To ask if you would ever use a CV & Employment Support Service

[gingerfreckles]

Just that really! Posting here for traffic for a friend whose thinking of starting a new business, face to face in job or community centres, colleges etc.
Looking for feedback if you've used a service before and what worked for you or if you would use a service like this and what help would you need ie with a cv or completing application forms. Friend is recently unemployed and disheartened by the current support and he is very able so wonders how some others must cope.
TIA

What sort of employment support would he be supplying?

To be harsh, someone who is unemployed and can't get a job is hardly in a position to be advising others.

Interview techniques, narrowing down specific potential employment areas dependant on field. Advice on where to/how increase skill level, gain more experience...

As part of a redundancy package from my last job, I had 6 (?) sessions with a transition specialist. He covered things like CV writing, how to fill in applications, networking, where to look, interview skills ...

I found it very useful, though having said that, I'm not sure I would have paid for it!

While this sort of thing can be useful, it's often only useful when the advisor is tuned into your specific field.

Generic, non specific advice would be of no use or interest to me.

There’s loads of people doing this! You have to be good- honestly. I’ve had people look over and ‘re-do’ my CV when I’ve been looking for jobs, and I’ve laughed when they come back- mostly because it shows they have little knowledge of the area in which they are adapting the CV.

'in colleges and community centres' - how?

who would be paying - what qualifications do they have? Who is paying?

Sounds a bit pie in the sky to be honest - I do freelance work on the top of my job but it's not highly paid

I've had it in the past (free of charge) when I was made redundant. it was run by Coutts and was very good but unless you're really young, have never spent time with a school, college, university or other careers advisory service or are particularly hopeless at that kind of thing then I doubt there's any money to be made. The people you'll be advising won't have much money and those who do will be able to find support online I'd imagine.

If he has no experience apart from being unemployed and looking for work then he's not really in a position to advise others. On the other hand, if he's worked in recruitment or similar then there may be opportunities.

Please don’t take this the wrong way, but having someone advice on CV’s, interview techniques etc, who is unemployed and that’s why they are starting the business seems a little odd. If it was someone who is experienced in this field, HR etc, who are struggling to find their next HR Director role, I’d be a little more up for it. So it also depends on their experience and background!

The National Careers Service offers a face to face service to unemployed adults anyway - free

@ghostyslovesheets has said what I was going to say.

I volunteer in a local community support project and this is a (free) service we offer, cv writing or re-writing, help with job search, registering with agencies, navigating UC and JSA obligations, some (limited) assistance with interview wear and technique etc.

I think there are quite a few agencies/groups that offer what your friend is suggesting for free.

I would like for someone else to write my cover letters, I hate doing them. It takes me an age to make them coherent and not just ‘I this, I that’. I also struggle to succinctly portray some things I’m experienced with, in writing.

But as a pp put it, if they don’t have knowledge and understanding of particular roles/industries, it would be difficult for them to know what the employer is looking for? Unless he was going to do a particular area only.

I’m also not sure how much I would pay for it, as there can’t be a guarantee with the service. How would you know if the cover letter (or cv or whatever other service etc) is doing what it is promised to do? If you don’t get called for an interview, it could be for many other reasons.

Thanks for the replies so far. I should have made it clear the friend is unemployed following redundancy after a 20 span in both finance and HR so there is definitely plenty of experience to offer and just wanted to know other people's thoughts.
Maybe it would be best placed in schools or colleges I don't know if they have career advises in school like the old days.

No I wouldn't consider it.
I have had friends and colleagues review my CV. It goes like this -
Person 1 - Your CV is utter crap, change this this and this.
Person 2 (looking at the person 1 version) "this is shite, change x y and z

etc etc

Despite everything anyone says, CVs are like arseholes and opinions ....

I'm a qualified careers advice and we have a free all age guidance service in Scotland which is highly rated. And free.

I've encountered two individuals purporting to be able to help with this. The first one, at university, asked me to close my eyes and describe "what kind of river" I was. The second, in a job centre, told me off for not treating the meeting as a job interview (which I hadn't realised I was supposed to do, because he didn't!), advised me to lie on my CV and pointed out that I should put "IT skills", gesturing to my laptop. As if I hadn't thought of that.

So in short - no. Anyone can (clearly) give employment advice but that doesn't mean they are any good at it.

I used a CV writing service when I was looking for my first property job at 19, paid about £10 and to be fair it worked really well, started getting interviews straight away but it was just because I was so inexperienced. I wouldn't have paid more than £10 for it and I wouldn't now I'm more experienced.

What I am trying to say is that the people who have the money to spend to make this successful probably wouldn't need to use it in the first place.

Schools should employ qualified careers advisers not people who want to do cv’s

I work for an outplacement company and we work with large corporate clients who want to offer career coaching, transition and CV support etc. to their employees when they leave the business (whatever those circumstances might be I.e redundancy, compromise agreement). There is definitely a market for it but it's becoming an increasingly saturated market for paid for services and there will always been someone who will offer the same service for free (National Careers Service, Job Centre etc.). Something to potentially consider if he is looking at opportunities is to set himself up as a freelance Career Coach and get on the books with an outplacement company. We use a whole network of coaches and they get pretty consistent work. I can't name companies but a quick Google and I'm sure he'll see there are a number of options to approach. Hope that helps :)

Providing outplacement career support to big companies making staff redundant could be a viable business, as there is a target market there with money to spend.

Providing support directly to people who are already out of work and struggling to find a job does not equal a viable business, as the target market doesn't have money, by definition.

Sorry but no I would not. Careers service provide this for free for those who have no idea how to do one. For everyone else there is a lot of help online and anyone in more skilled work has friends who can give advice.

NC for this as I'm about to professionally out myself!

I am a careers adviser, I basically do the job your friend is thinking of.

People do it on a freelance and consultancy basis but he'd need some credentials to justify why people should pay him over someone else.

What sort of clients does he want to work with? Is it long term unemployed particularly? Unlikely to attract much money but could be very rewarding. What are his skills and experience?

As pp have said there's plenty of info online about how to write a CV (for example). He'll need teaching and coaching type skills to help him work with clients.
What are their goals? Why haven't they achieved them yet- what are the barriers? How can they address those? What will they need in the future? How can they put together a plan that they can and will follow? How can he build their confidence and efficacy? (that's often a big part of the issue)

I work for a university and careers work in that sector is booming as universities are under so much pressure to get their students into good jobs (complex political issues around the purpose of a degree but that's another conversation!) Schools and FE colleges are similarly a growth area.

I started without a qualification but have relevant skills from previous work. I'm now working towards a post graduate careers guidance qualification. Would that be something he's interested in? If he's got experience in finance and HR he's likely to have industry knowledge that will be valued by universities.
He could think about going freelance afterwards once he's built up his experience? Or is the self employed part that appeals to him?