are CV services worth the money?

thegreatiam

I am going through a career change, and would like to tailor my CV towards new types of jobs.
has anyone had any contact with a CV writing service? are they worth the money? do they provide anything more than freely available CV advice?
and if so could you recommend a reasonably priced service?
any info greatly appreciated.

Vanbis

thegreatiam wrote: »

I am going through a career change, and would like to tailor my CV towards new types of jobs.
has anyone had any contact with a CV writing service? are they worth the money? do they provide anything more than freely available CV advice?
and if so could you recommend a reasonably priced service?
any info greatly appreciated.

I can't recommend any but i know of someone who got their Cv typed up professionally. They had a interview and was told that their Cv stood out from everyone else who applied.

They got the job too.

jackiebaron

thegreatiam wrote: »

I am going through a career change, and would like to tailor my CV towards new types of jobs.
has anyone had any contact with a CV writing service? are they worth the money? do they provide anything more than freely available CV advice?
and if so could you recommend a reasonably priced service?
any info greatly appreciated.

Plagiarise, my dear boy, Plagiarise.

Get your hands on as many CV's that are pertinent to the field you wish to enter and then get busy copying their format with your own details. The internet is awash with CV's. You don't need to fork out cash to some womble who does just that.

tHE vAGGABOND

Put it this way, if your CV is rubbish you may not even get past the recruiter or the HR department. That rubbish CV will be on the reject pile, as people don't have time or energy to try and "interpret" or "translate" it.

If you have a good CV, it will look like your a professional who knows their stuff enough to push the right buttons on the CV - and your chances of getting your foot in the door for an in-person interview is vastly increased.

But get a mate/family member/friend or friend even who is a success in business or works with recruiters a lot to do it for you - dont pay someone...

Oranage2

My auty has a friend who does CVs and she helped my aunty for free and her CV looked amazing -

Though I agree with the above poster - just look at loads of CVs and copy the parts that you think look the best -

Not sure how much the CV agencies cost but it could very well be worth it, they'll blow your mind.

omen80

Yes they are worth it, but only for people who are too lazy to put the effort in themselves.

KarlDrake

Full disclosure: I'm involved with a CV Service provider so of course I'm biased but if you know how to present the CV properly, ensuring that each responsibility or action taken has a related benefit to the employer or client associated with it then you should be fine.

The real art however is ensuring that you are able to "think across the desk", that is, put yourself in the place of the hiring manager and if your skills are presented properly you have a chance.

The issue is that most people don't know how to write a good CV.

Regarding the original post I'd suggest speaking to someone who has paid to use a service and see what they think, also bear in mind that most hiring managers/recruiters approach a large number of CVs with a "why not" attitude to reduce the amount of work that they have to do and make their decision quickly.
If you give the hiring manager/recruiter an opportunity to say no, even at the cover email stage then you're in trouble.

Darcie

Oh I think they are worth the money if you find a good one. I used <snip>, and they were really good. I think with services like this, you just have to be careful. I think if you want something done well, and especially something as important as your CV, i find the professionals generally do it best.

yungwan

Well whatever you do don't use "Super CV" in Dublin. I sent them my CV before and never heard anything back. It was a part of a "competition" so thankfully I didn't pay him anything, but imo it was just a blatant attempt to collect CV s.

Just be careful.

fguihen

CV layouts and styles are completely subjective. One person may love a layout in a cv and another may hate the same CV.

That said there are basics to writing a good CV, all of which are covered on the web.

As advised already, do some searching online for tips and sample CV's in your field.
Then cut, copy, paste and upadte.

The two biggest aids i found to doing a good CV are:

1. Take your time. You will spend 2-3 hours one evening and think "all finished, thats a nice CV". Your CV is not finished. Leave it for the day and come back to it in a day or two. Look for anything that is not crystal clear. Any abreviations or language specific to your current company needs to be either removed, or translated into language the industry understands . (when i say company language, each company has its own terms, abrevations, words etc that only apply in that company).

2. Have all your friends and preferably collegues review your cv. take the feedback constructively.

wash, rinse, repeat 3-4 times and your CV should stand with the best of them, subjectively speaking!

Rowley Birkin QC

KarlDrake wrote: »

Full disclosure: I'm involved with a CV Service provider

Quick question Karl' I recently included a QR code on a version of my cv where I'll be applying for tech jobs. This links to my linkedin page which in turn has a large portfolio of my work on it.

The way I see it I've turned a 2 page CV into a 200+ page CV. Any views on it?

Sorry for the slight thread hijack!

KarlDrake

Rowley Birkin QC wrote: »

Quick question Karl' I recently included a QR code on a version of my cv where I'll be applying for tech jobs. This links to my linkedin page which in turn has a large portfolio of my work on it.

The way I see it I've turned a 2 page CV into a 200+ page CV. Any views on it?

Sorry for the slight thread hijack!

Great idea that. Mashable in fact just tweeted about a similar situation.
http://mashable.com/2011/04/26/qr-code-resume/

However, the assumption is that the reader will have the technology to use the QR code. If you're comfortable in this assumption then you should be ahead of the pack, if only by virtue of being innovative. However I strongly advise testing it like mad to make sure it doesn't backfire.
But why send them to LinkedIn? Why not www.visualcv.com or https://about.me/?
Finally make sure that you can give them access to a traditional CV for interview purposes. This can allow you to control the content and questioning at interview. Some people just like having a hard copy to hand.

Rowley Birkin QC

KarlDrake wrote: »

Great idea that. Mashable in fact just tweeted about a similar situation.
http://mashable.com/2011/04/26/qr-code-resume/

However, the assumption is that the reader will have the technology to use the QR code. If you're comfortable in this assumption then you should be ahead of the pack, if only by virtue of being innovative. However I strongly advise testing it like mad to make sure it doesn't backfire.
But why send them to LinkedIn? Why not www.visualcv.com or https://about.me/?
Finally make sure that you can give them access to a traditional CV for interview purposes. This can allow you to control the content and questioning at interview. Some people just like having a hard copy to hand.

Cheers. I guess I'm just already on LinkedIn so it's easier than having to migrate to another site.

I've just put the QR code in the top right corner of the CV in what was previously dead space. The way I see it those who know what it is will be impressed and those who don't will wonder what it is and make the cv stick in their head.

I have a job at the minute but I'm always looking around to see what's available.

Cheers for the input.

Mr. Loverman

A well formatted CV makes a big difference when the employer has 200 CVs in front of her and needs to use some sort of filtering process to quickly eliminate 3/4 of them.

Some good advice (including a template you can use) here: http://www.dublinjobs.ie/cv-advice/

If I was unemployed and had poor writing skills, I would consider paying someone to write my CV for me. Just like if I was unemployed and had poor interview skills, I would pay someone to teach me how to do good interviews! It could be the best €100 you ever spend if it gets you a decent job.

fatboypee

thegreatiam wrote: »

I am going through a career change, and would like to tailor my CV towards new types of jobs.
has anyone had any contact with a CV writing service? are they worth the money? do they provide anything more than freely available CV advice?
and if so could you recommend a reasonably priced service?
any info greatly appreciated.

I put up a similar post a while back and received some very sound advice and offers of help which I took and that I believe now make my CV really stand out. The service two kind people provided for me is invaluable and I beleive will make an immense difference if (or should I say WHEN at this stage) I put my CV out again for serious consideration.

The individuals (I think) are looking to set CV writing etc up as an added service to their existing business.

I have no clue as to what they will charge now but If you want a look at what they did for me with a view to taking them up then please feel free to PM me.

FBP.

Eoin

Darcie wrote: »

Oh I think they are worth the money if you find a good one. I used <snip>, and they were really good. I think with services like this, you just have to be careful. I think if you want something done well, and especially something as important as your CV, i find the professionals generally do it best.

So good that you signed up with two accounts here to promote them. Banned.

garry gold

Darcie wrote: »

Oh I think they are worth the money if you find a good one. I used <snip>, and they were really good. I think with services like this, you just have to be careful. I think if you want something done well, and especially something as important as your CV, i find the professionals generally do it best.

Hi do you have any contact details for snip I need my own cv redone.

Thanks

thegreatiam

The account was banned for touting. So you'll probably not get details of what was deleted.

I might as well update on the op since it was a while ago.

I did use a service and after a few phone interviews they sent me a cv and cover letter. However I had to make so many changes to it that it was better to write my own or use a template. Mostly this was grammatical mistakes and sentence structure. It was obvious that whole sections had been pasted in as certain sentences were missing words.

I corrected any errors and used their template to make a decent cv. Which I was able to land several interviews and a job in my new field.

All in all I would suggest simply copying an existing online cv in your field and adding your own details as it seems that is all a.service did.

I still use their basic framework but the content is 70% mine. I wouldn't recommend using a.service unless you have excess cash and are really lazy like I was