Tips for Work and Life with Andrew LaCivita

Are you getting job interviews? Any? Let me give you a hand. In today's podcast, I teach the concepts and tactics that get recruiters and hiring officials and whomever else is reviewing your resume to WANT to speak with you. It’s not just a do-this and do-that lesson. I go into, as I usually do, the WHYS and WHEREFORES and other important factors that most people don’t think about. Writing your resume requires sales skills, marketing skills, an advanced understanding of human psychology, and a basic understanding of biochemistry. Okay. I might have gotten carried away there on the biochemistry thing. But, you get the idea. These sales and marketing skills are ones you likely don’t earn a salary for, but make or break you when you’re trying to get a new job and salary! A little catch-22-ish, eh? That’s alright because you have me. And this podcast. If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my three books related to interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

This week’s podcast is a blitz of tough job interview questions and answers. There are a lot, so here’s a breakdown if you need to skip around or comeback to some to prepare for that big interview! 00:00 Welcome 00:22 If you could change anything about the job description what would it be? 02:28 What are you most proud of in your non-work life 05:44 Tell me about a time when you were criticized for poor job performance. 07:45 What did you dislike most about your most recent boss? 09:01 What does leadership mean to you? How do I answer that in a way that shows my leadership style as well as the impact 12:48 Tell me about a time why you disliked your job? 14:37 Why do want this job? 15:43 How to deal with an interviewer who insists on going through the CV chronologically and keeps asking about things less relevant to the role? (ie why did you do Y after X? 17:57 How do you motivate your team? 21:26 What changes do you think you will need to make? What will you miss? (re: moving from a leadership role to an independent contributor role) 23:50 How many people have you managed ??? Interviewer looking for 100+ direct reports 26:55 Tell us of a time you were asked to do something unethical. 28:55 Briefly describe your educational & professional experience? Should I follow same format as "Tell me about yourself" .This is the first opening question for a school district management position. 33:18 Have you ever been terminated from a position? 34:53 Have you been given a choice of termination or voluntarily quit? Why? 35:57 How would you deal with criticism/ negative feedback? (NEGATIVE) 37:33 Planning to move closer to home in another state at the end of the year. How do I answer questions about wanting to have a longer transition than two weeks? 39:06 What brands do you think are succeeding in the industry and why? (Question from interviewer. I’ve gotten this question twice and it seems like people want to know competitor knowledge OR my thinking on the brands that I think are making an impact). How do you best prepare for these types of questions that would help me stand out. 41:56 I was asked the number of copiers in the US if a new product. Actual numbers, and he kept interrupting me while trying to answer. Pretty sure he was stress testing me. Any advice on those situations? 43:27 How to answer a technical question during the interview if you don’t know the answer 45:11 I just had someone on a phone interview tell me why other applicants haven't been interested in the position! 45:42 On that work life balance point: can you tell them that in an interview as answer to why us? heard work life balance? If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my three books related to interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

We’re not in a recession at the moment, but I don’t like to be late to the party. Even if we enter a recession, I don’t want you to panic for a few reasons. First, panic doesn’t do anyone any good. Second, you have me. Third, there are always opportunities for you regardless of whether your world is zigging or zagging. You just need the right perspective. How you look at something has almost everything to do with what you see. For example, here’s how I process the world… When the market goes up, people need my job searching services to max out their job opps and crank up their pay. When the market goes down, people need my job searching services to overcome the more difficult challenges in getting hired. When some industries zig, others zag. At any moment, some people need my “crank up your pay” services and others need my “overcome challenges” services. I’m ALWAYS needed. Think I’m unique? Think again. Same goes for you. It’s all in how you choose to look at it. Recently, Rachel, one of my beloved #BOOTCAMPERS, asked me, “Which industries do you predict are most likely to grow during this economic downturn?” First, I clarified for her, we are not in an economic downturn. Sure, the news people might be doing their level best to scare you. That’s the thing about “the news.” They only talk about the tiniest of extremes. If it bleeds, it leads. They’re in business (yes, business) to make money, not be a public service that actually delivers “the news.” They package up the most sensationalized extremes to get your eyes, ears, clicks, etc. You think what you’re seeing is pervasive and normal. Then you become frightened. Then you call your children and tell them to stay in the house. Andy Sunshine is here to tell, that while you’re allowed to have rough stretches, all is generally wonderful and he wants to make YOUR world a better place. So, after I clarified that bit of economic reality for Rachel, I gave her the goods on HOW to think through which markets will thrive and HOW to think through your job search should your particular industry take a turn for the worse. Take in this week’s podcast on How to Job Search During a Recession and learn exactly how to maneuver through any employment environment. If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my three books related to interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

If you’re struggling to reach the heights you know you can, there are some mindset and tactical approaches you can take to make a huge difference. Dialing in the right drivers helps too. Today’s podcast is about how who you want to be and why you want to be can shape the way you use your talents and skills to become all you can be. You’ll also get the inside talk on what makes me me and how you can become the best you you can be. If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my three books related to interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

There’s Mount Olympus Mons. The tallest mountain in the solar system. True. Or, if you haven’t been to Mars to climb that doozie, perhaps you wanna hike up Mount Everest here on Earth. I hear Asia is lovely this time of year. Honestly, though, I just care about climbing Mount Andy. Maybe you want to focus on climbing Mount Whatever-Your-Name-Is. That’s what life is all about. Climbing your personal mountain. (Wouldn’t it be totally cool if you actually had a mountain named after you?) Anyhow, since you’re readying my newsletter and I talk about careers, let’s make this message about being the best version of you you can be. To cap off my solar system metaphor, today’s podcast is about motivating you to reach for the stars. Let’s get rolling with The Step You Must Take to Maximize Your Career Success! If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my three books related to interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

“Show me the money,” said every job candidate ever! More is always better. We don’t need to be greedy and money isn’t everything, but it’s something. All I care about is you get paid what you deserve or at least what makes you happy. Today, I’ve got two wonderful Jedi-mind tricks where the employers won’t know what else to do but give you more money. Please enjoy the 2-tip medley and think of me with every automatic deposit. If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my three books related to interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

Can you just tell me what you want so I can eliminate you from this wonderful position because I can’t satisfy your needs? Good. Grief. Why do employer’s ask stupid questions. Maybe, if I was going easy on them, I’d ask, “Why do employers not ask questions the right way?” I mean, the way that’d yield the actual info they need to make a good decision about hiring you. Have you ever been asked in an interview, “What are you looking for in your next role?” Did that question make you sweat and break out in the heebie-jeebies? It should have. Because it’s a Yes/No question the employer is answering for themselves based on the several words that are about to come out of your mouth. The interviewer just wants some assurance you’re interested in the role. No good can come of you answering this question in any detail or with any specifics. At best, you’re letting the interviewer know you are essentially interested in the job you’re interviewing for. At worst, you’re saying something that eliminates you because it doesn’t fit. Wondering what to do? Say? As in exactly say? Let’s get to it! If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my three books related to interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy  

Ever want to dig into how a company actually operates? As in, how they truly behave? That’d be a good thing to do if you’re job interviewing, I’d think. You don’t want to be joining a company you won’t like! First question: Do you even know what kind of culture works for you? Let’s say you do. Can you get over your freshly-inflicted bruises that tend to shine overly-bright lights on recent issues at the expense of investigating all the other cultural traits you want? You know what I mean… I want to make sure they don’t work me too hard. My last company did that. You become myopic on this issue to find that, yes, in fact, this new employer of yours doesn’t require you to work too hard. Except, after you start working there, you discover they are very political, confused, generally don’t have a good strategy, or high employee satisfaction. Second and third questions conflated: Do you know WHAT questions to ask and HOW to ask them so you are actually getting evidence of their behavior? Fourth question: And how to do this without incriminating yourself?  As in, if I ask about work like balance, they’ll think I don’t work hard. Etc. Etc. and Ha and ha. Okay. I can practically hear you wiping the sweat off your eye brows. Let’s get to it and get you some questions and answers… If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my three books related to interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

Job searching stinks. There’s just no two ways about it. It makes no difference how awesome you are at your job. Job searching is rough. It’s unnatural. Today’s podcast is on some job search tips and also the Andy-formula for everyday stress-self-management! If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my three books related to interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy

Evaluating potential employees has confused companies for all time. Most of this confusion stems from looking at the wrong things and in the wrong order. Take a listen to this week’s podcast to get the data-backed view of how to hire right! If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings: 1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums. 2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel. 3. Grab any of my three books related to interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook. 5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here! --Andy