PROBLEM

Job hunting in the context of a career transition can be the most challenging of all, as anyone who has ever found themselves in this position is acutely aware. The greater the perceived gap or discrepancy between the original career and the new one, the more imposing the challenge usually is.

Over the years, I’ve been approached by a number of professional athletes who have their sights set on careers in other domains. One such example is the case of Ellen F., a long-time professional soccer player and coach, who wanted to pursue a new career in interior design, for which she had a long-standing passion.

Ellen had been on a two-year leave because of injuries she had sustained in the course of athletics. (She had played for the Norwegian national team, as goal keeper, and later served as a coach for the US Soccer Development Academy.) How to get a good-paying job in the profession of her choice, coming from a rather unrelated background as a professional athlete? That, simply stated, was the problem.

SOLUTION

Three standard approaches to this situation are: (1) demonstrating how certain skills and knowledge/experiences from the original profession can be transferred to the new profession, (2) describing experiences relating to the new profession that may have been unpaid but are nonetheless relevant and (3) showing knowledge of the new profession and tremendous enthusiasm for it. Specifically, Ellen needed a resume that reflected what was just described in the preceding paragraph. She also needed a cover letter template that she could modify appropriately for each job opportunity. Interview training is a third element that I typically provide for clients in this situation.

One highly effective technique that I use for resume work involves pinpointing keywords in job posts from representative target opportunities, then making sure that the most important — recurring — keywords are “baked,” seamlessly, into the resume. This is especially important for resumes that will be screened using automatic tracking system (ATS) software. If the software doesn’t find enough of those keywords, chances are that the applicant will be eliminated from the running before she has a chance at an interview.

RESULT

Imagine how thrilled I was to receive this message in email just days after completion of Ellen’s resume:

“I am pleased to tell you I started applying for jobs this week and I have already been hired by a design firm! Without your expertise of putting my resume together I would not have been as well represented as I am now! Thank you so much for all your help in making the next step in my new career choice.” After I congratulated her, telling her that this was the best kind of New Year’s gift that I could possibly hope for, Ellen sent me this elaboration:

“Can you believe that??!!! After only a few days and a couple of resumes sent out I am now hired for a [well-paying] design job. I am still in a little bit of a shock. There is no doubt in my mind that your resume writing was the golden ticket. They were so impressed with my resume and I am forever grateful. I guess I must also have made a good impression beyond the resume as well. But without it I would not have been contacted in the first place. THANK YOU, Dan!”

The review that Ellen subsequently posted for me on Yelp may be viewed from this link or on my profile there. To see it, you’ll have to scroll to the bottom of my profile and click on the link to reviews “not currently recommended,” then click over to page three of those “unrecommended” reviews. (At the time of this writing, that’s the situation, which of course may change in the future.)

As stated toward the end of another case history (“project”) here, persuasion is not always achieved by explicitly or overtly arguing for one thing or another. Persuasion is sometimes achieved simply through a credible and convincing presentation of information — strategically done — as was the case here. What ultimately helped obtain for Ellen the desired outcome was the persuasiveness of her application collateral, in the sense just described.

THE SAME GUIDING PRINCIPLE PROBABLY APPLIES TO WHATEVER PROJECT YOU MAY HAVE IN MIND AT THIS TIME: Regardless of the nature of the project, success will hinge upon effective messaging — PERSUASION of your audience, in other words, into believing what you are telling them. That’s the name of the game. It’s what I do and why they pay me the big bucks, so to speak.