So I should tell you that I have a tendency to get worked up about things =)  I am a very passionate person, in just about anything and everything that I do.  This has the ability to be a blessing or a curse.  Today, I took my frustration and utter disdain for a situation that was just making me mad and took my own advice. 

Over my first cup of coffee this morning I was checking my email.  As always, I get the hundreds of emails from job boards and one of them caught my eye.  There was what looked to be a blog post from some CEO or another about the importance of a thank you letter.  All excited about getting some specific, worth while tips about what sets a thank you letter apart from your competition, I anxiously clicked through all the 'skip this offer' pages between the teaser email and the actual article I wanted to read.

Once there, after, and I am NOT kidding you about this, no more than two paragraphs of basic, 'its important to send a thank you note.' statements, they went right into a sales pitch about how they want you to buy their resume writing service for several hundred dollars.  Oh. My. Gosh.  What a waste of my time!

This just makes me mad!  If you are one of me, reading these articles, hoping to get some important job search advice, the last thing you want to hear is that the only way to get a job is if you spend hundreds of dollars and pay someone who has never met you, knows nothing about you, or what it is that you specialize in to write the document that is going to tell an employer who you are and what you are best at.  And oh by the way, they will also send you a FREE customizable cover letter and thank you note.  And don't worry your pretty little head about the fact that it is absolutely the same one they sent the last client, and the one before that, you are going to customize it!  Employers are always THRILLED to receive form letters with no original thought!

So, I was incredibly irritated.  For those of you who read my post last night, I spent the day yesterday working with people at the IL WorkNet Center giving resume tips and some career coaching after being identified by the trainer of the resume writing class as an HR Pro.  After being so happy about being able to help people yesterday, and feel like I am actually doing good, this advertisement in disguise just made me mad. 

So, after another cup of coffee, I decided that rather than just sit here and seethe about how irked this made me, I would do something about it.  I promptly turned around and posted to CL that I was offering my resume writing, customized cover letter, and thank you note services as well as interview coaching for a SERIOUS fraction of the cost of what it costs by those cookie cutter places that have just about everything BUT your best interest at heart.

Since I began consulting two years ago, it has always been on the employer side.  I consult on performance management, recruiting and retention strategies, benefits, total rewards, etc.  But how great would it be to be able to work AND help the people who need it the most!  This is just up my philanthropic alley!  I will keep you posted on how it goes!