Do you remember the old phrase, a shoe maker’s children go barefoot? Well I had a dose of my own this week. I was asked to submit my up to date resume and bio to a colleague at work for review for an additional potential position. Well… let’s just say that the Career Coach walks around without an updated resume.
Now, I do have a resume. But it is not quite up to date…at all… Since 2018….
Okay, no big deal! I got this! I work with clients daily on perfecting their resumes, their positioning statements and their SOAR stories to answer behavioral questions on interviews.
Well, I was wrong. It was a big deal. It was much harder than I dared to imagine it would be.
I sat down to write my positioning statement and stared at a blank page not really knowing where to start. Seeing no luck there, I went to work on my resume. I pulled out my resume from 2018 and realized how sorely out of date it was. The formatting was from antiquity. The sections weren’t labeled properly! There were whole components missing! This was going to need a serious overhaul.
I learned a long time ago that everyone needs a coach, even and especially coaches! Why? Because it is too complicated to get out of your own head. You can’t see the forest from the trees. You are stuck in the thicket and can’t see the pathway out. This was no exception.
Luckily for me, my mother is an awesome coach with many decades experience over me. So I called for help. Well, I got my father first. He is my perpetual cheerleading squad. Which I love! But for this I needed more. So he passed the phone to my mother who did not fail me.
In 30 minutes she had reminded me of all of my strengths and qualities. She also drew out my experience as I explained different scenarios of coaching that I had successfully navigated. It was truly amazing! I got off the phone and drove home to jot everything down on paper before it fell out of my brain (I was driving carpool…). I was so inspired that I sat down to write out my positioning statement and SOAR stories and get my accomplishments in ink.
I rewrote my resume. It did take time and perseverance, but it is just like anything in life that is worthwhile.
My interview was a huge success! I felt so good about myself.
I relearned an important lesson that I often teach my clients, but forgot for a quick moment for myself. It is really difficult to coach yourself. You can be smart and knowledgeable and even very experienced, however, when it comes to your own visions, thoughts and ideas, you are so much more successful when you work them through with someone else at least as smart, knowledgeable and experienced. Their ability to make your thoughts visible is worth more than a thousand words. They help you see the picture you paint in your mind’s eye, but can’t seem to get on to paper on your own. It is still all of your thoughts and accomplishments, the coach is there just to help you get it all out into the open for all to see and get you moving!
As for the coach’s kid’s resume, now that is a different story! I’ve already got one down and four to go in the right time:) So maybe for me the appropriate phrase would have been the shoe maker walks around without shoes, but not any longer;) I’ve got my shoes on now and I am heading in the right direction!
Who can best help you to make your thoughts visible and get you moving?