Anti-virus programs don’t protect against it. Microsoft doesn’t have a “service pack” to keep you safe from it. And it infects many of your clients. The virus is CCK or Certified Career Killer.

However, I want to go beyond putting your mind at ease. I want you to use CCK to win and keep very satisfied clients. In this article I’ll describe what CCK is, give you examples of it “in the wild,” and suggest a robust method to leverage CCK to grow your bottom line.

When potential clients reach out to you, they often say they want “help” with their résumés. However, behind many of these requests is another message: they want you to help them apply what they think they absolutely know to be true about getting a job. 

But what clients “absolutely know” is often dangerous folklore. If you take nothing else away from this article, please remember this: if you inadvertently agree with the callers’ thinking, your practice and our industry will take a hit. 

Where does this folklore come from? From just about everywhere. Well-intentioned friends and relatives offer advice and sample résumés. Some “experts” tell our clients they must have a one-page résumé. A large job posting site warned thousands of visitors they should be ready to answer this interview question: “If you were given an elephant, what would you do with it? No wonder many people believe this garbage. 

Have you noticed none of this bad advice comes equipped with any logic? That’s where CCK is vulnerable. That’s where we shine. That’s how we make our money. Knowledge, better yet understanding, of how good jobs are found is power. Our job is to give that power to our clients, so we can help them build satisfying careers. 

Excellent books have been written on that complex subject. For now let me introduce you to some Certified Career Killers and suggest logic you can use to help your client compete very well.

“You must sell yourself.” All this does is induce stress in our clients. Why? Two reasons. First, the whole idea is demeaning. We haven’t sold people in this country since 1 January 1863. Our clients aren’t refrigerators—an interchangeable commodity that comes in a box. (“Career Professionals Must Never Be Commodity Sellers,” The Spotlight, April 2017, pp. 4 – 6) But there is a bedrock reason why this advice doesn’t work. Nobody wants to be sold to. 

They do, however, love to buy! When we develop our clients’ powerful, authentic brands, those promises of value speak for themselves. Employers see the ROI our clients bring. And you can be sure they’ll love taking credit for hiring our clients.

The one-page résumé assumes the triumph of format over function—even for people new to the workforce. This last month alone, three senior executives sent me one-page résumés. 

If you allow a client to sign up to this career killer, you are really asking them this question: If we can’t fit the track record you worked so hard to compile for years on one-page, which part of your excellence should we hide from your next employer? 

The antidote? Every multi-page résumé is a one-page résumé with an attachment. If we haven’t captured the decision makers’ attention on the first page, they won’t read the second page. 

When we show the exceptional return on investment your client offers, the reader will definitely turn the page. After all, they must defend their choice to their own bosses. To help hiring decision makers along, I put the following in the footer of the first page of nearly every multi-page résumé I write: “More indicators of ROI I offer [the target company’ name goes here]…”

A résumé not focused on a single career field keeps your options open. The only option that’s kept open here is how the decision maker will throw the general résumé away. Clients who believe this folklore probably aren’t sure which career field they want. They have forgotten that companies hire only those who can fill their specific needs. Companies don’t feel it’s their responsibility to help applicants find a job.

The fix? Help them match their excellence—in their career field—with corporate needs. If you’re a career coach, there is more revenue here for you. If you are not a career coach, consider gaining the certification to be one. Or refer such clients to a coach. (“The Fine Art of the Referral,” The Spotlight, January 2023, pp. 7 - 9) But reserve the résumé writing portion for yourself after the coaching is done. Everybody wins.

Lack of education is always a killer. This assassin is particularly dangerous when it comes from the mouth of an experienced professional. Let me illustrate. I was helping a company find a plant superintendent. Of all the résumés from which the leadership could choose one stood out. It was clearly written by another résumé writing professional. It showed the return on investment this applicant could offer. 

But one manager voiced an objection. “Boss,” he said, “this guy doesn’t have a degree or even a high school education.” The CEO responded: “Let me see if I have this right. This guy saved his plant $250K in the last quarter alone. Because he’s worked at so many levels, he has great credibility. And you want me to ‘redline’ him because he doesn’t have a piece of paper that’s 15 years out of date? Not only that, I don’t know of any ivy-covered institution that teaches what we need. Why those ivory tower professors, I don’t think they’d last 20 minutes on the floor. . .” You get the picture. So should the appropriate prospective clients with whom you speak.

The best way to get a job is respond to posted announcements. This approach may work well for those entering the work force for the first time and those applying to relatively low-level jobs. For the rest here’s what the company who wants applicants to upload their documents are actually promising:

1. We’re going to put you in the largest field of competitors. You don’t want that, but you don’t pay the people who build the database. The hiring manager wants choice.

2. We want you measure your résumé against our secret one, selected to judge so many résumés that it winds up as a one-size-fits-nobody format. And some of us don’t know what to do with cover letters. 

3. And please don’t expect even the common courtesy of an acknowledgement. A quick search can uncover more than a half-dozen reasons why applicants don’t hear back. Several are outside candidates’ control.

4. We’re going to access you worth as a human based on how well you can guess are our secret “key words.” 

5. HR plays a major role in the process, and they do many very valuable things. But they know as much about your client’s career field as you know about Section 432a of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (as amended).

We must pity the poor job seeker. Every time they see an announcement, they struggle to find the key words. Then they tinker (that is just the right word) with their résumés, trying to find subtle ways of weaving in those words. All this slows them down. It also increases their chances of making deal breaking errors. And it’s almost impossible to remember which résumé they sent to which employer.

No wonder a recent article in Forbes said more than 75% of jobs are filled by building relationships.

The top 10 (or is it 25?) “hot” industries for 2023 is a great place to start. This killer typifies what many job seekers believe without thinking: someone else can tell them which career they should pursue. Yet we know professional career coaches won’t direct people to a career. We guide clients to develop clear and compelling proof that a given field is best for them — as they define “best.”

The fix: help clients control the part of their lives that will occupy 95,000 hours is naturally attractive. Does anybody think your average client has the aptitude, skills, and money to be a neurosurgeon (one of the top jobs on a recent list)? Real success doesn’t come from a blurb in the Sunday paper. It is self-defined, hence truly rewarding.

Applicants must memorize the answers to the top 10 (or was it 15?) interview questions is closely related to the previous CCK. There are certainly many “experts” who preach this intimidating message. As always, an “innoculation” of logic can take the stress away.

For this CCK to be true, we must believe the following. Someone talked to almost every employer in the country and got them all to agree to use these questions (to the exclusion of others) in every interview for any job in any industry in any part of the nation. Further, they all agreed what the answers mean. Finally our clients must memorize every question, recognize it in any form, in any order, and come up with the “right answer.” Clients who believe this think the interview is theather and they know they are not actors.

All we want our clients to do is find the specific needs the interviewer has. That way, the client can expand on how they solved similar problems. Once you explain the purpose of the interview is to explore good matches between excellence and corporate need, the stress level goes down. 

No longer must the client worry about reciting some memorized answer, or whether he should use a Zoom light or not. He has only one criteria: did he attempt to ask the right questions and did he offer useful suggestions? That’s something they’ve done every day of their professional lives. With this approach, they can feel useful because they are helping interviewers solve company problems.

The interviewer and the company know how to hire. CCK’s influence here is pernicious. The underlying assumption is every interview is an interrogation, designed to judge applicants and label most as second best. It ain’t true. You know that; your prospective client doesn’t.

Has your client seen someone who wasn’t very good at his job? Some interviewer chose that person as the best in a field of eligibles! Need more proof that employers don’t know how to hire? Have your clients read some of the announcements. So many just list traits alone. 

Consider this recent quote from Meta as they seek an Executive Communications Manager: “This individual must excel at working collaboratively, have operational excellence, understand the content and creator world, and consistently deliver high-quality work.” 

Do you think this Fortune 500 company would even consider a candidate who almost works collaboratively? Is operationally excellent 82% of the time? Understands only 74% of the content and creator world? Delivers nearly high-quality work 72 times out of a hundred?

Traits alone always set the minimum standards. Other announcements sell the company or just recite responsibilities. 

Traditional networking is a must. In countless magazines, websites, and self-help books, our clients are admonished to tell as many people as possible about their job search. Carefully examined the advice really suggests job seekers should impose on every friend, relative, and total stranger, pleading with each for something not one of them can give: a job. No wonder people dislike “networking.”

We know real networking is the natural preference for offering value, to those most likely to benefit, without any expecting immediate results, and without “giving away the store.” What a relief for our clients! We’re telling them they have something of value to offer others. Now networking supports their searches and builds their confidence. No more self-mortification.

You’ve just seen eight strains of CCK. There are others. But you don’t have to click here to download the patch that makes CCK go away. Rather, I hope you have a renewed opportunity to apply your professional skills and logic to win new clients and help your practice grow.

You already know all about the concept of a “toxic client.” Toxic clients are to your practice as a virus is to your computer. In this article, I’ll help you recognize this threat and suggest three lines of defense against it. Then I’ll wrap it up with what you can do if you inadvertently engage with a toxic client.

Why do I call him or her a “toxic” client? Why not use the more colorful and common expression PIA? Most pains (in whatever part of your anatomy is affected) can be relieved. They go away leaving only a quickly fading memory. 

Toxic refers to effects caused by a poison, something that can “…seriously injure…or destroy…completely.” But there is another parallel. Most people don’t poison themselves intentionally. They find out they’ve been attacked after the venom has stricken them. Most career professionals don’t take on toxic clients intentionally. They find out only after they’ve had their time, money, brand, and patience wasted. 

The first step is knowing how to recognize a toxic client. You don’t need an article to tell you that the obnoxious, constantly demanding, rude person isn’t someone you want to work with. What sets a toxic client in a special category is his or her unrealistic expectations. Think about reading the previous sentence again. It means toxic clients can seem to be the nicest folks you’ll ever want to meet—anywhere except in your business. And so, your task becomes defining unrealistic expectations. 

Toxic clients may have unrealistic expectations of themselves and of you. But the key word is “unrealistic.” Someone who doesn’t know what field he or she wants to pursue is an ideal client for a career coach. An uninformed job seeker who starts by saying his résumé must be one page can be an ideal client for a résumé writer. In these cases, the goals aren’t unrealistic; they just come from uninformed people…in fact, those uneducated about career management are our best clients.

The trick is to find any expectation that is truly unworkable. Here’s a “red flag” a potential client sent to me recently after he saw my proposal: 

“Don Orlando to provide the following services:

• Comprehensive coaching to examine all skills, all preferences, and all of the possibilities.”

“…to examine…all of the possibilities?” If only I could. A quick conversation revealed that the client did, in fact, expect open-ended, limitless support. And, since I don’t charge by the hour and he wanted to pay a fixed investment, this potentially toxic person isn’t on my list of clients.

In the previous example, the caller had unrealistic expectations of me. However, sometimes, the caller has unrealistic expectations about himself. Have you ever had a caller who said he needed $150K, but just wouldn’t settle on a career field? He “wants to keep his options open.” And no amount of wisdom from you can persuade him that what he will really do is foreclose every option. This caller has unrealistic expectations about his power in the job search.

How, then, do we defend against these timewasters? The first line of defense can be in your marketing and advertising campaigns. Many practitioners put a minimum investment on their web site (“…packages start at $350.00…”).  

You can add power to that approach if your message is clear. Serving the senior market? Your advertising should reflect that level. No loud colors, “booming” fonts, or special price reductions here. Your image will be understated, refined, and very business like. In short, when your marketing aligns with your business plan, you have built the first line of defense.

Toxic people are nothing if not tenacious. Marry that to their unrealistic expectations and it’s no wonder some get through that first line. And when they do, it’s up to you to qualify them. I won’t go into great detail about qualifying potential clients here, but I will suggest that you listen. Do you sense anything that might conflict with the proven ways that delivered successes for nearly all of your clients? Gently, but firmly, suggest exceptions go elsewhere. Obviously, you would never refer such a time waster to another professional.

Can’t turn away the intruder? It’s time for the third line of defense: the contract. I’m not suggesting that you put unrealistic conditions into a contract sent to these specific callers: that would damage your professionalism and reputation. Rather, you can test the potential client’s commitment. 

For example, I often have people who appear with a great sense of urgency to have the work done fast. “Do you work on the weekends?” they ask. I used to. Until I decided my family was more important. That’s when Nina, my late wife (and the smarter of the two of us, by far) suggested I tell them I do work on the weekends—and then offer a very high level of investment.

Two things I found out. First, for the last five years, I haven’t worked with or for a client on weekends. Second, real clients somehow found time to accommodate a more reasonable schedule. 

Usually, the potential client tells you a hiring decision maker told the caller the company must have a résumé by Friday. That’s why they called you at 16:30 on Thursday afternoon. 

Rather than add stress by turning them down, offer an alternative. You might suggest they tell the hiring manager that they have a résumé which they can email in the next two minutes. But because of the late notice, that document won’t give them proof your client will make the company a lot more money than it takes to bring them on board. So, the potential client can suggest if the decision maker can trade a little time for a lot of value, he would like to email that more useful document to the employer in a few days. Since hiring decision makers know they would be in serious trouble if they hire the wrong person, most agree to this entirely reasonable suggestion. You can give them confidence by reminding them every deadline is arbitrary. (Y2K is the only exception.)

If you must still work late into the night or on the weekend, set the extra investment for such work high enough to keep the timewasters out. Right now, I usually quote a $2,000.00 surcharge for weekend work. And I am proud to tell you I have never closed a weekend contract at that investment, and I hope I never do.

But what do I do if I inadvertently sign up a toxic client? After all, they sometimes appear as awfully nice people. That’s where your contract comes in. I am not much one for long, detailed, highly restrictive contracts. But I will address the client’s concerns if I suspect they might be a problem later. 

For example, your contract might be for job search documents for a specific career field. You have foreclosed the obligation to provide endless “versions.” And, as soon as a toxic client steps over the line, remind them gently what the ground rules are. And document every action they and you take. (Saving the emails in question is often enough.)

That last element, unfailing courtesy and professionalism, is sometimes hard to stick with, I admit. But courtesy is a great defense against demanding people. And it will make you me feel good that you remain professional when they aren’t.

If everything fails, you must “fire” the client. And, when that happens, I suggest you rely upon the truth, just as you always do. Tell her that you find you are unable to meet her needs and refund all her money. 

But you’ve invested so much time and effort, shouldn’t you be paid? Of course, you should. However, if you try to keep a portion of the funds—no matter how well earned—you will just get endless arguments. By knowing, in advance, that you will always refund all the money to a toxic client, you get two great benefits. 

One, no toxic client can complain with any effect. Two, because you hate to give away money you’ve earned, you’ll be extra careful not to bring on a toxic client in the first place. 

Consider the alternative. Suppose you kept all the money because you earned it. By the time you add all the extra hours a toxic client loads on you, your earnings near the minimum wage…and you’re missing the fulfillment and fun and revenue from clients who really need and appreciate you.

Toxic clients can do one last thing to damage you if you let them. Please don’t blackball such a person. Yes, it would feel wonderful—and you might even think it a “public service”—to save your colleagues from that person. But it just isn’t worth it. Online forums and social media postings may appear ethereal, but they are permanent. An aggressive, toxic person can make your life miserable if they can prove that you limited their chances for career success. 

For all of us, the toxic client is a rare thing. Let’s celebrate the great clients we help but remain alert for the poison that can “…seriously injure…or destroy…completely.”

Summary of Qualifications passed away slowly during the second decade of the twenty-first century. Summary was a leading element of résumés for many years but succumbed after a prolonged fight to ward off obsolescence. 

Although still used in many résumés, Summary won’t be missed by progressive career development professionals, people dedicated to moving their careers forward, and most hiring decision makers. 

Summary leaves behind a large family of applicant tracking software and associated hundreds of “key words.”

In lieu of flowers, job seekers are urged to engage career professionals.

I’m sorry to say no such obit has been published—at least not yet. But hope springs eternal as I believe the majority of these summaries work against the job seeker and the hiring decision maker.

Consider the plight of the hiring official. New positions originate with him or her, usually in the form of a much needed capability: “We need a new sales professional, an accountant, an EVP for Operations” …you get the idea.

The hiring official’s next step is to ask his boss, the person who writes his performance reviews, for permission to advertise and fill the position. We’re seeing the outcomes of those kinds of conversations every day.

Companies still must make money as they always have. They try to increase sales; they strive to reduce costs. Boosting sales is always tough, especially in the wildly overcrowded virtual markets. Saving costs is somewhat easier. And personnel-related costs are among the highest.

And so, our hiring decision maker must make his boss this promise: “I give you my personal bond, the next (sales professionals, accountant, EVP of Operations) I hire will make or save our company a lot more money than it costs to find, recruit, and retain that person.”

But there’s another element of doubt the hiring decision maker also faces. He sees other people, sometimes other people in his own company, who are not very good at what they do. He thinks someone, just like him, hired that slacker as the best in a field of eligibles. If someone else can make that mistake, he can to.

And if he does, some bad things will appear before his boss. First, our hapless hirer broke his return on investment promise not just to his boss, but to the entire company.

Second, morale is going down. He may have hired the wrong person, but the work remains. He must seek out his best person to take on some of the less capable worker’s duties. 

His savior will certainly help out…but only for a while. That top performer is already overworked. That why the new position was announced in the first place. Now this best employee is being asked to do part of the drone’s work, but she isn’t getting part of the drone’s pay. Soon, she will start looking for a new job. 

Her best bet is the competition. And she will take with her lots of proprietary information, her network, and perhaps even people who work for her. Finally, the cost of replacing an employee is roughly three times the annual salary.

Those are the clouds the hiring official is under as he picks up the first résumé. And what does he see?

Too often, it’s a Summary of Qualifications that looks like this one:

Dynamic and highly skilled strategic hr executive. Values-Based Initiatives, e-Human Resources, Organizational Change, Learning and Education, Strategic Planning, Leadership and Mentoring, HR Policy, Process, & Systems Design

I’ve used red to show how many harried hiring decision makers would read those very same words:

Dynamic (Nuts! I wanted a slow moving person—not!) and highly skilled (as opposed to what?) strategic hr executive (strategy is what executives are paid to do, as a minimum). Values-Based Initiatives (as opposed to what?), e-Human Resources (this is the minimum requirement for my entire HR staff), Organizational Change (wouldn’t hire a most junior person who could not do this well), Learning and Education (a job requirement in all of HR), Strategic Planning (didn’t I just read that?), Leadership and Mentoring (required of every executive), HR Policy, Process, & Systems Design (a required responsibility shown in the position description for every HR executive)

Remember what the hiring official promised his boss? It wasn’t a list of traits, responsibilities, or “concepts.” Those are kind words to describe the minimums standards. He promised money-making or money-saving capabilities.

That’s why companies want to know what the applicant will do for them. So why not tell them, in the very first line of the résumé? Perhaps it might look something like this:

What I offer TopLine as your newest Director of HR:

• A proven leader whose teams get cost-saving results that last,

• An expert at turning compliance requirements into way-of-life opportunities that build production and save money,

• A respected professional who designs and administers affirmative action and diversity programs that contribute to corporate and personal success, and

• A capable project manager who delivers results on time and on, or under, cost estimates.

We’ve now replaced the “summary of qualifications” with a pledge of value. Gone are the tiresome recitations of traits that form the minimum standard. Missing are the rehashed responsibilities lifted right from the announcement in an effort to “game” any one of hundreds of ever-changing applicant tracking software suites. In their places, our client is promising to perform the very actions for which the hiring decision maker is looking.

Where do we find accurate descriptions of such capabilities? They come from the very best in every industry. These are the people who give the keynote addresses at their professional conferences. These are the authors of influential books, blogs, and newsletters. These are the people sometimes called to testify as expert witnesses.

When our clients speak with these mentors, the insights can be remarkable. Consider a young person graduating with a degree in criminal justice. She’s gone to all the websites that show such openings. The requirements are all the same. She must help build community relations, enforce the law, deal with suspects, qualify on the weapon, and so on.

With your help, she speaks with the best in the public safety world. Her question is straight forward: “What does it take to be a really great cop?”

The mentor doesn’t hesitate. He says: “If you are willing to lay down your life for your partner, you’ll be a great cop. If you won’t, not only will I never ride with you, but I will also make it my personal crusade to have you busted off the force!”

You will never see that in any job announcement for a police professional. Yet, our client must transmit her willingness to take that risk.

If she is, she’s in the right career field. If she is, she’ll do very well in the interview. If she is, she will quickly become a well-respected member of “the thin blue line.”

If she’s not, now is the time to coach her to find a field better suited to her.

If you use this approach, your clients will see you as a powerful coach who takes them beyond the tough work of writing résumés to help build their careers.

Let the Summary of Qualifications go to its much-deserved eternal reward. That will free us to do what we do best: position our clients as applicants of choice.

Of all people, we, as résumé writers and career coaches, should pay special attention to the definitions and connotations of the words we use. Isn't that the standard you apply when you write job search documents for your clients?

Yet we violate that guideline often whenever we offer to write a “bio.” It's more than a minor choice in semantics. We may be misleading our clients. Because they are uninformed about the job search process, they may think of the actual definition of that word: an account of someone’s life written by someone else.

That's probably the reason why so many bios are self-centered. They are backward looking. That works against your clients, and your practice, if you write such documents.

Employers will not hire our clients for their previous jobs. And the work history has only limited value. Hiring decision makers may not see the context in which our clients succeeded. They neither know nor care about the companies our clients worked for earlier.

We can overcome those shortcomings if we think about the bio in its most powerful role: as a commanding statement of your client’s brand. Here our role as educators comes to the fore. Many clients, and sadly, even some who call themselves résumé writers and LinkedIn profile “experts,” think the brand is a jingle, a collection of nice sounding adjectives, admirable traits, and even responsibilities.

We must tell our clients their brand is a concise commitment to observable actions designed to produce great return on investment for organizations that hire them. That element sets bios apart from résumés. The differences in the power these documents bring to effective networking.

How often have clients asked you about the best way to distribute résumés? Sometimes they think the more résumés they pass out the better their chances. We must remind them when they give someone an unsolicited résumé our clients are imposing on that person. The unspoken idea is this: “Here's my résumé. I'm counting on you to help me get a job. I expect you to put your own brand and reputation on the line by endorsing me – someone you may not know very well.”

A bio never imposes; it's an integral part of effective networking. As our clients build relationships, their bio introduces them. Bios can help recruiters and even hiring decision makers prepare for interviews. The bio is also a great “leave behind.” It's a reminder of the value our clients offer, not a veiled demand that they hire the author. In short, a bio introduces your client as a person, not just an anonymous job seeker.

Bios don't rely on responsibilities. Informed hiring decision makers put little weight on responsibilities applicants had elsewhere. They have three good reasons for doing so.

First, responsibilities relate to an organization unknown to hiring official. Second, hiring officials certainly know the responsibilities of the position they are trying to fill. Last, responsibilities do not always equal performance. If you are in doubt, consider the former CEO of the Boeing Corporation. He ran a thriving century-old company nearly into bankruptcy and killed 346 people while he was doing it.

You will see a sample bio of an actual client below. Naturally, the personal information has been fictionalized. Let's look at how to write bios effectively.

First, consider the readers. You'll notice the plural. Some readers might be HR professionals who know very little about your client’s field. Some will be senior executives with only a general understanding of how your client contributed to the mission. Some may even be fellow experts in the client’s field. All of them must understand and see great value in the bio you write.

Because the bio is so centered on the brand, that element must be completely developed before you start writing. I suggest you start with the résumé. As you know, and our clients do not, their brand should appear at the very top of that document.

Begin with the success stories. Your experience is probably like mine. After you gather success stories, you often find clients have certain strengths or traits. When I wrote this, I was working with two chief operating officers. Both have excellent backgrounds. Both work in similar industries. Yet their strengths are very different.

One COO has a gift for finding costs of business others had missed three years. The other is a master at exploiting opportunities faster, better, and cheaper than his competitors. Finding those drivers of a client’s brand is harder to do with worksheets for three reasons.

First, when you ask clients about problems they've solved, they often give you the symptoms instead. Your client proudly tells you he helped turn around falling sales. But declining sales aren’t the problem. They are only a symptom. Sales could fall because a new competitor entered the market, undercutting our client’s company. Or the reduced sales may come from not having enough sales professionals. Or the lowered sales may come from a strike or natural disaster. Because your client focused on the symptoms, it becomes their employer’s story, not your client’s story.

Second, there’s a good chance you'll have to rewrite what the client gave you. If your clients wrote as well as you, they wouldn't need your services. Now you must spend extra (uncompensated) time translating the client’s words to get the most impact out of the imprecise words they used.

Finally, some clients’ stories you cannot use. There’s a difference between a task and a problem solved. A task is a set of actions to remove a mundane inconvenience. If you could see my office, you'd see a rack for files sitting on my desk. If I should knock into that holder, there would be paper everywhere. That’s not a problem. Every sheet of paper has a client’s name. Every folder has a client’s name. A smart 6 year old could put it all back together. A problem is always a shortage of resources: people, money, time, knowledge, and the like. Since it doesn’t illustrate problem solving ability, you can't really use tasks as success stories you include in clients’ bios.

You also can't use a story without a positive outcome. This is in no way “spin.” Here’s an example from my own practice. When the client first approached me, he was very proud of his suggestion that would save his company $250,000 a year. He passed it to his boss because only she could execute it. She thought it was the best thing since sliced bread! But before she could execute it, she was promoted. The next incumbent never took any action on the suggestion, perhaps because it wasn't his “pet rock.” But the client included it in his résumé.

Because every résumé is written to entice untrained interviewers to ask the questions they and your clients both want to talk about, you can see what's coming. Let's listen as the interviewer notices that story.  Interviewer: “Jim, I see you put a suggestion in that would have saved the company a quarter million dollars a year. Tell me that worked out.” No matter what Jim says, it will work against him. He can’t criticize his boss for not acting on the idea. And he can’t be seen as not having the initiative to move the effort forward.

Because the bio is a story of your client’s brand, let's borrow a trick from successful authors. They begin with words that capture attention. It might be an unexpected statement or what appears, at first sight, to be unsustainable. Here are some examples:

“My job titles in the field of institutional financial planning and strategy often included the word ‘Director.’ But I never forget my superiors, my organizations, our team members and, most important, every stakeholder and customer expect me to lead…not just ’direct.’ That word carries a top-down implication I work hard to avoid.”                                                                                                                                            — A very senior financial planning executive

“On paper, my job titles have so often included two key words: ‘operations’ and ‘manager.’ But I think of myself as a productivity excellence leader. The difference is more than semantic.”                                                                             — A VP of technology operations executive

“You’ve heard it too many times. People say they ‘strive to exceed customers’ expectations.’ To me, those are the minimum standards.”                                                        – A COO

You may want to add an illustrative success story but be sure it is transferrable to many different companies in many industries.

Sometimes, it might be useful to add a carefully written call for action at the end. Rather than seeming to impose, those words remind the readers your client is already successful. It hints that the author is looking to make even greater contributions. We hope that encourages readers to seek our clients’ advice about solving a corporate problem.

Finally, it's time to do more than proofing. Proofing catches errors. But it was never designed to enhance style and tone. I recommend you use Word’s “Read Aloud” function to hear what you have written.

Now ask your client to apply some tests. Does the bio sound like your client, like one person speaking to another? Have you used jargon appropriately? Have you inadvertently given the client too much (or not enough) credit for what they have done? You must both stand behind the honesty of what you've written.

Now it’s time to see a sample bio. The client was a senior transitioning naval officer. Because more than 95% of Americans have never served on active duty, we had to overcome some natural stereotypes that uninformed hiring decision makers often have. They may believe my client doesn’t understand the profit and loss. They may think he is rigid because of the unfounded assumption the military can only do things in one, very rigid way. Readers may assume my client always had unlimited resources. That comes from their idea that the Defense budget is huge.

I think you’ll find bios are very satisfying to produce. They call upon all your skills as an effective and persuasive writer. That means you may also use them for an additional purpose. Bios make excellent “About” sections for LinkedIn profiles.

Because bios strive to capture return on investment, it is not difficult to convince your client of their value. That translates into additional revenue for you.

We never forget that everything we do affects the lives of our clients and their families for years to come.

An exceptionally well written bio makes that idea come alive.

If you attended Thrive22!, you had the rare opportunity to speak face to face with hiring decision makers. It will come as no surprise to learn many are reluctant to tell unsuccessful candidates the bad news. Some companies even have policies not to offer any feedback at all.

That presentation inspired me to write this article. I hope what follows will give you insights you may not get anywhere else. The information comes from my 25 years supporting rising, senior, and very senior executives. It’s not the result of a scientific survey, but I heard these ideas expressed so often, across so many industries, they seem very credible.

You and your clients should keep two important ideas in mind as you learn about these four reasons why top clients may not be hired. First, your client will never know which reason was in play. Second, even if they did know, they wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. The reasons are in no particular order.

Reason #1: There never was a job to begin with! The CEO’s son has just completed his MBA. His father thinks the best place for him to get a start is in his family’s own company. Nevertheless, the organization wants to avoid any EEOC complaint. Therefore, while it's never written down, the guidance is straightforward. Find and interview top notch clients. Take them to lunch if you want to. But you will not offer them a job. There is no job.

Reason #2: There was a candidate with knowledge and experience your client couldn’t have. The company chose this person because they worked for a major competitor for ten years, they are the president of the industry’s professional organization, or they were on the staff of an influential legislator.

Reason #3: An overqualified candidate agreed to take the job readily. As you probably know, the term “overqualified” doesn’t relate to skills or knowledge directly. The company knows they cannot pay that person enough money. Even if they do sign on, it will only be a matter of time before this new team member jumps ship…and that costs a lot. The cost of replacing a skilled team member hovers around three times the annual salary. In addition, productivity falls off temporarily and other employees must take on responsibilities of the unmanned position in addition to doing their own jobs.

But the résumé, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile you wrote were so compelling, the hiring manager felt they had to at least reach out.

Let’s listen in:

Hiring manager: “Hello, this is John Smith calling from the ABC Corporation. When I saw you résumé, I had to call.”

Candidate: “I’m honored. How may I help you?”

Hiring manager: “I’ll be completely frank with you. I think you are overqualified for the position, and we can’t use you anywhere else. To be clear, we don’t think we can pay you what you are worth. You probably knew that, but you applied anyway.”

Candidate: “You’re right and I so appreciate your candor. Yes, I suspected I would have to take a significant cut in compensation. But I applied for two reasons. First, my dad lives where your job is. I’ll always give you my best, but it’s important I live a lot closer to him than I do now. Also, in my current job, I travel about ten days a month. That’s hard on me and my family. But I understand your position doesn’t require nearly the same amount of travel.”

Hiring decision maker: “This could be a winning combination for us both. Do you know your schedule well enough to suggest a day and a time for an interview?”

Both parties gain. The newcomer is closer to his dad who is probably getting on in years and he’ll see more of his family. He knows there is more to life than money. The hiring decision maker wins. He’s getting top-notch talent at a bargain and the newcomer is likely to stay with the company for quite some time.

Reason number 4: Your client is too tall, too thin, the interviewer didn’t like his glasses. More likely the hiring decision maker felt the newcomer “wouldn’t fit in.” Just because the reasoning isn’t strictly logical, doesn’t mean it won’t come into play.

There is an enormous amount written about the interview. But as I listened in on conversations at the conference, I heard a trend away from basic interview strategy and more toward tactics. Sometimes the conversation veered toward preparing clients by having them consider certain questions and answers. That approach seems logical enough. But in practice, I found this method produces stress and unreliability.

After all, to be completely successful, your clients would have to master three nearly impossible elements. First, they would have to have confidence these key questions we're agreed upon by the overwhelming number of interviewers regardless of company size, industry, or even economic sector. In other words, they would think it very likely these questions would come up very often, regardless of the position for which they apply. That’s very unlikely.

Second, they would have to master these questions and the answers that go with each one. Even if there are only five or ten such key questions, the task of memorizing both inquiry and response would be intimidating.

Lastly, such clients would have to be able to recognize those key questions regardless of the words used to form them or the order in which they appeared.

Let's relieve some of that stress with two ideas your clients probably think of as the truth. First, an interview is a conversation between people designed to solve a problem together. And that leads to the second reassuring idea.

Your clients have been “interviewing” successfully every day they've been on the job. Regardless of their job title or company they were all hired to do the same thing: solve problems. These “interviews” have a very simple structure. The boss tells a team member about a problem the company faces. The employee may ask a few questions to ensure clarity. Often, boss and employee explore tentative solutions and then adjourn to work out the details.

That’s an interview.

The company has a problem it wants to solve by hiring a capable person. The candidate needs to learn a little about the problem and suggest some concepts that might work. If the ideas are good, there will be more conversations (interviews) as the candidate and the hiring decision maker gain confidence that bringing on the newcomer will help solve the problem.

Now we have the major test a candidate must “pass” if the interview is to be successful. Here it is: “Did they attempt to ask the hiring decision maker what their biggest problem was?” All the rest is tactics.

Notice how simple the standard is, how quickly it gives your clients confidence. All we ask of them is to attempt to find what the problem was. Actually, learning the problem depends as much upon the interviewer as it does the candidate.

I’ve found something I am vain enough to call Orlando’s First Law of Employment” is a great confidence builder. Here it is:

Orlando’s First Law of Employment

Everything you hear, everything you see, as you deal with a company has been approved or condoned by the leadership…without exception.

Let’s listen in to an interview between your sales professional client who knows how important it is to learn about the company’s main problem and two hiring officials.

Candidate: “My experience in sales is broad and deep. But just as every customer has different needs, so companies do as well. Could you please tell me what sales-related problem keeps you up at night?”

The first hiring manager is capable (and was rightly impressed your client is focusing on the company’s needs): “I’m glad you asked, and I know you’ll keep what you are about to hear completely confidential. We’ve dominated our market for years. We always sold on the basis of quality. Two years ago, a new competitor appeared. They sell strictly on price. When they cut their prices below what we ask for similar products, our market share dropped 10 percent in a year.”

Candidate: “That’s quite a challenge. I was called upon by the XYZ corporation to solve a similar problem. I’ll tell you what we did, how we did it, and what the results were…” (Doesn’t that sound just like the CCAR approach you use to gather your clients’ success stories?)

Our second hiring manager is not very good at what he does. Here’s that conversation:

Candidate: “My experience in sales is broad and deep. But just as every customer has different needs, so companies do as well. Could you please tell me what sales-related problem keeps you up at night?”

Hiring manager: “Well, we pride ourselves in being a world-class industry leader. We work hard and we play hard. We under promise and we over deliver. We stand for quality every time.”

That answer shows the hiring official has no idea what problem needs to be solved. Furthermore, his bosses have allowed him to operate that way. Your client now knows this isn’t the company for which they want to work.

If your client is disappointed the interview didn’t go well, remind them how lucky they were! They came that close to joining a substandard company.

Helping clients prepare for the interview is based on a confidence building assumption. Your client is qualified. That’s proven each time he’s called in for an interview. Why would a company waste their time interviewing people they didn’t think qualified?

I hope this article helps you build justifiable confidence in every client. Collections of detailed tactics, lists of the top ten (or is it 15?) questions are worse than useless. They rob your client of self-assurance when they need it most.

Your website may call you a résumé writer, a career coach, or both. But you are really a sounding board that helps your clients get full credit for the careers they deserve. You improve the lives of your clients and their families, often for years to come. Very few others can share that honor.