Advice on CV service

winterwonder

Just wondering if anyone has any advice on this. I paid to get a CV prepared professionally and when I received it back there was spelling and grammer mistakes present in the CV! I informed the person of this and they fixed what I told them was wrong but am I entitled to a partial refund? Did this ever happen anyone else??

Welease

I'm no expert on this, but I imagine unless they made specific claims about the quality/initial delivery you really dont have a case..

You paid for a CV... you got one...

foggy_lad

winterwonder wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone has any advice on this. I paid to get a CV prepared professionally and when I received it back there was spelling and grammer mistakes present in the CV! I informed the person of this and they fixed what I told them was wrong but am I entitled to a partial refund? Did this ever happen anyone else??

there was mistakes which you brought to their attention and these were fixed so i would say you are not entitled to anything.

winterwonder

Ya your probably right but I still feel so angry! Can't believe I paid so much money to get this done, all they basically done was rearrange my old cv. What a waste of money....:mad: Anyone could do a professional cv service if that is anything to go by....

kippy

winterwonder wrote: »

Ya your probably right but I still feel so angry! Can't believe I paid so much money to get this done, all they basically done was rearrange my old cv. What a waste of money....:mad: Anyone could do a professional cv service if that is anything to go by....

Do you mind me asking how much you paid?

I think that after paying for a "professionally" (Define the profession that would be responsible for this and what their qualifications are) done CV, the MINIMUM you could expect is zero spelling and grammatical mistakes.

It is VERY difficult to do a CV for someone else (I find) without actually speaking to them and teasing out their experience, interests and hobbies and their target jobs market (whether the CV is for a specific job role or just generic). Then the CV can be built around that using the right buzz words and pushing your best and most marketable qualities.
If the "professional" does not do this with you, they are not going to do any better of a job than you could do yourself, in general.

Kippy

winterwonder

I paid 150 euro to get it done and it took that person a week to do it. On the day I was meant to receive it by email I telephoned them at 3 o clock in the afternoon and said it would be 4 or 5 o clock by the time they had it finished, sounding like to me that they didn't even realise they had to do it for that day. The person is a qualified careers counsellor.

I don't know maybe I am just being awkward

Cabaal

150e for somebody else to dop your CV, thats nuts tbh
Plenty of templates and sites about CV's on the net, plenty of people that will assist you writing one for free

tallaghtoutlaws

winterwonder wrote: »

I paid 150 euro to get it done and it took that person a week to do it. On the day I was meant to receive it by email I telephoned them at 3 o clock in the afternoon and said it would be 4 or 5 o clock by the time they had it finished, sounding like to me that they didn't even realise they had to do it for that day. The person is a qualified careers counsellor.

I don't know maybe I am just being awkward

Wow 150 maybe I should take that profession up. There are tons of free advice places out their especially on websites like moster and all them. 150 seems extreme in the first place.

Welease

Well 150 is not excessive if it's done properly..

They should interview you to find out your experience, skills etc.. and then use that info to create a CV which bring out the right level of information etc.. That service is worth 150 (and I know plenty of people who have paid for that, and were very happy with the results)..

It's not worth 150 to rewrite an existing CV. But that seems like the service they offered and which you agreed to pay for..

kippy

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

Wow 150 maybe I should take that profession up. There are tons of free advice places out their especially on websites like moster and all them. 150 seems extreme in the first place.

I agree, especially based on the level of service that seems to have been received here.

OP,
There are tonnes of free sites with good advice on templates out there and sometimes you're best consultants are your older mates or family who've successfully gotten jobs with their CV's.

I have to say, career guidance, this kind of thing is something I have thought of getting into myself on a part time basis but I never thought there was a living to be made from it. Looks like I need to re-evaluate that.

winterwonder

Ya it was very extreme but I thought they would do a good job...... was I wrong! It is so true what ye were saying about doing your own cv though, there are plenty templates available and to be honest, you would probably do it alot better yourself, I know this now!!

I still feel like I've been robbed but don't think there is anything I can do now....

tallaghtoutlaws

Welease wrote: »

Well 150 is not excessive if it's done properly..

They should interview you to find out your experience, skills etc.. and then use that info to create a CV which bring out the right level of information etc.. That service is worth 150 (and I know plenty of people who have paid for that, and were very happy with the results)..

It's not worth 150 to rewrite an existing CV. But that seems like the service they offered and which you agreed to pay for..

Wow i am in the wrong business my CV is plain and simple and straight to the point and has never failed me yet. If you ask me its cheaper and better to find free advise on it. Just running a google search brings up thousand of pages on how to fix resumes and CVs. Simple organised and straight to the point is always best. Paying a so called professional to fix it makes no sense as he/she will fix to what they see best and not always in the best interest of what needs to be done to it. More personal preference on their part. It takes me 5 mins to put a CV together for friends and family after 10 mins of asking them the relevant info. 150 for 15 mins work? What the heck are they putting on the CV? Generally with peoples CV its bad layout that causes them not to get jobs. Its not rocket science to put down your:

Gen Info
Education Details
Work Experience
Referees

Those are the 4 main things. Then a quick sentence or two on interests and hobbies that could be relevant to obtaining a job.

Lollipops23

i cannot believe you paid that amount.employers don't notice that kind of thing as long as it's grammatically correct and all the relevant amount of information is there.total waste of money.

Welease

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

Wow i am in the wrong business my CV is plain and simple and straight to the point and has never failed me yet. If you ask me its cheaper and better to find free advise on it. Just running a google search brings up thousand of pages on how to fix resumes and CVs. Simple organised and straight to the point is always best. Paying a so called professional to fix it makes no sense as he/she will fix to what they see best and not always in the best interest of what needs to be done to it. More personal preference on their part. It takes me 5 mins to put a CV together for friends and family after 10 mins of asking them the relevant info. 150 for 15 mins work? What the heck are they putting on the CV? Generally with peoples CV its bad layout that causes them not to get jobs. Its not rocket science to put down your:

Gen Info
Education Details
Work Experience
Referees

Those are the 4 main things. Then a quick sentence or two on interests and hobbies that could be relevant to obtaining a job.

Well its pretty quick if you understand the basic and can communicate.. but look at some of the posts on this board.. some people cant even construct basic sentences or use paragraphs (and i make no claims about myself)

If it's done properly, an interview would take an hour or so, so they can understand what you have done and draw attention to the relevant skills. Then a couple of hours to define and draw up the CV.. that's less than the cost of a plumber per hour..

It also depends on the job you are going for a basic position.. why bother.. 100K position it might be worth 150 to fix issues.

winterwonder

Well to be honest, I wanted my CV to look the best it could, and employers do recognise a well presented CV. Don't understand how people are being so negative towards this, in my opinion if a well prepared CV got me the job I required, 150 euro would have been worth it, thats if it was prepared as they said it would be.

Welease

Lollipops23 wrote: »

i cannot believe you paid that amount.employers don't notice that kind of thing as long as it's grammatically correct and all the relevant amount of information is there.total waste of money.

In a lot of cases thats true, but in a lot of cases that would be untrue

In the last 16 years (with my employer), I have probably read over 2,000 CV's and interviewed about 200 people. Every time we are recruiting, we are completely oversubscribed, and only the best CV's will put you in a position to be asked to come for an interview. If someone else pulls out their key skills and potential benefit better than the others, they are more likely to get a call, it's going to become even tougher when employers are taking on less staff during downturns.

In my case, apparently 1000 people applied for 3 positions (in 1993), and considering 99.9% were all graduates with exactly the same experience, the CV was the deciding factor in me getting a shot via interview. Only 10 people were called to interview.

So it depends on the job and circumstance, but some employers do make decisions based on the CV..

Lollipops23

Welease wrote: »

In a lot of cases thats true, but in a lot of cases that would be untrue

In the last 16 years (with my employer), I have probably read over 2,000 CV's and interviewed about 200 people. Every time we are recruiting, we are completely oversubscribed, and only the best CV's will put you in a position to be asked to come for an interview. If someone else pulls out their key skills and potential benefit better than the others, they are more likely to get a call, it's going to become even tougher when employers are taking on less staff during downturns.

In my case, apparently 1000 people applied for 3 positions (in 1993), and considering 99.9% were all graduates with exactly the same experience, the CV was the deciding factor in me getting a shot via interview. Only 10 people were called to interview.

So it depends on the job and circumstance, but some employers do make decisions based on the CV..

Fair enough, but anyone with ANY computer experience would be able to put together a good standard of CV,and as many other posters have said there's plenty of tips online for making it more appealing.i can't get over why anyone would pay that amount of money on a CV.....

winterwonder

Well, as you said it depends on the jobs and the circumstances, but I believe that at the moment with relation to the state of the economy, it is imporatant to have a well presented CV. That was why I wanted to get it prepared for me, to ensure that I could get the best opportunities available.

winterwonder

Lollipops23 wrote: »

Fair enough, but anyone with ANY computer experience would be able to put together a good standard of CV,and as many other posters have said there's plenty of tips online for making it more appealing.i can't get over why anyone would pay that amount of money on a CV.....

Well, in fact I do have very good computer skills and experience, maybe you just don't realise how hard it is becoming to get a job these days. I don't regret paying that money for the CV, because at the end of the day what is 150 euro if that CV made you get that job you wanted??

Welease

Lollipops23 wrote: »

Fair enough, but anyone with ANY computer experience would be able to put together a good standard of CV,and as many other posters have said there's plenty of tips online for making it more appealing.i can't get over why anyone would pay that amount of money on a CV.....

Well not to labour the point but a good standard put you in the middle, a great CV puts you at the front ..

And it's not just the format of the CV, a good CV writer will draw out the skills that the employer is looking for..

Crap example, but
If you tell me you worked in a shop.. that's cool
If you tell me that you worked in a shop and learnt how to manage customers, expectations, relationships, stock, processes, improvements etc.. it tells me that you are actually thinking about what you do, and I would be more inclined to call you in..
Same people, same job.. just a different way of telling me the same info..


Edit - And to give another example.. I have read some fantastic CV's.. and been gutted when the person has arrived and their interview performance has been weak.. Their CV had given them such an edge they practically had the job, that is was actually disappointing to see them drop away..

A good CV will give you an edge a lot of time

tallaghtoutlaws

winterwonder wrote: »

Well to be honest, I wanted my CV to look the best it could, and employers do recognise a well presented CV. Don't understand how people are being so negative towards this, in my opinion if a well prepared CV got me the job I required, 150 euro would have been worth it, thats if it was prepared as they said it would be.

Dont get me wrong I agree with you. But for 150 its not worth it. I can see where welease is coming from also but a well done CV should never cost 150 no matter where you get it done. I know people who earn 100k plus a year and when applying for these jobs their CV's were no more than 2 pages long and basic and straight to the point. Alot of employers no matter the high paying job dont give a flying fook about quantity but its all about quality of how you present yourself and the quality of the work you previously done. They are not looking for essay for CV's. Simple fact once they can read about you, your education, your work experience and your referees and its not messy you are laughing.

tallaghtoutlaws

Welease wrote: »

Well not to labour the point but a good standard put you in the middle, a great CV puts you at the front ..

And it's not just the format of the CV, a good CV writer will draw out the skills that the employer is looking for..

Crap example, but
If you tell me you worked in a shop.. that's cool
If you tell me that you worked in a shop and learnt how to manage customers, expectations, relationships, stock, processes, improvements etc.. it tells me that you are actually thinking about what you do, and I would be more inclined to call you in..
Same people, same job.. just a different way of telling me the same info..

A good CV will give you an edge a lot of time

I agree with you here but again in fairness for someone to charge 150 to do this you would expect it from scratch and not what the OP got and I still think 150 is too high for a CV. Now if it included one and ones and career advice also maybe I would undertand but for a couple of pages not worth it. Whether you are applyign for a min wage job or a 150k a week job.

herya

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

I know people who earn 100k plus a year and when applying for these jobs their CV's were no more than 2 pages long and basic and straight to the point. Alot of employers no matter the high paying job dont give a flying fook about quantity but its all about quality of how you present yourself and the quality of the work you previously done.

But this is exactly the problem, you need to know what to present and what not to present and a good career guidance service will also help you trim and target your CV yourself depending on where you apply. I don't think that the advantage of having the CV professionally done is to make it longer. On the contrary, you need to have it made clear, concise and nicely laid out. Some people can very well do it themselves and fair play to them, I think it's a necessary skill nowadays. But I've seen so many horrible, horrible CVs of otherwise very experienced and probably smart people.... clearly they have no clue!

This being said, I think that the OP paid too much for a crappy service. It's the quality not the idea of the service that would bother me.

winterwonder

herya wrote: »

But this is exactly the problem, you need to know what to present and what not to present and a good career guidance service will also help you trim and target your CV yourself depending on where you apply. I don't think that the advantage of having the CV professionally done is to make it longer. On the contrary, you need to have it made clear, concise and nicely laid out. Some people can very well do it themselves and fair play to them, I think it's a necessary skill nowadays. But I've seen so many horrible, horrible CVs of otherwise very experienced and probably smart people.... clearly they have no clue!

This being said, I think that the OP paid too much for a crappy service. It's the quality not the idea of the service that would bother me.

Herya, what you said is so true, I didn't go to get a load of waffle put in to bulk it up, what I wanted was for it to be clear and to the point. It was the quality of the service that bothered me and that was why I asked people about their opinions. I just felt that this person who was meant to be a professional, did not live up to my expectations.

ztoical

herya wrote: »

But this is exactly the problem, you need to know what to present and what not to present and a good career guidance service will also help you trim and target your CV yourself depending on where you apply. I don't think that the advantage of having the CV professionally done is to make it longer. On the contrary, you need to have it made clear, concise and nicely laid out. Some people can very well do it themselves and fair play to them, I think it's a necessary skill nowadays. But I've seen so many horrible, horrible CVs of otherwise very experienced and probably smart people.... clearly they have no clue!

This being said, I think that the OP paid too much for a crappy service. It's the quality not the idea of the service that would bother me.

+ 1 I've no issue with someone paying 150 for a good service but I don't think the OP got the service they paid for. I would expect for 150 to sit down and go through everything on the CV one by one and re-write it with the person I'm paying and then maybe leave them to type it up all pretty.

I've 3 CV's saved on my computer. A run of the mill CV I label my retail CV if I ever, touch wood, need to go back to retail. This is your basic CV that you can put together in 10 mins. I've my industry CV which is geared towards animation jobs but there are lots of different jobs in animation so I spend a great deal of time tweaking it depending on what job I'm going for. And then I have my Artists CV which I did sit down with someone and have them go through with me.

I've seen people spend a fortune getting business cards designed and they only hold 3 lines of text so why wouldn't you spend money on your CV?

winterwonder

To be fair, that person did sit down with me for an hour and ask me questions about my CV. I just feel that the service given was not worth the money I paid. It wasn't that the CV was bad, its just that there was nothing that stood out for me and the spelling and grammer just made it worse.

herya

Was it your spelling and grammar that was not corrected or their own mistakes? First is bad enough, second is much worse.

winterwonder

herya wrote: »

Was it your spelling and grammar that was not corrected or their own mistakes? First is bad enough, second is much worse.

It was their own mistakes in the 'new' CV

herya

Ouch!!

Well it's a shame then but honestly I don't think there is anything you can actually do in terms of getting your money back etc. They did correct it after all, and they've done what they were supposed to even though it does not meet your expectations. You can make sure that you will not recommend them to anyone or even discourage friends to use them as you are entitled to your opinion.

winterwonder

herya wrote: »

Ouch!!

Well it's a shame then but honestly I don't think there is anything you can actually do in terms of getting your money back etc. They did correct it after all, and they've done what they were supposed to even though it does not meet your expectations. You can make sure that you will not recommend them to anyone or even discourage friends to use them as you are entitled to your opinion.

Here, Here! You said it there, I know I won't get my money back because they did prepare the CV, it was just the principal of it that annoyed me and I guess I just wanted to vent my anger! Thanks for your sound advice... think I can get over it now! Cheers!

murphaph

OP, if the mistakes weren’t huge, I’d put them down to human error. At least they’re proof that the CV was done by an actual person and not just an automated template.

Of course employers make a lot of assumptions based on CVs- how else are they going to plough through hundreds and decide who to interview? In my last job, CVs always came in through me first and a lot went straight in the PFO file because of such terrible spelling and grammar, bad layout, stupid fonts etc.

When I was changing jobs, I tried two companies to get prices for CVs. One called www.measurability.ie which was recommended to me by a former manager of mine. They're very much "you have to come in and do all our assessments and we'll get a CV back to you in 10 days" which is great for a very senior jobhunter as they start from scratch but wasn't right for me as the time was too long. I’d say if you spent 20 years in the one job and suddenly needed to do your first CV, they’d be ideal. After I enquired, I didn’t proceed just because I didn’t need that level of work.

I ended up going with www.cvmatters.ie on the advice of a friend and they were much cheaper and very fast- think I sent it to them on the Monday morning, got a call Monday afternoon to go through details (I had filled out some forms on the website when submitting the CV) and got it back on Tuesday afternoon which was handy. No complaints at all as they're more geared towards someone who isn't hugely senior or maybe mid-level but just hasn’t had much luck with sending out applications before.

I noticed I got an awful lot more response from the CV when I posted it on Monster and eFinancials once I got it redone.

I’m not connected with either of these websites, by the way, just adding my experiences.