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Tips for Work and Life with Andrew LaCivita

Career coach and award-winning author Andrew LaCivita shares insights on leading a rewarding career and fulfilled life.
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Now displaying: March, 2017
Mar 14, 2017
Struggling to come up with a creative idea? Not sure how to improve your product, service, book, blog post, speech, or anything you’re working? Join career expert, motivator, and award-winning author Andrew LaCivita as he discusses 3 easy ways to create something original!

But, it’s all been done before…NOT!

It’s getting harder and harder to create something original because there is more and more stuff being distributed, searched for, and copied on the Internet.

More people than ever are introducing their ideas to the world. How do you create something new and fresh especially when you think you don’t have a creative bone in your body?

Good news is you don’t need to be creative!

You just have to have an opinion. I know you have one of those even if you don’t express it.

Awareness and research are the keys…

Whenever I’m looking for new, fresh ways to create good content for you, there are three questions or thoughts I use.

I review a lot of material and read many books, online magazines, and so on. I do a lot of research. These are stimulants and give me ideas.

So, when I’m looking for new, fresh ways to create good content for you, there are three questions or thoughts I use.

Doesn’t everything great come in threes?

When I’m looking for new, fresh ways to create good content for you, there are three questions or thoughts I use.

  1. That is not true because…
  2. That is true, but…
  3. That is true, and…

Use these statements to add your own thoughts, ideas, and additions. Bam! It’s original because there’s only one you and you’ve just altered something.

The minute you add your own flavor to something, it’s an original. You are an original and therefore the transitive property lives on.

I don’t care if someone else thinks the same thing or said the same thing. Put your personality and twist on it. Besides, people need to hear stuff a billion times before they get it. Repetition breeds impression and all that.

Tell me something original. Go ahead! I dare ya!

Like this episode? Please share it via social media and review it on iTunes! I can keep this blog and all future podcasts and videos ad-free and sponsor-free ONLY because you share my work! Please share or subscribe to my podcast and YouTube channel too!

Want more advanced material? Join the milewalk Academy and grab some of the free offerings that support the instruction in this post!

Mar 7, 2017
Confused about how to use your few minutes with an employer at a job fair? Not sure how to make that unforgettable impression? Join career expert, motivator, and award-winning author Andrew LaCivita as he discusses how to spend your 5 minutes at a job fair!

First, what not to do…

Before I dive into how I would spend my five minutes, let’s cover what not to do. It's the biggest mistake people make when they go to job fairs.

It’s the same issue I covered in The Number 1 Reason Why You Do Not Get Hired. It’s the same reason you don't get called back after a job fair.

It’s spending your time trying to get out everything there is to know about you, what you think are the highlights of your career (or studies), what you think are your best attributes, and what you think are your most desired skills.

Big mistake.

You spend too much time sharing and don’t know whether that’s what the employer needs to know!

How do you know what the employer seeks?

Try this…

Waltz up to the booth (or person or whoever looks like someone who knows what they’re doing), and say…

“Hi. My name’s Frankie Fabulous. I'd love to share a little bit about myself and learn about your company. Before I do that, could you tell me what you're looking for in an entry-level candidate?”

If you’re a professional…

“Hi. My name’s Susie Sensational. Could you tell me what the most important skills are in [insert whatever position it is you’re looking to attain]?”

Give them a minute or two to share that insight with you. They’ll go on with…

“Well, we're looking for somebody with this kind of background or these kind of skills or these kind of traits.”

You’ll hear a bunch of different stuff like detail-oriented, great communication skills, engineering students, so on and so forth.

Now, you’re a salesperson…

Collect the insight. Then, dive into your remaining 2-3 minutes with exactly how you match exactly what they’re looking for!

As soon as you leave, they’ll be thinking boy, that John Smith…he seemed to match exactly what we needed. We need to call him back.

A gold star…

Most booth people need to jot notes on your resume because they can’t possibly remember everyone.

As soon as you walk away, they scratch on your resume numbers or stars or whatever.

He’s a 2. She’s a 5. Give him a silver star. Give her a gold star. You get the picture.

And, you get a star from me for watching. Thanks!

Like this episode? Please share it via social media and review it on iTunes! I can keep this blog and all future podcasts and videos ad-free and sponsor-free ONLY because you share my work! Please share or subscribe to my podcast and YouTube channel too!

Want more advanced material? Join the milewalk Academy and grab some of the free offerings that support the instruction in this post!

Mar 2, 2017
Are you struggling to prepare your questions to ask an employer in a job interview? Not sure what to ask or how to ask it? Join career expert, motivator, and award-winning author Andrew LaCivita as he discusses the most valuable question to ask in a job interview!

Before we get rolling, I want to express I understand many of you struggle with what questions to ask an employer as well as how to ask them.

This part of the interview—when you get to ask your questions—offers a great chance to sell yourself. It’s also the most important part of getting the information you need to make a great decision about whether the employer is a good for you.

Good vs. good for you!

There are a lot of questions you need to ask and several areas you need to investigate. Is the company a good company? Is it solid in general? Is it a good company for you?

Even though the company is a good company doesn’t mean it’s a good company for you! There are a lot of questions that go along with trying to figure this out.

All good things come in 3’s

When you ask your questions, you should keep these three goals in mind. Every question should be designed to:

  1. Sell yourself
  2. Get the information you need
  3. Get the information as quickly as possible

The faster you get the information the more time you have to get more information. The more information you have the more informed the decision. The more informed the decision, the better the decision. (Whew! That’s a lot of mores!)

A question is never just a question

There is a whole lot that goes into asking your questions, how to organize them, when to use the information and so on. I have an entire free webcast that covers these called 3 Keys to Ace Any Job Interview. See below for details. Go ahead and sign up. I dare ya.

You can protect yourself with your questions

One other aspect I’d like to add regarding why I think this is such a valuable question is it helps you overcome one of the biggest reasons you don’t get hired.

A month or so ago, I shot a video and made a blog post titled The Number 1 Reason Why You Do Not Get Hired. The number one reason you don't get hired is not because you lack qualifications. Chances are very good if you're interviewing you’re qualified.

It's the job candidates’ inability to map how their qualifications align to what the employer needs. Keep that in mind because there is a great chance you can made that misstep in the interview.

What is the question already?

The reason I think this question is a valuable one is because it helps you sell yourself, gets you great information quickly, AND helps you overcome that great obstacle in getting hired.

So, here it is…

“If you were to give me a job offer and I was to accept it, after one year on the job, what would you consider a success? What would success look like to you? Specifically, what will I have accomplished you would consider to be a success?"

Why is this an uber cool question?

This question gives you clarity regarding what the interviewer thinks success looks like.

Now, you can use that insight to reply how you would accomplish that or how your skills or capabilities align to accomplish that success!

You're speaking to exactly how you would to work toward that success and it’s what the interview wants and needs to know. Ultimately, interviewers need to answer, “Will this job candidate be successful in the role?”

Wait! There’s more!

Here's what else it does. If you ask that question to every single interviewer you might get a slightly different answer. At least now you know what that interviewer thinks success is.

Maybe you're interviewing with various people within the organization and they each have different goals or requirements. Now you can align your answers to how it affects that person and his or her interests. (Let's not worry just yet whether or not all their answers are consistent. That's something you can sort out later. The most important thing while you're in that particular interview is to get that interviewer to like you.)

The reason this question is so powerful is because it surfaces for you what each interviewer thinks success looks like. They make their decisions on what they think, not necessarily reality. This helps you overcome the disparity and makes sure they all want hire you—for whatever their reasons might be. :)

Free Live Job Interviewing Webcast: I’m offering a FREE LIVE WEBCAST titled 3 Keys to Ace Any Job Interview. It comes with great instruction and a nice workbook for note taking. Even more, I have an awesome giveaway when you attend. It’s an eBook titled How to Interview the Employer: 75 Great Questions to Ask Before You Take Any Job. There are several times available.

You can sign up here.

Like this episode? Please share it via social media and review it on iTunes! I can keep this blog and all future podcasts and videos ad-free and sponsor-free ONLY because you share my work! Please share or subscribe to my podcast and YouTube channel too!

Want more advanced material? Join the milewalk Academy!

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