After a long week at work the last thing I want to do is spend an hour getting soaked while trying to wash a few weeks worth of dirt and grime off the car. Instead I’ll drive over to the local hand carwash where for £5 my car will be sparkling in 20 minutes and I’ll have worked my way through a good part of Saturday's newspaper.
The point I’m trying to get to here is why do something ourselves when we can pay someone to do it for us? That’s the whole point of capitalism, isn’t it?
CV writing services have been around forever but they're not something you hear about very often. I must confess from the off that I have never used the service myself but have spoken to a number of people who have.
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I first came across CV writing in late 2008 when in the space of a week three senior level CVs hit my desk all looking identical to the point I was questioning whether this was some sort of practical joke. As it turned out the CVs belonged to separate executives who after being affected earlier in the credit crunch had employed the services of a CV writing service to ‘polish’ their CVs.
A quick Google of “CV writing services” brings back a number of results and an array of prices,
The most expensive being for a Non-Executive Director CV for £485, including an office based interview. £385 if you’re prepared to do it over the phone.
The cheapest was for a Graduate / Junior CV (less than 12 months experience) for £60.
I estimate that the average two-side CV contains around 650 words so we’re looking at a range from 9p a word to 75p a word.
There are also a range of extras available too!
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Cover letters - £55
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LinkedIn profile optimisation - £165
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One hour interview coaching - £145
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Next move planning and advice - £145
So these are the facts what about the debate? Here are the issues as I see them...
- The CV is the first thing a potential employer will see of you and judge you on, and first impressions count.
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You’re applying for a job which requires a CV submission rather than filling out an application for a ‘McJob’. Hence your potential employer would expect you to be capable of writing a CV yourself, a first test perhaps? You don’t sub-contract writing that board report out do you...
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75 pence a word is expensive.
- You write a CV only a handful of times in your lifetime so you’re not exactly a professional at it; why not pay someone to do it? If it helps get that dream job it’s an investment.
- Generic. As my experience in 2008 the CV’s were identical in layout and very similar in language, the last thing you want is a CV that looks like your competition. It’s almost as bad as using the Microsoft Word ‘Functional’ CV template – overused.
It all boils down to time, cost and quality and which you value more (my economics teacher would be proud). Whilst I might not take up the services of a CV writing service, I’ve seen more CV’s than is healthy and know what works and what doesn’t, you might see this as an investment in your career and professional image.
Some CV writing services for your perusal:
http://www.thecvpeople.co.uk/
http://www.wealdcvwritingservices.co.uk/
http://www.thecvexperts.com/
Nick Duncombe
ReThink Analytics
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/nickduncombe
