Couldn’t Get An Interview – Now In A Job – Success Story

By Sue Ellson

How to change from one job to another when your resume doesn’t match the position description

I first connected with Ronelle (not her real name) back on 24 October 2008 when she was referred to me by a business colleague I had met through the Australian Human Resources Institute.

At the time, she was working in a basic administration job in a very difficult working environment and was not paid according to her abilities or recognised for her many talents.  She was also facing a difficult personal situation.

We had a three hour session that at times was very emotional as Ronelle could not decide what direction to take in the future.  We discussed some very challenging topics and worked through a ‘mind map technique’ and completed some general adjustments with her resume.   Shortly after I was very excited to hear that she had left her job and moved overseas!

When she came back to Melbourne, she pursued her passion by starting study in childcare and became fully qualified and moved into this work – but another road block occurred.

This time, she wanted to move out of the practical work side and into teaching but her extensive career background was making it difficult for future employers to match her many diverse talents to their position descriptions.

So Ronelle contacted me again to seek further advice (yes, almost five years later and she also told me that she was still using mind maps to help make decisions!).

Ronelle had stuck in my mind because she is such a passionate and talented woman and yet her only challenge was being able to share her story in words that her future employer could understand.

So we met again and reviewed her LinkedIn profile and her resume which were not in the best format for the job she was seeking.   But more importantly, once she had given me the background on the situation and the difficulties she was facing, she gave me the phone number of the person recruiting for the job and I called them on the 16th of July 2013.

Now as I have been involved in recruitment before, I was very particular about what I discussed on her behalf.  I mentioned that I had been involved in recruitment and I shared with the decision maker a bit more of her story and the challenges she was facing attempting to transition from the practical side of childcare to the educational side (by the way, I should also mention here that she has been teaching and training for years in her other roles!).

You can imagine Ronelle’s delight when she found out that she was going to be interviewed for the job.

Today is the 30th of July 2013 and I have just received a text message:

‘Got the job, Sue! Was a great interview! She said, they loved me…Thank you thank you thank you Ronelle.’  

I am thrilled too! But more importantly, when you read this story, I would like you to remember that sometimes it is the story we tell ourselves that stops us getting the job.   Sometimes it is the story others read (resume/LinkedIn) and sometimes it is a case of reframing the situation and understanding which parts of the story you need to tell the employer so they can understand how you fit into their story.

Ultimately though, if you can become clear on the direction you want to head in life and there is an expert that can help understand and share that message (yes, you still need to do the pre-work), you can make it happen!