I will be transparent with you. After about six (6) months of actively looking, I really was starting to wonder what I was doing wrong. All this time spent trying to learn the new, proper way of doing things. The follow-ups. The tweaks to the résumé and cover letters. I had nothing to show for it except for a long list of jobs applied in the wrong status. So, I decided I needed some professional assistance. I looked into free résumé critiquing, résumé writing, headhunters, and even career coaching.
Résumé Assistance
There are two (2) types of résumé assistance you can look into, résumé critiquing and résumé writing.
Résumé critiquing can be found mainly in two different places, job boards and colleges/universities. I did both. You submit your résumé and they will respond back with suggestions on how to improve your résumé. To my recollection, it was more about formatting than anything. Maybe some semantic changes here and there, but not a major overhaul.
If you are looking for a major overhaul, then you will want a professional Résumé Writer. I met one in the Premium LinkedIn Group, Steph with offtheclockresumes.com. Typically, they will meet with you virtually one-on-one. They will discuss your past and what you are looking for in your career. There will also be direct questions to help them understand what the needs of the document are. I went a little over-zealous and sent over the entire Résumé Information document. Looking back, I am glad I did hire a Résumé Writer. Afterward, I think my résumé stands out more but it is still professional. Awhile after the résumé writing, I went to two career coaches, and they both did not have anything to change in regards to the format at all. That re-enforced the investment I made in my most important marketing document.
As a side note, Steph also worked on my entire LinkedIn profile and the summaries of my other social media sites.
Career Coaching
I worked with two Career Coaches. “Without counsel, plans fail, but with many advisers, they succeed.” – Proverbs.
I worked with Kevin at ChristianCareerCenter.com and Seth at OnToTheJob.com. Career Coaches will also go over your LinkedIn Profile and résumé and provide suggestions and guidance as well. But they go above and beyond that, as well. They will interview you for the résumé, specifically, but also go into what have you done and what are you looking to do in more detail. A Career Coach could administer skill, personality, and career tests to get a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. They will take the time to work out a specific job search strategy plan. When appropriate they will also coach you on interview preparation and interview techniques. When that big day comes, they will also coach you salary negotiation.
Career Coaches can also be there for you if you are wanting to grow in your current role, improve your leadership skills, prepare for the future, help with work-life balance, prepare for your annual review, and so much more. I believe I am reaching a point in my career where I could really benefit from an ongoing coaching relationship. There are also counselors that could assist if you are looking for advice in specific work situations, such as dealing with difficult people.
Other Options
As you know, there is no shortage of free help on the Internet. There are a ton of blogs and videos offering up similar advice, but it is generally stated and not specific to you. Some of the resources I have used regularly are as follows:
- OffTheClockResumes.com
- ChristianCareerCenter.com
- OnToTheJob.com
- TheMuse.com
- WorkItDaily.com
- HumanWorkplace.com
- ChameleonResumes.com
- Your College’s Alumni page
So here is a question to the community:
“What business recommendations can you provide to the community in regards to Résumé Writers and Career Coaches?”
Thank you for your time,
Volume 9 Issue 12 (54) Original Post: 05/01/2018 Updated: 05/01/2018
Job Search Lessons Learned Navigation
Before
01) Social Media. It is time for a clean-up and health check of your online presence.
02) Self-Discovery. As the famous rock band, The Who, once asked: “Whooooo are you? Who, who? Who, who?”
03) What do you want? It’s not all about them, you are a unique snowflake and you should be confident about that.
04) Networking. If you take only one thing away from this series, it HAS to be this.
05) Résumé Information. The source of truth for your résumé(s), applications, cover letters, and interviews.
06) Résumé. How should it look? I don’t know, has the person reviewing eaten lately? What day of the week is it? Which season is it? Did they recently take time off? Did they get a good or bad review? How was traffic this morning?
During
07) Tracking. Release the OCD!
08) Social Media. Yes, you need to use it. Don’t fight it.
09) Networking and Referrals. That is how important this is, I talk about it twice!
10) Applying. I’ll just tell you now, it feels like a black hole sometimes.
11) Interview. The moment you have been waiting for!
12) Professional Assistance. Sometimes you cannot see the forest for the trees.
- Conclusion. That’s a wrap.
