Customizing resumes and cover letters
As I mentioned in the beginning, the layout of this book is a little non-traditional and I wanted to tell you about some of my experiences first. Now that we have that out of the way, hopefully you are very excited about moving forward with a career as an assistant to a celebrity or high-net-worth family in your area.
It’s time to talk about resumes. This area is, perhaps, the single most important factor for actually getting an interview. It can be, and often is, a deal-breaker for aspiring candidates. Resumes are the first and only thing that recruiters and employers have to judge your competency for the job of an assistant. If your resume is shoddy, disorganized or has grammar mistakes, you’re out of the running. I’ve consulted with candidates in the past (even “Ivy League”) that had wasted years of time sending inadequate resumes into the field with little or no results (and they thought their resume was “perfect”). No matter how high-quality your education is, you’re limiting your success if you don’t have a killer resume because it says a lot about you.
When applying for personal assistant jobs, the first thing a candidate needs to do is carefully follow instructions for applying. There are often hidden tests the employers have set up to see if you can cross the first and most remedial task of all, applying for the job. Sending your resume to the wrong email or physical address, making double submissions, or calling when you’re not supposed to takes a person out of the game immediately (not all recruiters have this philosophy but err on the side of caution).
Even assistants who have a clean resume (with no mistakes) and follow the submission instructions carefully can still blow it with an inappropriate cover letter or outdated resume style. When I do career counseling with both aspiring and veteran assistants alike, they often have a head-slapping epiphany when I show them all of the things they are doing wrong.
More often than not, assistants who have worked for a VIP or celebrity in their past usually got the job through a friend, so resume mistakes weren’t a consideration. But when their gig ended, they were not able to parlay that experience and land another VIP job through traditional channels because they made several mistakes on their resume, cover letter, and/or overall presentation. Sometimes it’s the smallest things that can do us in. Recruiters, headhunters and HR managers are trained to spot the smallest mistakes.
Because I’ve had the privilege of coaching and working with the Top Guns of celebrity assistants, I can now happily pass helpful information onto the new generation of business professionals.
It’s time to talk about resumes. This area is, perhaps, the single most important factor for actually getting an interview. It can be, and often is, a deal-breaker for aspiring candidates. Resumes are the first and only thing that recruiters and employers have to judge your competency for the job of an assistant. If your resume is shoddy, disorganized or has grammar mistakes, you’re out of the running. I’ve consulted with candidates in the past (even “Ivy League”) that had wasted years of time sending inadequate resumes into the field with little or no results (and they thought their resume was “perfect”). No matter how high-quality your education is, you’re limiting your success if you don’t have a killer resume because it says a lot about you.
When applying for personal assistant jobs, the first thing a candidate needs to do is carefully follow instructions for applying. There are often hidden tests the employers have set up to see if you can cross the first and most remedial task of all, applying for the job. Sending your resume to the wrong email or physical address, making double submissions, or calling when you’re not supposed to takes a person out of the game immediately (not all recruiters have this philosophy but err on the side of caution).
Even assistants who have a clean resume (with no mistakes) and follow the submission instructions carefully can still blow it with an inappropriate cover letter or outdated resume style. When I do career counseling with both aspiring and veteran assistants alike, they often have a head-slapping epiphany when I show them all of the things they are doing wrong.
More often than not, assistants who have worked for a VIP or celebrity in their past usually got the job through a friend, so resume mistakes weren’t a consideration. But when their gig ended, they were not able to parlay that experience and land another VIP job through traditional channels because they made several mistakes on their resume, cover letter, and/or overall presentation. Sometimes it’s the smallest things that can do us in. Recruiters, headhunters and HR managers are trained to spot the smallest mistakes.
Because I’ve had the privilege of coaching and working with the Top Guns of celebrity assistants, I can now happily pass helpful information onto the new generation of business professionals.
Customizing your job submission will make or break you
It is critical that applicants customize each resume and cover letter for the job to which they are applying. When recruiters post job openings, there are certain KEY WORDS you need to pay attention to. Most applicants just send the same generic resume to everyone regardless of the job title; that’s a big mistake.
My advice is to make the necessary changes on your résumé and cover letter so that you can highlight your past job experience where it fits their needs. It will give you a much better chance of landing the interview.
Additionally, if your resume lacks some high-caliber experience or you don’t have any higher education, here are some things you can do that will separate you from the other candidates:
In an overly competitive job market, no detail is too small. Anything special about your resume is a step in the right direction.
My advice is to make the necessary changes on your résumé and cover letter so that you can highlight your past job experience where it fits their needs. It will give you a much better chance of landing the interview.
Additionally, if your resume lacks some high-caliber experience or you don’t have any higher education, here are some things you can do that will separate you from the other candidates:
- Take a CPR class: This is fast, cheap, and easy but adds tremendous value to your résumé.
- Take a business course at a local university: Most of them have extended or online sessions open to the general public (Even Harvard and Yale have jumped on the online education bandwagon). Having a technical or business writing class, especially if you get an “A” grade, will set you apart from other applicants. You can probably even take classes for free since the government Pell Grants are now up to about $6000. In many cases, you will have money left over and actually GET PAID to go to school.
- Do some volunteer work: It shows you care about your community.
In an overly competitive job market, no detail is too small. Anything special about your resume is a step in the right direction.
