I recently caught up for a brew with a few friends from the British Association of CV Writers which is the professional body I am certified by. We got onto the topic of what people expect from us and they shared some quite surprising stories about being approached by people demanding a guaranteed job. It sounds a bit like asking a personal trainer to guarantee you a gold medal before you have even stepped onto a treadmill.
I feel incredibly lucky because I never really run into that problem as those of you I have worked with always appreciate that there are so many more elements to securing a role than just a CV. You always seem to understand that there are plenty of moving parts involved in landing a new position and a document is only one of them.
I do notice how some people expect full job search and interview coaching when they are only paying for a CV. It is a bit of a strange disconnect and it made me realise I should probably walk you through what it is actually like to work with me.
It can take up to a month to write a CV
It might come as a bit of a shock to some to hear that working through a CV rewrite with me can take up to a full month. Most expect a quick spruce-up or a wave of a magic wand to make a new job appear. The reality is that many of you reach out after months of DIY CV writing and job search heartache. It takes more than a spruce-up, it takes strategy.
We start with market research to ensure what we write is current and relevant because we do not want to write a CV for a job that no longer exists. We look at where your strengths and the market opportunities align. Imagine a Venn diagram where your strengths and opportunities overlap as that is where we will live and write.
We research or "stalk" your next employer to learn about their biggest challenges and the things keeping them up at night. This research provides the information to create your value proposition. It helps to create a CV that avoids the typical history lesson and acts as a positioning document to answer the question of why they should hire you.
Once we reach this point we create career stories to back up every claim with evidence. These are packaged together using the CAR (Challenge, Action, Result) format to demonstrate how you have delivered the results you promise.
Demonstrate your awareness
Those of you job hunting will know that every hiring decision is now being forensically picked apart. A simple spruce-up is no longer enough to get you through the door.
Demonstrating a clear awareness of your strengths and showing how they relate to the challenges faced by your next employer are the key ingredients needed to create a CV that opens doors today. As you stare at your CV, ask yourself if you would hire you. If the answer is maybe or no, reply to this email or arrange to have a virtual coffee using the link below.
Best of luck!
Dave Crumby
Your Career Optimiser | Certified CV Writer