I was recently posed this question, which brought to mind all sorts of obvious connotations, which I’ll try to avoid in my response.  I pondered the ethical and potentially sordid implications of such a question for a nanosecond and then I got a grip of my rambling thought processes.

Now, I could be wrong, and perhaps the questioner was simply asking if they should enlist the services of an escort agency, however as this question had been posted in a forum for CV Writing, I will assume that the subtext of this question is more closely related to questioning whether investing money in your job search, will enhance your attractiveness to prospective employers.  Happily, it’s in the area of careers and job hunting that I feel more qualified to provide advice, rather than the more tricky territory of the birds and the bees.

Writing a resume can be crudely described as “selling yourself on paper”. This is a skill which may come easier to some more than others.  However, all is not lost to those who don’t even know where to start. Before you get your wallet out, I suggest you make use of the vast amount of quality free information related to writing a CV or resume readily available on the internet. A quick google around, and before you can say Yahoo! or perhaps more recently Google Chrome, you will find loads of free articles offering sound advice from professionals who know what they are talking about when it comes to showing your best side on paper.  At this point I am tempted to make a shameless plug of my own blog where you can find ample free CV advice to get you started, but I’ll make you wait a bit longer for this little nugget.

Which takes me nicely to time, and time is money so they say.  So I advise serious job seekers to invest as much time and effort into getting a new job as they would into actually working.  So if you’re serious it’s got to be a 9 to 5 job, or if you’re already working, you’ll have to take this second job in the evenings, or at the weekends to achieve your goal, and start by writing a winning CV.   I’ll allow you the odd duvet day, or perhaps a post lunch nap, but you get my drift, generally the amount of effort put into your job search will correlate to the success of your search.  And just like being at work, just turning up is not good enough, you’ve got to be proactive.

For those of you who are lacking the motivation or confidence to make a start, I’m sure there are many excellent careers coaches and resume / CV writers out there who for a fee will do a good job in promoting you.   However, I’m an advocate of DIY, or at least looking in your tool box and giving it a try yourself as a first stage attack.   So log on, Link In and look around for the abundant free advice that’s out there for the taking.

Finally, and here comes the shameless plug to my blog, which has been written just for you, as a free resource to help you in your job search, and where if you take the time to have a good poke around you’ll find plenty of articles to stimulate your resume writing senses, along with 4 short videos in which I talk you through writing a winning CV.  And all free of charge!

http://blog.giraffejobs.co.uk

Take heed, keep your cash in your pocket or spend it on roses, and feel the prospective employer love!

Enjoy!
Rowena

When asked the question “What is the ideal length of a CV (number of pages) in your opinion and experience?”, the overwhelming response was 2 – 3 pages. I have seen articles saying a CV should be no more than 1 page long, which I consider too short. So I asked the question “What is your reaction to a CV of only one page?” Again the response was overwhelming in saying that this would be too short. Employers considered a CV of only one page to be vague, lacking in information, crammed, not enough experience to make a judgement on, and even graduate CVs were expected to contain more than one page demonstrating why they would make the ideal potential employee. I thought I would go the other way, as many people ask me if their CV is too many pages. I asked “What is your reaction to a CV of 5 or more pages?” Again the response was almost unanimous in the perception that a CV longer than 4 pages was waffling, contained too much information, irrelevant detail, was too long and that they would lose interest and perhaps even stop reading it before then end.

This led me to thinking what about the more experienced candidate who has been working for say 30 years, how should they detail their work experience and do justice to the vast knowledge they have amassed while not exceeding the 2 – 3 page rule? I asked the question “If you are reading a CV of someone with 10 years plus experience, how important is the detail about experience which is more than 10 – 15 years ago in your assessment of the candidate?” Most employers responded to this by saying that over 10 to 15 years you should only put dates, employer name and job title, they thought that you should omit the detail of the role. The information on jobs more than 10 – 15 years ago gives them insight into how your career has progressed but the detail was not at all important. This advice should help those with more work experience to shorten their CV without feeling that they are compromising their experience. Employers are most interested in what you have been doing recently, remember that as an applicant you are probably being assessed against a large number of other skilled and qualified candidates, so it will be those who most closely recently match the job requirements who will be shortlisted. This may be depressing news for some who feel that they have substantial and relevant experience albeit from 15 years ago, but I’m sharing inside information here about how it will be perceived. Incidentally for those looking for a change of career, perhaps back to something they did several years ago, you may be interested in another article I have written on this subject. Click here for career change advice.

The quality of CVs that come across my desk daily varies enormously, so as an afterthought I asked “How important is spelling and grammar to you when assessing a CV?”   Again the overwhelming response of the people who will typically be reading your CV or resume, and making a judgement on your suitability, responded that poor spelling and grammar reflected an applicant who couldn’t be bothered, lacked effort.  They replied that poor spelling and grammar on a CV generally gave the impression of someone who hadn’t put any real care or time into making their application.   I realise that spelling and grammar is not a strong point for many people, but you probably have spell check on your computer, you can buy a dictionary and you can ask someone else to proof read your CV for you…. I expect this last point will prompt a flood of eagle eyed Giraffe blog readers to respond with numerous errors on this very blog! I really must get round to reading Eat Shoots and Leaves one day!

For more advice on writing a winning CV you might like to watch the 4 short videos I have prepared offering further advice based on inside information on reactions from hiring managers and my own experience of spending the majority of my working day reading applicant’s CVs. http://blog.giraffejobs.co.uk/inside-advice-on-how-to-write-a-great-cv-resume/