One day you are searching online for your next position when you see an offer for a free resume review. You figure what the heck – its free! Next thing you know you receive what appears to be a very thorough and legitimate evaluation of your resume, noting all of the problems that are holding you back from obtaining high ATS ratings and interviews. It looks something like this:
“We’ve all been told that looks don’t matter as much as substance, but in the case of your resume this just isn’t true. I found your design to be visually uneven. The appearance is not polished, and it doesn’t say “high potential” as your experience suggests.
From the way the resume is worded, you come across as a “doer,” as opposed to an “achiever.” Too many of your job descriptions are task-based and not results-based. This means that they tell what you did, instead of what you achieved. (They even provide an example or two from your current resume).
When I read your resume, I did not find the kind of compelling language that would bring your work to life. Instead, I saw passive words and non-action verbs.
93% of all Hiring Managers use resume scanning software called applicant tracking systems (ATS) to filter candidates from the application pool. To illustrate how you stand up to the automation, I passed your resume through the very same software that Hiring Managers use to filter the real talent from the hundreds, sometimes thousands, of candidates that apply for a single open position.” (What follows is, you guessed it, your poor ATS rating).
The above passages were taken verbatim from not one, but two entirely separate resume writing services. That’s right, they are canned responses. However, there is a place where they insert text from your resume to call out examples of where your resume speaks to “what you did instead of what you achieved” in order to make the review appear to be legitimate. Funny thing is, I had a client come to me recently with one of these reviews and the example they gave her from her resume was a description of the company she worked for and had nothing to do with what she “did” or “achieved” at all! What does that tell you?
YOUR RESUME IS AN IMPORTANT INVESTMENT – PROTECT YOURSELF:
• Make sure your resume writer is certified.
• Ask for references.
• Ask for samples.
• Check them out on google, etc. The company that recently hoodwinked one of my clients had 27 unresolved complaints on Scamguard.com.
Thariq Maulana says
Hi,
I recently got my CV checked by a company that also uses these canned phrases. Do I still take their advice or completely scrap what they said?
Judith Monaco says
Their advice is worthless. If you want good resume and career advice be sure you go to a reputable, certified resume writer. They will charge you more than the bargain basement resume mills, but you get what you pay for.
Taylor Barquet says
Same! I got the same canned review from a website called TopResume after I created a resume off of Zety. You would think the critique would be great when submitting a resume from a highly-rated company who help you create it. It’s sad I almost fell for the “critique”. Thank you so much for writing about this!
jobseeker says
I got exactly the same response from topCV, complete with some quotes from my personal CV, stay away from them.
Moeez Ahmed says
I have uploaded a professionally written resume just to check their credibility and got the same copy past reply. What a shame!
Jo says
I got the same canned response to my CV, I’m not arrogant enough to think that it wouldn’t benefit from some professional CV writer polish but the review would have me thinking a 10 year old could have sold my skillset better.
I hadn’t actually asked for the review either, just had it inflicted on me when I registered with a job search site (Reed I think although I can’t be sure). I thought GDPR was supposed to put a stop to that kind of thing, guess I missed the small print somewhere!
Peter says
What a shame. There is this company going by the name top CV review. I sent them mine and they sent to me exactly the same response(exact wording).I thought they were genuine. What a waste of time.
PMO says
Hi,
I just got the same canned review from a company called Experteer. I applied an offer I saw in Linkedin. When clicking the “Easy Apply” button I was redirected to the Experteer website where it was mandatory to fill up some data. Then this “free CV Critique” service was offered as part of the process.
Thank you very much for this warning. I will take it with a pinch of salt.
iuli72an says
Same here for me. The same pattern for CV review from TopCV. I guess this is a scam.
Nicole says
I can’t believe I fell for this in 2022