You”ve been on the job market before, and you’re pretty sure you know how to handle the straightforward task of writing and submitting your own CV. Or maybe you’re facing the job search for the first time ever, but you have plenty of confidence in your own writing, layout, and formatting skills, and you don’t anticipate needing any outside help. That’s fine. And with experience and confidence like yours, there aren”t too many things that can go wrong. Your CV will be sharp and professional, and your job search will lead quickly to an offer that perfectly matches your goals and personality. But here are few reasons why it’s also a good idea to reach out for a little professional support and outside help.
1. You’ll stay up to date with the latest trends.
CV editing tools and professional CV-building websites (like LiveCareer!) are updated constantly in order to keep up with the CV and job search trends that impact every industry. If there’s a new formatting layout, a new submission app, or a new organisation style that managers are looking for in your field, chances are, a site like LiveCareer will know about it before you do.
2. It never hurts to have a fresh pair of eyes.
CVs are all about presentation, and presentation is all about marketing. And marketing is a complex blend of art, science, and gut instinct that rides on shifting waves of supply and demand. Sometimes your own perspective is spot-on and attuned to every detail. But sometimes it’s easy to overlook an opportunity or miss a red flag simply because you can’t see it with your own eyes. A friend, reader, or professional editor may be able to spot this issue immediately.
3. Experience matters,
… and compared to a job search professional you don’t have any. Job hunting is like marriage-focused dating: as soon as your method works, you exit the market, and when that happens, you stop accumulating valuable wisdom and experience. So when you get stuck, don’t turn to your constantly-searching best friend. Turn to a professional who edits CVs and advises job seekers for a living. Most people come and go from this marketplace, but we live here 24/7.
4. Getting help makes a difficult task easier.
It doesn”t matter what the task may be. Many hands make light work, and there’s no reason to forge your own path through wild, unfamiliar territory that many, many people have traversed before you.
5. You’ll get hired faster.
Hiring managers and their motivations may be seem mysterious to you. But to connected, experienced job search pros, hiring managers are open books. LiveCareer maintains constant contact with hiring managers in every profession, and most of them enjoy telling us what they do and don’t like to see in candidate CVs. The more we know about what they want and how they conduct searches, and the more we pass that information onto job seekers like you, the easier their jobs become.