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CVs - FAQs to help you decide.

  "How can you justify your charges? – I see plenty of CV Writing Services offering to write my CV for less than £30.00". The range of pricing quoted for CV writing does indeed vary by a wide margin; from the amazingly cheap to the startlingly expensive (over £1000 pounds plus to write a CV!).   If your current CV is not delivering the desired results, then will a quick cut-and-paste refresh with minor formatting changes make any difference?   You may have noted from the "Services" pages that we feature on each product the two key paragraphs:  "1) How we BEGIN to understand YOUR requirements  and  2) How we CONFIRM that our understanding of YOUR requirements is complete” .  This underlines the fact that accurate information gathering is a pre-requisite to enable a candidate to have a professional CV. We spend  over an hour (and often much longer)  on just  considering  and  understanding  all of the information that o...

CV Help - How to write a CV- TIP five – tailored CV

  How to write a CV A  Successful CV  will ideally be  tailored to meet the exacting requirement of a specific position . For instance, for two positions that you are considering, a sales account role and a sales man management role, the emphasis for the second one would possibly move the emphasis heavily towards what you had achieved in the man management arena as your direct sales skills may well have been proven in your career progression as you moved up to a man management position with your current employer. Ideally, a candidate would have  two CVs : A  general one  that clearly shows transferable skills and a  tailored CV  that addresses specific requirements identified within an advertised position. A  well written covering letter  can mitigate some of the weaknesses when using a  generic/general CV  by carefully addressing the key requirements within specific positions. Does your current CV need a health check? Eve...

CV Help - How to write a CV- TIP six – Third Person CV

  How to write a CV A  professional CV Writing Service  should always compose your CV in the third person format and when writing your own CV this Tip should be adhered to. CVs are not written in a style that would be used for normal letter or report writing, there is an accepted manner of  Successfully Writing a CV  and the usual rules of grammar do not apply (although spelling most certainly does). A first person approach will usually result in you writing most sentences with “I”: “I managed this”, “ I had 12 direct reports”, “I achieved this”. Pretty soon, the layout of your CV looks highly repetitive and uninteresting. Additionally, the tone can sound more than a little boastful. However, a third person approach eliminates both of these problems: “managed accounts department with 12 direct reports” conveys the details far more succinctly. It can also help to remove the self conscious aspect and will help you think of yourself differently, almost as though yo...

Covering Letters

  Covering letters – General or Speculative   A  covering letter  is essential to maximise the chance of your CV and application being considered. Even a well written and  professionally written CV  may not be enough to stand out from the crowd. Remember, there are typically in  excess of 200 applications for each position advertised  and your  covering letter  is an essential tool to guide the reader to your CV. If a CV is an advert: then a well written covering letter is effectively an advert for the advert! Maybe you are making a "speculative" approach to an organisation whom you have targeted as one whom you would wish to work for but the organisation is not currently advertising. Whatever the economic climate companies are always having to consider filling unadvertised vacancies for several reasons. These can include: recent internal promotions, staff leaving or departments expanding. A well written " Speculative "  covering le...

CV Help - How to write a CV- TIP fourteen – does my CV need a covering letter?

  How to write a CV Yes. Every CV needs a successful covering letter . If you are using a more general skills based CV, your covering letter will be able to highlight the key skills within your CV that best meet the job requirement. Even a specifically written CV that addresses the Job specification will be greatly enhanced by a covering letter that answers the requirements that all job adverts contain. It is also a great chance to  write in your more usual style as this will allow elements of your character and personality to shine out , something that is more difficult to achieve in a CV alone as CVs are written in a more truncated and punchy style.   Does your current CV need a health check? Even CVs that have been produced by a CV Writing Service can become out of date or are simply not strong enough to compete in today's fiercely contested job market. Need a superb CV  but have  limited funds ? For an incredibly low cost you can have a superb CV that will o...

SCIENTIFIC CV or TECHNICAL CV

  Anyone can download a free cv template and begin to write their own   Scientific CV or Technical CV ; there’s plenty available and unfortunately, all of them will guide the writer to produce a   Scientific CV or Technical CV   that looks exactly like all the others that will be submitted for the same opportunity. Scientific CVs and Technical CVs – Isn’t academic excellence and impressive qualifications enough to secure interviews?   Probably not, as all candidates will meet the technical requirements that the opportunity has specified. This leaves the recruiter with a difficult challenge; the position has attracted a tremendous response and now they have to begin identifying suitable applicants for consideration and possible interview but have no easy way of sorting the exceptional from the competent. Scientific CVs and Technical CVs – How we drive recruiters to select our candidates. The recruiter is sitting on a pile of very similar CVs, all from talented an...

SALES CV --SALESMAN CV-SALES MANAGER CV-BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER CV.

  One of the most demanding sectors in which to win that vital interview is in the “New business” sales sector. Candidates need a first class   SALES CV   to win that vital interview. There is huge competition for each position advertised, particularly as companies continue to consolidate, merge or cease trading.  This means far fewer positions available for a massively increased pool of quality labour. Your SALES CV will be judged against strong competition and only the very best  SALES CV  will be considered.    Sales Manager CV Sales and Marketing CV Sales Executive CV Sales Administrator CV SALES CV  - the challenges Let  Successful CV Writing  produce an outstanding  SALES CV  for you. We have years of experience in sales recruitment and management and understand just what your  SALES CV  needs to include and how it should be effectively presented. Your professionally written  SALES CV  will enable...

CV Help -How to write a CV -Tip twelve - Avoid Jargon.

  How to write a CV You have had years of using jargon in your past roles, maybe in the military or the I.T. sector. In fact you are used to speaking and writing in a form of shorthand that seems to be a series of acronyms.  Your CV may well be read by an HR person in the first instance and they may not even begin to understand what message you are trying to send. In a pile of 200 plus other CVs, no one is going to devote time to unravelling your CV. Their easy option is to move onto a well written, concise CV that answers their requirements.   Does your current CV need a health check? Even CVs that have been produced by a CV Writing Service can become out of date or are simply not strong enough to compete in today's fiercely contested job market. Need a superb CV  but have  limited funds ? For an incredibly low cost you can have a superb CV that will outshine all of your competitors in the race for that new position. Take a look at our Industry leading  Pr...

CV Help -How to write a CV TIP two – Two Page CV

  How to write a CV A  Successful CV  will not usually exceed two pages. The key to the  Successful CV  is to incorporate all of the relevant information, giving  emphasis and priority to the most important points,  and to strip out all of the irrelevant and negative content. When you have selected the best CV Format, you then need to work on refining and editing your CV to present this on no more than two pages. Recruiters spend approximately 20 seconds before deciding whether to reject a CV : unnecessary pages add no weight to your candidature and may be viewed as being submitted by someone who has had too many previous jobs or career changes. A Two Page CV is an excellent discipline to work to assist your thoughts on editing and CV content. Does your current CV need a health check? Even CVs that have been produced by a CV Writing Service can become out of date or are simply not strong enough to compete in today's fiercely contested job market. Need ...

CV Help - How to write a CV- TIP four – “Impact and Outcome” based CV

  How to write a CV Note this CV Writing TIP : it’s one of the  most important  and yet one of the most common omissions from a self- written CV. Many CVs list a string of duties that the candidate performs: “responsible for this” – “managing that” etc. Now think about this in a more literal and slightly cynical manner: the way that a busy and overstretched recruiter may interpret these lists, assuming they simply don't reject the CV Instantly. Your CV may list a duty as “responsible for locking up the factory at the end of the day”. Ignoring the dull, flat tone for a moment, there’s no actual clue as to whether you did this successfully!  Maybe you forgot sometimes and your employer suffered regular break-ins or you locked up regularly, but often lost the keys, requiring a locksmith to be called in and delaying the morning production shift by an hour! How about thinking in a little more detail about what you actually did and how this  added real value to your e...

CV Help - How to write a CV - TIP three – Simple Format CV

There is lot of great advice and   CV Writing Tips   on these pages that will really help you to focus your thoughts and refine your current CV into a presentable and hopefully, a   Successful CV . However, the overwhelming majority of people, irrespective of age, experience, intelligence, education and just about every other factor, find that they have little idea regarding all of the many key points that need to be addressed to sell themselves via a self written CV. A  successful CV  does just that, it takes every positive aspect the applicant and presents them in a concise, easy to understand and engaging manner that enables the recruiter to quickly understand what value the applicant could add to their business. It’s as  simple and as difficult  as that: a very limited time and attention span of the recruiter being spent on the absolutely vital aspects of your CV so that they just have to interview you. A Successful CV writing service will work wit...

MEDIA CV - JOURNALIST CV- EDITOR CV – JOURNALISM CV

  A good question; isn’t communication what these professions are all about? The reality is that however good a writer or communicator the candidate is, it’s highly likely that they have little or no direct experience in writing and formatting a modern, professional   Media or Journalism CV . Professionally produced CVs do not follow “report-writing” or “article-writing” rules or guidelines although they share a very similar aim; to get a hard hitting and dynamic message heard by its target audience and produce the desired response. In this instance, the “message”, if delivered correctly, is that the recruiter has an opportunity to interview an outstanding candidate. Done incorrectly, it’s a clear message that the recruiter should quickly pass onto more suitable candidates. Media CV & Journalism CV – meeting the recruiter’s high expectations.   The “downside” of these two sectors is that recruiters do indeed have very high expectations of the CVs that they receive fro...

CV Help - How to write a CV- TIP eight – bullet point your CV

  How to write a CV Don’t hide the good stuff! The aim of your  Successful CV  is to immediately bring to the attention of the reader the key points that lead them to believe that they simply have to interview you. Successful CVs  have a limited time span to achieve this as they are often scanned, either by a human or by a machine and bullet pointing key areas will allow both types of “readers” to accurately and quickly identify the winning points that you need to make. Bullet Points on a CV also help to break up the format into a more visually pleasing style, encouraging the reader to consider yours in more detail than others that are poorly formatted. Bullet Points on a CV will also help you identify what the absolutely key facts are that you want to have noted. Does your current CV need a health check? Even CVs that have been produced by a CV Writing Service can become out of date or are simply not strong enough to compete in today's fiercely contested job market....

CV Help - How to write a CV- TIP seven – check and re-check CV.

  How to write a CV Spell checkers are great, assuming that you have set the language to “English – English” and have not left the default “American – English” in place as this will introduce some interesting  spelling errors. An error on any CV that you send means: “I didn't notice it” - (I pay no attention to important details), “I didn't spell-check it” – (I’m lazy) – “I thought that was correct” – (I'm semi-literate). Also be mindful of accepting your spell checker's suggested correct grammar options as these are often incorrect. At the very least, leave your CV after writing it for a while and then carefully review it again.  This delay can often make mistakes more obvious. Ask a friend or colleague to read it for you: fresh eyes often see things that are not immediately noted by the writer as errors or poor grammar.   Does your current CV need a health check? Even CVs that have been produced by a CV Writing Service can become out of date or are simply not stron...

Special Offer for OctoberView CV Offer Now50% CV Help - How to write a CV- TIP eighteen - should I put my age on my CV?

  How to write a CV No , it invites conscious or subconscious judgements from the reader. The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 is meant to protect people from age discrimination, although  you may never know why your job application has not been considered further , an undisclosed judgement on your age may have been a key factor. Recruiters  may have an ideal age span in mind  for a role: 30 – 40 yrs of age for example. This will not be disclosed of course. Why point out that you are 42 or 28 years old? The other side of age judgements is the “age versus ability and experience” consideration that people make. In other words: “this candidate looks fine on paper, has the qualifications and success rate we seek. However, she’s only 27 years old”. This age judgement by a recruiter may be made against many factors: what they had personally accomplished at that age, how staff they currently manage at that age perform and a raft of other factors. Clearly, an exper...

CV TEMPLATES – WHY A FREE CV TEMPLATE IS PROBABLY THE WORST MOVE THAT A DETERMINED CANDIDATE CAN MAKE.

  “FREE CV TEMPLATES – DOWNLOAD FREE CV TEMPLATES- THE 5 MINUTE CV - CV TEMPLATES - FREE CV TEMPLATES ONLINE - FREE CV DOWNLOAD – FREE CV EXAMPLES” ; there seems to be an unlimited amount of free CV stuff online, so why should anyone consider paying for something when they can just download a “free CV template” and change a few things – job done - and move on to something far more interesting. Here’s a candid and true reason:  the Free Stuff is usually hopeless, outdated and useless  – this is why it’s free. Often, the “hook” is loads of free stuff to generate site hits in the hope that you will click onto links that generate advertising income for the site operator. I’M UNIQUE – JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! An old joke but certainly a truism when considering that using a “free CV template” will ensure that you submit a low-grade, poorly formatted CV that is packed with buzz-words and irrelevant information. Perversely, it will guarantee that you omit the really good stuff th...