How William went from a 1% resume response rate to a Senior Director role at Amgen in under 3 months

William was the most senior analytics leader at his previous company, where he had built the analytics infrastructure from the ground up. His scope kept growing while his path did not, and the role had forced a relocation to Detroit.

In under 3 months we landed him 28 interviews and three offers. He signed a Senior Director, Tech Ops and Data Enablement role at Amgen at $280,000 base. Amgen then placed him two levels higher than the role he interviewed for.

Three years of applying, roughly a 1% response rate

He was not new to searching. He had been at it, on his own, for years.

“I had been looking for at least 3 years on my own, sending out resume after resume with maybe a 1% conversion rate on the resume.”

The problem was never his effort or his seniority. It was how he was being read.

“I was in a dead end role where I was under appreciated. I had no path for a future. I was no longer earning, learning, or feeling valuable. My scope kept getting bigger and bigger, so I knew they had value. But they weren’t showing me a path forward.”

He also had a clock on it.

“I was jobless, and in this economy I don’t want to wait. With AI advancing the way that it is, I don’t want to wait 6 months. I need to get a role here fast, where I’m keeping my skill sets up to date.”

He thought it was a scam, and has since referred multiple people to us

This is the objection almost every client shows up with, and William put it more bluntly than we ever would.

“I was worried it was a scam. It does feel scammy, because it’s a big chunk of money. Usually recruiters are paid by the company. I was very sceptical. And I was really worried I was going to get taken for $8,000.”

His reasoning is worth sitting with, because he is right. The whole recruiting industry trains you to expect the employer to pay. So when the candidate is the one paying, it feels wrong before anyone has even looked at the details, and your brain files it under scam.

Two things changed his mind, and neither of them was our marketing.

“It was my own research. That’s where people were saying, no, it’s a legit service. And then the 1-hour assessment of me. That said, okay, I think this is legitimate.”

Then he told us, on the record, that this one is ours to fix, not his:

“That’s one thing in your marketing, that’s probably one perception you’re going to have to combat. People say it all the time. I referred multiple people to you, and they say it feels really scammy. I’m like, it’s not. I can assure you it’s not.”

“It’s a perception that’s already built into everyone’s head that you didn’t create, but you have to manage it.”

He has since referred several people to us. That fact says more than anything we could write here.

His resume read like a senior manager, when it needed to read like an executive

This was the first thing to change, and he names it as the single biggest source of value.

“Ish showed me how to write a resume at more of an executive level. My resume was very senior manager-y, very task. Even just watching what she did, I learned how to reframe and reposition myself.”

That gap, task-based writing versus executive-level writing, is the one most senior candidates fall into. They list what they were responsible for instead of what they actually changed. We have written the method up in full in our guide on how to write an executive resume.

The same repositioning ran through the outreach, not just the document.

“The briefs also taught me how to reposition my value in the market and what I bring to the table, rather than the technical things I’d done.”

Why applying alone had stopped working

His own diagnosis makes the case for the whole service better than we usually do:

“We’re no longer in a world where you can just submit a resume and hope for the best. You have to find a personal connection.”

Asked what actually delivered the value, he named three things:

“Teaching me how to do it, teaching my value, and then just the brass tacks manpower of finding people.”

The outcome

“I was very worried. I thought it would take 6 months to get placed. Hired me within 6 weeks. Had three offers.”

“It’s exactly what I wanted. It’s more than what I was asking for. They’re excited to have me, so it’s a win-win all around. I feel like I hit the lottery.”

The role put him right at the intersection of the two areas his market is paying most for, and Amgen bumped him up two levels on the strength of his interviews.

“They already told me I did so well on the interview panels that they placed me two levels higher, up to a vice president potential. And that’s why they put a relocation package on there.”

The search in numbers

• 28 interviews landed in under 3 months, against roughly a 1% response rate over the previous three years
• 3 offers, hired within 6 weeks of starting
• Placed two levels above the role he interviewed for, with a relocation package
• $280,000 base at Amgen
• Level: Director. Function: Data and Analytics