Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Crystal Johnson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Crystal, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.
The client experience and their success are my main priorities as a business owner. I define client success as the job seeker obtaining desirable outcomes when utilizing the products created by Johnson Consulting Services. Those outcomes can look different depending on the client’s goal. For example, some clients are actively looking for new opportunities, some haven’t updated their resumes in over ten years and want them to be updated to 21st-century trends, and others are transitioning to a new career field. I take clients’ goals personally because I have been a job seeker in those positions. Although all of my client’s success stories are amazing, this story, in particular, is one I often tell because it’s a testimony to entry-level and experienced professionals not to underestimate their abilities.
Client’s Background
A young Northern Virginian native entered the hospitality field shortly after graduating high school. She attended Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) and completed her Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in Legal Studies. Being a bartender in the restaurant was attractive to her at the time because of her vibrant personality. She expressed that she is “passionate about face-to-face interaction and using her well-developed interpersonal skills to represent and promote a company’s mission and core values.” She strived to connect with every person she met and paid particular attention to social cues or characteristics to achieve maximum satisfaction and build rapport.
The Obstacle
She found herself in a position that most of us find ourselves in when just starting to work. She entered the restaurant industry and became comfortable with bartending. However, the client expressed that she did not have a Bachelor’s degree, and she saw this as a factor in why she was not getting selected for job interviews. The client also wanted a salary increase and didn’t know how to write her resume to show her transferrable skills from hospitality to the administrative field.
The Solution
Creating a personal brand, she can identify with as she applies for different jobs was the solution. First, I had a consultation with her to pinpoint what those goals were. Understanding the goal helps the team and I begin to implement how to enhance a client’s current professional documentation with the most up-to-date career documentation strategies.
She was asked to fill out a questionnaire that made her reflect on her current and past professional experiences and she was prompted to talk about what she saw for the future of her career. Johnson Consulting Services believes that creating a personal brand element within your professional documentation elevates your credibility and differentiates you from competitors, so we did that with this client.
The Outcome
I created a resume document for her that authentically represented who she was and showcased the qualifications that would position her to transition to a new career field. Within two weeks, she received four job interviews! She went from feeling stuck to now having the option to write her own professional narrative. The client was selected for a job as an executive administrative specialist for a legal office.
This moral to this client’s success story is: never underestimate your experience. Your achievements and competencies will “WOW” an organization/company and you will make a positive impact. Transitioning careers can be challenging; however, if you are prepared with effective and strategic professional documentation, you will continue to grow professionally.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I founded Johnson Consulting Services LLC in 2019 to provide professionals with the key components to elevate their careers. We assist job seekers in identifying their most marketable skills and accomplishments. This is achieved through crafting professional documents that illuminate past and current professional experiences that make clients valuable assets to organizations. We empower clients by creating eye-catching resumes, tailored cover letters, and highly personalized LinkedIn Optimizations that provide them confidence during their job search.
What differentiates Johnson Consulting Services from many other resume writing services is the personal branding element that is included in every document we create. You usually hear personal branding being used to as a marketing strategy to market yourself or a business on the internet; however, resumes are much different than they were 10 years ago. Johnson Consulting Services knows that you have to attract the hiring manager/recruiters’ attention within 6 seconds or less. We use this strategy to communicate and present your value to companies. You want hiring managers to be able to see your professional worth, goals, and aspirations, and this is the way to do it.
I am proud to have such a young company that has contributed to changing so many client’s career trajectories. I strive to provide quality products that authentically represent the client to increase their chances of being selected for a job interview, and it feels incredible to get the feedback that they have accepted a new job offer.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
In 2019 when I started my business, I rushed to get noticed. I didn’t have social media before founding my business, so I wasn’t aware of the possible scams targeting small business owners. A company contacted me and said they had researched my company and saw the positive impact that I’ve had on my clientele based on the Yelp reviews. The excitement of being noticed within a year in business had me intrigued.
The company told me that for a specific price (a high price for a small business), they would do the following: play my episode three times a week; market the episodes to their audience; and assured me that there would be an increase in clientele because I would be interviewing with a well-known public figure. I went back and forth on the “opportunity” because I wasn’t good at marketing the business and needed some assistance. I thought I did thorough research. However, I was wrong about this company.
I had a bad feeling once I made the payment. Before interviewing with the online platform, I wanted to get out of the deal. I read the contract and saw that I had 24 hours to get out of the contract. The point of contact did not answer the phone during the 24 hours, and the company delivered false promises. I lost out on a lot of money!
Due to this experience, it took a while for me to trust companies with my story. I turned down many opportunities because I was unsure about company’s intentions. I didn’t want this to limit my exposure, so I took this lesson and learned what and what not to do. I now research every company that expressed interest in me; I ask all the right questions to get the company’s true intention; I contact other owners who have worked with the company to gain insight into their experiences. Some platforms want to help small business owners with exposure and inspire others to pursue their dreams.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
My journey started on the metro, coming from work in 2019. I was coming from a job I dreaded going to every day and thought to myself, “Is this going to be my life for the next 40 years until retirement? Should I start a business?”. Finally, at the age of 26, the time felt that this was the right to start my entrepreneurship journey.
To give a little background about myself, I grew up in Arlington, VA (10 minutes outside of Washington, D.C), where it is common to find many ambitious people coming into the area to catapult their careers. I graduated from George Mason University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 2015, then went on obtain a Master in Criminology, Law, and Society, focusing on Policy and Practice in 2017. I jumped into working for the Federal Government after 6 years of academia and research writing.
Sitting on my metro ride, I thought of various business ventures and knew I always had a niche for writing. Family and friends would approach me to proofread and write documents, create resumes and cover letters, or find jobs for which they would be a good fit. My passion is to help people around me succeed in any way that I can. With my writing skills and this passion, resumes popped into my head. I would be taking my talent to help transform another person’s career trajectory, and I loved the idea (especially in the Washington, DC, area).
This all happened quickly because I was so excited about the idea of entrepreneurship. However, I didn’t give myself time to think about all the logistics of running a business alone. I didn’t take the time to think about how I would manage my full-time job and my business on the side. When the pandemic hit, my business hit a massive growth period because people were looking for job opportunities. Every business owner knows that “overwhelmed, yet blessed” feeling you get when your business starts to take off. You begin to think, “Is this the right time to start a business?”. You start questioning yourself, and this is where my resilience kicked in.
I wasn’t going to give up on my business. Instead, I sought ways other experienced professional resume writing business owners operated their high volume business. I taught myself about various business tools and customer relationship management (CRM) tools to decrease the time spent on my administrative operating activities. My most significant business structure change was hiring a subcontractor to assist with writing. This was a big step because I was used to operating the business alone. However, I learned that this was one of the best decisions I could have made because I could focus on other areas of running the business while still having quality deliverables.
Instead of giving up, I made myself aware of the problem and my reaction to the problem and thought of tactical ways to emerge on the other side. Bringing in help made the business prosper and helped me learn how to function as a efficient and effective business owner.
Contact Info:
- Website: johnsonconsultingservices.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnsonconsultingservicesllc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnsonconsultingservicesllc/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jcsllc/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/johnson-consulting-services-mclean-5
Image Credits
Photographer: Pablo Raya Business Name: Raya Photography Website: https://www.pabloraya.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/praya1/