Delivery of ROI on resume writing services & a request for past clients

Posted by | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 31-12-2008

As I write this blog post, my calendar tells me that the first day of spring was 2-1/2 weeks ago. Many of my readers live in places where it is now full spring. I love New Hampshire, where I live, but April is a tease for us. We have a few days here and there of sunshine and warm weather, but most years it is the middle of or even the end of May before we can be sure that the nights will be frost free.

Regardless, as I always do, I get this burst of energy and optimism as the days get warmer and I begin to see shoots of green where just a couple of weeks ago, there was snow. That energy kicked in this past weekend, and I spent two whole days outside cleaning my yard and planning my garden, in the expectation that better days are just around the corner.

I hope the same is true for those of you currently in the job market. It has been a long, challenging winter for many of you who have been unemployed or for those still working, but worried about your job security. But, with spring comes renewed hope, and when I have talked to many of you these past couple of weeks, I clearly hear the increased energy and optimism coming across the telephone line!

That brings me to the article I posted yesterday about differentiating yourself and conducting a successful job search even in a recession. My clients are still landing great new jobs and have been all along, even in this most competitive of job markets. What is it that makes them different and helps make their job searches so fast and successful? The secret has to do with the way we have differentiated each of them and focused on the value, benefits, and desired results each will bring to their next employer.

As I wrote this yesterday’s article, I began thinking about an issue that has been popping up more and more through the first quarter of this year. Many of you who have considered hiring us for a professional resume writing services have stalled and put it off, claiming that you just “can’t afford it right now when money is tight.”

My answer to this claim is consistent: “In such a competitive job market, can you really afford NOT to invest in a professionally written resume?” But, given the fact that many of you continue to stall, only coming back after wasting months in an unproductive and unsuccessful job search, I’m clearly not communicating my message as well as I could be and fully conveying the value, benefits, and return-on-investment that our clients receive from our services. The problem, I believe, is that I haven’t taken my own advice and shown you the numbers that prove the results we will deliver to you, our client.

Have you ever calculated what it costs you to be out of work?

Assuming 260 work days per year (52 x 5), if you make $60k per year, each DAY you are out of work costs you $231.77.

If you make $90k per year, each day you are out of work costs you $346.15.

If the professionally written resume we create for you gets you back to work just TWO days sooner (actually, in many cases LESS THAN two days), the investment you have made in yourself and your career has MORE THAN paid for itself. The bottom line: the returns you receive from your new resume far exceed the investment you made in it.

I have many anecdotal stories from past clients that discuss the return on investment (ROI) that our resume writing services produced for them. Here are a few excerpts:

“Michelle, you got me a 6 figure position in a major recession, thx!”

“I just want to let you know that this week I had four interviews and 3 job offers!…The salary ranges are from $80-$100k.”

“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that hiring Michelle was the best investment I’ve ever made in my career. I probably have been repaid 100-fold for what I spent.”

“Now that the search is over, I want you to know that I have had more responses to my resume in the last 3 months than at any other time in my career. I have had multiple responses to cold call mailings. (a ten fold increase over previous cold job searches)”

“After I received the resume the response went from 1 in 10 [originally] to 9 in 10 [with new resume]. I have accepted a position with a large insurance company less than 4 wks after I received the resume.”

“Just look at results, 4 months on my own resume..zero calls…1 week with yours…going for interviews!!”

My request? I know that there are many, many of my past clients reading this blog post, and you all know how much emphasis I put on quantifying your results and accomplishments in your resume. Now, I need your help to do the same when I talk with my prospective clients. I know that many of you have success stories that illustrate the ROI that our resume writing services produced in your job search. Could I ask that you take just five quick minutes to jot some notes in an email to me, to tell me about the results and returns you received? As always, I promise to guard your confidentiality and will never use your name (only your initials). Thanks so much!

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To Get Hired in 2009: Networking More Important Than Ever

Posted by | Posted in 12 | Posted on 31-12-1969

Networking has always been important during a job search, and when clients ask me what I recommend, I’ve always suggested that networking should be the activity that they devote the most time to.

But, for months now, I’ve been telling my clients that networking is becoming more and more crucial, and that to get hired fast, they MUST make networking their #1 priority. Just through simple observation of what has been working for my clients
and what has not been working, I’ve clearly identified a real shift in hiring
trends. In this current job search climate, I’ve explained, companies are seeking to reduce costs associated with hiring through third parties, and make necessary hires through referral sources instead.

Recently Gary Crispin and Mark Mehler of CareerXRoads published their Annual Sources of Hire Study, and their findings confirm the trends I have been observing.

Here are just a few of those relevant findings, summarized directly from their report:

– Referrals (employee, alumni, vendor, etc.) make up 27.3% of all external hires and is

arguably the number one external source.

– Hires attributed to Job Boards (not including the company site) represent 12.3% of

external hires. We believe this SOH has indeed peaked and predict it will diminish in

the future.

– The most visible trend in 2008 is the pressure to reduce hires (and associated costs)

attributed to third-party recruiters, newspapers and traditional job boards. A steady

growth of sourcing tactics especially social networks and search engine marketing is

also evident.

– Company employees remain the most likely source for filling open positions. Of the

309,600 positions that were filled and could be identified as either Internal or External

fills, nearly four out of every ten positions (38.8%) were filled as a result of internal

mobility.

There is much more detail and interesting observations in the study. It is definitely worth the read if you are looking for a job now or expect to be in the near future.

Personal Branding Tips for Your Job Search

Posted by | Posted in 8 | Posted on 31-12-1969

Q. You always talk about personal branding and how important it is in my job search. Do you have any tips about how personal branding can be promoted in my resume?

A. Sure! Branding provides your resume and other career marketing documents with instant, precision-like focus that positions you as the ideal candidate for the specific type of opportunity that interests you. An unfocused resume is boring and ineffective. An unfocused resume wastes your readers’ time and will land in the circular file. A properly branded resume is, by definition, focused, and addresses not only your unique value proposition, but it does so in a way that addresses the concerns of your target audience.

You can use your personal brand profile and personal brand statement to project a cohesive brand image and value proposition across your resume, cover letters, and all your documents. In my work, I have the opportunity to review a lot of  resumes, letters, biographies and other documents that my clients and prospective clients have tried to write for themselves. This tip relates to one of the most common mistakes that I see. Too many people try to be too many things to too many people. Their career marketing portfolios (resumes, cover letters, biographies, etc.) are a hodge-podge of documents written over a number of years and added onto randomly whenever the need arises for an updated resume.
Certainly across the portfolio, and sometimes even within the same document, I find multiple design and content styles, as well as disconnected and outdated messages. When you brand your job search documents you immediately correct this problem.

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Differentiate Yourself and Land a Job Fast Even In a Recession

Posted by | Posted in 4 | Posted on 31-12-1969

When unemployment is high and you find yourself in a competitive job market, it is easy to get discouraged. It is a fact that there are more and more people competing for fewer and fewer jobs. And, there is no doubt about it! In a time when it seems like no one is hiring and you hear about new lay offs on a daily basis, it can be challenging to even get motivated to start a job search, never mind successfully land a new job.

But, there are still jobs to be found! Companies are still hiring and job seekers are landing jobs on a daily basis. So, what are these newly hired employees doing that get them noticed and get them hired ahead of their competition in the job market?

The secret is a common sense one-the job seekers who are getting interviews and winning jobs have found a way to set themselves apart from the masses. How have they done that? Simple: they’ve “sold” their potential to deliver RESULTS rather than just their skills and baseline qualifications. In other words, they’ve communicated their ability to deliver desired VALUE and BENEFITS to the employer.

Your resume is your first introduction to many potential employers and so it must be written to differentiate you and set you apart by clearly illustrating that you have the ability to produce results, and to do so in a way that is more profitable than your competition.

Hiring authorities are not looking for job descriptions on your resume. Job descriptions simply tell the reader about the responsibilities of the positions you have held. To set yourself apart, your resume must tell the reader what you have accomplished-and more importantly, the value and benefits that those accomplishments have produced for past employers. If you have numbers (e.g., dollar figures, percentages, raw numbers, etc.) that illustrate the impact of your accomplishment, make sure you include them. It is an outdated mindset that your job-related skills are a selling point. In today’s competitive job market, it is essential that you know your value and be able to communicate exactly how you contributed to your past employer’s bottom line.

During these tight economic times, everyone is talking money. Around kitchen tables everywhere, families are discussing how to SAVE money or how to MAKE money. The same is true in companies. It is important to recognize that as an employee, you are an investment. The hiring company invests in you with the expectation that you will produce returns on that investment. What types of returns? Most employers are seeking employees who have the proven ability to SOLVE a challenging problem, to help them MAKE money, to help them SAVE money, or to help them INCREASE efficiency. By communicating how you have delivered these results in the past, using numbers when you can to illustrate that actual return on investment you have delivered, you will easily set yourself apart from the masses of job seekers you are competing against.

Don’t let the rising unemployment rate throw you into a panic. There are still new job openings that crop up every single day. Will you be the next person to get a good job? It’s all up to how you look at the situation. In short, you must change your focus to emphasize what is in it for the company. It’s not about what’s in it for you. It’s all about the company. What can you do for them? How can you solve their problem? How can you make money for them? In what ways can you save them money? How can you help them in these economic times? Emphasize and communicate how you can be an asset to the company, and you will be surprised how quickly you will see positive job search results.

Nationally certified resume writer and career marketing expert, Michelle Dumas is the founder and executive director of Distinctive Career Services LLC. Through Distinctive Documents http://www.distinctiveweb.com and her Executive VIP Services delivered through http://www.100kcareermarketing.com Michelle has empowered thousands of executives, professionals, and managers all across the U.S. and worldwide. Michelle is also the author of the popular e-book 101 Before-and-After Resume Examples found at http://www.before-and-after-resumes.com and of Secrets of a Successful Job Search found at http://www.job-search-secrets.com