A resume writer's secret tool to create a value-infused resume

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Resume writers have many tools used for information gathering and targeting the resume. Without those tools, your resume is mundane. How can the employer see how you would be an asset to the company if your resume looks just like every other resume in the database?

BONUS for 1st quarter 2012 – Each Re-Entry Basic package includes your choice of behavioral assessment (Executive, Management-Staff, Career Success Insights, Sales, Customer Service, Interviewing Insights, and more)  will help you define your strengths and weaknesses, identify your communication patterns, and clarify your value. The assessments are a tool to help you position yourself for even greater success in your next position and identify why you might be blowing interviews.

The assessment, report, and accompanying consultation allows me to get a thorough grasp of the client’s personality, strengths and weaknesses. Using assessments has helped build value into the resumes, helped address potential pitfalls in the client’s work style that could hinder the job search, and helped build confidence into job seekers who were struggling with self esteem issues.

Clients ranged from people who had taken assessments in the past to others who found it a totally new process. Since assessments are now often a part of the interview process, this also lets the client experience an assessment in a safe environment before facing one in an interview.

In addition to using the reports for my clients, several businesses found the process to be advantageous to improving the interaction between their team members. Henry Yach III asked if I would meet with his team and complete assessments on a core group and himself. He left this review on the Google map to Design Resumes.

Julie has been a great help to our business over the past year. We had Julie work with our team facilitating DISC assessments, which are personality profiles. Each member of our office team met with Julie individually and then Julie followed up and came to our business to meet with the group as a whole. We found the information gathered to be very helpful in working together as a team and Julie did an excellent job showing each person’s strengths and how we could use that to serve our customers better. We continue to use Julie for many other services she provides. I would recommend Julie to anyone! Thank you Julie! ~ Henry Yach III- Yach’s Body & Custom, Inc.

Henry’s team was already nominated for the Chamber of Commerce Small Business of Year Award that they later won before I worked with them but Henry’s commitment to excellence continues to drive him to find new ways to serve his customers better.

The value to the client

The value to the client is evident as they recognize their value while also seeing the challenges that their communication style may be creating in the workplace. From the Checklist for Communicating to the Ideal Environment, clients get a grasp of what direction their job search should take and what specifically they are looking for in a new position. A client whose ideal environment reads “freedom of movement” will probably not like a job in a small cubicle.

Whenever I review assessments with clients I ask, “Does this sound like you?” Sometimes I don’t even have to ask  because the client is already shaking his or her head in amazement. One returning client bought a new package with an assessment included. As he read the General Characteristics section, a narrative identifying the basic natural behavior an individual brings to the job, he kept saying, “Julie, this is scary! How does this thing know so much about me?”

Suddenly he saw why he was not happy in his current role and why his desire to change careers was so strong. As we reviewed and discussed his report, he became more and more joyful as he felt convicted that his desire to move from manufacturing to the health care field was confirmed.

The value to the resume writer or career coach

As I discuss the report with the client, I can ask questions I might not have thought of previously. Suddenly, I have a grasp on areas that challenge the client and can now help him or her devise strategies to overcome their weaknesses. Their new resume (which is the foundation of the job search) now reflects the personality of the client as well as depicting their accomplishments and makes my job as a resume writer easier. The strategies we develop to target their job search now have a direction and sense of purpose that fits the individual client.