Ghostwriting in the application letter: 10 tips for choosing a service provider

Application and show your CV Candidate with all their professional/technical knowledge and experience, but also with their personal characteristics. Can and may a ghostwriter write applications?

Why is a real CV so important?

The application and the résumé not only show technical characteristics, but are also one Spiegel of Personality. Therefore, according to the popular belief, they should Opinions, can also be written by the applicant himself. After all, not only is a position filled, but a new colleague is also being sought. It's that Objective of a CV to show the person in his entirety and diversity as high-profile as possible.

At the same time, the uncertainty among applicants who have to deal with this topic is naturally great: They are not experts in the field of applications, and often do not have the slightest idea of ​​which criteria are used HR Sorting out applicants - what could be more obvious than looking for advice and help from real experts?

Ghostwriting vs. Application documents - you have to differentiate

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Nevertheless, there are service providers for ghostwriting applications. Can you do that at all? And what should applicants pay attention to? This is probably why the question of whether someone else should write an application or CV as a ghostwriter is causing a lot of discussion.

You have to differentiate between real ghostwriting, as it is offered for example by Internet service providers and a sound application consultation, in which the help for self-help is in the foreground. And that's what the experts say:

Ghostwriting of application documents: Pro

The discussion among the industry experts was also very controversial: career expert Ute Blenken, for example, writes:

This is exactly where the approach would be to say: If a professional could do it better, why not this one for them Tasks get involved that you can't handle yourself so well? Companys finally also take advantage of the help of consultants and experts when it comes to Jobs zu forms and point out the advantages as an employer on the career website.

Career consultant Christoph Burger, who writes application letters himself on customer request, is of the same opinion:

Usually bring customers want to print their individual Write to with. And usually they're good for nothing. Of course I take over as much as possible from their original versions. Frequently, however, only individual formulations remain. Why is that? Most of my clients don't apply to be journalists, so they don't need to be able to write. The written form is only marginally part of the professional ones Competencies by engineers, bankers or business people.

Just like emotion consultant Ulrike Zecher, who would even explicitly recommend hiring an expert:

An application is a bit like flirting: hair and body are shaped, the latest clothes are put on, a touch of your favorite perfume is applied, fast shine your shoes and off to the coolest place in town. If you meet your dream partner there, you courageously seize the opportunity and talk to him or her. But the zero-eight-fifteen pick-up line is not effective and you get a basket...

An interview has appeared on Personalblogger.net, which calls for a compromiseSolution pleads:

My conclusion goes in the direction of a compromise... Let's just let everyone have their own business model for the time being, without making room for lies and deceit. As is well known, the demand determines the supply and when people have less time and leisure today, they take care of every cover letter and everyone tuned to the position CV to write, professionals can do it with a clear conscience.

and contra

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But of course there are also opposing opinions criticizethat when it comes to application ghostwriting, honesty and authenticity fall by the wayside:

Career adviser Svenja Hofert, for example, criticizes the high-gloss applications that result from such service providers:

Because we have not only seen many graphic marvels by non-graphic artists, but also text products, often created by service providers, which consist of advertising or Marketing come and never had to make personnel decisions themselves. You can often tell by the fact that they have not understood what the applicant actually does and what is particularly important in his or her function.

Lars Hahn and Martin Salwiczek from LVQ generally find it ok to assist applicants with advice and action - but only as an aid to self-help:

If we now come to our LVQ participants, we also support the applications in the form of providing the formal basics and sensitizing them to the employer's view of the application. They should be able to develop their own cover letter. Help for self-help, so to speak.

Training Christian Müller finally finds the use of a ghostwriter dishonest towards the employer and even useless:

In addition to this breach of trust - because that's what it is for me - I also think cover letters from ghostwriters are useless. Only excellent ghostwriters can do it Style and the applicant's personalityspiegeln. If this succeeds, such a cover letter can actually be helpful.

The boundaries are fluid

Exactly this is also the conclusion to which the discussion on the topic of ghostwriting in applications comes: Assistance and advice, help for self-help, are completely O. K. and even useful because applicants nun nun are not application experts.

One of A-Z A pimped application, in which at the end an artificial product is sent to the employer in Speech, is not only useless but in the end even harmful. After all, what good is the best application if, in the end, the applicant's specialist knowledge and personality are not reflectedspiegeln?

Tips for finding the optimal service provider

Therefore, if you are looking for a service provider or a consultancy to improve your application and cover letter, you should pay particular attention to the necessary seriosity and good advice.

Because especially with service providers who don't know you at all, there is a quick risk that a personality will be imposed on you that you have nothing to do with yourself, but the application lacks meaningfulness and authenticity. So how do you ask for surethat the result of the application also has something to do with you? 10 tips.

1. In the beginning there should be good, sound advice: the service provider should deal with you, your CV, your qualifications and your personality. Only then - in the best case jointly created application - also corresponds to their personality.
2. Ask for the qualifications of the consultant: Is there a psychological training? What is the current reputation? Are there any feedback from customers, eg on the Internet? And will your application be made by professionals, or only by students who want to earn something?
3. Above all, online service providers are willing to send a preparation sheet at the outset. Make sure which points are queried in this: Do they add the information from their CV? Or are you just looking for facts?
4. It is important that such preparation forms also deal with the questions behind the facts: Why do you want to apply for this position? What is your motivation? Where do you see strengths and development potential yourself? How do you rate yourself as a leader? How do you act in a team? What are personal characteristics that set you apart?
5. In the course of the analysis, superficial facts should first be examined: personal data, company affiliation, change of position, change of the company, completed training and further training courses as well as knowledge in the area of ​​computer and foreign languages. There are service providers, who leave it while querying these facts and from it a CV. Please leave your finger open.
6. In addition, the previous résumé should be examined more closely, for example: What skills and competencies have you acquired in the specific situation? What challenges did you face? Which of these challenges did you master how? What areas of responsibility have you already taken on?
7. After all, it's about recognizing and presenting the candidate's personality. Only with the known facts from the CV is that hardly possible, or it is purely subjective speculation. At the latest at this point separates the chaff from the wheat at the service providers: Come in this analysis, the psychological knowledge of the consultant to wear, that is, he can even analyze their strengths specifically?
8. Of course, it is very important that you as a customer can lead the consultant with one or more personal conversations, so that he / she can learn as much as possible about their personal motivation. Especially cheaper online service providers lead such discussions gladly on the telephone, better is of course a personal discussion. In this, your goals, your motivation for your job, your current situation and the past should be discussed. Only in this way does the consultant get an impression of your person as a whole.
9. More power of course costs more - you have to be clear. Inexpensive online providers, who only pour their data into polished formulations, of course cost significantly less than a consultant with specialist and personal expertise who deals with you and your CV in detail. That should be worth it.
10. At the end of each consultation should see a feedback loop. You should first receive a draft of your application documents, in which you can comment on all aspects (design and layout, structure, content and language) and - ideally in the context of another job interview - can contribute your own grade. Only then can you be sure that your application really suits you.

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