By Amanda Brandon, NCOPE, NRWA Newsletter Editor
Editor’s Note: I met Kelli Thomason through a networking conversation on the NRWA Facebook group. She asked about a career coaching certification, and I chimed in with the one I’m working on. We connected via phone, and I got a chance to mentor an HR industry veteran on breaking back into resume writing.
Kelli currently works as the senior director of operations for HireBetter. As the right hand to the CEO, she is in charge of five functional areas of the executive search services provider. She says, “My main objectives are to create order from chaos, keep the train running on time, and put ducks in a row.”
Prior to her recent promotion to senior director, Kelli led recruiting operations for HireBetter. In this role, she championed many technical, professional development, and operational improvements related to sourcing candidates for her company. Before this, she directed her organization's recruitment team and the ATS.
Kelli has run a side gig resume and LinkedIn writing business since 2004, when she left recruiting for the Federal Reserve Bank. At Kelli Thomason Consulting, she elevates career marketing documents to help candidates attract more social views and interviews. She says this element of her career “fills my cup to overflowing.”
At HireBetter, Kelli has made personal branding part of the company culture. “I felt like my organization was not capitalizing on the opportunity to use our team as the face of our brand,” she says. “So, I explored how I could educate myself and my team about personal branding.”
After vetting a couple of competing certification programs and interviewing others about their experiences, Kelli earned her Nationally Recognized Online Profile Expert (NCOPE) certification course this past July.
“My first thoughts were to focus my energies on strictly helping our folks optimize their LinkedIn profiles,” she says. “As I got more into it, I realized how closely connected the resume and online profile are. I decided at this point to jump back into resume writing and joined the NRWA to brush up my skills.”
Kelli has found an “abundance mentality” inside the NRWA as a whole. She finds the webinars, communications, and conversations valuable to her growing practice.
“I was pleasantly surprised to see that the members are very giving in sharing information,” she says. “They are willing to share, and when it’s not something they want to share, they have no problem saying, ‘That’s my secret sauce.’”
Kelli wants her clients to know that the resume and LinkedIn profile are just “tiny pieces” of the career search puzzle. She advises them to make sure they are findable and approachable on LinkedIn.
“People are going to Google your name when they meet you,” she says. “And wouldn’t you want to have your best foot forward with a nicely written, comprehensive narrative that you are driving?”
Kelli is an avid volunteer with work as a Precinct Delegate and Secretary in West Union, SC, and many years as a Band Booster. She has also worked with Onward to Opportunity (O2O) as a Panel Member to field questions for military spouses and service members transitioning to civilian careers.
Kelli graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Human Resources from Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, FL. Find her online at www.linkedin.com/in/kelli-thomason.
