Atlanta, GA  ·  Resumes, LinkedIn & career strategy

Sometimes the problem isn't your experience.
It's the presentation.

I'm Michael White — a former corporate recruiter turned career strategist. I help experienced professionals put their work on paper the way hiring teams actually read it, so the interviews start showing up.

Free, no pitch. You'll leave the call knowing exactly what's holding your resume back.

Michael White, MSM Founder & Certified Career Coach
Former Fortune 500 recruiter
400+Professionals served
50+Five-star reviews
Since 2019Independent practice
10+ yrsRecruiting & HR

Where searches break down

You're not underqualified.
You're under-translated.

After a decade of reading resumes from the hiring side, the same four things come up again and again. None of them are about how good you are at your job.

  • 01

    Your resume lists duties, not results

    "Responsible for" tells a recruiter what your job description said. It doesn't tell them what changed because you were the one doing it.

  • 02

    Your best work is buried on page two

    Your first six lines decide whether the rest gets read. Most resumes spend them on a generic summary and an outdated skills list.

  • 03

    Your LinkedIn repeats your title

    Recruiters search LinkedIn by keyword and skim by headline. A profile that mirrors your resume is a profile nobody finds.

  • 04

    You're applying more, not applying better

    Volume feels productive. But 60 unfocused applications rarely beat 10 aimed at roles you're positioned for, with the right people looped in.

These are presentation problems, not experience problems. Which means they're fixable — usually faster than you'd think.

The second look

Same job. Same person.
Read it again.

Operations manager

Responsible for managing daily warehouse operations and supervising a team of associates.

Scope, action, result

Registered nurse

Duties included patient care, charting, and assisting with admissions and discharges.

Volume made visible

Teacher → corporate L&D

Taught 9th grade biology and served on the school curriculum committee.

Skills, translated

Every line answers three questions: What did you doHow did you do itWhat did it create

Illustrative examples. I never invent experience — I find what's already there and give it language.

How I can help

Built around your search,
not a package menu.

Most people come for a resume and leave with a strategy. We'll scope the right combination on the first call — nothing you don't need.

Resume rewrite

Rebuilt from scratch around the roles you're targeting — results-first bullets, a summary that positions you, and clean formatting that survives applicant tracking systems.

LinkedIn profile

Headline, About, and experience rewritten around the keywords recruiters actually search — so the right people find you between applications.

Interview preparation

Mock interviews with real recruiter feedback. We build your stories, tighten your delivery, and get you past the questions that usually cost people the offer.

Job search strategy

Where to look, who to reach, what to say, and how to keep it moving — a search plan that fits around a job you already have.

Career direction

For the pivot, the promotion, or the "I don't know what's next." We map what you're good at against what's actually out there, then pick a lane.

Offer & salary negotiation

What to ask for, when to ask, and the exact language to use. Most people leave money on the table because nobody told them it was negotiable.

For organizations

Workshops, career fairs & speaking

Universities, nonprofits, and workforce programs bring me in to run resume labs, career-readiness sessions, keynote talks, and group coaching cohorts. I've facilitated learning for 300+ adult learners in person and virtually.

Discuss a program

What working together looks like

Four steps.
As little as a day.

Same-day turnaround is available. Standard delivery is up to three business days from our deep-dive call.

Step 01

Free review

Fifteen minutes. I read what you have and tell you plainly what I see — whether or not we end up working together.

Step 02

The deep dive

A 45-minute call through your history and your targets. This is where we find the accomplishments you forgot to mention.

Step 03

The rebuild

I write. Your resume, and LinkedIn if it's included, rebuilt around the roles you want — then sent to you for review.

Step 04

The handoff

A final call to walk the changes line by line, plus coaching on how to actually use it. You leave knowing how to keep it current.

In their words

400 professionals.
50+ five-star reviews.

A lot of clients come back — for the promotion, the pivot, or the next chapter. Some send their whole family.

Michael has a true gift for turning experience into opportunity. The process was smooth, professional, and packed with value. If you're ready to get serious about your next move, this is who you call.

Ameer Uddin

I'd gotten advice on my resume before and felt like I was at a standstill. A Second Look immediately identified where I needed improvement, and it instantly made me more confident in my search.

Tiffany Reid

He didn't just fix my resume. He was realistic with me about what I actually wanted, gave me homework, and made me think deeper about the change I was making. My resume is amazing.

Tiffany Day

About Michael

I spent years on the other side of the desk.

I've recruited for Fortune 500 companies, worked healthcare HR, and now lead career programming in higher education. I've read thousands of resumes with a req to fill and about eight seconds to spare.

That's the perspective I bring to your search. Not writing tricks — an honest read on what a hiring team sees when your name comes across their screen, and what to change so the answer is "let's talk."

I started A Second Look in 2019 because too many capable people were losing out on roles they were qualified for, for reasons nobody ever told them. Six years and 400+ clients later, that's still the job.

  • M.S. in Management, Talent Training & Development — Certified Career Coach
  • 10+ years across corporate recruiting, HR, and higher education career services
  • Recruiting and talent experience with UPS, Veritiv, and Northside Hospital
  • Program Director, Office of Academic & Career Integration, Georgia State University
  • 300+ adult learners taught through in-person and virtual programs

Start here

Book your free 15-minute review

Pick a time below. Send your resume ahead of the call and I'll come with notes. No pressure, no script — just a straight answer on what's working and what isn't.

Prefer to talk first? Call (678) 661-1487 or email [email protected].

Before you book

Questions I get a lot

It depends on scope — a resume refresh and a full resume-plus-LinkedIn rebuild aren't the same project. You'll get an exact quote on the free call, before anything starts. No packages you don't need and no surprises.

Same-day turnaround is available. Standard delivery is up to three business days from our deep-dive call — either way, you're not waiting weeks to apply.

I write it. Your job is to talk me through your work on the deep-dive call — I'll ask the questions that pull out the accomplishments you don't think to mention. Then you review, we adjust, and it's yours.

Yes. Clean structure, standard section headers, no graphics that scramble a parse, and the keywords your target roles are actually screening for. But ATS-friendly is the floor — the resume also has to convince the human who reads it next.

That's a lot of what I do. Career changers usually have the skills and no language for them. We identify what transfers, find the proof in what you've already done, and reframe your history for where you're headed — without inventing a thing.

Yes — clients are all over the country. Everything runs by phone and video, and it works exactly the same way.

A second look

You've already done the work. Let's make it read that way.

Fifteen minutes, no cost, no pitch. Worst case, you walk away with a clearer resume than you had this morning.

Book your free review