CV revamping is a service where someone takes your existing CV and formats it differently to ensure that it gets noticed by recruiters whenever you apply for a new job. Picture: Mike Groll
Looking for a job in South Africa is costly; this emotionally taxing process ranges from paying for the scanning and printing of your documents to buying data to scour the internet.
What is CV revamping?
CV revamping is a service where someone takes your existing CV and formats it differently to ensure that it gets noticed by recruiters whenever you apply for a new job.
This includes ensuring that there are no spelling or grammatical errors and making sure that the most important information is at the top and easy to spot at a quick glance.
Prices for professionally crafted CVs range from R50 to R995. This could be steep if you have no other form of income.
The hidden costs
Young unemployed people in the country spend an average of R1293.82 per month looking for work. This is according to a recent survey by Open Dialogue.
This expense is split between transport costs (R478.41), internet access (R464.73), and additional costs such as application fees and food which amount to around R350.38.
The competition for jobs is rife across the country, and experts advise that it is important to make your CV stand out from potentially hundreds of other applicants
This is what has led to the boom in people who specialise in performing ‘make overs’ on CVs.
Whilst this is a useful service, if you are looking to save money, consider improving your own CV. Here is how you can execute this:
Think like a recruiter
Glenda Pillay, a consultant at the Affirmative Portfolios recruitment firm says presentation and structure are important, but that does not mean that your CV must be flashy.
“You can tell if an applicant has put in the effort into their CV or not. The display matters as well as grammar and spelling. These are the things that people tend to overlook, but they matter,” says Pillay.
Pillay said applicants do not necessarily have to hire someone to perfect their CV but should be intentional in going over the document with a fine tooth comb and moulding it in a presentable but neat, and precise way.
Alternatively you can download CV templates to build your own on whilst keeping in mind the format, content and its length.
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