3 top things to look for when choosing a professional CV writer.

A professional CV writer combines the skills of a speechwriter, copywriter and journalist. You need a way with words.

Applying for a job in these difficult times is a challenge. All the more reason to make sure that anyone who sharpens your CV, promotes you so that you stand out for the right reasons.

You can buys books by the shelf load about how to get a winning CV. Unfortunately, they tend to focus on format and content. Nothing is said about what you should be looking for in the CV writer.

A CV is a lot more than making an application. It is about influencing the dynamics of the interview, anticipating the questions that arise and the content of your replies. This applies to both public and private sector applications.

Professional CVs do not come cheap. You are paying for the services of a professional communicator. Your prize is enhanced career prospects and the rewards which go with it.


Top Tip Number One. – Meet the CV writer in the flesh.

Make sure you have a person-to-person interview with the CV writer. Give it at least half an hour. If s/he has not met you, how they can understand what you are about, your ambitions and motives? It is amazing how many CVs are created over the phone and with email attachments. You deserve better.

S/he needs to know your aspirations, history, personality and communication abilities. This encounter helps clarify your own thinking and highlight weaknesses and strengths. The interview helps the CV writer get a handle on your industry.

Top Tip Number Two. – Get the CV to shape the interview.

The prime role of the CV is get you an interview. Fail that and all bets are off.

Assuming you are called, the CV has a close secondary objective. It is to help shape the way the interview might go. A professional writer will drop little seeds in the CV so that it encourages the reader to ask a question on what has been said.

You can anticipate the question and shape answers accordingly. You are playing on your territory and there is home advantage.

The killer introductory question is “Talk for a couple of minutes about yourself.” Get this right and it can set the tone for the rest of the interview. Get it wrong and you are in a salvage operation.

Top Tip Number Three. – Make sure your fingerprints are all over the CV.

Each of us has a distinctive communication style whether it is choice of words, vocal delivery or body language. The danger of a stranger writing your CV is that it does not present an accurate picture of you the subject.

The final CV will be a winner if you and the writer have worked on it together. We are talking of several editions. Be careful with words attributed to you which have come from a word bank and are not part of your everyday language. You want to stand out with your personality and humanity coming through. Most important, you need to be able to talk to the CV with ease.