CV Writing

[pjt]

Currently sending out copies of my CV daily to a lot of agents for roles but not getting much/any reponse at the moment. I'm starting to think I might need to get the CV polished by someone who knows what they are doing in that area. Has anyone on here had any good experieice with someone working up a CV for them? If someone can recomend a service I'd be interested in hearing from them..

[vwdan]

Nobody I can really recommend, but yes I had good success with this many years ago, but then less success when It ried it again.

What I found is don't expect somebody to just take your CV and magic it into something top spec - the companies that promise that are the worst, and you'll just find yourself disappointed.

What you really need is something more resembling a CV writing coach - where they tease out the info, help cut the chaff etc. The big one for me was quantifying - giving cold, hard, facts and numbers makes your CV sound far more credible. It's a long process, and hard work, but it can be worth it for sure.

A lot of people hate these services, and I partly get it - there's a lot of crap ones - but I think the overall idea is sound. It's a marketing document, and nobody questions the idea that marketing professionals are better at selling than your average IT guy. Yet for some reason people will put you off spending a days pay on something that could net you tens, or hundreds, of thousands.

[edison]

I've worked with a career coach and though it was very expensive, the service included a thorough CV review and coaching me to rewrite it.

I agree with the post above, don't expect a miracle when getting someone to write your CV. The person who can explain it the best is yourself, especially when it comes to an interview. So I always suggest people write the bulk of their CV themselves.

I critique CVs regularly for people and have read hundreds over the years as a hiring manager for lots of different IT roles. TBH 80% are rubbish so the bar is set low to be better than most. Most CVs get read for perhaps 30-60 seconds by a human or scanned for keywords by an online system. So keywords and concise points around your achievements are crucial.

Bear in mind that agents are inundated with CVs and LinkedIn connection requests/messages (can easily be a hundred a day) so it might not be your CV itself.

I'd be happy to do a quick review of it for you and give you a few pointers - DM me if interested.

[avonleigh]

Currently sending out copies of my CV daily to a lot of agents for roles but not getting much/any reponse at the moment. I'm starting to think I might need to get the CV polished by someone who knows what they are doing in that area. Has anyone on here had any good experieice with someone working up a CV for them? If someone can recomend a service I'd be interested in hearing from them..

Your CV is probably fine it's just the market is so bad. I have never used a CV writing service in all my years so can't recommend one. I would suggest looking on fiverr as it won't cost you a lot, and you can also see reviews there.

[malvolio]

I found them a waste of time and money, the few times I gave them a go. If the first half dozen lines don't persuade the agent (or the bot or the newbie ex-burger flipper doing the sift) don't match the precise requirement and all the key words on their list and demonstrate you have delivered all of them, you're not going anywhere anyway.

[northernladuk]

The main problem is the market. It is common to fire off a ton of CV's and get nothing back. I suffered this myself mid year. I only applied to gigs I'm 100% qualified to do, tailored my CV for every role etc so am absolutely certain it's not me. I wasn't scatter gunning to every role I thought I might be able to do. It was concise and direct and still radio silence.

That said, nothing wrong with checking that you've got your house in order if you've any thoughts your end might not be as good as it can be. I've not heard of anyone having a good experience with a CV writing service though. A few people have mentioned it on here and weren't happy. I've been lucky to be involved in some sifting of CV's so can compare mine to what comes through the door which some can't so if you are in the boat maybe the CV people will help but I have my reservations.

Anyhow.. Here is an article about branding and CV's. Not much use but check the guy/company writing the article. They seem to be the go to partner that CUK uses, but that could purely down to mullah being exchanged so do your own research.

https://www.contractoruk.com/news/00...n_message.html

[sreed]

Currently sending out copies of my CV daily to a lot of agents for roles but not getting much/any reponse at the moment. I'm starting to think I might need to get the CV polished by someone who knows what they are doing in that area. Has anyone on here had any good experieice with someone working up a CV for them? If someone can recomend a service I'd be interested in hearing from them..

I hired someone on Fiverr (most of the highly-rated UK-centric ones are ex recruitment consultants so you can look them up on LinkedIn to gauge how much experience they have in your particular field) cost about £100 or so and a couple of days.

They didn’t do anything magical but they were really helpful in getting a bloated CV down to an easily/quickly reviewable one tailored to an FS PM role. I used that to trim and align my LinkedIn profile as well.

I definitely had better/more responses to the new version so imho it was worth the effort as long as you aren’t expecting anything outlandish.

[pjt]

I hired someone on Fiverr (most of the highly-rated UK-centric ones are ex recruitment consultants so you can look them up on LinkedIn to gauge how much experience they have in your particular field) cost about £100 or so and a couple of days.

They didn’t do anything magical but they were really helpful in getting a bloated CV down to an easily/quickly reviewable one tailored to an FS PM role. I used that to trim and align my LinkedIn profile as well.

I definitely had better/more responses to the new version so imho it was worth the effort as long as you aren’t expecting anything outlandish.

Just checking Fiverr now. Don't suppose you have the name of the person you used? It would be good to get someone with a recomendation.

[saptastic]

I think the cv partners here offer a free cv review of that helps

https://www.contractoruk.com/cv/why_..._reviewed.html

[northernladuk]

I think the cv partners here offer a free cv review of that helps

https://www.contractoruk.com/cv/why_..._reviewed.html

I'm sure they will review it for free. It's how much they'll charge to give you any feedback