I am confident that I have the best team of data science career professionals ever. Let me tell you about how I pulled everyone together.

Overview

I had two goals in expanding the team. First, I needed an assistant to help with emails, scheduling, record keeping, and other general operations. Second, I needed fulfillment partners to help me review and write resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and also cover letters directly for career services clients. The stories below explain how I got luckier than anyone could reasonably expect to be as I worked to expand the team of folks that support my career services clients.

Resume Writers

I'm a career coach and I am in the business of providing data science career services. Writing resumes is a special sub-skill. Resumes are a specialty. Do you know there are others in this field who earn nearly 100% of their income from writing or re-writing resumes? They're amazing.

If you don't know it, or couldn't tell from the name "resume writer," professional resume writers are experts at writing resumes that get their clients jobs. They know how to highlight their clients' skills and experience in a way that makes them stand out from the competition.

For my clients I needed some help in this area in order to focus on coaching and also in order to expand my capacity - to help more clients. I reached out to six resume writers. Here were the results.

One said "use my calendly to make an appointment." I did that. The writer was a no-show. I followed up by email and LinkedIn. No response. Crickets.

Two others, I could tell would not be a good fit for my clients or my fulfillment needs. These other two had too many irons in the fire. They did good work on resume writing, but they did not focus on resume writing. I wanted someone who focuses on resume writing.

For a third, I met with once and we clicked. We swapped materials that we use to share with our respective clients. We discussed how and why we do things the way we do them on a resume. We were more than 90% aligned in our thoughts and ideas. I hired this writer to do work for a client and, as expected, the work came back high quality. This person is now on my team.

For a fourth, I again met with once. We again clicked. We swapped materials and we are also 90% aligned in our thoughts and ideas. As a result, I know have two resume writers to whom I can turn when I need additional capacity to support clients.

For a fifth, I took as a recommendation from an interview coach I know. I did not meet with this fifth. However the sales presentation was solid. The online materials were good. I did not see a clear call to action, so I ended up asking "how about you redo my resume and LinkedIn?" "I'll hire you."

You know what happened from this fifth? I got good work. But it came much later than expected. Lessons learned.

Interview Coach

I've also recently struck an agreement with an interview coach. This interview coach supplements the interview coaching that I also provide. She is dynamic, and has a very different style than myself. Including this interview coach in with the total mix of resources I provide for my clients has been a value add for sure for sure.

A job interview coach helps their clients prepare for job interviews. They help their clients practice and rehearse for the types of questions they will likely be asked in an interview. They also help their clients to understand what employers are looking for in a candidate, and how to showcase their skills and experience in the best possible way.

General Assistant

If you don't know what a virtual assistant is, a virtual assistant can help small businesses by handling general office tasks such as responding to emails, handling scheduling, and managing records. This frees up the business owner to focus on their primary goals. In my case a virtual assistant was going to give me more time to work directly with clients.

I first looked to up work. After mixed results on UpWork I decided to be more strategic. I asked "who can I find that will know virtual assistants?" So I turned to other trusted consultants. A few referrals came my way, but for a variety of reasons nothing panned out.

Time for more strategy. I thought hard about this. Finally it occurred to me. "I'll bet there is someone who teaches others to build businesses as virtual assistants." I focused on finding others who taught how to build businesses as virtual assistants. Those folks, one in particular, had a list. All I had to do was present a description of the things I needed help with and then I was in touch with about eight candidates.

Of the eight, I decided that six would be worth meeting for an interview. Of the six that scheduled for an interview, one was a no-show. The remaining five were all hirable. Nice problem to have, right? I made a final selection based mostly on pragmatic issues (similar time zones, work schedule, etc.). Plus I remained in touch with all the other four for when I expand and grow later.

Currently my general assistant provides services for me and for my clients. Those services include:

• Proofreading my documents. Proofreading documents for clients.
• Building and maintaining my website, including this blog.
• Assistance on improving client social media content.
• Assistance in reviewing client documents.
• Coordinating with clients.
• And so much more.

Conclusion

In short, I am so happy to report that the data science career services team is growing. The team consists of a career coach (Dr. Adam Ross Nelson), a general assistant, dedicated specialty resume writers, and an additional interview coach. As a career coach I can focus on providing a full-range data science career services, while the resume writers are experts at writing resumes that get their clients jobs. The interview coach helps their clients prepare for job interviews.