I recently started receiving emails like the one below after I posted my CV (resume) on a job board.
Dear Jas,We contacted you earlier this week as our Senior Consultant, Maria Madeupname, has reviewed your details on-line and feels that we can help you achieve your career objective. We do not appear to have heard back from you as yet.
We are currently trying to contact you with regards to a free review of your career in our London office.
The meeting will provide valuable input into your current objectives and strategy in addition to providing advice about the local job market. Simply visit us at our website and send your CV for evaluation. We will then contact you to arrange the free review.
Alternatively, please call me on 0207 XXX-XXXX.
Kind Regards
Ashley Double-Barrelledname
Client Services
Firstly, the names above have been made up, as I do not want to inadvertently promote these organisations.
The other points to note are that no one contacted me earlier in the week as the email says, this is just a rouse to make me feel more important and in demand.
Also if it was so urgent to contact me, why did they not call me? As my mobile number is included on my CV (resume)?
The email sent to me about their Senior Consultant having a job for, is nothing more than a job finding service looking for paying punters.
Their service involves paying hundreds or even thousands up front for these people to try to find you a job. They sort of update CV's (resumes), supposedly making them more effective and base most of their exorbitant fees on just doing this.
Obviously they dress the services they provide up, to make it look like they are doing a lot more, like using their so called, 'extensive connections' but in reality it's just a CV (resume) promoting service.
I would never use such companies as I think if you can't market yourself for work opportunities, then you should not really be looking for work and/or should stay doing what you are doing now.
In many aspects of life, having to sell yourself is vitally important, from getting a job, making friends, attracting a mate and so on. Without the ability to sell yourself, it can become difficult to move on in the world, be it a career move, attain a new circle of friends and more.
The first part of trying to sell yourself for a job, is to have a good CV (resume) which is concise with enough detail for the job being applied for.
It does not take a knowledge of rocket science to come with a decent CV (resume), there are a few simple steps which can ensure greater success.
I always look at a CV (resume) as a piece of advertising space which needs to get a message across about me as quickly and concisely as possible. Therefore any waffle, irrelevant items need to be removed to make way for only relevant items.
Just like advertising, I need to catch the reader's attention quickly with a headline grabbing sentence or two, which sums up what I do and where I have done it. Otherwise, I stand little chance against all the other CV's (resumes) sent in for the same role I'm applying for.