CV and LinkedIn services for graduate software developers

Roveros

Hello all,

I'm looking for graduate work as a developer and I'm wondering if CV and LinkedIn writing and formatting services are of any use? I was forwarded an offer for a free c.v evaluation by LinkedIn recently and I don't know if this is just a paid advertisement or if this is something LinkedIn actually thinks could help me. The site is topcv. I've looked it up on trustpilot and out of 1,500 reviews 80% are 4 or 5 stars with about 16% 1 stars. The one star reviews complained about their input being ignored, a lack of understanding on the writers behalf of the target industry and others complaining about poor spelling and grammar.

The topcv service say "93% of all Hiring Managers use CV scanning software called applicant tracking systems (ATS) to filter candidates from the application pool" and then they offer packages to rewrite your C.V to get you though that software and hopefully into the hands of a human. If this is true then I am happy to make an investment to get my C.V sorted after which I can just update as needed in the future myself.

I recently redid my C.V myself based off 2 examples of successful applicants in my desired field and I can show a redacted version here for appraisal.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq53/robbieraptor/Documents/CV.jpg

So basically, are these services useful, would you trust topcv or would you recommend another service provider for something like this?

Thanks as always for any input

Molly

Depends how generic your experience is. If you have a lot of niche experience, it is not worth it as from my experience they dont really get what you do. If you have generic experience it can make a difference though

Also, are you really proficient in all thise technologies. Anything on your resume is fair game for questions...

Roveros

Hello Molly, Thanks for the response.

I'm pretty much just out of the starting gates so I hate to admit it but I guess that would make me generic. As for the technologies, I have them separated into "proficient at:" and "experienced at:". The experienced technologies were mostly used as part of college modules. The proficient technologies are ones I've gone on to use and learn more about without any materials from the college.

I think I might just bite the bullet and roll the dice on this one. Worst case scenario I'll learn a semi-expensive lesson.

Thank you.

Roveros

Hey, just an update. I just couldn't shake those 1 star reviews from my head so I did a bit more digging and I found one review from a user claiming to have worked for these kinds of sites before. They claim that often these C.V writing services get farmed out to third party writers, like those on fiverr. The writers get about 20-50 and the company keeps the rest. I was advised to find a freelancer with decent reviews and just go to them directly. I found a person who lists my areas of interest under his skillset who will do for just over 50 what topcv was charging 250 for. Its still a risk, but a much more acceptable one.

Hoboo

What are you finding difficult about writing your cv yourself?