Is your resume well written AND well edited? If you are not 100% certain, take advantage of my standing offer to critique your resume for free. Just email a copy to review@firstimpressionsresumes.biz and I will let you know if your resume is impressive enough to influence busy recruiters and key decision makers; and if it is not, I can offer specific tips on how to make it stand out in the crowd.
Moreover, if you need professional help but can’t afford the prohibitive costs many services charge – my offer of a 25% discount on my services has been extended another week until November 8, 2009. This means you can finally get the help you need at a price you can afford.
Which brings me to today’s topic: Why unemployment is a poor excuse for not investing in your job search, especially if you are an executive or professional over the age of thirty five.
At no time in modern history have career professionals, mid-level managers and C-level executives had their careers so susceptible to change. Since the events of September 11 rocked the financial world, and more recently the mortgage crisis of 2007/2008, American business leaders in unprecedented numbers have been put into the unaccustomed position of having to reinvent themselves in the job marketplace.
Executive resumes have changed since many of you were last called upon to write one, and the old boy network that worked so well has dried up and you are now depending just like everyone else on the job boards and social media sites to generate leads.
Moreover, executive interviews have always been more challenging than interviews at lower levels. Executive candidates face a longer interview process, must demonstrate a vision to meet the prospective employer’s challenges, and undergo intense vetting before receiving a job offer. Are you as comfortable at this as you once were?
If your next step is a junior executive, senior-level, or C-level position you must know how to reinvent yourself on paper, and in your image and physical and verbal presentation one or more times a week. For a great many of you reading this, this is a daunting task.
That is why I suggest that some former executives and you know who you are, should swallow your pride and open your wallets to hire a professional resume writer and career coach. In your past when you were an up and coming high 5 figure rising star, and later on a 6 figure executive looking to climb the corporate ladder, this investment was a no brainer. For many of you the only thing that has changed is your job status. Your need for professional help still exists; and as a matter of fact it is greater today with your being unemployed than it was in the good old days when you were happily employed.
If you want to really open your eyes consider this: you are now very likely applying for jobs with an annual salary of $75,000-$250,000 a year, or a consulting gig that pay $60-$150 an hour. This means that each and every day you are unemployed or under-employed you lose $250 - $1,200 in cold hard cash that you will never recoup.
Then consider this; if a professional can get you back to work even one day sooner, what is this worth to you; let alone if he or she can help you get back to work a week or a month or two months sooner?
Do the math and you will agree that at your level professional a modest investment in your future is a prudent business decision, no matter what finances are.
Imagine how much benefit you will get by working with someone who can help you put together a marketing package that appeals to a new breed and in most cases a much younger group of initial screeners and decision makers.
Imagine how much better you will interview with someone by your side helping you define what your value is and how this get this across to interviewers and decision makers who may look at you as a little long in the tooth, or not as up to date on modern business strategies and technologies based solely on conjecture about your age.
Imagine how much your job search will gain from having an expert available at your beck and call who can impart pearls of wisdom and useful tips and critiques on how to land an interview and conduct pre-interview research; on the importance of nonverbal behavior and attire; and on how to use social media to network and establish your personal brand.
You do the math and see if it is worthwhile for you to be “penny wise and dollar foolish.”
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