To pay for a CV review?

Woody_G

After redundancy and eight month of over 780 applications sent and seven interviews (got to 2nd stage with 3 of them) I had finally secured a contract for six month :j, unfortunately the company retracted the offer as getting a security clearance would have taken them three month and they needed someone right away . (I lived here most of my life but was born in the US which is a foreign territory).


Went to JCP 3 weeks ago and registered for JSA, told them about my situation and they asked me to attend a job searching workshop. When I got there they asked for a fee to review my CV which I dully declined.

I am an IT support professional and have over nine years experience working in the lower echelons of support (I like working with people) in different industries some time as a contractor but also held permanent positions.

I feel that my CV can benefit from a peer review but paying £80 is out of my financial range at the moment.

I am getting a bit desperate now and started to look for anything work (Bar,shelf stacking, farm work etc') as I feel employers don't really need me anymore. Should I just pay for the review?

millsymuttleylaugh

They should not have asked you to pay a fee

I asked to see someone about my CV at the job centre, I was given an appointment to see someone from something called Prospects and I met her at the job centre and she helped me with my CV for free.

If you ask to see someone from prospects they can't charge you. CV advice is meant to be free to help support you and increase your chances of finding a job.

I'm sorry to hear about the contract you lost

Good luck

Vader123

Or post some generic points from your CV here.

There is a wealth of knowledge on the boards here and if your skin is thick enough to take critiscm then go for it!

Vader

Woody_G

Vader123 wrote: »

Or post some generic points from your CV here.

There is a wealth of knowledge on the boards here and if your skin is thick enough to take critiscm then go for it!

Vader

Thank you Vader, I can't see a button to upload my CV, I'm not sure if that is what you mean?
I can use the email button but who do I send it to the in the forum? .

cally6008

copy n paste it here

(which would be pretty obvious I would have thought considering you got 9 years I. T. experience)

prowla

Our town has a service called "Careers Springboard", which holds sessions every Friday with a guest speaker, round-table discussions and good advice. They will do a c.v. review as part of the service.
It is all free and they even supply the tea & biscuits!

cally6008 wrote: »

copy n paste it here

(which would be pretty obvious I would have thought considering you got 9 years I. T. experience)

That comment was probably not helpful, as cut&paste would be likely to lose all of the formatting.

(BTW, I have my c.v. on my website in PDF, and so accessible by anybody.)

elsietanner71

You can get a free CV review by emailing it to the Careers Advice Service (www.direct.gov.uk/careersadvice)

Email it as a Word doc to: [EMAIL="guidance@careers-advice.org"]guidance@careers-advice.org[/EMAIL]

You can also arrange to see a Nextstep adviser in person who can help you. There is a Nextstep office in most areas. Check on the website for your nearest. www.direct.gov.uk/nextstep

These services are all free as they are government funded. As the Careers Advice Service works in partnership with Jobcentreplus you should have been given a leaflet with their number on.

I think it's pretty disgraceful you havent been told about all this free help.

Good luck and don't give up!

donnajunkie

the job centre shouldnt be refering people to places were they are going to ask for money before helping you. i dont actually think the jobcentre would do that anyway. i would go back to the jobcentre and tell them that the place they refered you to was asking you for money.
edit.
it has occurred to me that the place you were refered to maybe a place that deals with jobcentre referals and private customers. they may have made an assumption that you were a private customer and not a referal. is that possible? or did you make it clear you were refered by the jobcentre? i'd still report them to the jobcentre.

Woody_G

cally6008 wrote: »

copy n paste it here

(which would be pretty obvious I would have thought considering you got 9 years I. T. experience)

Sorry mate I thought I will be a bit more clever than just C&P it here as the formatting will go all over the place, I posted it below in PDF:

www. docstoc.com/docs/25617355/CV-for-MSE

Just squeeze the empty space out to view as I can't post a link as I am new here.

Mr.Mulla

Woody_G wrote: »

When I got there they asked for a fee to review my CV which I dully declined.

I feel that my CV can benefit from a peer review but paying £80 is out of my financial range at the moment.

I am getting a bit desperate now and started to look for anything work (Bar,shelf stacking, farm work etc') as I feel employers don't really need me anymore. Should I just pay for the review?

They shouldn't be asking for a fee to review your CV. It is free. Plus £80 is a lot of money just for a review. There are government offices or agencies that could help you without paying anything.

Vader123

I have got your CV loaded on screen and later I will reply with feedback!

Vader