CV Review Services

[pootle]

Has anyone had any favourable experience of using a "free" CV review service?
I tried one many months ago, and was quoted many hundreds of pounds for updating my CV, but only if I paid for a "consultant" to convey my technical skills in a more favourable light. I believe that any agent/client worth his salt can screen CV's for free - in the true sense of the word.

Just wondering if anyone's interview hit rate has improved as a result of one of these reviews.

[cojak]

Regulars have been known to peruse CV's if PM'ed nicely - I've even known the odd Agent do it as well.

And it would cost you nowt.

Remove personal details and throw it onto shared Google Docs/Dropbox - I'll start (it'll have to be this evening though - I do have work to do... )

[northernladuk]

I am a strong believe that these review services are best avoided for a number of reasons. Only if you are utterly lost with the basic layout would they be of any help to us. The reasons I think this are...

a) As a contractor we need to change our CV for every single role we apply for so you are going to be constantly re-wording it anyway

b) There are some good CV writing tips on the right bar and some threads here. As Cojak mentioned some of us have done reviews before as well

c) I don't believe that these places know me well or my role well enough to give me the CV they promised. They may just relate back to a standard one they use all the time or some cop out like that. Putting this in front of an agent/client that recognises this won't help

d) My CV is a resume of my life. I just don't feel comfortable someone else doing it. That's just a personal thing.

What will improve your hit rate is to make sure you are re-writing it to highlight the experience you have that is required for the role. It is likely you have much more experience that is valid for one role and not the next that you can't get on your 'standard' CV. Re-write it to include as many of the elements in the job spec you can.

That's assuming you aren't already doing that of course in which case

[SueEllen]

c) I don't believe that these places know me well or my role well enough to give me the CV they promised. They may just relate back to a standard one they use all the time or some cop out like that. Putting this in front of an agent/client that recognises this won't help

WHS

If you want a generic CV then get a writing service to do it.

If you want your own CV then write it your self and ask people around here for help.

[andyc2000]

I used one of these services once, as I was going from permie to contractor and wanted a better (less permie like) CV. However the result was not that much different from what I started with - bit of a waste of time really.

Also when I submitted this 'new' CV to another CV review service (just for fun) they obviously told me it was rubbish and they could definitley help make it better.

WHS

If you want a generic CV then get a writing service to do it.

If you want your own CV then write it your self and ask people around here for help.

[pootle]

a) As a contractor we need to change our CV for every single role we apply for so you are going to be constantly re-wording it anyway

I agree mainly with the above, I have been lax with this lately - still getting interviews, but sometimes with no spec to refer to worst luck.

Then the interviewer turns out to be a developer for a testing role.

[Spacecadet]

a) As a contractor we need to change our CV for every single role we apply for so you are going to be constantly re-wording it anyway

I'm still of the opinion that this is completely unnecessary. It's MY CV not theirs and the beauty of using a CV is that I an just attach the latest version, send it off and then not worry about which version I sent with the application.
I give my CV a good review towards the end of every contract; shortening older entries and modifying skills and personal statement to reflect my current situation and goals.

[northernladuk]

I'm still of the opinion that this is completely unnecessary. It's MY CV not theirs and the beauty of using a CV is that I an just attach the latest version, send it off and then not worry about which version I sent with the application.
I give my CV a good review towards the end of every contract; shortening older entries and modifying skills and personal statement to reflect my current situation and goals.

I can understand that and my colleague next to me said exactly the same thing but my argument there is that yes it is MY CV but I have more skills than I can put in bullet points. To make it an accurate representation of me and my skills in relation to the role I am going for it must be changed. It becomes MY CV for THAT role.

I guess thinking about it your speciality makes a difference. I work in the service delivery arena so can do SDM, Service Introduction, Service Performance, each being a slightly different role so need to demonstrate a slightly different set of skills for each. I guess other roles don't need that level of change.

I still don't think it does any harm to reword it to drop in the keywords mentioned by the jobspec even if a full re-write is not required.

You do make a good point about versions though. I have been caught out at an interview with the wrong one. A little embarrassing but still close enough to prove I am not lying.

[SueEllen]

You do make a good point about versions though. I have been caught out at an interview with the wrong one. A little embarrassing but still close enough to prove I am not lying.

I've done that but it was a phone interview so had all the versions I thought I could have sent over open.

It was more embarrassing asking the agent for a copy of the CV I sent through after the interview, as I was told to make it longer to satisfy the client's procurement process.