CVLoft, the resume writing platform is set to leverage AI to connect African youth with jobs

CVLoft Limited is an innovative employment agency co-founded in 2020 by (Ade)funke Onafuye.

CVLoft is a two-sided platform that goes beyond aggregating job openings. It also offers services that cater to the job seeker (talent) and recruiter (employer). Although its foremost service to job seekers was CV reviews, it has since expanded to include LinkedIn optimisation and application letter writing. To employers, CVLoft provides four major services; Talent Sourcing, SME HR Services, Workflow development and Employee Training.

With their expanded range of services, CVLoft joins an emerging number of companies offering HR-related services like BTDTHub and The People Practice (more on this soon).

But how did this all begin for Funke Onafuye and CVLoft?

In 2017, when Funke put out her first job ad for a client, she did not know it was something she would evolve into a business.

Before then, she was a Business Technology Advisor focused on increasing sales and managing customer relations. She built a reputation for tweeting about sales and customer relations and in no time, landed an ad opportunity to help recruit sales people.

As the applications started trickling in, she realised that many people who seemed qualified were not going to be given a chance because of their first foot forward, their CV.

"I asked for CVs and got so many. I think they were more than 500. I kept looking through them, and even I who wasn’t a recruiter couldn't make sense of what I was looking at. Passing on CVs for the role that the company wanted was very tedious"

—Funke Onafuye, Founder, CVLoft

A resume is often the first stage of any job hiring process. Without a good resume, it is near-impossible to move past that first stage.

Appalled by the quality of CVs she had received, she decided to help out. She made a call for people to signify if they wanted their CVs re-written. At first, she asked if anyone would pay, no response.

But when she offered to do it for free, the CVs started rolling in.

I got so many DM’s that day. Honestly, I just wanted to give people a shot. Like, I think that if you're qualified, your CV shouldn't be the reason that you don't get a chance. So I just wanted to help.

—Funke Onafuye,  Founder, CVLoft

From writing free CVs to creating a company, CVLoft

CVLoft is not your conventional startup company. In fact, by some metrics, it may not qualify as a startup.

Funke continued writing resumes as a side gig, initially charging as little as ₦1,000 ($2.62) per resume.

CVLoft, in its current iteration, wouldn't kick off until 2020. Before then, the company ran a job board that connected job seekers to aggregated, verified, and timely job vacancies.

Job boards are a dime a dozen with most of them recycling the same content. But Funke wanted to build something different.

The first step was making sure that the jobs on the website were verified and still open. Next, the platform upgraded to helping users build their CVs. Finally, it included job hunting services for recruiters who pay a subscription fee to access job seekers.

Today, for job seekers looking to write their CV, there are three options available on CVLoft. The most affordable option is a self-service that costs just ₦1,000 ($2.62). With self-service, users can choose from multiple templates, answer simple questions and get an auto-generated resume highlighting their strengths as a potential employee.

"The self-service costs ₦1,000. It is very fun to do. You're just filling information in these boxes. When you're done, it falls into a template which you can download as your CV", Onafuye tells Benjamindada.com.

You can also hire professional writers to write your CV from scratch. This plan costs higher depending on your years of experience. Other offerings for job seekers include writing personal statements and LinkedIn optimisation to increase in-bound job-related requests.

For businesses, CVLoft offers a robust range of services, starting with a simple job listing which can be done for free. The company has recently included other HR offering in its catalog including recruitment planning, payroll management, trainings and others.

CVLoft's lofty goals for the future

When Funke started posting jobs, she was just a young lady with a mobile phone and a Twitter account. Those one-off posts have grown into a 10-person company today including one technical co-founder, two developers, four writers and people in customer service and content.

However, it is still "early days" for CVLoft, according to Funke. Right now, a lot of the resume writing work is done manually.

Per future plans, the company wants to leverage Artificial Intelligence to automate a lot of its processes, starting with job matching. And then a feedback advisory system that advises job seekers on the best action to take regarding their CVs and the roles they intend to apply for. "This will help job seekers make the right career choice", she says.

Also, optimising the talent acquisition process for employers is top of mind for CVLoft. The team is looking for a way to grant recruiters on its platform direct access to qualified job seekers. In the next few years, they are looking to transition into a business support system.

Although, CVLoft is only active in Nigeria, Co-founder Adefunke Onafuye says that they plan to expand to other African countries, starting with Ghana.