As I reflect on the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, I can’t help but think about my clients (and prospective clients) and their federal career goals. While I didn’t get to watch many of the events live, I tried to watch the highlights late at night when I went to bed. The highlight reels often left me in awe. We have some amazing athletes in this world!
While it’s true, these athletes are incredible…and many of them are born with natural abilities and great genetics, they work HARD to get where they want to be. In some of the highlights, they show athletes “training” since they were two years old.
Nathan Chen finally won the gold medal he set out to claim in 2018 but had to wait four years to try again! Gu won three medals at her first Winter Olympics, including two gold medals. Mikaela Shiffrin endured multiple difficulties and crashed in three individual events. She endured haters and negative comments but shared in a video that even though the comments hurt, she said: “That message was meant for you guys, to get up and to keep going. Get out of bed the next day even though you’re getting these message that make you feel awful.”
If you are a federal job seeker who hasn’t had much success in landing interviews, you can probably relate to the ‘rejection’ emails and comments, but you can’t give up. You have to get up and keep going!
In Malcolm Outliers: The Story of Success, he determined that to become a master of your craft, you will need to dedicate at least 10,000 hours to it. And in the research that Royan Kamyar and his team did of more than 50 Olympians, Paralympians, Olympic and Paralympic candidates, this definitely rang true.
Do you have a federal career coach?
This is where I start to think about my clients. Because my clients are also AMAZING! They have goals and dreams—and they are driven to achieve them. They are dedicated and train hard. Our clients are certainly masters of their crafts! They look for opportunities to serve, grow, and progress. Also, not unlike our Olympic athletes, they also have a coach to help them achieve their goals.
Our thousands of clients include employees in the private sector, federal government, non-profits, and entrepreneurs. The one thing they all have in common is that they aspire to progress in their careers. They want to stretch and challenge themselves. They want to make an impact. They want to provide for their families and help their children through college. They want to leave a legacy. They see bigger and greater things for their careers and they are willing to work hard to get there.
David Murdoch, coach of the British Women’s Curling Team, which defeated Japan 10-3 in the final for the country’s first Olympic Curling gold since 2002, said:
“Some things are in the stars, right? They worked so hard and they deserve every moment of this because of the hard work they put in every day, the sacrifices they made, they deserve the moment.”
We believe in working hard, too. But we also believe in working smart. I don’t know anyone who is successful that reached success alone. We all need someone to guide us at times—especially if it’s not our specialty or we don’t have the training for it.
Landing a federal job can feel like training for the Olympics
Luckily, we all don’t need or aspire to compete on a world stage… to run a company… or to be President of the United States. However, setting career goals gives you long-term vision and motivation. It can help you focus on what you need to learn, how to prioritize your time, and figure out what resources you need to achieve the life you want.
And unless you have the right coach, you may never qualify or make the team. The right coach knows the way and will help you chart your path, train with you, and strategize the win.
Once you know the proven strategy, winning looks attainable! It’s not overwhelming. The steps are sequential and prioritized. The foundation is set. Your coach is there for you at every step.
And it all starts with the single-most important career document—your federal resume. The one thing that sets everything in motion. It’s how you will get hired…so it makes sense to put in the time and effort to perfect it, right? After all, your federal resume is what represents you. It sets the foundation for the entire hiring process, including negotiating your salary and benefits.
For a successful federal job search, you’ll need:
- A job announcement in which you will be rated best qualified.
- A strategic federal resume that will get past the six gatekeepers so you can be selected to interview.
- Rock-solid interview skills—you don’t want to get that far and wing it!
… and, having a federal career coach with more than 150,000 hours who has mastered the craft and helped thousands of people get hired and promoted in federal government doesn’t hurt either. 😉
Will you make the podium?
Then there’s Erin Jackson. She won a gold she almost didn’t compete for! She slipped during the qualifier but went on to become the first Black woman to medal in Olympic speed skating—and the first American woman to win a gold medal in speed skating since 1994.
We recently had a client question whether or not she should apply for a job she had applied to a year before and wasn’t selected. Guess what? She worked with us and landed not only the interview, but the job!
Do your dreams and goals include a new or progressive federal career?
Are you ready to achieve the gold?
Are you ready for the benefits of federal employment? Job stability. Competitive income. Great healthcare. Challenges and excitement. Retirement benefits. And an opportunity to make an impact.
For more than 25 years, I've been trusted by all levels of professionals to senior executives in the Federal Government to collaborate with them and strategize, coach, and write not only their single most important document—the resume—but all of their career marketing that propels them upward in the ranks of the Federal Government and private sector. And, I would love to meet you and help you with yours! Thank you for stopping by!
You can find out what's killing your chances of landing federal jobs here: Take the 1-minute quiz and get valuable insight to your situation.
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