Dear Sue,

Thanks for your interest in what I have been accomplishing. The truth is I have not been accomplishing much. I have been a bit unmotivated after the disappointments of early in the year. They have left me feeling like this is going to be much harder than I expected. 

That said, I have done a bit of thinking about strategies for marketing myself beyond my current niche. That niche is small in NE Ohio, and I have tried unsuccessfully to break into it. I’ll keep trying, but it seems clear I need a broader strategy if I am going to increase the number of opportunities available to me. 

Toward that end, I have been revising my resume to make it more skills oriented. It had elements of this before, but I’m trying to take it further so that it begins by listing the transferable skills I have developed during my career instead of focusing on the jobs I have had. I list the jobs, but with less detail about what I did in those jobs. 

I understand that you helped others update and evolve their resumes. I am wondering whether you would be willing to do the same thing for me. Can you tell me more about the resume review services you provide? Some work on my resume might help me position myself as a potential candidate for a broader range of employment opportunities. 

Sam

 Good afternoon, Sam

Thanks for your thoughtful note.  Yes, yours has been a discouraging experience. The pandemic, distance from where you are to your search area, caring for family, not to mention your full-time job, while necessary, have made it harder to connect with new people. Plus, connecting with new people in itself can be hard in some ways.

As you know, the type of resume you’re thinking of, stressing your transferrable skills, is a Functional Resume. It works well when a person is making a deliberate career change and can articulate the reasons behind that change, i.e., they want to change from marketing to fundraising because there are issues they care about in the community, and here are the skills they have demonstrated that show they can and will do the new type of job. And, they are excited about the change.

In your case, you are indefinite about what your career change might be. A Networking Referral Guide will provide similar information as a Functional Resume, yet you could customize it for each person you meet. Plus, you can send it ahead or leave it behind when people ask for something without leaving your resume of any type which may not be a perfect fit for the role they are thinking of.  I’ve attached one so you can see the difference.

Resume Rewrite Request

Yes, we can review/renew your resume.

We can do this one of two ways – A separate-from-your-coaching-package resume service in which I will produce your DRAFT resume, a rewrite and two different formats. You can read more about that here: https://www.thejobsearchcenter.com/services/resume. I could write it next week. The initial meeting takes 90 minutes and includes the analysis of two assessments you do ahead of time (strengths and values), plus however far you can get on a List of 120.[1] Since you are dropping back a bit to re-strategize, making a List of 120 things/characteristics/qualities/experiences/whatever-is-important-to-you in the new job would be a good idea. People hate it while they’re making it, and then they wouldn’t do without it.

An alternative is, I could review your current resumes in one session, and you could make changes. We might look to update them both using the same principles. For instance, instead of including your responsibilities, you can write your accomplishments. This would mainly be rewording what is already there. We could review it in our meeting next week.  

Networking Needs in a Long-Distance Job Search

There are more obstacles in a long-distance search than a local one, as you have seen. And the way through them is being in relationships that are extending and expanding. This requires a lot of reaching out from your end. All this emailing, networking and Zoom calling doesn’t feel like it’s moving forward. That’s because a job search journey is not a straight line. Also, it’s mostly invisible.

One question is, can you get more time for networking – reaching out, composing emails, tracking, responding and responding, finally getting the call, and following up?  At this stage in your career, 94% of the time (LinkedIn research) the job offer will come through referrals rather than just applying. I know you have a job that you want to do well. As a reminder, 90% is still an A. If you do just 90%, would you have more time?

Amazingly, adding Action Accountability Group meetings can really help. The momentum of the group can carry you places you didn’t know you would be going. We have an evening group that has room in it. They meet on Monday nights at 7:00. I also have inquiries for a daytime group, so we could start that up if I knew what days you could make it. These are affordable - $10/week.

That’s what I have for now.  What are your thoughts? What are your questions?  What looks good to you right now?

I’m glad you wrote,

Sue

[1] Mentioned in this post with a brief explanation for how to use: https://www.thejobsearchcenter.com/news-notes/2020/2/27/qampa-off-the-cuff-quick-interviewing-tips?rq=120.