The Exclusive Career Coach

  This week's podcast is an interview with Tallahassee entrepreneur Chirag Shah, owner of The Current Agency - a digital and creative marketing agency. We talk about his genesis as an entrepreneur, the challenges (and rewards) he's faced as an entrepreneur, how he has built his team through internships, and his plans for the future.  Chirag's journey is a fascinating peek into the world of self-employment, community engagement, and business building.  The Current Agency: www.current.agency You can reach Chirag at: chirag@current.agency Find them on your favorite social media! www.exclusivecareercoaching.com Follow My YouTube channel (Lesa Edwards); it’s chocked full of valuable career management content in easily digestible bites. Want to speak with an expert about your career/job search goals? Need help figuring out what’s holding you back from achieving your dream career? Let’s talk. Here’s the link to schedule a 30-minute consult call with me:  https://my.timetrade.com/book/D6KLN. Hope to see you soon!   

This week's episode is with Lauren Gerard, a client I worked with in 2018. Hear what motivated her to look for a new job, what her job search looked like before and after reaching out to me, what she found most helpful about working with a professional job search coach, how she found her new job, and how she's enjoying her new position. To visit my website: www.exclusivecareercoaching.com Follow My YouTube channel (Lesa Edwards); it’s chocked full of valuable career management content in easily digestible bites.   Want to speak with an expert about your career/job search goals? Need help figuring out what’s holding you back from achieving your dream career? Let’s talk. Here’s the link to schedule a 30-minute consult call with me:  https://my.timetrade.com/book/D6KLN. Hope to see you soon!   

I’ve gotten questions lately about what I do as career coach…and they ask if I am a life coach. It occurred to me that there are some similarities and distinct differences between career coaching and life coaching, and I thought I would educate you, dear listeners. If you want help with your career, it’s very important you know what kind of help you actually need…and who can best support you. In either instance, understand that coaching is an unregulated industry, meaning that you can call yourself a coach without any type of certification or training. This doesn’t mean that someone without a certification is inferior to someone with a certification; it simply means that anyone can call themselves a coach. Let’s think of this thing called coaching on a continuum, with life coaching on one end and career coaching on the other. At the life coaching end, your coach will be working with you on how you think about your job, perhaps what your career goals and dreams are. Unless they have specialized training or experience in the job market, the hiring process, and how to conduct an effective job search, they likely won’t be able to help you with the DOING piece of a job search. They won’t be able to help improve your interview skills or navigate corporate politics. At the career coaching end, you will (hopefully) have an expert in the job search, career management, interviewing, etc. They will mix some consulting in with their coaching because they will be teaching you how to do these things. You will be hiring them because they are experts and you want to learn from their expertise. They probably won’t be focused on your thoughts; instead, they will be focused on the DOING piece. What if you want/need some of both? This is what I do. I am a Certified Executive and Leadership Development Coach and Certified Job Search Strategist who utilizes life coaching tools in her practice. I’m not a life coach, but I’ve been coached by the best life coach on the planet and have incorporated several of her tools into the work I do with my clients. I recognize that, no matter how great my job search tools are, if my clients aren’t thinking the right things they won’t get the results they desire. So what to do if you want to hire a coach? The first step is to get crystal clear on what you want to hire a coach for. What is the problem you want a coach’s help to solve? The next step is to ASK QUESTIONS. Find out what a potential coach’s credentials and experience are; what kinds of clients they typically work with and what kind of results those clients are getting. Ask about the process they go through – is it a structured process or is the coach unable or unwilling to tell you what you’ll actually be doing? Also be sure to check in with your gut…how do you feel when talking with this person? Are you connecting? Are there any language or cultural barriers that may get in the way of you getting what you need? Do you truly believe this person can help you? Prices for coaching will vary widely depending on the coach’s education, experience, specialization, and even where he or she lives. I’ve seen coaches charge as little at $50 an hour when they are first starting out, and I’ve worked with coaches who charge $1000 an hour. Keep in mind that what you are paying for isn’t an hour of coaching…or 10 hours of coaching. You are paying for results, so make sure you understand what the expected results are. I’m not saying that merely purchasing a coaching package will get your desired results, because you have to do the work. A coach should be willing to tell you what IS a reasonable expectation, IF you do the work. To visit my website: www.exclusivecareercoaching.com Follow My YouTube channel (Lesa Edwards); it’s chocked full of valuable career management content in easily digestible bites. Want to speak with an expert about your career/job search goals? Need help figuring out what’s holding you back from achieving your dream career? Let’s talk. Here’s the link to schedule a 30-minute consult call with me: https://my.timetrade.com/book/D6KLN. Hope to see you soon!

There are three basic needs that every person has in order for their job to be fulfilling. Of course, you probably have additional ones, but I want to focus on these three basics in today’s episode. A job MUST provide you with an outlet for your passion, require sufficient proficiency to perform the job well, and compensate you sufficiently to be profitable. Let’s break these down. Passion You MUST be engaged with the work you do for it to be fulfilling. You have motivated skills – those tasks you love to do and are very good at – that are non-negotiables. They MUST be present for your work to be fulfilling. You may be passionate about the product or service your company sells, the company itself and what it stands for, your role in the company. You could ask 100 people who say they are passionate about their jobs, and you’ll likely get about 100 responses to the question “What are you passionate about?” It varies depending on the job, the person, and the environment. The bottom line: we as a human species seek passion in the work we do. Proficiency Humans have a basic need to feel proficient in the work they do. Whether they are filling totes with drugs to go off to a CVS, planning a fund-raising campaign for the local YMCA, or teaching young people to read, humans can only truly enjoy jobs in which they have at least a base level of proficiency. Proficiency is a moving target, in that the level of proficiency expected of you on day one of a new job is very different from the level of proficiency expected of you in year two. If you don’t know how to effectively execute the duties of the job to which you are assigned, frustration will be inevitable. Most often, a lack of proficiency isn’t universal – you aren’t struggling with everything – but rather topical. You might have been promoted into a managerial role, for example, with no training or experience in managing people. You lack proficiency in this area of your new job. Profitability We most often think of profitability in terms of owning our own business. We brought in $X, $X went out, and what is left is considered profit. However, profitability also applies to employment. Your paycheck is $X, your living expenses are $X, and what is left is your profit. You put your job title (or aspirational title), level of experience and education, and geographic location into the blender and out comes a reasonable expectation of income. Does that number allow you to live in a reasonable amount of comfort? This, of course, varies widely by individual. Will you be paying off high student loan debt? Living in a high cost-of-living city? Buying a new car? I teach my clients to go into salary negotiations with three numbers: Their ideal salary (be realistic), their walkaway number (they won’t take the job at anything less than this number), and their starting number (if they are asked to throw out the first number, where do they need to start to end up at their ideal salary?) You can also get creative about how to make your job more profitable. Seeking roommates and ride sharing instead of purchasing a vehicle are just two ways to reducing your cost of living so that your job is more profitable. So what happens when one of these ingredients is missing? Passion + Proficiency – Profitability = HOBBY If you’re loving the work and are very good at it, but the mathematical equation leaves you consistently in the red, you have a hobby. I see this with entrepreneurs who say they have a business but aren’t making any money. They have a hobby. Proficiency + Profitability – Passion = BOREDOM I see this one a lot with the more experienced clients who come to me. They’re very good at what they do and are making a good living, but they have lost (or never had) passion for the work. They are antsy to find something that will reignite their passion. Passion can be a moving target, in that you are allowed to have shifting passions. Also, something you once found passion for is no longer “enough” – you need a new challenge to become passionate about. Passion + Profitability – Proficiency = FAILURE You simply can’t do the job you were hired to do. Maybe you’ve been promoted in the company because you were great at making widgets, but you truly suck at managing the widget makers. Sometimes you can train for your lack of proficiency, if…of course…you identify that you have a lack of proficiency. Or someone else, such as your boss, brings it to your attention. I also see this with entrepreneurs, whose lack of proficiency in a certain area of business eventually catches up with them. They don’t know how to run a business, they don’t know how to market themselves or their business, or they don’t know how to ask for the sale. So look for jobs that ignite your passion, for which you have the necessary proficiency, and that are suitably profitable. If you are in a situation now that is missing one of these ingredients, get busy solving the problem before it is “solved” for you with termination, mounting financial troubles, or a desire to pull the covers up over your head when the alarm goes off in the morning. To visit my website: www.exclusivecareercoaching.com Follow My YouTube channel (Lesa Edwards); it’s chocked full of valuable career management content in easily digestible bites. Want to speak with an expert about your career/job search goals? Need help figuring out what’s holding you back from achieving your dream career? Let’s talk. Here’s the link to schedule a 30-minute consult call with me:  https://my.timetrade.com/book/D6KLN. Hope to see you soon!

  First of all, I want to point out that everything I’ve taught you in previous podcast episodes holds true for foreign nationals. In other words, there’s nothing US citizens should do in their job search that foreign nationals shouldn’t do. There is, however, another layer (or perhaps a few additional layers) for foreign nationals.   The order of this process MUST be: 1. Secure a job in the US, then obtain the appropriate visa You are going to be looking for companies that are willing to sponsor a visa, which will cost the employer approximately $25K. Because of this, only about 5% of companies in the US will sponsor visas, and they typically only do so for individuals with highly specialized skills. Even though you won’t yet have a visa when you are looking for employment, it is necessary to know what type of visa you will be seeking because certain employers will only sponsor certain types of visas. Some of the more common visas are: H1B – for specialized workers (this is the most common) H2B – for temporary skilled or unskilled workers (non-agricultural but temporary in nature) L1 – Intracompany Transferee – you have to be in management or have specialized skills and will be working for the same employer Certain companies that have strong relationships with the US have specialized visas that are easier to obtain; these countries include Australia, the UK, Canada, and Mexico. Beware of visa scams; there is never a fee to apply for a US work visa. Note that many people find obtaining a student visa an easier route; they can then seek sponsorship once in the US, perhaps with a company they intern with. The sites I recommend to look for jobs include Indeed, Glassdoor, and USponsor Me. Keep in mind you are looking for companies that are willing to sponsor, so don’t waste your time applying for those that don’t. Sometimes, smaller companies may have difficulty attracting highly specialized workers, and thus may be more amenable to sponsoring a visa that very large corporations. They have to be large enough to be able to absorb the $25K in legal fees, but if they are small enough to not use an Applicant Tracking System (the computer software that may automically kick you out if you aren’t a US citizen) you might have an easier road. LinkedIn is going to be a major resource for your job search in the US, so make sure your profile is top-notch. Take note of recruiters looking at you profile and/or connecting with you, then reach out to them about opportunities with sponsoring companies. The Bureau of Labor Statistics website is an excellent source for salary information; the Occupational Outlook Handbook can help you with job prospects. You can also Google things like “least expensive major US cities” to find the locations most affordable to live in. This will be particularly helpful if you are seeking an entry-level or unskilled laborer job or want to start your own business. To avoid driving yourself insane, it will be important to have a career focus and a few cities you want to focus on. “I will take any job anywhere in the US” may sound like a good way to expand your options, but you aren’t targeting, which will make you appear irrelevant to employers.   Networking Networking is very important for all job seekers…and especially so for foreign nationals. While you may be thousands of miles away, the Internet and LinkedIn makes it possible to network effectively. I won’t go into great detail here because this is a topic I’ve covered extensively in other episodes.   Resume Everything I’ve said about the resume in other episodes holds true for foreign nationals. You have, however, a few additional hoops to jump through: 1. Make it clear what the US equivalent is to your degree, if obtained in another country. There are websites that can help you with this. 2. If there are other aspects of your resume that may not show the US equivalent, do so. 3. There shouldn’t be any personal information on your resume such as picture, age, marital status, or hobbies. 4. Your resume shouldn’t have any personal pronouns, such as “I” or “me.” 5. Tell what languages you speak, and your proficiency with each. 6. Although your references are separate from your resume, I want to talk briefly about them here. If you are able to secure US references, that will be a tremendous help.   Interviewing Recently, someone reached out to me about the difficulty foreign nationals face in the interview process, especially if there is a language barrier. If you think your ability to interview in English will be a barrier to employment, I recommend hiring an interview coach such as myself to determine if a barrier actually exists, how significant that barrier is, and how to address it. It’s not just the language itself that creates a barrier – the lack of ability of understand sayings or humor may make it more difficult for the interviewer to feel as if he or she has really “gotten to know you.” Five biggest mistakes in this process: 1. Putting your needs first Sure you want a job in the US. But if you lead with that, the employer will be turned off. 2. Playing the desperation card Don’t expect an employer, whom you’ve never even met, to feel sorry for you to the tune of $25K. 3.     Not showing your qualifications You still have to be the most qualified candidate to get the job. 4.     Not showing your interest Employers want to know why you want to work for them…not just that you want any job you can get. And your reason can’t be self-serving. 5.     Applying to companies that clearly don’t sponsor This just wastes your time. In closing, DO expect: 1.     That this process will take several months, if not a year 2. Lots of rejection and frustration 3. Some attempts to scam or cheat you, preying on your desire to work and live in the US   www.exclusivecareercoaching.com   Follow My YouTube channel (Lesa Edwards); it’s chocked full of valuable career management content in easily digestible bites.   Want to speak with an expert about your career/job search goals? Need help figuring out what’s holding you back from achieving your dream career? Let’s talk. Here’s the link to schedule a 30-minute consult call with me:  https://my.timetrade.com/book/D6KLN. Hope to see you soon!     

11 Success Strategies for Starting Your New Job in the First 90 Days (by Robert Moment) Starting any new job can be an exciting, yet stressful experience. You are entering an unfamiliar environment with certain procedures or behaviors that may be drastically different than your first job. You certainly want to make a good impression, as your first impression in any job can be difficult to reverse. Ultimately, the stakes are high. But that doesn’t mean that you have an impossible task in front of you. There are a number of tactics and strategies that you can leverage to start your new job on the best foot. These tactics are universal to any organization—regardless of the size, sector, or location. By recognizing and using these 11 success strategies, you can make a killer first impression during your first 90 days on the job. 1. Listen and Learn: This is one of the most important success strategies that you need to leverage. Especially during your first few days on the job, you must place a priority on listening and learning. This is as small as learning each of your colleagues’ names to learning your organization’s technology stack. On a larger scale, you must learn your company’s procedures and regulations so that you can sufficiently do your job. That said, one of the most important things to learn is your boss’s communication and leadership style. Because you will be working closely with him or her, this is a task that is well worth your time. Some bosses are micro-managers and others are more passive. Some seek to empower their direct reports while others aren’t afraid to take credit for your group’s success. Whatever the case may be, get into your boss’s head and understand how he or she operates. Doing this will make your life easier—both in the first 90 days and beyond. 2. Clearly Define Success: “Success” may sound vague or amorphous, but it is critical for you to spend some time exploring what success means at your company. One of the best ways is to ask your colleagues. Ask them directly: “How is success measured?” While you may get some varying answers, you will be in a much better position having gathered these insights from your new colleagues. Once you have an idea of what success means, do your best to set up procedures that will get you there. If your company’s idea of “success” is stellar customer service, make sure you are delighting and surprising your customers. If it is about hitting a particular sales quota, keep that figure in mind throughout your first 90 days. Whatever the case may be, home into that definition of success and work towards it. 3. Set Realistic Goals: Once you understand what success means to both you and your organization, it is important to set realistic goals. Think about where you want your career to be in the next month, six months, and one year. And then from there, work backward so that you can create micro steps toward your goals. By thinking about and setting realistic goals, you will be off to a great start. Once you set your goals, however, make sure that you are constantly referring to them. Perhaps you can print them out and tape them to your desk. Or you can schedule a monthly check-in with yourself to determine whether or not you are on track. However you go about this, make sure that you both set realistic goals and take action toward those goals. 4. Go Above and Beyond: The first few weeks of any job offer a terrific opportunity to go above and beyond. Yes, you will want to ensure that you successfully complete your day-to-day duties. You don’t want to stretch yourself too thin and give off the impression that you can’t handle your regular work. But assuming that you have the bandwidth, don’t hesitate to take on additional work as you see fit. Not only are you setting a great first impression, but it allows you additional opportunities to develop relationships with your new colleagues. And who knows? Your career may take a dramatic shift (even in those first 90 days) by going above the call of duty and taking on a project that speaks to you. 5. Know Your Team: Not only is it critical to know the likes and preferences of your boss, but you should have a good sense of the inner workings of your team. What are their likes and dislikes? Is there one team member that likes things done one way and another who likes them done another way? You will discover some of these traits through osmosis, but it helps to take an active, genuine interest in your team members. Yes, there is a fine line between knowing your team and knowing everything about your team. But taking the time to build a profile of your team members will pay off in spades down the road. It will make your life easier. 6. Learn and Observe the Culture: This is a big one. While you may be able to get a sense of your organization’s culture from an internship or through Glassdoor, the best way to learn about it is while you are on the job. So during your first 90 days, observe what your company’s culture is truly like, rather than simply reading your company’s mission statement or printed values. How do your colleagues treat each other? Does your organization embrace remote work or must you be in the office at a precise time? These little things matter, and the best way to get a sense of your organization’s culture is by listening and observing. 7. Identify Opportunities: In your first 90 days, you should be on the hunt for opportunities within your organization. Whether they are opportunities within your particular group or opportunities to meet others within your company, identify and pursue them. These opportunities can be work or non-work related. Some of the best opportunities for new employees are lunches or other social events, where they can get to know their colleagues in a less stressful environment. 8. Ask Questions: This is something that you should be doing even beyond your 90 days, but it is especially critical when you first start with your organization. Humility is your best friend here. It is better to ask questions when you are uncertain than operate under certain assumptions that prove to be wrong. That leads to wasted time and frustrated colleagues. While you don’t necessarily want to bombard your colleagues with questions, don’t be afraid to speak up when you encounter ambiguities, whether they involve your day-to-day work or certain company procedures. 9. Solicit Weekly Performance Feedback From Your Boss: Feedback is going to be your best friend in your first 90 days. Upon starting your new job, it is in your best interest to get weekly feedback from your boss. Whether this feedback is in a pre-planned weekly meeting or in impromptu chats on Friday afternoons, you should leverage the power of direct feedback. Even if you are sensitive to criticism, this weekly feedback from your boss can be a godsend. Embrace it—even if you don’t necessarily like negative things about your performance. 10. Identify Key Actors (Employees) in the Organization: While your boss and direct reports are key actors that you will be interacting with the most, it is in your best interest to identify other key actors in your organization. Presumably, you don’t expect to stay in your current position for long. You will want more responsibility, and this often requires organizational allies to vouch for you. Yes, most of those allies will come from your group, but having key actors in other parts of your organization can certainly help. Internal office politics can be ugly at times. However, it is impossible to avoid. So understanding who the key actors are and starting to build relationships with them is an important task in your first 90 days. 11. Set Monthly Job Performance Reviews With Your Boss: Finally, you will want to set up monthly job performance reviews with your boss. You don’t want to wait until the 90 days are up to complete this task. Rather, sit down with your boss and ensure that you will be receiving frequent reviews, where your boss outlines your strengths, weaknesses, and how you can contribute more to the team. While you can’t do much to control the amount of effort that your boss places in your review, the simple fact of placing a regular meeting on the books increases the chances that you will receive solid, actionable feedback in your meetings.   Be Proactive Using the success strategies outlined above, you will undoubtedly increase the odds of success in your first 90 days. The core theme outlining all of these success strategies is one word: proactive. You simply cannot expect these success strategies to naturally happen. You need to take control and execute. By taking on this ownership attitude and implementing these success strategies from the start, you will be in a great position. From there, focus on getting to know your colleagues, doing great work, and being a kind, respectful employee. Your efforts will be rewarded. The first days at work can be pretty overwhelming due to all the information you’ll need to absorb. However, all you need is to take one step at a time and enjoy the work environment around you. You don’t need to get all the information at once, just the most important. Robert Moment is The Get Hired Expert, Speaker, and Author of “Starting a New Job” and “How to Ace an Interview.” Robert specializes in teaching ambitious professionals how to interview using skills and strategies that will make them stand out, get hired, and make more money. He is using his exceptional skills and business acumen acquired working for iconic brands such as CitiGroup, Xerox, Manpower, Sprint, and Pitney Bowes as a Corporate Executive, Account Manager, Account Executive, and Business Development Manager to help new and seasoned professionals recognize, demonstrate, and leverage their value in the job market and workplace. For more information about Robert’s books visit www.HowToAceAnInterview.com.  Join our growing community "Starting a New Job" group on LinkedIn.  Contact Robert at TheGetHiredExpert@gmail.com. To visit Lesa Edwards' website: www.exclusivecareercoaching.com Follow My YouTube channel (Lesa Edwards); it’s chocked full of valuable career management content in easily digestible bites. Want to speak with an expert about your career/job search goals? Need help figuring out what’s holding you back from achieving your dream career? Let’s talk. Here’s the link to schedule a 30-minute consult call with Lesa Edwards: https://my.timetrade.com/book/D6KLN. Hope to see you soon!

  All this month, we’ve been diving into the job interview including how to answer difficult questions and how to prepare for a behavioral interview. Today we’re talking about the questions you can ask the interviewer. 1.     Make it organic. I’m not a fan of having generic questions to ask every employer, because they tend to sound…generic. Rather, do your homework in preparing for the interview. As you prep, your questions will come organically. 2.     Show your existing knowledge. When asking your questions, tell the interviewer what you already know relative to your question. This will make you seem far more intelligent. Here’s an example: “When researching your company, I discovered you are widely recognized as number 1 in customer service in your space. To what do you attribute your reputation for exceptional customer service?” 3.     Make sure you’re asking the right person. If you’re in an interview with someone from HR, ask questions about benefits. If you’re in an interview with the person who would be your direct boss, ask questions about the department. If you’re in an interview with a potential co-worker, ask questions about the boss’ leadership and management style. 4. Write your questions down. You’re in a high-stress situation; there’s no need to compound it by trying to remember your well-thought-out questions. Bring a padfolio along with your questions written out; the padfolio also serves as a place to keep the business cards you are collecting and extra copies of your resume. IN GENERAL, here are some excellent areas for questioning: -Interviewer’s own experience with the company -Company’s/departments greatest challenges -Expectations for first 30/90 days on the job -Greatest rewards for working at that company/in that department -Company’s support of continuing education (i.e. master’s degree) -Description of the ideal candidate for the position IN GENERAL, stay away from asking questions about: -Salary -Vacations/paid time off -Anything that might have a negative connotation (such as the company’s recent credit rating drop) -Specific coverage of medical benefits that might reveal a pre-existing condition -Anything that might reveal personal information about you In wrapping up, there’s a world of difference between the candidate who asks the “canned” interview questions and the candidate who has clearly done her homework and asks very targeted questions based on her research. In the best possible scenario, these are questions you truly need the answer to in order to evaluate whether you want to work for that employer or www.exclusivecareercoaching.com   Follow My YouTube channel (Lesa Edwards); it’s chocked full of valuable career management content in easily digestible bites. Want to speak with an expert about your career/job search goals? Need help figuring out what’s holding you back from achieving your dream career? Let’s talk. Here’s the link to schedule a 30-minute consult call with me:  https://my.timetrade.com/book/D6KLN. Hope to see you soon! – because the interview should be a two-way exchange of information.    

 All this month, we’re covering the job interview. So far, we’ve talked about how to answer the “tell me about yourself,” “what are your greatest strengths,” and “what is your greatest weakness” questions.Today, let’s dive into the behavioral interview. Behavioral interviews are incredibly common today, and they are based on the philosophy that past performance is the best indicator of future performance.In other words, how you handled a situation or responded to a challenge tells the interviewer how you would behave in the future. Behavioral interview questions are very difficult to wing; they require planning and thought. Candidates who don’t prepare for behavioral questions usually respond in one of two ways:1. They speak in generalities, rather than giving the interviewer the specific situation he/she is asking for, OR2.    They half-answer the question, without packing their story with the important components it MUST have to be an effective answer.What is a behavioral interview question? Here are some examples:-Tell me about a situation that required you to ramp up your leadership skills.-Tell me about a time when you were tasked with bringing an under-performing team up to par.-Tell me about a situation that really tested your organizational skills.Here are three tips for preparing for behavioral interview questions:1.    Develop 10 CAR stories (Challenge – Action – Result)You can develop these stories one of two ways: either anticipate what competencies the interviewer will want to assess with behavioral questions and develop your stories based on those competencies, OR just create 10 stories and trust that, no matter what the interviewer asks you, you will have a CAR story to respond with. 2.    Practice your CAR stories.Start practicing by yourself, then ask a friend or colleague to help you. You might also want to enlist the help of an interview coach, such as myself. 3.    Think about the questions each of your CAR stories could answer.There’s a multiplication effect with your CAR stories, in that each one can probably do triple or quadruple duty.Give some thought to what else the interviewer might ask that could be answered with each of your stories.Here’s an example of a CAR story:Interviewer: “Tell me about a time when you were part of an under-performing team. How did you help the team leader turn the team around?”You: In my last job, I was on the benefits committee.CHALLENGE: We were tasked with reviewing the current benefits offered by our company, researching potential options, and recommending a new suite of cost-saving benefits to the director of HR.ACTION: Shortly after the committee was given its charge, the committee chair went out on long-term medical leave. All of us expected someone to come in as the new chair, but after a few weeks it became evident that this had slipped through the cracks.I communicated to the director of HR, who quickly appointed a new chair. Before our first meeting, I met with the new chair to offer my assistance in any way she needed me. She asked me to communicate with the team about upcoming meetings and to reserve the space for our meetings.RESULT: The committee still met the original deadline for submitting our recommendations to the HR director, and everyone on the committee was pleased with the work we had done. I received a special commendation from the committee chair for the help I provided her in organizing our meetings.The HR director let the team know that our efforts saved the company 3% in benefits over the previous year, without sacrificing the quality or quantity of benefits offered.BONUS: What I learned from this situation was to step up even when you aren’t the appointed leader. Leadership isn’t positional anyway, it’s an attitude.Think of the bonus as putting a neat bow on the top of your story. I don't recommend bonuses for every behavioral answer, but peppered in they can be quiet effective in telling the interviewer a) what you learned from the situation, or b) how that experience will help you do the job better.The Document & Coaching Package is designed for current job seekers who want world-class marketing documents, a targeted, proactive job search strategy that gets results, and skill-building around how to network, interview, and negotiate compensation. To learn more or to schedule a consult, visit my website at https://theexclusivecareer.com/doccoach or email me at lesa@theexclusivecareer.com.  

  This month we’re covering some of the most difficult aspects of the job interview. Last week we covered the “tell me about yourself” question, and today we’re diving into the “strengths” and “weaknesses” questions. When developing your answer to the “tell me about your greatest strengths,” it is important to keep two things in mind: Your personal brand. If you haven’t done personal branding work yet, get to it! It is so important at the interview that you can clearly articulate what you bring to the table that differentiates you from the competition. Your personal brand, in effect, is the unique constellation of your strengths. The requirements of the job. The way I always ask the “strengths” question is this: “What are your greatest strengths relative to this position, and how will you use them should you get the job?" One of my greatest strengths is my ability to decorate my home in a way that makes people feel welcomed and comfortable. This isn’t relative to an employer unless I’m applying for a job as a decorator or furniture salesperson. It isn’t that you will have different strengths for different jobs – your strengths are your strengths. Which ones you emphasize will depend on the requirements of the job. To emphasize each strength you offer, I recommend providing a CAR story to illustrate. Telling stories throughout your interview will also achieve two things: -You will prove your point more effectively -You will be remembered by your stories Now let’s talk about the “weakness” question. Here’s how I like to ask it: “What is your greatest weakness relative to this position and how will you address it should you get the job?” Just as with the “strengths” question, it is important to know the requirements of the job to answer this question. This is your opportunity to address the elephant in the room. For example, let’s say the job description asks for “five years of experience in _____.” You only have four years of experience in that area. Here is what to keep in mind: You’re in the interview. They obviously consider you a top candidate or you wouldn’t be in the interview. The fact that you have less than the required amount of experience is clearly not a deal-breaker. You’re not the perfect candidate. Here’s the good news: there are no perfect candidates. This weakness, however, is a likely concern for the interviewer – and it is up to you to alleviate his or her concerns. Tell them what you DO have that would be an effective substitute – do you have an advanced degree, experience in another related area, training or a certification in that area? Even if they don’t ask the question the way I did, be sure to tell the interviewer how you plan to address that weakness. An important thing to keep in mind when answering the “weakness” question: it can’t be a mission-critical weakness. What do I mean by this? -An administrative assistant who says her greatest weakness is organization -An accountant who says his greatest weakness is numbers -A teacher who can’t manage a classroom Finally, your “weakness” response can’t be a non-weakness…this elicits an eye-roll from the interviewer.     Some examples: -I’m too dedicated -I work too hard -I’m a perfectionist (although this one can work as a weakness if it is genuine) So, be honest about your weakness, but not brutally honest.   www.exclusivecareercoaching.com     Follow My YouTube channel (Lesa Edwards); it’s chocked full of valuable career management content in easily digestible bites.   Want to speak with an expert about your career/job search goals? Need help figuring out what’s holding you back from achieving your dream career? Let’s talk. Here’s the link to schedule a 30-minute consult call with me:  www.timetrade.com/book/D6KLN. Hope to see you soon!  

This quarter is dedicated to college graduation 2019. In April, I covered all aspects of the resume, LinkedIn, and the cover letter. In May, we talked about networking. This month will all be about the job interview – how to answer the most difficult questions, how to prepare for a behavioral interview, and what questions to ask the interviewer. Today, let’s dive into the “tell me about yourself” question. This one is super important, because if it is asked it is the first question. There’s a phenomenon call the primacy effect, which states that people remember whatever came first in a sequence. There’s also the recency effect – people also remember whatever came last in the sequence. Because the “tell me about yourself” question is asked first, it holds considerable weight in the interviewer’s mind. It also gives you the opportunity to start the interview off on the best possible foot. Over the hundreds of people I have interviewed in my career, I am surprised by how many are completely unprepared for this question. I’m also surprised by how many people have prepared an answer that puts the interviewer to sleep and/or overloads them with too much information. Here then are my top 8 tips for developing your answer to the “tell me about yourself’ question: 1. Structure your answer in a past – present – future format. Give the interviewer a bit of information about where you came from, where you are now, and where you want to go. 2. Stay at the 5,000-foot level. This is not the time to provide details about your accomplishments, work experience, or skills – they will ask questions about these things later. If you start to answer their subsequent interview questions, it can throw off the cadence of the interview and make it difficult for the interviewer to evaluate you on par with the other candidates. 3. Keep it to 2-3 minutes. By staying at a 40,000-foot level and not getting into the weeds with specifics, it is easy to keep your answer to the “tell me about yourself” question to no more than 3 minutes. This will also help the interviewer keep on track with the questions he/she wants to ask without going over time and will keep the interviewer’s interest high. 4.     Introduce your brand, right up front. If you’ve done the personal branding work I’ve talked about on other podcast episodes, you should be very aware of your personal brand. Here’s your chance to introduce your personal brand right at the top of the interview…and reinforce it throughout the interview. 5. Provide personal information. If the interviewer would be your new boss, he/she is going to want to get to know you as a total person. Even if the interviewer is from HR, giving the interviewer a sense of who you really are will help him/her to decide if you would be a good fit for the available position. The caveat here is that the personal information should be neutral or positive. Some examples: -A foreign language you are learning -A hobby you are passionate about (as long as it doesn’t scream danger) -A personal goal you are working towards (such as building a home) -A recent travel experience What constitutes negative personal information? Here are some I’ve been given in actual job interviews: -Number and ages of children -Health conditions -Marital status (recently divorced) -The fact of, and reasons for, being recently terminated These tips apply to the “tell me about yourself” question as well as the entire interview: 6. Pay attention to nonverbal cues One of the best ways to make sure you are proceeding with your answer to any interview question in the proper way is to watch for nonverbal cues from the interviewer. Note that I’m not saying there is a “right” or “wrong” answer to an interview question. What I’m saying is that sometimes candidates misunderstand the interview question and aren’t providing the interviewer with the information he/she is looking for. It is perfectly acceptable to stop, ask the interviewer for clarification on the question or to verify that you are providing him/her with the desired information. 7.     Relax. You may think it is impossible to relax in an interview, but I promise it will serve you well to develop this ability. I’m not suggesting that you be so relaxed that you’re practically asleep, but rather that you aren’t so tense that you are struggling to communicate effectively and look like you are about to jump out of your own skin. This first question is a great opportunity to you to relax into the interview so you can put forth your best effort. 8. Let your personality shine through. Many people I have interviewed over the years were stiff, all business, and showed no sense of humor. If you have a sense of humor – let it shine through, as long as you remain in good taste. If you love to do nice things for your co-workers to create camaraderie and a sense of team – tell the interview about this.   www.exclusivecareercoaching.com Follow My YouTube channel (Lesa Edwards); it’s chocked full of valuable career management content in easily digestible bites.   Want to speak with an expert about your career/job search goals? Need help figuring out what’s holding you back from achieving your dream career? Let’s talk. Here’s the link to schedule a 30-minute consult call with me:  www.timetrade.com/book/D6KLN. Hope to see you soon!