My Client on the Howard Stern Show
While all of my thousands of clients throughout nearly three decades now have brought their own unique stories and backgrounds to my writing firm, each of these distinctly-different people – with their disparate goals and life experiences – all share one thing in common. The (em)power(ment) they experience from the professional resume they hired me to craft.
If you ever created your own resume (perhaps by taking bits and pieces of other resumes you have seen or used throughout the years), you know that feeling when you send it out that, although it probably isn’t “quite right” or expressing exactly what you mean for it to say, perhaps you’ll be able to explain yourself better once you get the interview. Sometimes, more often than not, that interview never comes though.
I humbly and confidently know (through God’s grace) that every single one of my clients has been completely and utterly “blown away” by the resume I create. What further makes them shake their heads in disbelief with a wide grin on their face is what happens when they send out -into the universe – the resume I designed for them. They know they no longer have to hope that IF they are given the chance for an interview they’ll be able to then explain the discrepancies or flags on the resume they may have created themselves; instead, WHEN they get the call – (and the interviews do come with a professional resume) – they can focus their attention, energies, and spirit on being prepared for and excited about the interview process in general. The professional resume – crafted with care and an attention to detail – speaks for itself.
In fact, I have had clients who have gotten jobs with only a phone interview! They sent their BFP resume out, got a phone interview, and were offered the position right then and there!
Today’s anecdote about the power of a professional resume, however, is about a client of mine who came to my office for ONE resume and ONE cover letter for ONE job he found in our local paper.
This was a little unusual because most clients, while they may have one job in mind that they want to forward the resume to when it is completed, also plan to send it off to other companies; thus, they order a whole resume package instead of just ONE!
Not this client.
He wanted this ONE job that he saw in the paper and needed ONE resume (I, of course, gave him some extra copies for his file and for the interview).
He had recently relocated to Cleveland from NYC where he worked as a “signtist” – a term he coined for himself because he was both a sign painter and an artist. The advertisement in the local paper was written by an international soda pop company searching for a sign painter; the company needed someone to run their art department – paint the signs, create the banners, and design marketing posters, store signs, window art, and marketing materials for special events. (I still have a copy of the original ad he brought me!) So, after reading the job description and interviewing my client in depth so that I could not only understand his specific experience and talent, but also capture his personality and essence, I began the project straightaway since he wanted to be one of the first applicants applying for the position.
When he came back the next morning to proof and pick up the magnum opus I had created for him, he was t-h-r-i-l-l-e-d. He signed the cover letter and went immediately to the post office to mail it off with the resume. It was my famous “split brochure style” that I designed for him.
Though I try to keep in contact with all my clients through emails, hosting company golf outings, and planning social events and gatherings so my clients can meet each other, time goes by so fast that I often don’t get to reconnect with them until the holidays, they get married, or they come back for an update!
One morning, a few months later, I heard my “signtist” client on the Howard Stern show. He had called the station, from Cleveland, to talk to Howard about whatever the topic of the day was and he reminded Howard that he was the guy from NYC who Howard hired to paint some banners for a party of Howard’s in NYC! I immediately recognized my client’s heavy Italian-NYC accent and his story about his art background.
Later that day I called my client. I first asked him if he was, indeed, on the Stern show and what had become of that ONE job he sent the ONE resume off to. He said he was on the radio that morning and he was also happy to report that the resume was a huge hit! So much so that he was one of 14 applicants called in for an interview. The team that interviewed him had told him they had never seen a resume like his before and were very impressed with both its professionalism and creativity. He was offered (and accepted) the job on the spot! Ten years later, my client was still the head of the Art Department at this international company.
One resume. One cover letter.
Anyone can snail mail or post anything about himself on any free or for-fee resume posting site. The ONLY way to know if what YOU are sending out into the universe is working for you is the type of responses you get from it. If no one is calling or, if the only emails you receive are generic “work from home” jobs that everyone gets, your resume’s wording, layout, and/or design is NOT working for you.
Only ONE TIME in your professional career do you need to make the investment in a professional resume.
ONCE.
It is not something you buy once a week, once a month, or every year.
You get one jaw-dropping, head-turning, goosebump-inflicting resume created for yourself and then, as you increase your experiences, hone your skills, receive kudos, and fine tune your goals – you simply get it updated.
What is your current resume-sending experience? Do you keep checking your phone to make sure it is working? Or are you making plans for what you will wear for the second interview?
Life is so very short. What are you waiting for?
Next time you drink a soda pop or hear Howard on the radio, think about my client from NYC – the guy who walked into my office one night wanting ONE resume and ONE cover letter for the ONE job he really wanted.
And got.
Tags: Coca-Cola Bottling Company, howard stern, NYC artist
