"Hello Michelle, I wanted to let you know that I have been successful in my job search. I got a job with a consulting firm for three times my current salary as well as a signing bonus and additional perks that I really could not have done without your help. So many of the people who interviewed me commented on my resume and the cover letter. Thank you for all the guidance and whenever I get a chance I tell everyone to use your service. It was and is invaluable." -- J.P., Consultant and Project Manager
"...Your services should
come with the additional warning of "EXPECT RESULTS IMMEDIATELY!" I was very
surprised to return home to a full voice mail box with people requesting
follow-ups. WOW!! I attribute this to the great job you've done in preparing
my marketing materials. As such, I shall sweat it out at home today to ensure
I do not miss another call and potential opportunity. Have I said thank you and
great job?" -- S.P, Director of Business Strategy and Market Research
This morning I was sitting at my computer finishing up a project for a client when I received the following note.
"Thank you for the information on your services. I have decided that the price is too expensive."
Too EXPENSIVE! Excuse me for being blunt, but how totally RIDICULOUS! This was a professional person, probably well paid, and yet he thinks his career isn't worth the small investment of having his resume professionally written?!
My first instinct was to shoot back an email saying as much. But I held back. The truth is that a person who doesn't value his or her career - his or her life - enough to make even a minor investment in promoting it in a professional way - who doesn't recognize the value or the return on investment of doing so - probably isn't a good prospect for working with us anyhow.
But you know...it has been a couple of hours now and that email is still bothering me! How many other people have thought the same thing but never said it to me? How many other people have held back on working with us because they haven't rationally thought through the INVESTMENT of having their resume professionally written and the RETURNS that they could expect to receive in making that investment?
Have you thought through it? Are YOU holding back because you haven't yet thought through the return on investment that YOU would receive in working with us? How much does it COST YOU daily to be underemployed? To be unemployed? How much would it be WORTH TO YOU if we could shorten that time by even a couple of weeks? By even a single day?
Imagine for a moment that you have been toiling away in a job paying you $70,000 a year. You know you are worth more, and you have your eye on a job – a promotion – for which you would be paid $95,000. That’s a $25,000 difference. An increase of over $2,080 per month.
So, can I ask you again? How much does it cost YOU to be underemployed?
But a $25,000 increase is moderate. It is not AT ALL uncommon for clients to come back telling me about increases of $30,000, $40,000, even $50,000 and more.
What if you are currently unemployed? Let’s imagine for a moment that in your last job you were, again, earning $70,000. Now, unemployed, every day counts. Each week of unemployment you lose $1,346.
Every single weekday represents $269 in lost wages. In most cases, if our services in assisting you to promote your career shortened your job search by JUST A COUPLE OF DAYS, they would MORE THAN pay for themselves.
So, how much is it costing YOU to be unemployed? How much would it be worth to you if we could shorten your job search by just a couple of weeks? By a few days?
So, this morning, I can't help wondering...what does the gentleman who wrote me that email spend on a SINGLE car payment? What would he pay for a new suit to go out on interviews? If he has a pet, I wonder if he has ever calculated how much he spends just on vet bills in a single year? But having his resume professionally written is too expensive?! If he is like most of us, he spends between 1/3 and 1/2 of his time working, but his career isn't worth the investment that is LESS THAN what many people spend in a single month on car payments! It just doesn't make any sense to me.
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