So, you have long-term career goals?

Good.  That’s always a good item to be clear on before you turn up for a job interview.

Do you know why you may never realize them?

Many people don’t, they’re too close to daily grind to actually see what’s going on.

It’s only when you look back when you’re halfway there or at the end of the career do people see where it started to go wrong.

Over 2 decades as an executive recruiter, recruitment consultant, and resume writer to the 1%, I’ve specialized in coaching top professionals in uncovering their true value proposition, how to create a laser-focused applications for a specific roles, and how to address the needs of a target organization.

One of the main impediments I’ve seen to people failing to achieve long-term goals is their inability to secure the upward momentum and trajectory they would have needed to realize those objectives.

Now, sometimes you can look at someone’s situation and realize they were grossly overestimating their ability to get to where they said they wanted to be.

Other times, they were grossly over simplifying what they needed to do to get there.

Then again, there were instances where they just had those lofty goals to have something to say at an interview..they were never really that intent on arriving there in the first place.

However, one of the most common stumbling blocks to people achieving their goals is a failure to keep advancing at the pace they really need to if they want to attain their goals.

If the goal in question is to become a senior executive, CFO, President, CEO, etc., then it simply isn’t possible for all of these people to realize that same goal as there are far less top jobs around than there are bright eyed early stage careerists.

So, somewhere along the way, most of these people fall by the wayside or they get stuck in a rut at a level from which they will never, ever advance.

Why will they never advance?

There could be many reasons.

One of the most frustrating is the fact that they continually lose out to other candidates seeking the same role.

I’ve worked with many people in this position.

“Ken, I’ve got the same education, same experience, same drive as these people.  Why am I not being selected for an interview?”.

Well, in truth , there could be many reasons.

One of the first things we need to do is make sure the resume isn’t the weak chink in the armor. Top tip: It quite often is. In fact, quite often the resume they’re using is absolute garbage. I love seeing that.  Why? Because it gives me hope.  Hope that the reason they’re not progressing is the resume  – because it’s an EASY FIX.

How tragic would that be if anyone was consigned to playing out the last years of their career stuck at the same level just because their resume was useless?

Generally speaking, why are their resumes useless?  Well, I’ve covered reasons why most people’s resumes could be better extensively elsewhere.  If you would like some FREE tips on how to approach the resume and the process for writing one among many other career-related topics, then sign-up for a copy of my FREE eBook. 90+ pages of content on a myriad of topics, you’re bound to pick up a few tips and learn some things you didn’t know.

Alternatively, there are two other options available to you if you KNOW you need to improve your resume.  One of them is to enroll in my online course where I’ll walk you through every aspect of the resume writing process so that you end up with a hard-hitting, effective resume document that won’t act as the sole barrier to your career advancement.  The other option is to take on my Quickstart Career Package, details of which can be found here.

So, the job seekers we spoke of earlier were stagnating.  They knew where they wanted to go, but were being met by some sort of invisible ceiling.  They saw other people with similar skills, education and experience advance and wondered why not them.

In some cases, and imagine this, people with less skills, experience, and education had advanced in front of them.

How could that be so?

Here’s another secret. 

I’ve actually helped those people too.

Over the years, I’ve had clients come to me asking for help in accelerating their career.  Quite often the roles they were targeting had requirements that exceeded their meagre skills and experience.

So what do you do?

Well, if the expectations on the part of the client were outlandish, I’d tell them so and decline to work with them on he grounds that I didn’t think my involvement would in any way help them get where they wanted to be.

In one case, I remember a recent graduate with a non-vocational degree and work experience as a Barista, tell me they were looking at management-level roles and expected me to magic them up a brand story capable of breaking straight into the Management stratum.

New grads, what are some of them all about, eh? LOL.

If the client in question was close to the requirements of the role, we’d go for it.

Now, the real feat here is to get the client as close to the target job description as possible.

Then, we’re looking at identifying wins – accomplishments, contributions, even recommendations that had did or had the potential to improve revenues, increase efficiency, enhance productivity, bolster performance, remedy deficiencies or otherwise add value to their business or project.

Then, when armed with this type of content that would blow away a competitor for the role (even someone more experienced-  but whom failed to articulate any of it in a resume), we send then job seeker forth armed to the teeth with a kick-ass resume and solid interview technique.

That’s part of what I do – I help people get an edge over the competition.  Yes, sometimes that even extends to people who are less qualified or experienced that their competitors.

One thing is for certain, if you’re reading this and you haven’t taken action on fortifying your resume and interview technique, you’d better get on it..otherwise you may end up reporting to that spotty kid down the hall. Sorry, just joking….I mean that dermatologically challenged kid down the hall.

In my online course, Resumes for the 99%, I set out the very methods I use to uncover essential content from my clients, the way I write and structure that content, and the resume template styles I use to make sure the most important content is positioned front and centre where it can actually make a difference while ensuring readability and accessibility.

Check out more information on it here to see if it’s something you could learn from.