A month in the life of CV Shed - December 2020

Peek behind the scenes of CV Shed

As we come to the end of the year, I thought I’d share a bit more about what I do here at CV Shed. I’ve been lucky enough to work on a variety of projects over the last month, which have kept me busy at a traditionally quiet time of year. This is what I’ve been up to recently:

CVs for private clients

I’ve had several private clients this month, who find me through my blogs, internet searches, LinkedIn and personal recommendations. This aspect of my work can be really diverse and customers this month include a British Diplomat, a Police Inspector, an IT Manager and an Account Director. These CVs are really the core of what I do; I love to help people to understand their value and support them in taking the next steps on their career path. 

Freelance CV writing

To fill the gaps between private clients, I write on a freelance basis for a global CV company. I can take as much or as little work as I want, which gives me the flexibility to prioritise private clients in between freelance orders. I tend to focus on entry-level, retail, administration, manufacturing and logistics roles for this client.

Staff profiles

The majority of this month has been spent fulfilling a contract for a construction company, who hired me to write profiles of their key staff. These will be used to introduce the team to the client when they bid for new work, so although the content is similar to that on a CV, the target audience is very different. This project has been really enjoyable and I was able to create some strong profiles for staff that engaged with the process and really thought about their answers to my questions. 

Proofreading

I really enjoyed the couple of proofreading jobs that came my way this month. I was asked to check the copy for two websites owned by a financial planning group, which, although not my usual subject matter, was interesting for me and a good chance to step back into something I used to do on a daily basis before I moved into CV writing. 

Blogging

As well as running my own blog here at CV Shed, I also write paid posts for other companies. Most of my commissions these days come from a company in New York, who need me to write from a British perspective for their UK business. I love the writing process, and, as an additional bonus, it can lead to more private work as blog readers seek me out to work on their CVs. 

Hanging out in a virtual office

I’m lucky enough to be part of an online office for freelance CV writers. Although we’ve never met in person, everyone is super supportive and there’s always someone in there to provide advice / a listening ear / office banter at any time of the day. It means that, although we’re all working independently in our own little corner of the UK (and beyond!), we can still discuss best practice and bounce ideas around. 

Managing job offers

I was approached on LinkedIn by a UK-based CV writing company, who asked me to join their team. I politely declined, but this goes to show the value of a complete and up-to-date LinkedIn profile – you can be headhunted to new roles without even trying, if your profile is up to scratch! I was also offered a short-term freelance role with a publishing company – I’d have loved to have taken it, as it’s an area I’m very interested in working in, but unfortunately the volume of work I’d already committed to meant that I wasn’t free when they needed me. Fingers crossed they’ll ask again next year!

As you can see, the last few weeks have been pretty full-on. I’m winding down for Christmas now and recharging ready for next year, so please do get in touch if you have any projects I can help with in 2021!