
How to Write a Cover Letter for Any Application in 2023
Sat down to writing a cover letter and your mind’s gone blank? Check these tips and tricks and write your cover letter in no time.
Planning on using a free CV builder? We looked at the top-ranking free makers and found they’re not all they’re cracked up to be. Take a look and learn why.
When it comes to writing your CV it can be easy to fall victim to choice overload. It’s not about firing up your trusty word processor and doing it yourself anymore. There are a ton of CV makers out there now that claim to do the job for you. Type ‘free CV builder’ into Google and you’ll get hit with almost 30 million results.
But are they any good? How can you be sure they’ll build you a CV that looks great and gets you interviews?
In this article, you’ll see six of the most popular free CV makers, discover their pros and cons and learn what a CV creator needs to guarantee job-hunting success. So let’s find out whether there actually is such a thing as a free lunch.
Want to save time and have your CV ready in 5 minutes? Try our CV builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ CV templates and create your CV here.
Sample CV made with our builder—See more templates and create your CV here.
Looking for CV templates? Read more here:
Reed has been in the employment business since 1960. They’re a household name, so it should be safe to assume they know their onions. But does their free CV builder live up to their reputation?
Pros:
Cons:
StudentJob was established in 2000. They’ve got a presence in countries across Western Europe and are focused on the student CV market. But does that translate into a well-built and effective CV builder?
Pros:
Cons:
CV Maker, the name is certainly self-explanatory. This free CV creator has a global presence, offering its services in 30+ languages. It claims to create beautiful, professional CVs in minutes for free, but does global reach mean high quality?
Pros:
Cons:
When making a CV in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building your CV here.
When you’re done, Zety’s CV builder will score your CV and tell you exactly how to make it better.
Cool Free CV didn’t make a great first impression. The web design looked dated and it had large intrusive adverts, which I removed for the purposes of the image above. So did the builder manage to dispel this negative first impression?
Pros:
I know this seems harsh, but allow me to explain. This wasn’t actually a CV builder or maker, despite claiming to be so. All it does is allow you to download CV templates, then all the hard work is up to you. It completely defeats the purpose of being a free online CV maker. Just don’t bother with this one.
It also lacks any visible privacy policy. Bad news for your personal data.
Again, there’s not a lot to say about the fine people at cv.co.uk. Apart from the fact they managed to get a pretty self-explanatory domain name! Let’s take a look at an example of one of their CVs and see if their builder is worth trying.
Once again, I’m afraid the news wasn’t good.
Pros:
Cons:
More grim, dated web design and more irritating adverts. First impressions weren’t great with CV Generator. How does its free CV builder stack up? Let’s take a look at an example and see.
It turns out this free CV builder doesn’t stack up well at all.
Pros:
Cons:
So we’ve reviewed an even half-dozen. There are other free CV makers out there but to be honest, it’s more of the same. They’re generally of poor quality and lacking in the functionality required to create a truly effective CV.
On a more worrying note, the lowest quality builders lacked a privacy policy. When writing a CV you’re handing over personal information so it’s concerning that some builders don’t appear to take data protection seriously.
In short, don’t waste your time with them. On the other hand, a good CV builder needs to have the following features:
Zety has all of those features and more. We’re not a free CV maker, but we do let you try before you buy and you’ll only pay once you’re satisfied with the results and ready to download.
Here’s a look at our builder. As you can see, it has a clean, modern interface designed for ease of use. You can easily access tips as you’re writing and chop and change the sections as you please. And yes, we do have a section to add a photo, but we make it clear that this isn’t recommended for the UK.
The Zety CV builder also has these features:
Here’s an example of a Zety CV template:
This is our ‘Modern’ template. As you can see it’s eye-catching and attractive whilst remaining professional. It also makes good use of white space and subtle graphics to help recruiters easily find all the information they want.
Don’t forget there’s 17 more where that came from and they’re all accompanied by matching cover letter templates. But that’s not all.
Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:
See more cover letter templates and start writing.
Expert advice:
We also have an ever-expanding collection of expert guides so you can learn to make your CV and cover letter better than ever before. Read more here.
The conclusion is simple, there really is no such thing as a free lunch. Choose a quality CV builder like Zety. All you need to do is choose a template and fill in the blanks. We take away the stress and create your CV quickly, so you can get the job you want, not the one you have to take.
Thanks for reading. What else would you like to know about writing a CV or using our builder? Ask away in the comments section and I’ll be happy to reply.
Sat down to writing a cover letter and your mind’s gone blank? Check these tips and tricks and write your cover letter in no time.
How long should a cover letter be is one of life’s mysteries. Until you read this guide. Discover the best cover letter length, no matter what job you’re applying for.
Getting your cover letter format right gives your job application an instant boost. Read this guide and learn how to create an expertly formatted cover letter recruiters will love.