ResumeBridge, Inc.

I would like to start by sharing a weakness of mine. Quite often, I get disheartened and troubled by the bad things and self-sabotage I see job seekers doing to their job searches and careers. This applies to everyone from Senior Executives to new college graduates, and everyone in-between.

The concern starts to consume my days because I’m constantly thinking about the best ways to reach and educate people on job search and career best practices. I start losing my own productivity, and then I snap out of the trance and continue grinding along - only to repeat that cycle every couple of weeks.

It Drives Me Crazy!
It drives me crazy and it’s why I’ve posted my personal beliefs and thoughts here under what I call the genuine truth about careers and job search. This is all based on me successfully helping hundreds of job seekers, yet observing a higher number of people who failed because they thought things were “under control”.

I’m going to be very candid and up-front, so buckle-up!

Here we go!
I’ve found very few people who really, truly know what salary their skills are worth in the job market. Sure, people know that salaries are different across different geographic places, but knowing what you’re personally worth is something else.

How can you possibly go out on a job search and sell your skills without even knowing what you’re worth?! It’s like selling your car for $2,000 when it’s really worth $6,000. No one would do that, so why do so many people settle for a lesser salary than they are worth? I hope you’re not settling for less!

Here’s the Main Reason People Settle for Less!
Job seekers don’t fully comprehend (or choose to ignore) that ALL salary potential starts with how your career storyline matches the job(s) you’re pursuing. It’s based entirely on your ability to clearly communicate and project your past achievements into future value – all aligned with where you want to go. Period.

This means you MUST have a clear, crisp, and concise career storyline for your job search that is consistent across your résumé, networking, interviewing, and online professional sites like Linkedin. This becomes more difficult when you want to advance your career, change careers, change industries, down-shift your career, or lack experience – the complexity exists in nearly every single situation at nearly every single career level.

Here’s the Job Seeker Self-sabotage!
Sabotage #1 - Job seekers reach out to friends and family for help creating the clear, crisp, and concise career storyline. Although this seems logical, these people are not qualified or trained to provide this support, pull this information out of you, and put it into words for you. They don’t know the job search landscape. It’s like asking me to cut your hair – sure, I’ll do it – but it’s not going to look very good, and you won’t want to walk around letting everyone see it. So, hire a trained professional!

Sabotage #2 – Because you’re hesitant to hire a trained professional resume writer / job search coach, you are losing time and money. Remember the salary comments and settling for less. It happens because your storyline is holding you back! Is a Rolex watch really worth that much more than any other watch? All watches keep time! It’s the storyline and image! Represent yourself in your career and job search like a Rolex watch and see your interview schedule fill up!

Sabotage #3 – You say, “but, professional résumé or job search services are too expensive.”, “what do I get for my money?”, “how do I know it will help me get a job?” With these thoughts, you put off hiring professional help, and you end up in the vicious cycle of a bad career storyline, a below average résumé, very few interviews, and a decline in self-confidence and self-esteem. Hiring a professional is an investment in your future. It’s an investment in salary potential, lifestyle, and family financial support. You will get and learn things that you can take with you for a lifetime!

My Final Thoughts – For Now Anyway
Before you can successfully go through a job change or career change you must first change yourself. You must change your mindset about how you’re approaching the effort. You must stop thinking that no one is hiring or it’s the economy! You must change your belief in the process of working with a trained résumé writer and job search coach.

I’ve introduced and explained the troublesome situation and the need for change. Let’s have some open conversation about your career / job search concerns, fears, and thoughts. Let’s take any negative energy and turn that into something positive that can be used constructively to better your future.

Let’s have a conversation that allows you to understand the process and express yourself. This will move you more quickly toward your career or job search goal.

And remember, You’re Worth More™.

All the Best.