Customer Review of Standard Writer Cover Letter by Charlotte Westbrook - The CV Centre™ UK

I think having a CV writer write a cover letter is very difficult as cover letters are supposed to be very tailored to the requirements of each particular role. My main issue, however, was that I have consistently read and been told (by advice sites and career advisors or experts in the industry), that I should also be sure to follow the STAR technique. Basically, to back up my claims of 'being something' or 'being able to do something,' with an example of how I have done this in the past (or something similar that could be transferred).

The cover letter was absent from this and the focus was on explaining what I can do and not how/why I feel in a position to make this statement. I tried to express my concern by pointing to a few examples, but, the writer simply changed the claims that I was making, but still did not give examples to back them up, and explained that this (the style of the cover letter) was a proven strategy and add to it myself to further tailor it for each job.

I fully expected that I would need to change or add to it for each role. But, the way that these examples of 'strengths' were written and presented just felt very abstract. As an example, writing "Overhauling training and working practices; improving the transparency of key information to improve decision making" is fine, but, what is missing is an example of when and how I have previously done this and how this relates to improving the transparency of key information....".

The other thing I was a little confused about was this sentence, "Additionally, my talents in communication, report writing and relationship building will enable me to seamlessly integrate with your team and provide exceptional service to ensure an outstanding student experience." The roles I am applying for have nothing to do with the student experience so this is really irrelevant. As I said in my feedback on the CV, if I am told to expect the work in approx 2-3 business days, then please take the time to check these small details rather than delivering it within 24 hours but with these kinds of problems which makes one feel that it has been done in a bit of a rush.

I am sure if I had kept contacting the CV writer about each of these issues big and small they would have all been resolved. But, as I am working, studying, and writing cover letters on a daily basis, I was tired of also giving back feedback about these things which I felt were fairly obvious - I had also already changed from one CV writer to another although I would have preferred a refund at that time, as my confidence in the service was very low, so this impacted my willingness this time around to keep giving feedback and raising issues - especially when I did not feel like my point was understood and addressed.