Quite a doozy, a really serious testimonial of sorts.

And now to recognize a really great company, who had a HUGE part in me landing my new job. Seriously, I think they did more work than me. A GIGANTIC Thank You to The Resume Cafe.

When things first started getting rocky at my previous job (i.e. salary getting chopped in HALF) I started working on my resume, yet again. It has always been a daunting task for me. My work experience is somewhat random, as I have tried working in various fields, and I do not have a college degree. It’s always been extremely difficult for me to get what is my mind into words and put on paper. It just doesn’t happen. In my head, my retail, customer service, tech support, project management, human resources, software QA, call center experience translates into this awesome mesh of skills and a professional background that would be great for many positions. When trying to get that on paper, to me, it always just looked RANDOM. Like I just bounced around from place to place, doing whatever I felt like at the time. Which I sort of was, as I was trying to find out what I wanted to do with my life. Nowadays, I have a better idea of what I want to be doing, but, I still want that random experience doing other things to show, as I worked damn hard to gain that experience.

As I began working on my Resume, and STRESSING over it (typical), I considered having it professionally done. I was referred to a website that did them for $300. I quickly realized that I was on my own. My salary was just cut in half, and I knew I was very close to being out of a job all together, $300 was not in my budget. So, I continued to work on my Resume myself, and sent a few out. And just like the first time I was unemployed, no bites. Nothing.

Within a short period of time my Mommy blogger Sister-in-Law, directed me over to a blog of a fellow Mommy blogger friend of hers, Law-Momma. Law-Momma was hosting a giveaway on her blog that week to have your Resume professionally written and 2 custom cover letters done for free by The Resume Cafe,  along with a discount code for readers who did not win the giveaway to go to the site and get this same package at a discounted price! the regular rate for this package is $99. Seriously. That’s what I’m talking about! That’s a price someone on a budget can handle a bit better. I was stoked!

I entered the giveaway, and immediately emailed the people at The Resume Cafe to get the ball rolling. Even if I didn’t win the giveaway (Which I didn’t) I was going to use their services anyhow. I immediately started talked to one of the professional writers who immediately began boosting my confidence!!!! I was sent a questionnaire to fill out, and I sent them my own sketchy resume. I was instantly understood. The writer was impressed by my diverse professional background, and made me feel confident that it would all transpire on paper in to a really strong resume. We chatted every so often over Gchat, we were in contact the whole time. At one point, she told me she felt like she really knew me, which was refreshing as she was writing my resume. She had done research regarding the job market in my area even. She was amazingggg! I felt great.

When I got my resume draft, I sat jaw dropped for some time. I couldn’t believe the way she worded my work experience and what I was looking for in a job so perfectly. The top of my resume reads:

“-Exemplary project leader: experiencing success managing both people and financial resources through an organized, detail-focused and strategic management approach
-Over six years of experience in customer service, quality assurance, data analysis and project leadership
-Diverse employee: willing to work in a variety of capacities to ensure deadlines are reached for projects and clients
-Proven ability to adapt skills to a new industry: has successfully managed transitions from retail markets to highly technical information technology environments”

Perfect.

I was ecstatic.

After receieving my completed resume, I recieved a cover letter that I asked for to be written for a specific position I wanted, and one eneric cover letter) both were amazing and on point. I have never been able to write a proper cover letter that was more than a paragragh. My cover letter were always just these cheesey emails introducing my resume. Clearly, I never really knew what I was doing, and needed the help.

I was unemployed from december 2008 – june 2009, I did not have my Resume done at that point, and it was a rough 6 months. I got very few interviews, and felt like I applied for about a million jobs. Looking for work, became my full time job. This time, I had my resume done by The Resume Cafe. I was Laid off from my position on May 14. I applied to less than 15 positions, went on 2 interviews, and one phone interview. I interviewed with my current company on May 21st and again on the 25th, I was called and offered a position the next day May 26th, and Started June 7. I was only out of work for 3 weeks. It could have been less if I had applied more aggressively to more positions. But, part of me was holding out for something good. And, I got it.

I will be eternally grateful to the work The Resume Cafe did for me, for the time they took, and the interest, and care, and amazing communication they kept with me through out it, and to this day. Even though I got a great discounted price, I feel like I got service worth well over $300.

Wow, that ended up being quite long… Didn’t realize I had so much to say!
I’ll be taking a trick of Mandy’s from Harper’s Happenings (hope that’s okay).

Summary: I read more Mom blogs than I probably should. Being unemployed is rough, confidence is important but hard to find it during that time, a good resume is important as it’s the first thing a company sees when they are considering you, professional resumes can be expensive, The Resume Cafe has great deals on great resumes, and delivers amazing results. I LOVE The Resume Cafe for helping me through a really tough time.

Shooot, just saw this and had to share! They are doing a Summer Student Special. $32 for one resume and one cover letter. That’s an amazing price! Anyone just graduate? Get in on this!!!! That’s cheaper than a tank of gas!!!

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