The old wisdom says you have a choice: Either put in a small amount of effort to prevent an issue, or spend a great deal of effort fixing it once it’s become significant. Stitches in a weakening seam, or making sure your resume is up-to-date before you need it, a little effort now can save you a big headache later. It’s career insurance!
Many clients and potential clients ask me why they should pay to have a professional resume written or executive coaching while they’re happy with the job they have. A great example came across my desk recently.
A few weeks ago, I offered a free resume critique to a recent executive MBA graduate in the United States. He declined, as he was happy at his current job, productive, and his organization valued the work he was doing. Suddenly, this week, he calls back out of the blue. His company has downsized, and despite his great performance, senior-level associates were being laid off as a budgetary measure. Now, this gentleman needs a resume immediately, as he has a potential interview coming up and no resume to give the hiring influencer!
I agreed to help him, of course, but since my process takes 2 weeks to complete, the instant resume he was hoping to coax from me was a non-starter. If he’d taken me up on the free resume critique weeks ago, we could have been nearly done with the process. He’d have been ready with not only a powerful and enticing resume, but would be ready and confident about any interviews resulting from his resume submission, too.
Gone are the days of the lifetime job, bright and capable employees are switching jobs as many as a dozen or more times over the course of a career. In fact, a change of job can be a great way boost your salary and your career! You should always be prepared to make the next leap in your career, and your resume, network, and interview skills should all be freshly polished and ready to use!
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