Should I invest in a professionally written CV?

I begin with a guarantee; that I am not trying to sell you anything and I do not write CVs, LinkedIn profiles or cover letters as a side gig, or anything like that. I am however becoming increasingly aware – and I am sure that you are too – that more and more people or companies offer this service.

Perhaps in part to their prevalence or my profession, such offers permeating permeate my emails with increasing frequency and tenacity; in the last week one company offered a ‘bespoke service’ in redesigning my CV, cover letter and LinkedIn profile with unlimited rewrites, for £one hundred and-twenty. Within three days of me ignoring this message they emailed again, dropping the same service to £seventy.

A couple of buddies were considering a CV makeover, so I forwarded the deal to them. One, Alex*, took it up. Being someone who has long considered having their credentials repurposed and ‘futureproofed’, I admit that it was fortunate having a guinea pig to hand. Here are some observations (verified by my pal):

“A selling process from start to finish”.

Alex was quick to point out that at almost every stage of the client engagement process, the company attempted to talk her into buying more services; “It’s best to just roll your eyes and press ahead with what you wanted, assuming you have a clear idea before started discussing things with them”. On the plus side, the hard sell approach and explosion of services and companies in this field enables bartering; Alex got more money knocked off her order, on top of the deal I passed to her. She added, “it also seems to pay to shop around, but I couldn’t be bothered”.

“Not much open discussion”.

The process of engaging a company was described to me in much the same way as my own understanding, in that it begins with a conversation between the company or consultant and the customer to go over the latter’s experience, expectations, career direction and so forth, to “maximise the CV”, in the words of the person who went through all of this with Alex. She was disappointed with this process and felt that the two-way conversation, which was promised, never happened. “I offered ideas, requests, asked for their suggestions, and got no answer. They just updated the CV and cover letter and sent them back to me”.

Critical to this is point – and not directly connected to Alex’s experience – is that getting a CV professionally rewritten is not a passive process. The consultant will need input from you, such as your skills, aspirations, where you plan to apply to, personal points of interest and unique selling points which only you will know, for them to work into the document(s). Not knowing this information about yourself will lead to a lot of wasted money through generic-looking documents that will impress few recruiters.

“Efficient”.

Once Alex paid (upfront, natch), she was matched with a consultant who would fit her requirements based on the ‘two-way discussion’. The whole process, from start to finish, took around a week and a bit. After this, there was a short back and forth as she requested a couple of minor rewrites. Usually, CV/cover letter writers will allow you x. number of rewrites before the work is signed off; their company’s approach to this is clarified before you buy. Alex considered the whole process to be faster than she thought. At the same time, it should be pointed out that in most cases there is a lead time, so having a service completed in a heartbeat, for example if your dream job has just been posted and you need to apply immediately – isn’t going to happen.

“Looks good”.

Despite the sales pitches and lack of communication, Alex was more than happy with her finished CV; “It looks really good, and highlighted things that were not on my old one, but in hindsight should have been”. I have seen the finished article, and it is a slick, polished document, somehow thoroughly showcasing Alex as the fantastic professional she is while being succinct enough not to make the two sides of A4 look overly busy. “I guess at the end of the day all I really needed was for the CV to work well with applicant tracking systems”. Time will tell if this is the case, but if there was one thing the consultant was clear about, it was that the updated documents will indeed be A.T.S.-friendly.

Alex was less happy with the finished cover letter. After giving her consultant some feedback, the final document still had the same shortcomings as the draft. “It’s written really well”, Alex is keen to affirm. “It’s just impersonal, and full of management jargon. I will keep what’s in there but will need to add a paragraph or two about me as a person”.

Overall…

Alex was happy, and both documents both look great. I am, and always have been enormously proud of my CV, but seeing hers made me realise just how much I need to change on mine. In the end, I submitted my CV to the company Alex used, for a free review. They tore it to shreds, but they would do, wouldn’t they? Nevertheless, they have raised many valid points, and to Alex’s earlier point, highlighted some shortcomings that I would have never picked up on in a thousand years.

Seeing as I have engaged with this company, I am getting the inevitable chasing emails and weekly discount upon discount. I have just accepted a new job (off the back of my old CV, I hasten to add), so will leave the rewrite for now. Should you explore the possibilities of a professional CV redesign, then I think the key message is to enter the negotiations (that’s a key word right there) knowing exactly what you want out of the process and having a good idea about your strengths, development areas and everything else in between that makes you who you are. Alex’s key need was a deft document which is A.T.S.-friendly. To that point, and when I pressed her on all the sales nonsense and dodgy messaging from her consultant, Alex replied, “It doesn’t really matter. She did her job”.

*Name has been changed.