“Experience is a master teacher, even when it’s not our own.”
― Gina Greenlee, Author
When I was at Boeing in 2014, I was part of an exclusive leadership program. Through a friend, I learned about a participant who spent over $5,000 to work with an executive consultant. At that time, I didn’t understand why he spent money on a consultant when we were receiving thousands of dollars in training from the company.
Why Consulting?
A few months later I understood why he hired the consultant. I felt my career had become stagnant and desperately needed to revamp my resume. I looked at resume books and updated mine repeatedly, but I wasn’t getting called for interviews. I didn’t know what was wrong. I had great credentials, leadership experience and during my career I’ve identified over $1,000,000 in savings for God’s sake!
One day, after getting tired of looking at my resume for the 3,857th time and receiving yet another “Thank you for your interest…” email, I got frustrated enough and searched the internet for a professional resume writer. After a couple of consultations I chose a woman named Marie. Our session was held over Skype and after an hour of questions, she had enough information to create my new resume. From that session, I learned what my resume was missing and was equipped with the information to do it on my own in the future.
After a week and $804 later, I had a new cover letter, resume and LinkedIn Profile. I couldn’t wait to start applying for new jobs. Within a month, I got calls from large aerospace companies such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. After I gained momentum in my job search, I thought to myself, “I should have done this sooner!” This would have saved me months of rejection and frustration.
Why we don’t reach out for help.
“From what I’ve seen, it isn’t so much the act of asking that paralyzes us–it’s what lies beneath: the fear of being vulnerable, the fear of rejection, the fear of looking needy or weak. The fear of being seen as a burdensome member of the community instead of a productive one. It points, fundamentally, to our separation from one another.”
― Amanda Palmer, Author
A lot of times our pride gets the best of us. We think, “I don’t need help, I can figure this out myself.”
Of course we’re intelligent individuals, but think about the last time you took on that project all by yourself without asking for help.
Remember my example above? I swallowed my pride and hired someone who helped me get calls back from large engineering companies. Sometimes the best thing you can do is admit you need help.
Pressure creates urgency.
Think about it, when was the last time you updated your resume and how long did think it would take you?
Now, answer truthfully. How long did it really take you?
I’m sure after deciding to work on your resume, a couple days turned into one week, one week turned into two weeks, then and two weeks turned in to two months!
And you’ve guessed it.
Your resume is still not done.
You’ll ask yourself, “what happened to the time?” As you think back through your weeks, it seemed like one thing after another kept popping up and you were not able to get back to your resume.The explanation to not getting it done is simple. We put off things that don’t matter unless we are up against an external pressure.
Let’s look at some common career pressures we usually face:
- My boss is a jerk, I need to get outta here ASAP.
- The deadline for this job is ending soon. I better update my resume.
- A manager from my dream company wants me to send her my resume.
- The company is “right sizing” and I need to find a new job.
Although no one might be asking for your resume now, it never hurts to have it ready “just in case.”
There have been numerous times, I ran into hiring managers in the hallways at work or at conferences who’ve asked me to send over my resume.
It’s never fun scrambling to update a resume that hasn’t been revised in two years.
Avoid panic and stress.
The quickest way to avoid panic and stress is to be proactive, hire a career consultant.
They’ll help you:
- Reduce stress at every stage of your career.
- See exponential growth in your career.
- Stay on track with your goals with structured accountability.
- Stand out to hiring managers because they’re experts in their field.
- Get those “unadvertised” jobs.
- Test out new ideas before presenting them to hiring managers.
And so much more!
Do yourself a favor; don’t wait for the successful path to fall in your lap. Be proactive and find a career consultant to help you save years of trying to do it on your own.
Learn more about career consulting and how it can help you. Email me here.
