4 ms·

Apply HN: Get your CV proof read by others

4 points by alouanchi 11y ago

The idea is: 1. submit your CV and pay some fees(or find a way to give a reward). 2. Someone will correct/review it 3. Let's say others(max 5 persons) give a mark to the final CV 4. Iterate 2 and 3 if needed 5. 2 and 3 will get a share of the money somehow

petervandijck 11y ago
My first question is: do you have 1 real potential user that would actually pay real money for this? If so, have you provided the service to them and have they paid? You could do that. My second question: do you have 10 users that have paid for this?
- alouanchi 11y ago
  Be honest it is an idea I was/am thinking about, just started looking at it and how to tackle it. And when I saw the thread about 'Apply HN', I said post the idea and see what lessons I can learn from it.
  - alphydan 11y ago
    I have given advice on nearly 20 CVs. I have improved and redesigned CVs for friends and relatives. All with pretty good outcomes :) So at least you have one person on that side of the marketplace. However, I think petervandijck's question is the critical one: - Are "fresh-out-of-uni" job seekers ready to pay? Can you do an experiment at a career fair at your nearest university. For $1, $5, $10, $20? - What folks who want to make a career change? Where can you find them? Perhaps at industry fairs, or niche career fairs? How much would they pay?
    - alouanchi 11y ago
      Thanks for the feedback. I agree petervandijck's question has to be asked and getting the answers and validating the hypotheses have to be done. As a start I should go to find "fresh-out-of-uni" as you've called them to see if they can get out some money from their pockets. As the summer break is close, should be a good time to run the experience.
shostack 11y ago
How will you differentiate from and compete against the horde of other proofing services (not to mention the horde of proofing services that specialize in CVs)?
- alouanchi 11y ago
  First, I got this idea while ago when I moved to the UK from France, I was struggling to find someone to review and correct my CV to match the county culture and the market. And to answer your question, most (ones I came across) of proofing services are done by software and the result is not good enough to have a confidence to send my CV to apply for job, my idea would use human to do so. This is why I think having some sort of reward will good so people can commit to it.
  - shostack 11y ago
    That's awesome that you identified a problem you yourself had that you want to solve. I'd encourage you to do some more competitive research as there are a LOT of proofing services that use humans. One can also hire proofers off of sites like Odesk, etc. So with the knowledge that there are lots of competitors with humans doing the work, you might need to find a different strategic differentiator.
    - alouanchi 11y ago
      First, thanks a lot for your information. Doing more competitive research would a good path to start with and I have to say your advices/thoughts are really appreciated.
danieltillett 11y ago
I think you have identified a need and not a market. My suggestion would be to charge a lot for the service (and hence be able to pay a lot for the proofing process), but have the payment delayed until the the applicant gets a job. This would align the interests of the proofreader and the CV owner.
- alouanchi 11y ago
  Cheers for the suggestion, I think it's good way to keep both parts interested. My first thought was to delay the payment till it passed the second review (max 5persons). However I think your suggestion will get more tractions, the only downside is how to keep track on the applicant whether or not he got a job/interview. But who says it will be easy :).
  - danieltillett 11y ago
    One way to keep track of when a candidate gets a job is to make part of the service reviewing/setting up their linkedin profile as well. You then just need to watch the LinkedIn profile to see when they get a job.

4 points by alouanchi 11y ago

petervandijck 11y ago

My first question is: do you have 1 real potential user that would actually pay real money for this? If so, have you provided the service to them and have they paid? You could do that. My second question: do you have 10 users that have paid for this?

alouanchi 11y ago
Be honest it is an idea I was/am thinking about, just started looking at it and how to tackle it. And when I saw the thread about 'Apply HN', I said post the idea and see what lessons I can learn from it.
- alphydan 11y ago
  I have given advice on nearly 20 CVs. I have improved and redesigned CVs for friends and relatives. All with pretty good outcomes :) So at least you have one person on that side of the marketplace. However, I think petervandijck's question is the critical one: - Are "fresh-out-of-uni" job seekers ready to pay? Can you do an experiment at a career fair at your nearest university. For $1, $5, $10, $20? - What folks who want to make a career change? Where can you find them? Perhaps at industry fairs, or niche career fairs? How much would they pay?
  - alouanchi 11y ago
    Thanks for the feedback. I agree petervandijck's question has to be asked and getting the answers and validating the hypotheses have to be done. As a start I should go to find "fresh-out-of-uni" as you've called them to see if they can get out some money from their pockets. As the summer break is close, should be a good time to run the experience.

shostack 11y ago

How will you differentiate from and compete against the horde of other proofing services (not to mention the horde of proofing services that specialize in CVs)?

alouanchi 11y ago
First, I got this idea while ago when I moved to the UK from France, I was struggling to find someone to review and correct my CV to match the county culture and the market. And to answer your question, most (ones I came across) of proofing services are done by software and the result is not good enough to have a confidence to send my CV to apply for job, my idea would use human to do so. This is why I think having some sort of reward will good so people can commit to it.
- shostack 11y ago
  That's awesome that you identified a problem you yourself had that you want to solve. I'd encourage you to do some more competitive research as there are a LOT of proofing services that use humans. One can also hire proofers off of sites like Odesk, etc. So with the knowledge that there are lots of competitors with humans doing the work, you might need to find a different strategic differentiator.
  - alouanchi 11y ago
    First, thanks a lot for your information. Doing more competitive research would a good path to start with and I have to say your advices/thoughts are really appreciated.

danieltillett 11y ago

I think you have identified a need and not a market. My suggestion would be to charge a lot for the service (and hence be able to pay a lot for the proofing process), but have the payment delayed until the the applicant gets a job. This would align the interests of the proofreader and the CV owner.

alouanchi 11y ago
Cheers for the suggestion, I think it's good way to keep both parts interested. My first thought was to delay the payment till it passed the second review (max 5persons). However I think your suggestion will get more tractions, the only downside is how to keep track on the applicant whether or not he got a job/interview. But who says it will be easy :).
- danieltillett 11y ago
  One way to keep track of when a candidate gets a job is to make part of the service reviewing/setting up their linkedin profile as well. You then just need to watch the LinkedIn profile to see when they get a job.