I could have titled this post 8 Great Tips to Prove Your Value to Your Employer
Before you non-job-seekers cut out me, this post very accurately could have been titled 8 Great Tips to Prove Your Value to Your Employer. So, stay tuned.
Let’s be honest. How many times do we need to remind our own employers of our awesomeness? I don't know about you, but I seem to need to remind my guy every day because he can't remember a thing.
What’s the problem?
Think about the problem. You're sending out your resume and employers aren’t calling you back. Ouch. [I’ve already explained why that is in How to Get Your Resume Noticed in 5 Seconds Guaranteed.]
Although recruiters are a funky bunch and review those resumes quickly, they do notice an impact player when they see one. So, how do we get you to SHOW you’re that impact player?
First, you need a great layout…
I’ve shot other videos on showing your fabulousness on your resume. (C’mon people. I can’t show you everything in one 10-minute video!)
It’ll be extremely helpful if you check out these little beauties so you know the best layout and so forth. Of course, there are FREE Templates and other things that will make you love me forever:
How to Build the Ultimate Professional Resume (Video, Instruction, and Template)
Immediately DOWNLOAD the FREE Ultimate Professional Resume Template here
This One Trick Will Make Your College Resume Stand Out (Video, Instruction, and Template)
Immediately DOWNLOAD the FREE Ultimate Collegiate Resume Template here
Second, I’ll give you TWO FREE courses if you can stump me…
I’m really confident I can improve your resume if you follow this video and spend a few moments considering these tips. Want to know how confident?
I will give you my Build Your Ultimate Professional Resume Course & Workshop plus any additional online training course you find on the milewalk Academy site—FOR FREE—if you can stump me. Details later.
C’mon buddy. Where are my 8 Tips?
Think about what employers care about. Who makes an impact in their organization? People who these things…
But, Andy, I don’t do those activities at work…
Sure you don’t. If you’re thinking there’s no way I can come up with something like this…
Are you a hostess? How many people do you care for and seat and service each night? Over the course of the year?
Are you a mail carrier? How many houses do you deliver the mail to? How many pounds of mail? How many square miles do you cover every single day, year in and year out?
Are you a mechanic? How many cars have you fixed within the last year?
Are you a project manager? What's the size of the project budget? Did you complete it on time? How many people did you manage? How many people did you coach? How many people did you mentor?
We could go all day, but I have a time limit and word count limit and your attention span limit.
Hey, you mentioned a contest or something…
Think about what I said. If you can’t figure out a way to improve your resume, head to the comments section (wherever you’re seeing this) and say…
“Hey, Andy, I’m a [insert title here/perhaps type of company too] and I do [insert what you do] and I can’t figure out how to quantity or show impact. What should I do?”
I’ll respond with advice. If I can’t figure out something for you to add, you can have my resume course & workshop for FREE and any other online training course in the milewalk Academy.
Tell me I don’t love you.
Want more resume help? For a ridiculously low investment and huge value, check out my resume course & workshop!
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!
Have you seen my FREE Job Interviewing Webinar titled 3 Keys to Ace Any Job Interview? There are several available times this week. Attendees receive an awesome eBook titled How to Interview the Employer: 75 Questions to Ask Before You Take Any Job. Check it out!
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.
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!
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!
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:
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.
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!
Make sure to grab my handy booklet the Guide to Leading Fulfilled Days: 7 Simple Habits to Make Every Day Productive so you can easily record, reflect, plan, and make every day wildly successful!
Get it here:
https://milewalk.leadpages.co/leadbox/1433d9dc3f72a2%3A17fd80be1346dc/5761512987688960/
No skills or much time required…
I’ve got some great tips today. They’re an orderly set of tips and habits you can implement. The greatest part about these habits is they require no skills and very little time to put in place.
What happens between the time you wake up and the end of the year?
I want to bring you back about a year and a half ago. I wrote a blog post about my two morning tricks to eating the frog. That was about how you get your morning going. You can get off to a great start regardless of your morning routine. It’s all about your mindset.
Toward the end of last year, I did a video and a post about how to reflect your way to success. It was really designed help you look back at the end of each year, reflect on what you learned and what you accomplished. But, the special part about this process is—no matter you did during the year—you will feel great about yourself and all you have accomplished. Yes. It’s that bulletproof a technique. Check it out. (There’s even a great planner download.)
What happens in between your mornings and when you wake up toward the end of the year? You live each day!
How do you ensure you can look back at the end of each year and say, “Wow, what a great year (or great day or great week or great month)?” That’s what today’s session is all about!
The 7 Habits…
Here are seven simple habits to make every day productive.
The first two, in fact, start the night before.
1. Identify three goals you want to accomplish the next day?
Think in advance about what you want to accomplish. The most important aspect when identifying these goals is to make sure there’s an element of completeness.
You don’t want your goals to be goals such as “make progress on my project.” It’s too loose. Focus more on what you need to complete in step one of the project. If step one is too big to complete in one day, then identify the portion of step one.
Whatever it is, just make sure there is some conclusion you can draw and that there is an element of completeness to it.
Also, don’t have too many goals. If you have too many goals, you’ll be chasing too many rabbits and won’t catch any. You get the gist.
2. Schedule your entire calendar for the next day (the night before).
Schedule your day. I stress the word your day.
You will be far less likely to get interrupted by other people’s issues or other people’s requests if you’ve made your plan.
Never ever—I repeat never—check your morning email before your day is scheduled.
If you do that, you’re likely going to run amok and other people’s issues will interrupt your intentions. You won’t be able to work on the key projects or goals you identified.
Also, I recommend scheduling every single minute of your day. If you don’t know what you’re doing between 1:00 PM and 2:00 PM, schedule “open time” or “buffer time” or “recovery time.”
That will give you a chance to catch up or handle unexpected issues that arise during the day.
3. Identify three things you’re grateful for as early in the morning as possible.
However you start your day, whatever morning routine is, be grateful. Be deliberately grateful.
I get up. Take care of my dogs. Go to the gym to exercise. I come home and meditate. I eat. That’s my routine.
Whether you just get up and take a shower or stretch and have a cup of coffee or dance or whatever, spend a moment to be grateful. It takes a mere minute to write down three things for which you are grateful.
It is physiologically impossible to be stressed and grateful at the same time. You’re giving yourself a chance to be stress-free even if it’s for mere seconds.
Put yourself in the right mindset.
There is another aspect to gratitude. You can be assured gratitude is a wonderful place where there is a force greater than you and greater than I that is always available to you in a positive way.
You will feel better and better things will happen to you and for you. It’s just a wonderful way to start your day.
4. Identify what you accomplished during the day.
After you work your day, write down what you actually achieved related to those three big goals.
Note how that positions you for tomorrow. This will help you plan tomorrow.
5. Consider your lessons of the day.
Write down a couple or three lessons you actually learned for that day.
It’s really, really important to take a few minutes to think about what transpired over the course of the day and what you actually learned.
What did you learn about yourself or your projects or the people you work or what to do or not to do?
If you don’t identify these lessons, you’re not going to feel accomplished and you’ll make the same mistakes.
6. Celebrate your victories.
Write down your three wins for the day.
Give yourself a little brag zone. It’s okay to say, “Wahoo, I accomplished goals one, two, and three!” or “I sold my first project!” or “Our marketing project is complete!”
It could be anything you feel great about accomplishing that day. Just make sure your celebrate something.
7. Identify three things you’re grateful for as late in the day as possible.
Repeat habit three. As late in the day as possible, and I stress as late in the day as reasonably possible, identify three more things you’re grateful for. Preferably, these will be three items from that day (but they don’t have to be).
Later in the day is best because if these are your last thoughts of the day you’ll have a better night’s sleep. You’ll go to sleep, wake up a lot more refreshed, and go into your next day in a much better frame of mind.
MORE GOODIES!
Grab my FREE download of the Guide to Leading Fulfilled Days: 7 Simple Habits to Make Every Day Productive and you’ll have a handy checklist of what to record, reflect on, and plan your day!
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!
Thanks!
Andy
Help is here!
I’ll tell you exactly how to answer those questions, but let’s first address what’s happening when an interviewer asks you these questions.
Realize no one is smart enough to take your responses from those particular questions and determine whether you’ll be a great employee in their company. It's just too great a leap to connect those dots.
Decisions you made years ago simply won’t help them understand how you're going to fit into their organization.
What’s the question you’re really being asked?
If you are interviewing, whether on the phone or in person, the employer has essentially granted on paper you are qualified for the job and deserving of their time!
The question they are truly asking is, “Why will it be different this time?”
The interviewer wants to know why are you going to make a good decision that sticks…so when you join their company you’ll be a good longstanding, successful employee.
That’s what they really want to know. That’s what they want to be assured of.
That’s the question you need to answer!
Turn multiple job hops into one issue you’ve resolved!
First, take responsibility and own your previous actions.
Second, turn “several” problems into one problem you can address quickly. That is, if you’ve had a handful of job hops, respond to all of them at once. Make it a universal issue you’ve now fixed. You can diffuse it all in one fell swoop.
Third, give your response with a smile and lots of positivity regarding why this will work going forward.
The answer…
“Ya know, you’re right. I do have a few (or a number of) job hops in my history.
I discovered very recently the reason I was having some trouble was due to a common issue. I wasn’t clear upfront regarding all the criteria I needed to be fulfilled in my job.
I did some self-reflection and thought deeply about everything I needed to make me happy in my work life. I hadn’t done that previously. But, now, I took the time. Performed the exercises and reflected.
This has put me in a much better position to evaluate whether any future job opportunity and company will be a great fit for me because I now have a much more complete list of the criteria I need. I have that clarity.
Previously, I wasn’t as skilled at getting the information I need from the employer, but I’m in a much better position now because I’ve gone through this reflection.
I understand specifically what I need to evaluate and how to evaluate it. Now, I’m more confident I can determine whether your company is a good one for me.”
Why this works…
First, you avoid the risk of dragging the conversation on by trying to take one job hop at a time.
When you do this, the interviewer thinks goodness. It's always something with her. It seems like a different issue every time or he's just like Pig Pen. He's got that cloud of rain over himself wherever he goes.
You’ve also shifted a negative question into a positive action you’ve taken!
There are exceptions, but the pattern is what’s important…
I realize people leave jobs for countless reasons. You could have an illness in the family. Your husband or wife could be getting transferred.
But, if you're getting asked the job hopper question, the interviewer is looking for the common pattern.
Take responsibility. Defuse it all at once. Speak positively about the action you've taken to overcome it and why it won't be an issue this time!
Need help with your resume to market yourself effectively. Check out my FREE Ultimate Professional Resume Template.
You can download it here and also check out my post How to Build the Ultimate Professional Resume.
If you want even more training, I have a phenomenal resume-writing workshop that comes with all kinds of goodies related to preparing a killer resume, cover letters, and LinkedIn Profile. You also get additional ongoing coaching and so much more. It's really better if you check out the overview page!
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!
Thanks!
Andy
How can you review 500,000 resumes? Honestly?
I’ve reviewed more than a half million resumes during my career. I bet you’re wondering how this is possible.
Combine decades of interviewing and hiring at a high velocity, coupled with a whopping no-thank-you to a great recession (where I reviewed an average of 1,500-2000 resumes per week for four years), and strong relationships with prominent outplacement companies who send me resumes by the thousands when they handle a large reduction in workforce for one of their clients, and, hey presto, there it is.
How long? 6 Seconds!?
Recruiters worth their salt can glance through your entire resume within six seconds, which means you’ve got five seconds to interrupt their mind-numbing, eye-glazing, white-noise-like key-stroking through an electronic pile that will make you start talking slowly no matter how much caffeine you’ve had.
Don’t believe me? I’m sharing my personal experience (more on this in a minute), but a number of job sites such as The Ladders (check out their eye-tracking story on how recruiters review resumes) indicate their survey says employers review your resume in six seconds. Ouch.
Why? Everyone’s busy and they have too many resumes to review.
How do you review the resume?
Click. Open. Big Thunderbolt Mac Screen!
Eye-Glance 1: Name please! My eyes go right for the top center. I want to see your name. Just your name. I don’t need 18 other credentials and letters (unless you’re a medical doctor, lawyer, or whatever). An address is nice too. I want to know your geography.
Eye-Glance 2: Then I look at the entire top half of the first of page of your resume—all at once. I’m looking for something specific (more later). I do not start reading the top half of the page. I’m filing away whether I want to come back to it later. If it has what I want, I’ll come back. If it doesn’t have what I want, I never go back to it.
Eye-Glance 3: Then I scramble down the left column of the first page. I’m looking for the companies you worked for. I’m much more interested in which companies you worked for than the positions you held. I want people who’ve played for Super Bowl-winning teams.
Eye-Glance 4: Then I look at the entire second page all at once. Yes. The entire page. If you have a third page, I’m upset because you didn’t respect my time.
Side note: If I can sum up my entire 28-year career in 26 words, you can summarize a 50-year career in two pages. If you think you can’t, you are mistaken.’
This entire eye-glancing escapade takes me no longer than six seconds.
How do you decide to keep reviewing the resume?
Now, I need to decide whether to delete the resume or whether to review it. I stress the word review because anyone who has time to read your entire resume has too much time on his or her hands.
Want to know what I’m looking for?
What’s the 5-second magic pill!
Why did you open this post? It was one of two reasons.
You either know and love me and thought omigawd, Andy has another amazing post and I just have to watch (listen or read). Otherwise, you had no clue who I was, but saw the headline telling you some dude promises you resume glory in five seconds.
I’m guessing the latter. Regardless of your reason, you need to interrupt the recruiter’s mind-numbing review process by giving her something she’ll love—right away. It’ll be your analogous “headline.”
She wants to know you’ll bring value to her organization.
The easiest way to do this is by encapsulating who you are professionally—in aggregate—and also highlighting your (likely three most) valuable contributions.
I suggest doing this in a Career Profile section at the very top followed immediately by a Career Highlights section immediately underneath.
I’ve already given you the exact formula and language in How to Build the Ultimate Professional Resume. I’ve also given you the templates whether you need a professional or collegiate resume.
Get your ultimate professional resume template with instruction here.
Get your ultimate collegiate resume template with instruction here.
The absolute DO NOTS as in NEVER EVER!
Don’t waste your most prime real estate at the top of your resume with…
An objective statement. Yuck. Double yuck. You are advertising what your objective, needs, or wants are. The employer wants to know what you can contribute. Tell them what you offer not what you want.
A bunch of skills: Ugh. Please, whatever you do, don’t list skills in a table or any other format that tells the employer you are a leader, project manager, hard-working, detail-oriented, energetic, so on and so forth and so boring. This takes up space sharing generic skills, which are technically your opinion of yourself. The employer wants facts. Give them facts. Caveat: you can identify skills in your career profile sparingly and according to the instruction I provided in How to Build the Ultimate Professional Resume.
An education section: Education is nice and should be toward the bottom of your resume if you’ve been working professionally for more than 24 hours. That’s right. You’re a pro now. Drop it down. Caveat: You are in a CV-type world where the studies, doctorates, and so forth are key. Caveat Part Deux: You’re a college student.
Coming soon! I’ll be running a webinar completely dedicated to writing the perfect resume. If you’re on my Tips for Work and Life® blog subscription, you’ll be notified!
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.
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!
Thanks!
Andy
Mistake Alert
Most people think they get hired because of their qualifications. In doing so, they expend so much energy in the interview focusing on their experience before they know which parts of their experience and qualifications the employer is most interested in. At this point, you must be thinking whaaaaaa?
The Obvious
You are in a job interview of some kind. The employer, through its action of spending time to speak with you, thinks you’re qualified—on paper.
The Not-So-Obvious
You actually get a job interview because of your qualifications. You get the job for three reasons, none of which are your qualifications.
Why Do You Get the Job?
Based on my observation from thousands of interviews between my clients (the hiring companies) and job candidates (prospective employees), I've concluded a candidate's attainment of the job is largely contingent on three often-undetectable success factors:
It all comes down to your ability to communicate how your qualifications match what the employer needs.
The Unfortunate Reality
The reality is you have a greater chance of failing the interview because of a misrepresentation or misinterpretation than you do a lack of qualification.
The 3-Step Fix
Bonus Section
For junior and mid-level folks who often face the dreaded, “Please tell me about yourself,” question, your immediate response to ensure clarification should be:
I’d love to tell you about myself. Can you let me know what part of my background would be most helpful for you to know so you can make a good determination regarding whether I’m a great fit for your company?
For senior-level folks, make sure to clarify what the employer considers the most important growth areas (units) within the company as well as what attributes, traits, capabilities, and skills are most important for its leaders.
Free eBook and Video Series: Sign up for my Tips for Work and Life Blog® to receive a 3-Part video series that includes more information regarding this issue and how to overcome it through your storytelling and question asking. When you sign up for the blog, you also immediately receive a great eBook titled Ace Your Job Interview: Master the Best Answers to the 14 Most Effective Job Interview Questions.
Free Live 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:
https://www.milewalkacademy.com/p/webcast-3-keys-to-ace-any-job-interview-registration
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!
Thanks,
Andy
Get the full story here: http://milewalk.com/mwblog/4-surefire-signs-theres-no-way-youll-fail/
Let’s get you over the fear and over the hump and give you the confidence you'll succeed!
Step 0: Ditch the self-importance. It’s a drag and it’s a real draaaaaaaag!
Sign 1: Sacrifice: I will sacrifice and create the space in my life to complete the project, achieve the goal, reach the next level, and pursue the life I want.
Sign 2: Learn: I will to learn whatever is required for me to succeed recognizing I’ll need to become self-sufficient before seeking additional support and learn things I don’t know and relearn things I do know when the world evolves.
Sign 3: Believe: I will believe in myself no matter the challenges I encounter and no matter what.
Sign 4: Focus: I will remain focused because my love for that purpose (goal, etc.) will need to stay the same even when everything required to achieve it will seem to change daily.
Want a planner to help make sure you succeed in your career?
GRAB THE 5-STEP CAREER SUCCESS PLANNER HERE:
https://www.milewalkacademy.com/p/5-step-career-success-planner
It comes with a 3-part video series to help you get your career focused, energized, and on track!
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!
Thanks!
Andy
In this episode I’ll review one of the biggest mistakes people make when negotiating their job offer: they don’t start “the negotiation” from the beginning of their job search and interviewing process. They also don’t recognize ever breath they take, every email they write, every thank-you note they send, every interview they have, their attitude, their posture, and so on is an opportunity to “negotiate.”
Watch the video or listen to the podcast for more insight.
Here are several valuable DOWNLOADS along with their respective videos:
The One-Page Guide to Negotiating Your Salary with its instructional video.
One-Page Guide to Negotiating Your Salary: http://bit.ly/2dxaNCf
Video: http://bit.ly/2ebts5n
The 4 Sentence Cover Letter that Gets You the Job Interview with its instructional video.
4 Sentence Cover Letter that Gets You the Job Interview: http://bit.ly/2aYVb3k
Video: http://bit.ly/2bsiT9R
Two Boss Hunting Cover Letters with their instructional video.
Two Boss Hunting Cover Letters: http://bit.ly/2elZjNh
Video: http://bit.ly/2ebts5n
The Winning Thank You Note with its instructional video.
The Winning Thank You Note: http://bit.ly/29CJOC8
Video: http://bit.ly/29q0E7y
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!
THANKS!
Andy
For the most complete post, summary, scripts, and quote cards, see here:
http://milewalk.com/mwblog/how-to-reflect-your-way-to-success
FREE DOWNLOAD: ANNUAL CAREER REFLECTION GUIDE FOR SUCCESS
GET IT HERE: https://www.milewalkacademy.com/p/annual-career-reflection-guide-for-success-by-andrew-lacivita
Do you feel like you’re not making progress? Do you pile up achievements, but you don’t feel successful or happy?
You’re in luck today because I’m going to help you feel better and successful with how to reflect your way to success.
One of the biggest sources of these types of feelings is lack of reflection. People simply don’t reflect on their lives.
Most are happy to worry endlessly about all they have not done or have not accomplished or still need to do. It’s a rare few who actually take the time daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually to consider their moments.
No matter how many accomplishments or goals you rack up, you’ll never feel successful unless you take the time to reflect.
The point is to (just) look back and not be tempted (during this exercise) to look forward. You can look forward later.
I designed a 15-question guide called the Annual Career Reflection Guide to Success (because I had to name it something) to help you most effectively reflect and feel good about yourself!
The truth is you can use it daily if you’d like or weekly or whatever.
There are eight key areas:
FREE DOWNLOAD: ANNUAL CAREER REFLECTION GUIDE FOR SUCCESS
GET IT HERE: https://www.milewalkacademy.com/p/annual-career-reflection-guide-for-success-by-andrew-lacivita
Bonus Section and Giveaways!
For a limited time, I’m reprising my 3-Part Video Series Workshop titled Transform Your Career. You get a 5-Step Career Success Planner with the videos. At the end of the workshop you will:
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!
Thanks,
Andy
or the most complete post, summary, scripts, and quote cards, see here:
http://milewalk.com/mwblog/how-to-boss-hunt-with-a-cover-letter-that-makes-hearts-melt
If you’re running into roadblocks in your job search, you’ll need to augment your techniques. Imagine those silly gatekeepers and HR specialists sifting through your one-page-advertisement sheet as they swipe by so they can rifle through the other 299 applicants and call it a day. Ain’t gonna happen.
Well, you’re in luck because I have a technique that only a rare few use—boss hunting.
Actually, this technique will benefit anyone in these situations:
First, make sure you know which career, companies, roles, and so forth you truly want. I have a fantastic, free workshop called Transform Your Career: Mastering the 3 Personal Drives That Lead to Career Fulfillment coming up on October 27th. It will help you get on the right track.
Second, I’m assuming you’re also targeting companies and searching the job boards per How To Target the Best Companies in Your Job Search. Check out the video, podcast, and downloads (Best & Fastest Growing Companies Lists and My Favorite Job Boards List).
Now, let’s get to boss hunting.
The goal is to increase your chances of success by adding another dimension to your search!
It's about finding the person or a person you can contact.
I’m not going through the techniques to find the boss. If you know the company or see an open role, you should be able to LinkedIn or Google your way to finding her or him or them.
It doesn’t need to be the exact boss overseeing the area. Any authority figure or the head honcho should do for your purposes.
You might also stumble across an attractive person (career-wise people!) via your research. That’s just as good. It doesn’t matter whether his or her company is hiring or has an open role. This is about people contacting!
Send that person an email with your resume. Don’t know what to say? No sweat. I wrote it for you. Grab the download The Boss-Hunting Cover Letter. It’s heart-melting. I promise.
DOWNLOAD THE BOSS-HUNTING COVER LETTERS HERE:
https://milewalk.leadpages.co/leadbox/143aacf93f72a2%3A17fd80be1346dc/5659414535077888/
Don’t forget about my four-sentence cover letter too!
Do not be concerned if you’ve already sent your resume into the ATS abyss. (Here’s how to bypass the ATS. You knew I’d have something on that subject. Don’t lie.)
Most companies don’t communicate well even if they only have twenty employees. The HR specialist might not have gotten to yours. Either way, there’s nothing wrong with getting a little extra love or referral from within the organization.
Think about it. What’s better? A personal email to someone telling him or her you are a not-so-secret admirer or clumsily plopping your information into a robotic, cold-hearted ATS?
Bonus Section:
Want to know why it works? Download Interview Intervention: Communication That Gets You Hired and skip to pages 39-42. Yes. It’s free too.
You can also watch the video or listen to the podcast for further insight and instruction.
Don't forget about the workshop. October 27, 2016. It’s going to be fabulous. I promise. There I go promising again. :)
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!
THANKS!
Andy
For the most complete post, summary, scripts, and quote cards, see here:
http://milewalk.com/mwblog/11-reasons-make-bad-job-changing-decisions
For the FREE DOWNLOAD of THE ONE-PAGE GUIDE and FULL TRANSCRIPT, click 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 and grab some of the free offerings that support the instruction in this post!
Thanks,
Andy
For the most complete post, summary, scripts, and quote cards, see here:
http://milewalk.com/mwblog/11-reasons-make-bad-job-changing-decisions
Do you feel you continue to make poor career choices? Are you confused why you make awful job-changing decisions?
There are obviously many factors that contribute to your decisions and decision-making abilities, but there are essentially 11 reasons you make bad job-changing decisions.
Below are the summary and highlights from the original podcast. I’ve included a handy, free decision-making checklist to ensure you’re in order. If you like this material, keep an eye out for an upcoming free video and live workshop on transforming your career I’ll be conducting starting October 27, 2016. All my Tips for Work and Life® blog subscribers will be alerted as we get closer.
INCOMPLETE INFORMATION
You didn’t gather enough information.
How many times have you thought if I’d only have known that then? There are usually two issues here. It’s likely your inventory of questions or topic areas to investigate was incomplete. Additionally, you probably didn’t dig deep enough (even if you had a complete inventory of questions.)
Overcome this issue by creating an exhaustive list of questions to ensure you’re covering everything. Make sure to keep asking “Why?” until you can’t ask “Why?” anymore. There is no friendlier, joint three-letter word complete sentence I can think of when it comes to your decision-making prowess.
For the really ambitious, there is loads (I mean loads) of insight on decision-making in my award-winning book The Hiring Prophecies: Psychology Behind Recruiting Successful Employees. You can get an entire digital experience, including the eBook, audio and guides for free here.
You had more options but didn’t know it.
You were lazy when it came to investigating all your options. Make sure to think creatively and exhaust all avenues.
INCORRECT INFORMATION
You’re looking where you shouldn’t be (or placing too much weight on the wrong information).
Social Media Sites, LinkedIn, and Corporate Sites (Glassdoor, Vault, Wetfeet) are filled with angriness (mostly). Don’t place too much weight on information where the deck is stacked. Overcome this issue by keeping all you intake in its proper context. And, make sure to do you own investigation before you’re willing to take someone else’s (especially a stranger’s) word for it. This is, after all, your career.
You expect good advice from someone who doesn’t have all the information.
Here’s a scenario. You’ve just given five minutes worth of your (own) bias-filled information to people (a mentor, confidant, co-worker, spouse or whomever) and asked them for advice. If this needs further explaining, go back to You Didn’t Gather Enough Information. They’re now you.
MOTIVES
You weren’t clear (with yourself) on your (own) motives.
Remember your whys! When people go through a lengthy (interviewing) process, for some reason they forget the reasons why they started the process. They also tend to abandon or minimize their (happiness) criteria in favor of the shiny bells and toys the employer has placed in front of them.
You were driven by someone else’s motives.
Don’t do it for your parents, friends, coworkers, spouse, or anyone else. You’ll resent them. This is your life!
FEAR
You fear loss.
You’re worried you’ll lose what you already have (your reputation, easy commute, a job you can do in your sleep, your friendships with coworkers, etc.) Make sure to keep your outlook balanced. You’re gaining much too.
You fear hardship.
Boo hoo this new job will be hard. You’re not sure you’re up for the challenge. Chances are, if a company wants to hire you, you’re qualified and will kick butt if you put some effort into it!
OVERCONFIDENCE
You’re bravado makes you senseless.
Overconfidence stems from many sources, but for our purposes assume it comes from your lack of correct or complete information. Just make sure to investigate wholly and you’ll be in great shape. (P.S. Do not mistake overconfidence for confidence.)
BIASES
You have the status-quo bias.
You have a strong preference to keep your life as-is! You also think any change is a loss of what you currently have instead of a gain for the better. Do not focusing solely on what you’re losing or place greater emphasis than is necessary.
You have the sunk-cost bias.
You’re placing too much weight on time you’ve spent and what you’ve accumulated (something you’ve built, any labor of love, memories, etc.). You need to remove your emotional attachment and rechannel it. One of the easiest way’s to do this is ask yourself, “If I wasn’t currently working here, would this job, or the new one, align better to my criteria?”
Bam. There they are. Eleven nasty ones. I always love to hear from you. What are reasons you think you or others have made poor job-changing decisions?
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!
Thanks!
Andy
For the most complete post, summary, scripts, and quote cards, see here:
http://milewalk.com/mwblog/9-fastest-ways-awesome-at-your-craft
For those who want to be truly awesome at what “they do,” I’m going to give you my formula for accelerating your career or your life or whatever you want to catapult. Here are the 9 fastest ways to be awesome at your craft based on what I’ve seen works!
Below are the highlights from the podcast. For a more complete explanation of each area, listen here. It’s also available on any major podcast platform.
First, I’m going to assume you actually want to practice your craft. It sounds silly, but most people who reach out to me are miserable, stuck, or a host of other undesirable feelings.
Let’s assume you chose your path correctly. If you haven’t, check out the First Thing To Do When You Want To Change Careers before proceeding.
Let’s roll…
Adjust your attitude. Optimism is something you manufacture from your attitude. Inspiration is something someone else manufactures from your optimism. Your ability to think without limits will help you create those incredible achievements. It’s also what will inspire the others around. See Unlock Your True Potential With These Three Keys.
Identify the most important capabilities. If you simply practice the “how to” do something, you won’t be able to reach the truly elevated heights. Everyone has purchased the “How To Manual.” You need to know what makes the greatest the greatest. Example: Don’t just learn how to sell. Learn psychology. Learn storytelling. Know the sequence people need to hear things so they can understand how your product or service with help them. Be sincere.
Build a Franken-Mentor. I don’t think any one person, as a mentor, will help you reach phenomenal heights. Build yourself a collection of people—live or online—who can help you build your capabilities. I study four people (Burchard, Walker, Hyatt, McLaren). They help me with high performance, product launching, personal platform building, and membership site management respectively. None of these people do anything related to career management or hiring (my areas of expertise). They support the capabilities I need to learn and master.
Train like heck. See the four gents I mentioned above? I’ve spent nearly 500 hours over the past two years studying their material. That’s purchasing their training material, watching and studying it, reviewing their blogs, and so forth. If you use the 2,000 work hours per year rule of thumb (for the average 9-to-5-er), that’s an additional 12.5% training I added to ensure I know what I’m doing.
Practice. Perfectly. You will make permanent what you practice. Make sure you know what makes something perfect before you make it permanent. There are two ways to go wrong here. First, you can practice poorly. Second, you can practice the wrong things.
Choose (or find) the best people to be around. You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Choose wisely. I’m speaking about actual live people who you see and exchange ideas and banter.
Spend lots of time with Google and YouTube. There is absolutely no excuse why you can’t learn something you want to know. I had no idea how to set up a podcast. I had no idea how to use a DSLR camera before I needed to use one. I knew nothing about lighting. I knew nothing about email marketing. The point isn’t, “I’m great.” The point is, I knew nothing!
Get the right tools. There are so many tools to help you become awesome! They can be organizational tools, research tools, and so on. I recorded this podcast away from office using a cool Sennheiser ClipMic Digital (powered by Apogee) microphone connected directly to my iPhone. It was a new toy I found by accident because I was Googling and YouTubing ways to hook up my Sennheiser Lavalier Microphone. Now I can record these little beauties on the road! It’s also awesome for getting fantastic quality when you’re live on Facebook.
Listen: Listen to the world. Listen to your customers. Don’t ever listen to your competition unless you want to create the same products or services they’re creating. Your greatest opportunities will be found in the sounds of other people's complaints. Solve their problems and you're their hero.
As always, I’d love to hear from you: What are your greatest tricks or steps to becoming awesome?
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!
Thanks,
Andy
Get full post, summary, audio, quote cards, and more at:
http://milewalk.com/mwblog/how-visualize-way-success
SUMMARY
Have you ever felt like you were driving through your life or your career with the emergency brake on? It feels as if no matter how hard you work at something, you’re simply not progressing as quickly as you’d like?
Today, I want to talk about a daily exercise I’ve practiced religiously—visualization. And, provide some insight into how to visualize your way to success. Five minutes of this every day will improve your life dramatically.
When did that gray hair and eye wrinkle show up?
I never notice my face change from day to day. Only when I look at pictures from a few years back can I see the transformation.
Much of your life is like this. Your career is like this. Your marriage can be like this.
While most people prefer to slow the aging process, many want to accelerate their lives and careers. Much like the unnoticeable change with age, your progress from day to day becomes imperceptible.
Oftentimes, you’ll feel better about your advancements if you take time to look back at where you were one, three, and five years ago. That’ll help your psyche a bit.
I’m sure many of you are like me. You feel where you’ve been is history. You care more about getting where you’re going—and you want to get there is a hurry!
First Step: Before you look forward, take a deep breath and spend a few moments realizing (yes—realizing) how far you’ve come and all you’ve accomplished. In fact, spend a few minutes every day doing this.
What’s the best way to get from where I am to where I want to go?
There are few key principles to understand to help you quickly get from where you are to where you want to go:
Identify. The first is you’ll get where you’re going faster if you know where you want to go. It also helps to know where you are. Don’t laugh. Most people are in a much better starting position than they realize.
Love. The second is you’ll make greater leaps in life by doing small things you love than doing big things you don’t. You need to enjoy yourself each day because your passion and optimism will fuel getting things done. Most importantly, don’t let what you can do stop you from doing what you were meant to do!
Believe. The third is you need to believe you can get there and be unafraid to jump in! At least once a day, I think about this fantastic quote from American Naturalist and Essayist John Burroughs. He said, “Leap, and the net will appear.” (If you’re really ambitious, check out The Art of Seeing Things: Essays by John Burroughs and You’ll See it When You Believe it by Wayne Dyer.) You believe it. Then it happens. It’s never the other way around.
Where’s the 5-minute thing you promised me? I’m in a hurry…
Okay antsy pants. Visualize yourself at your end-state even though you don’t know how to get there.
Imagine yourself at your “destination.” What’s it like? How does it feel? How does it sound? What will the end-state allow you to do?
Imagine this for five minutes. It’s okay to dream, but you’re more likely creating a reality.
“Five minutes” means you can do this in the shower, on the train, or wherever. It’s best to do it in a quiet location.
This visual of you in all your glory will have pull power—it’ll feel like it’s pulling you toward it. In actuality, you’ll be pushing yourself toward it one step at a time.
There are really only two steps required for the greatest level of success: the next step and the extra step. You simply need to know what you need to do next to move toward your destination. Putting a little extra effort along the way will separate you from the masses who are unwilling to do that.
One fantastic resource to help you visualize your future is Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want. It’s a great book by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy. I hope you enjoy it.
Like this episode? Please share it via social media and review it on YouTube on iTunes! I can keep this blog and all future videos and podcasts 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!
Thanks!
Andy
Get full post, summary, video, audio, quote cards, and more at:
http://milewalk.com/mwblog/4-sentence-cover-letter-gets-job-interview
SUMMARY
Modern-day cover letter is your introduction—of any kind—to the employer.
There are essentially three ways this occurs:
Your “cover letter” has three goals:
You can accomplish these three goals in four sentences, which I discuss in the video. You can also grab the free download to see the exact format!
If you have haven’t seen How To Build the Ultimate Professional Resume, check it out because some of the cover letter content references your resume.
GIVEAWAYS
DOWNLOAD: The 4 Sentence Cover Letter: http://bit.ly/2aYVb3k
You can also get the Interview Intervention Book Experience, which has much more and includes an eBook, audio, chapter note, guides, and many aids related to job interviewing!
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!
Get full post, summary, video, audio, quote cards, and transcript at:
http://milewalk.com/mwblog/how-target-best-companies-your-job-search
SUMMARY
I'm amazed at the laser-like focus job seekers have on finding a job by target only "jobs." You join a company. You don't join a job!
Regardless of whether you desperately need a job, would like to find an alternate job, or want to evaluate the market to review better opportunities, I suggest to first target companies. Here's how to target the best companies in your job search.
For most, the company you work for will have a far greater impact on your overall professional growth than the individual responsibilities you perform in your particular job.
Think about it. Would you rather have absorbed the pedigree from being part of a NFL Super Bowl team or would you rather be the ace pitcher on a MLB team whose record is 62 wins and 100 loses?
I’m going to help you get started...
THINK
SOURCES
BEST OF LISTS
There are so many: Check out the DOWNLOAD for my favorites!
BOOKS & BLOGS
JOB BOARDS
COMPANY EVALUATION SITES
Giveaways
DOWNLOAD: "Best Of" and "Fastest Growing" Lists Coming Soon!
You can also get the Interview Intervention Book Experience, which has much more and includes an eBook, audio, chapter note, guides, and many aids related to job interviewing!
Listen the rest of the podcast for complete instruction so you can fully embrace thanking the employer!
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!
I’ve seen over a half-million resumes during my career and have a great trick for college students and recent graduates to ensure their resumes stand out. Below are This One Trick Will Make Your College Resume Stand Out video and podcast highlights!
PRELUDE: If you didn't see How To Build The Ultimate Professional Resume, check it out for many more details, which overlap with collegiate resumes.
http://milewalk.com/mwblog/build-ultimate-professional-resume-andrew-lacivita/
This trick helps overcome the most common resume mistake: placing a worthless objective statement at the top of the resume.
DOWNLOAD: Download Your Ultimate Collegiate Resume Template with instructions so you can follow along!
https://milewalk.leadpages.co/leadbox/123432753f72a2%3A17fd80be1346dc/5680219105001472/
Remember, your resume has one goal: To entice a prospective employer to speak with you. This requires you to show what you offer, not ask for what you want.
Even starting with your education doesn’t buy you much because employers care about so much more than your schooling.
The Trick: At the top of your resume, include a Profile of you. This is a quick snapshot of you as a person and soon-to-be full-time professional. Your goal is to provide a one-paragraph, high-level overview of you as a student and part-time worker. This helps employers develop of picture in their minds regarding who you are and what’s forthcoming in your resume. You want to entice them. Keep in mind; this is your “sales copy” of you to get them interested!
Example: State University graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Psychology minor. Held various summer jobs and internships focusing on sales support activities. Served on several university and fraternal committees. Built additional sales-related capabilities via school fundraising activities and other volunteering efforts.
You want to include reference to these four items:
The benefits:
See the video, podcast, or transcript for more details.
Check the Tips for Work and Life Blog® for additional articles on resume writing. Go to:
www.andrewlacivita.com
Giveaways!
You can also get the Interview Intervention Experience, which has much more and includes an eBook, audio, chapter note, guides, and many aids related to job interviewing!
Listen the rest of the podcast for complete instruction so you can build a killer resume!
See a complete transcript below.
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!
I’ve reviewed more than 500,000 resumes during my career and have developed an optimal resume format that works for 95% of the workforce. Below are the How To Build The Ultimate Professional Resume video and podcast highlights!
Your resume has only one goal: To entice a prospective employer to speak with you!
Your resume does not: serve as a vehicle to ask for what you want or relay what you’ll do if the employer hires you. Use emails, cover letters, and the job interviews to convey those messages.
DOWNLOAD: Download Your Ultimate Professional Resume Template so you can follow along!
See the video, podcast, or transcript for greater explanation and rationale of all the following sections.
Contact Information
Career Profile
In this section, include one or two very short paragraphs, which identify:
Don’t include what you want because you want to get them excited!
In the video and podcast, I provided two dissimilar examples of how to aggregate your careers (including a sales professional and hostess examples for illustrative diversity).
Career Highlights
In this section, include three to four significant accomplishments.
You’ll hit home runs if you focus on the three key areas companies care about:
In the video and podcast, I provided additional examples.
Work Experience
In this section, outline the following information. The video and podcast have substantially more insight to the rationale and details.
Employers think in terms of time and chronology. They want to see career progression within and across companies.
Education
List your school(s), city, state, and date of degree or anticipated completion date.
Extracurricular and Volunteer Activities
Identify any relevant participation, activities, and experience.
Check the Tips for Work and Life Blog for additional articles on resume writing.
You can see the full post, video, and transcript here:
http://milewalk.com/mwblog/build-ultimate-professional-resume-andrew-lacivita
Giveaways!
Download the FREE Your Ultimate Resume Template Professional Edition with instructions based on today’s episode!
You can also get the Interview Intervention Book Experience, which includes an eBook, audio, chapter note, guides, and many aids related to job interviewing!
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 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!
Thanks!
Andy
There are typically four challenges:
1) How to thank the employer
2) When to thank the employer
3) What to say in the thank-you
4) What medium to use (handwritten, email).
There are two most important aspects of the thanking process.
There are two keys you need to know about thanking somebody to make it effective: speed and thoughtfulness.
Speed is how quickly you respond to them after your interview. I recommend 24 hours.
Thoughtfulness is the level of effort and care you put into the words you place into the thank-you. What messages are you're sending?
You realize three benefits when you thank the employer.
There are three benefits of writing a thank-you.
1) You Get To Thank Them: Whenever you’re preparing your thank-you note, you should open with thank you so much for your time and I really enjoyed meeting you.
2) You Get To Sell Yourself: Right after you thank them, add your own unique identifier. Put in your sales pitch. Reinforce why you're the best candidate for the job and why you’re such a great fit.
3) You Get To Reassure the Employer You’re Interested: The third benefit is to reassure the employer of your enthusiasm and interest in the position.
For a complete summary, detailed transcript, fun quote cards, and more related to this podcast episode, visit:
http://milewalk.com/mwblog/write-thank-you-that-gets-you-hired
To download the FREE Winning Thank You Template with instructions, click here:
https://milewalk.leadpages.co/leadbox/140def953f72a2%3A17fd80be1346dc/5660007156678656/
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Thanks!
Andy
Ever since I did my first podcast titled, The First Thing To Do When You Want to Change Careers, I've been getting messages via social media and directly from people commenting they feel have clarity on what they want to do, but can't seem to fulfill it. They can't seem to get it to work! I read, “I feel like I know how, but I'm not quite sure what I'm not doing."
I thought as I was remarking back to these listeners and readers there are four (must do’s) that absolutely have to be done in order to truly fulfill your purpose.
There are four must do’s to fulfill your purpose:
For a complete summary, detailed transcript, fun quote cards, and more related to this podcast episode, visit:
http://milewalk.com/mwblog/4-must-dos-to-fulfill-your-purpose/
If you enjoyed this episode, please comment and share!
Thanks!
Andy
Have you ever wondered if I would have only known then what I know now? It makes no difference who you are, this has happened to you. It’s happened to me. No one escapes this feeling at some point. Join career expert, motivator, and award-winning author Andrew LaCivita as he discusses how to ask brilliant questions to make smart decisions!
Any time you’ve made a poor decision, at least one of two things was wrong. You either had a faulty decision-making process or you didn’t have accurate or complete information.
Anytime you’re asking questions (in a job interview or questioning someone as it relates to business), you can prepare yourself by first asking three questions:
What do I want to know and why do I want to know it?
Your whys are such great places to start because that’s what you care about! Why would start in any other place?
How will I ask it?
Adding your rationale at the end is the key to getting the insight you want as quickly as you can possibly get it. The sooner you get the information you need, the more time you create to ask additional questions.
How and when will I use the information?
Any question you ask that yields information you can immediately use to sell yourself or make a decision is short-term.
Any question you ask that yields information you’ll ponder is long-term.
It comes down to:
For a complete summary, detailed "transcript," fun quote cards and more related to this podcast episode, visit:
http://milewalk.com/mwblog/ask-brilliant-questions-make-smart-decisions/
If you enjoyed this episode, please comment and share!
Thanks!
Andy
Here they are:
1. Share yourself. Sharing your own story connects you to the rest of the world. Sharing what you learned and how you were transformed benefits others even if they might do it differently.
2. Be yourself. This is what keeps you connected to you. There is no greater struggle than when what you think, say, and do are not in complete harmony. Think about those times you felt out of sync or not yourself. What was missing? Likely, it was that congruence.
3. Give yourself. This is what connects you to higher powers. It also, oddly, provides the greatest return. This starts with contributing your efforts fully to what you’re going to do and give to the rest of this world. This is giving everything you have to your calling.
Giving yourself—which yields the highest results—requires four components/characteristic:
- Strategy: You have a strategy for where you’re going in life. You seek an understanding of why the world works the way it does in this area. You question everything. You take nothing at face value.
- Mindset: You maintain a particular mindset. You understand limitations are something of the mind, not the universe.
- Practice: Once you have your strategy and no-limits mindset in place, you practice to perfection. By practice, I don’t mean brute force. Brute force or mindlessly working hard will never overcome intellectual laziness. You practice with an extreme sense of deliberation. You practice your craft well past the point of being able to do it perfectly. You practice it to the point you couldn’t possibly make a mistake because you are so dialed in.
- Discomfort: You seem to live in a continual state of discomfort. Of course, I’m not talking about living in pain, but continually pushing yourself so that every day you’re a bit uncomfortable because you’re constantly trying new activities and undertaking new projects that progress you. You embrace this discomfort because you know it will make you a great pioneer.
For a complete summary, detailed "transcript," fun quote cards and more related to this podcast episode, visit:
http://milewalk.com/mwblog/unlock-true-potential-3-keys-podcast/
If you enjoyed this episode, please comment and share!
Thanks!
Andy
There is one really common reason you want to change. You’re not doing what you love or what makes you happy (anymore).
You have two major obstacles to making this type of change successfully:
Your prescription for part one:
Make sure you:
For a complete summary, detailed "transcript," fun quote cards and more related to this podcast episode, visit:
http://milewalk.com/mwblog/first-thing-want-change-careers-podcast/
If you enjoyed this episode, please comment and share!
Thanks!
Andy