Do Not be Afraid to Take Risks and Go Towards Your Goal Even During a Pandemic: An Interview with the Founder of the Service SweetCV

Sergey Siryk of SweetCV encourages entrepreneurs not to be afraid to take risks but go towards their goal even during a pandemic

First, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times? 

Sergey Siryk: Nowadays, my team tries to be in a positive mood. All of us, like most people, have moved to remote work. And I have developed the habit of walking a lot to get fresh air. For the last six months, I have walked 15 kilometers through the forest or park every day. Such walks help to feel better. With it, I can increase productivity.

Tell us about you, your career, how did you found SweetCV? 

Sergey Siryk: This is an interesting but not original story. I have been recruiting people many times because trying to find specialists for my IT team. Every day I read a lot of job applications and realized that people do not know how to write a CV. This is a very big problem. Because a lot of CVs don’t have a clear structure, they miss the necessary details. I know that even if the resume is terrible, it can be written by a good professional. But no one will pay attention to such a job application. So the idea to create a service that will help people write a professional resume came to my mind. 

How does SweetCV innovate? 

Sergey Siryk: Our service SweetCV is an online resume builder. It is very convenient. You will not need to install any additional programs. Just go to the site and register, and that’s all. The user will receive all the necessary tools and templates to create a useful and professional resume. 

Our innovation lies in a user-friendly interface. Even at the development stage, we conducted UX research. Next, my team did A/B tests. Therefore, our solution turned out to be as user-friendly as possible. We also tested our resume templates a lot, looking for individual and universal ones. Nowadays, the service can help users emphasize their skills. 

There is another main feature on our site. We have developed a large database with free resume samples, and different professions group them. You can also use a resume writing guide. We worked with professional HR managers, and that’s why all samples turned out to be credible and valuable.

How does the coronavirus pandemic affect your business, and how are you coping?

Sergey Siryk: Our startup is an online service. Therefore, lockdowns did not affect its work. But now we try to keep a good mood and support each other because a pandemic affects the morale of each team member. The main thing is to think positively.

Did you have to make difficult choices, and what are the lessons learned?

Sergey Siryk: Do not delegate tasks to contractors if you are not versed in such work. You must study all the nuances at first. This will allow you to understand: the contractors are performing the task correctly or not. If they do a poor job, you need to end the cooperation immediately. The same goes for the people who work with you. 

How do you deal with stress and anxiety?

Sergey Siryk: I try to take a laptop right away and go somewhere for a few months. In my opinion, you need to change the surrounding landscape. The main things: there must be a good internet connection and no neighbors with repairs.

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?

Sergey Siryk: I did not create a service that has no analogs. That’s why we have competitors. There are some good online resume builders that we are equal to. But we are constantly developing our product, adding new functionality and capabilities. Therefore, I can call our service a relevant opponent.

Your final thoughts?

Sergey Siryk: I think each of us must believe in our product, respect our team, and never be afraid to experiment.

Your website?

https://sweetcv.com/