Job Search).

Its taken me over a year to find a new job (With and Without the new CV), that’s mainly due to my skills being so varied (IT Industry / Product Manager) and only looking in my local area. However, the job I have landed seems perfect and is in an industry that I absolutely love.

Personally, I have been happy with the service, and it did get me more calls that I originally had with my old CV.

The company I used was http://www.worklifers.com/home/ and specifically a lady called Jo Bent. Now I don’t know how accurate their claims are with CV Optimisation, but for me it did work. I presume its very similar to SEO for CV’s.

The odd thing was they didnt want me to mention to recuriters that i used thier service, again it could all be smoke and mirrors.

Thank you. I'm going on holiday in a few weeks and intend to use some of that down time to get my CV sorted. I've never really been happy with it so I will do some research into the various companies and get it and LinkedIn sorted.

 

[malachi]

As I've nearly completed my 2 year journey of getting Microsoft Certified (last exam booked for next month) I will be updating my CV, mainly for international jobs.

Can anyone recommend any other CV writing agencies and had success with them?

 

[mid_gen]

If you want your CV to get more exposure, save yourself whatever these companies are charging and stick a skills matrix page on at the end. Easy to scan and read for recruiters, and you can hit every SEO keyword bingo without filling the meat of the CV with loads of useless waffle.

I've got a 100% hit rate with my CVs. Basic template is :

Name, contact details

Intro paragraph, 2-3 sentences summing up career to date and aspirations for next role.

Key skills, 8 bullet points.

Professional history

Job title, company, location, dates
Bullet point major responsibilities/achievements
1-2 sentences describing role and evolution during it
...

Education/Certification
Degree + any relevant certs

Extra curricular
Sports, hobbies, achievements, link to my github page

Skills matrix
Big list of everything I've ever worked with, and a % competency.

For a generic CV, I keep it...generic. For applying to specific roles I heavily tailor the key skills and experience bullet points so it lines up with the JD and drop the skills matrix.

 

[malachi]

If you want your CV to get more exposure, save yourself whatever these companies are charging and stick a skills matrix page on at the end. Easy to scan and read for recruiters, and you can hit every SEO keyword bingo without filling the meat of the CV with loads of useless waffle.

I've got a 100% hit rate with my CVs. Basic template is :



For a generic CV, I keep it...generic. For applying to specific roles I heavily tailor the key skills and experience bullet points so it lines up with the JD and drop the skills matrix.

Thanks, I will look at that.

My problem is, when I had put my CV up a for months ago I was getting phone calls but for 1st line support roles. When my current role is 2nd/3rd line support, clearly they wasn't reading my CV and feeding it through what system they use (ATS??) So I took it down.

 

[mid_gen]

Thanks, I will look at that.

My problem is, when I had put my CV up a for months ago I was getting phone calls but for 1st line support roles. When my current role is 2nd/3rd line support, clearly they wasn't reading my CV and feeding it through what system they use (ATS??) So I took it down.

That's just lazy recruiters for you, can't expect them to actually read CVs you know!

There are good ones out there....try finding some on linkedin.

 

[dowie]

roles like 1st line support often won't be handled by experienced recruiters but more likely by one of the many new recruiters who might not last more than a few months in the job so the people you get phoning you for those roles will on average be even worse than the usual low standard we tend to see among recruiters in general

 

[malachi]

roles like 1st line support often won't be handled by experienced recruiters but more likely by one of the many new recruiters who might not last more than a few months in the job so the people you get phoning you for those roles will on average be even worse than the usual low standard we tend to see among recruiters in general

Hence why I am thinking of getting my CV professionally done to avoid all the crappy recruiters.

I don't have an LinkedIn profile either as I don't do social media so paying the extra might help.

 

[dowie]

I'm not sure why you think a more professional CV will help you avoid them. It might help attract better ones too or more recruiters in general but the bad ones will still be out there.

LinkedIn is a no brainier, in fact if you don't have an account yet then I think you'll probably get the biggest gain here simply by doing that. When you join you'll add a bunch of colleagues, you'll likely find plenty of them are connected to recruiters, in fact you might end up with suggestions for some recruiters multiple colleagues are connected to, no harm in adding them too (plenty of them will add you too if they see you pop up and you're connected to several of their existing contacts).