Checklist for a reliable do-it-yourself CV / résumé review

Why I usually say no …

Normally, when I’m approached by someone who just has a quick question on career-related matters, I try to help right away and do so free of charge. However, if the request concerns a free review of the person’s CV / résumé or LinkedIn profile, I tend to decline it in most instances. If that has happened to you as well, I would like you to know the reason for it so that you don’t get the wrong impression of my attitude.

As a matter of fact and told from the experience I’ve gained from occasional exceptions, the people who approach me are usually right on with their idea that a review of their CV / résumé (and / or their LinkedIn profile) would be a smart thing to do. Almost all the documents I’ve seen over the years didn’t just have a few small issues that needed to be polished to make the document perfect. Oh no, the plain truth is that most CVs / résumés were simply VERY BAD. And that was the main reason why their owners struggled to get invited for job interviews.

I am a professional coach and my work ethic demands that if I decide to touch something, I have to excel in dealing with the issue. Knowing of the low quality of the average CV / résumé, knowing that a few words are normally not enough to get the owner of a problematic CV / résumé on a completely new track with it, and knowing that I cannot afford to spend the necessary time without getting paid, the only good decision I can make in such a situation is to not get involved at all, right? Well, that’s not completely true. 😉 Read on.

… and why you should not leave it like that

Now, I also have good news for you. If you wonder why you get so little response to your job applications although you are qualified for those openings and you suspect that it could be related to your CV / résumé, you have likely made the first step to fix the problem already – simply by coming up with this idea.

If you cannot pay for professional support from an experienced career coach, there are also ways to create a convincing CV / résumé on your own. First, you should do a review of your CV / résumé yourself. That is actually not difficult at all if you have the right evaluation criteria on hand. Guess what, I’ve already put all of those together for you in the form of a detailed checklist that you can get for free. Please send me your email address using the form below, don’t forget to confirm it and you will have this powerful checklist in your inbox right away.

In case you identify with it any need for improving your CV / résumé, you should move on by gaining a sound understanding of the psychological principles that typically govern the decision-making processes of hiring managers. Once you are sufficiently familiar with it, making the right changes to your document will not be much guesswork anymore. There are tons of helpful resources available on the internet for free to achieve all of that like my own guide to writing a great CV / résumé, for example.

Just enter your email address here and click on the red button to start with the free CV / résumé checklist now:

You can get it even faster by simply sending a blank email message to:

checklist-cv@bettercareer.net

In this case, no confirmation is needed and you will find an email from me with the PDF checklist attached in your inbox a few minutes later.

PS: Remember, when the hiring manager is about to make the decision on whom to invite for a job interview, only your CV / résumé is there to speak up for you. Make sure it then says the right things quickly.

On December 9th, Mr. Thomas S. from the Verden District wrote to me:

»I must say, I’m impressed and amazed. My new documents make a huge impact. My respect: Your approach to applications seems to work perfectly.«