Competition or Colleagues? And a History Lesson

Competition strikes fear, the word Colleague, implies working together.

Can the competition be your colleague? In my experience, yes!

I’ve been a career industry professional for over 25 years, writing resumes, cover letters, teaching clients job searching strategies, and listening to job seekers share their stories.

The impact of professional organizations

• I joined the Professional Association of Resume Writers (now PARWCC) in 1999.
• In 2000, I became a member of Career Masters Institute, (CMI) now Career Management Alliance (CMA). Wendy Enelow launched CMI as a training resource for the field. If PARW connected the career industry, then CMI taught us lessons and gave us resources. It was the first Internet-based training and development resource for the career industry.
• Wendy opened the door to publication for me. I still remember when the first book with one of my resumes came in the mail, Expert Resumes for Teachers and Educators by Wendy Enelow and Lousie Kursmark.
• Although I knew certifications were available, it took personally meeting Susan Guarneri to actually sign up for the test. I passed and earned the Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) credential.
• If you follow this blog, you know the impact Jason Alba had on my life. I chose to become one of his Career Expert partners because he is always thinking, learning, and I never know what new idea he will come up with next.
• I joined Career Directors International (CDI) in 2009 and again, this has opened new doors to me. Founded by Laura DeCarlo, CDI is continually offering new resources and educational opportunities. The rave reviews from CDI’s recent convention in Orlando echoed throughout Twitter and 2010’s convention is already being planned and I think this time, I might actually get there.
• CDI has multiple learning tools, many of which are created by Gayle Howard.
• I asked Dawn Bugni, a career professional in North Carolina, to help me with Wausau Whitewater 2009. Dawn’s highly visible on Twitter and has made her debut in radio, as a member of the Resume Chicks, interviewed by Recruiting Animal, billed as the number 1 show in Recruiting Radio.

So what’s my point?

You see career professionals all over Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Though we are obviously there to let job seekers know we have resources and solutions for them, we are also there as a group. We talk to each other, retweet each other, and comment on each other’s blogs. Why? Aren’t we all competing for the same market?

The career industry knows who has talents in which area, expertise and tips but many people still told me and others, “Wow, I’m glad I found you! I didn’t know someone like you existed.”

It was the invisibility factor.

Professional resume writers and career coaches are often sole proprietors who lack the marketing budgets of large firms. Lack of marketing individually or as a group left people in the dark about the professional as a whole.

As I have grown to know the career industry professionals, I find them to be the most caring, professional, talented individuals on the planet. Their willingness to share knowledge and problem solve with people who could be their competition is amazing. Throughout this post, I gave you links to what could be called, my competition. Why?

The truth is, we’d like the world to get to know the career industry.

You will find people who care about you, the job seeker. People who strive every day to improve their craft, understand new strategies and technologies, and stay ahead of the learning curve. Do I call them competition? No — I call them colleagues, and I call them friends!

The best thing a job seeker can do is make a smart buying decision based on whose personality, knowledge base, and strategies fit their needs best. All of us care about our clients, you can choose which one of us is right for you.