CV writing service?

Thumpette

My Dad is currently job hunting after a couple of years off due to ill health. I was doing up his CV for him as he had no idea where to begin with it.

It set me thinking about CV writing services, and the amount of people who have terrible CVs even though behind it all they might have very good work experience.

I really enjoyed helping my Dad with his, particularly when it turned out well and really sold his skills.

I was thinking this might be a nice thing to do as a sideline to my work, just advertise locally and offer a face to face meeting with people to go through their experience and current CVs and create new CVs for them. I looked on the internet and saw the only options for this was call centre type jobbies where they have a telephone consultation and then charge fairly expensive rates, from €169- €369.

I think I have the skills and know-how to do a really good job with this, I think (and have been told many times) that I have excellent communication skills, particularly written. I always have a lot of experience in both recruitment and people management. Do you think there would be much of a market for this? To be honest I would only like to do 2-3 a month and charge around €100 for a simple face to face consultation and make sure the person is happy with the CV before paying. The company online do printing and CDs and email addresses and all sorts- but my feeling is that people are able to print, people have email addresses, all they really want is a well worded and professional CV.

Do you think there is a potential market for this? Any comments/ critisisms?

Cheers

AARRRGH

Thumpette wrote: »

Do you think there is a potential market for this? Any comments/ critisisms?

Yep, I think it's a good idea.

If you could combine a CV writing service with a mock interview, I think it would be very useful.

Bluetonic

What is the world coming to.

If you don't create your own C.V. then when queried on it during an interview it will be fairly obvious. It's not difficult to write a decent C.V, there are plenty of very good examples online.

Can't think of anyone who would use a service like this.

In the words of Theo Paphitis - I'm out.

Climate Expert

Throw us up one of your CVs (edited if you like) so we can judge quality.

AARRRGH

Bluetonic wrote: »

If you don't create your own C.V. then when queried on it during an interview it will be fairly obvious.

I don't think she means she is going to make up things for them - I think she means helping them put relevant skills on the CV and formatting it correctly.

Bluetonic wrote: »

It's not difficult to write a decent C.V, there are plenty of very good examples online.

I see quite a few CVs every day. You would be AMAZED how bad a lot of them are. You know, basic things like not spelling words properly.

europerson

If one can't write one's own CV, one hardly deserves the job.

Climate Expert

europerson wrote: »

If one can't write one's own CV, one hardly deserves the job.

The job might have nothing to do with document writing skills.

Glowing

If you've been in a job ten years, straight out of school, it can be a difficult enough task, particularly if you're not used to using word processors or if you don't have good writing skills.

I think it's a good idea. There are companies out there however who do this full time- some of them hold short C.V courses for staff who have been made redundant for example.

Go for it, sure you've nothing to loose.

Edit: The mock interview is a great idea.

Thumpette

Thanks- the mock interview is a great idea! I know there are companies out there who seem to have a great service- I'm not trying to take the big boys on- just maybe see if anyone is interested in a personal 'no bells and whistles service'

I certainly wouldnt be making anything up on the CV- just helping present it in a more clear and focused way.

I know it seems like everyone should be able to do this, but the reality is there are huge numbers of people out on the market with very poor CVs, and often great experience when you take the time to dig into it. The problem is Mr Employer who has 5 cvs and 3 interview slots is not going to give that opportunity for the person to explain.

Anyway I always come up with these random notions and rarely go any further- just thought id throw it out there- Thanks for all the replies

2qk4u

I think its a good idea, ive never had a cv and im 39 years old, might need one soon with way things are going, I have no idea what makes a good cv..

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

Eoin

The Scientist wrote: »

I think it would be tough to get going primarily for 2 reasons:

1. Your target market is going to be the unemployed. If i was unemployed i would not have the disposable income for this.

2. Probably more importantly, your 'products' are available freely on the internet. There are a multitude of websites that show you how to write a good CV & give interview tips, including this one (stickies in here). Not to mention that a Recruitment Agency will more than likely do this all for you.

Not all job seekers are unemployed, I'm sure there are a lot of professionals who would like their CV refreshed. There are certainly lots who should, based on what I've seen coming in recently (one was 11 pages).

Not too sure about the recruitment agencies - they are not HR people anymore, they are sales people. They are the ones who sent in the ones I saw recently, so my faith in their ability and/or willingness to spend much time helping someone with their CV is not too high.

I think the idea of a mock interview is very good. The online stuff is handy, but you can't beat sitting down with someone, going through your experience, and letting them lay it out and phrase it properly. That personal service just can't be provided with tutorials.

Bluetonic wrote:

If you don't create your own C.V. then when queried on it during an interview it will be fairly obvious. It's not difficult to write a decent C.V, there are plenty of very good examples online.

That's not the case at all - I don't think anyone is suggesting that it will be fabricated, just that the experience and qualifications will be presented in the best way for a potential employer.

It is amazing how very experienced people can get their CV so wrong.

Agent Smith

Interestingly my local eurospar has an ad for this up for the past few Weeks.

I think its a Good idea, I got a Friend of mine to take a once over on my CV. Now that the Job market is starting to Dry up, I think more and more people will be looking to spruce up their CV's.

even to have this as a evening/weekend gig, i wouldnt think there would be money in it to go full time!

Kimono-Girl

I think its a great idea, i work for a small IT group of companies in cork city and before that i was working in a small music store and i know from experience alot of people need help with CV preperation, with my mum being a graphic designer i learned at about 17 how to do a perfect CV and its worked for me, i got 2 amazing jobs without any qualifications as a result so you could make a big differance with something as small as a great cv.