Let me start by saying that MANY people are afraid to network. Here’s what they tell me: -I don’t know many people -I don’t know what to say -I don’t know how to reach out -I can’t network during a pandemic - I’m awkward in a large group All of these thoughts are just that…thoughts. And they are all overcomable. Let’s first talk about one-to-one networking, then we’ll discuss networking events. One-to-one Networking LinkedIn is your best friend when it comes to finding people to networking with....
May 12, 2021•16 min•Ep. 177
I have done plenty of episodes on how to answer various types of interview questions. What I want to touch on today is everything else surrounding the job interview. When I was the director of a University Career Center, I noticed my students would spend hours preparing for an exam – and yet very little time preparing for a job interview. The last time I had a job interview, my goal was to be so well prepared that the interviewers couldn’t throw me a curve ball. There would be nothing they would...
May 05, 2021•31 min•Ep. 176
Why is personal branding important? To differentiate yourself in a crowded candidate pool To clearly convey the benefits an employer will get from hiring you To avoid being the “generic” candidate NOT an objective – which tells the employer what YOU want, rather than what you can deliver The problem with most people’s attempt at branding is that it is generic and non-differentiating. Here’s an exercise to begin the branding process: Pick one of the following brands, and write down three adjectiv...
Apr 28, 2021•17 min•Ep. 175
Here’s what I see on almost every resume that comes my way: either there isn’t an achievement in sight, or the few achievements that are there are mixed in with bulleted job duties. This creates what we resume writers call “death by bullets.” A looooong laundry list of job duties, maybe a few achievements, that don’t impress the reader and causes them to lose interest fast. Job descriptions Let’s start with your job descriptions. This should be a 2-3 line paragraph of the daily job duties you pe...
Apr 21, 2021•11 min•Ep. 174
Let’s begin by explaining what the ATS is: software that manages the entire hiring and recruitment process. From posting the job online to making the job offer, an ATS keeps track of all the activity that takes place in the recruiting department. If you have applied to a company’s website or uploaded your resume to Indeed or LinkedIn, you’ve used an ATS. The ATS was first created for employers who demanded features that could discourage and filter out unqualified candidates in no time. ATS is su...
Apr 14, 2021•16 min•Ep. 173
For this article, I pulled heavily from the Real Simple article “4 Moments When You Need a Mentor” in the November 2020 issue by Ronnie Koenig. According to the article, 63 percent of women in one study said they had never had a mentor. The article also states that employees with mentors are promoted five times more often than those without a mentor. Why is having a mentor important? -Ask for advice -Talk about uncertainties with -Help you practice tricky conversations -Think about your future g...
Apr 07, 2021•14 min•Ep. 172
For this episode, I leaned heavily on the article “7 Essential Tips for Effective 1 on 1 Meetings with Your Manager” from the getlighthouse.com blog. In a perfect world, 1:1 meetings with your boss should be something you have regularly, and actually look forward to. Done well, effective 1:1 meetings are an opportunity for: -Feedback -Coaching -Relationship-Building -Goal-Setting While the ultimate responsibility for making 1:1 meetings great falls on your manager, there are things you can do to...
Mar 31, 2021•13 min•Ep. 171
Today, I have a return guest – Mac Prichard. Mac runs the highly successful Mac’s List for employment opportunities in the Portland area. The site also offers a wealth of tips for both job seekers and employers looking to hire. Mac is also the host of the Find Your Dream Job podcast. We're talking about networking secrets for job seekers. Mac talks about the most misunderstood concept job seekers have around networking and how to network during a pandemic. He also gives us his top 5 networking s...
Mar 24, 2021•39 min•Ep. 170
Today’s podcast is based heavily on the getlighthouse.com blog, specifically the blog titled “18 Questions to Ask Your Manager to Improve Your Relationship and Better Manage Up.” I’m sure I’m not telling you anything new: people leave managers, not companies. According to a recent Gallup poll, more than 50% of us have left a job because of our boss. Having said that, you are not a victim here – you have a role to play in managing the relationship with your manager. Whether you are trying to impr...
Mar 17, 2021•12 min•Ep. 169
Today, my guest is Laura Berman Fortgang, and we are discussing three clues you can look at from your past to help you find the career you are meant to be in. We talk about what clues to look for, how to assess those clues, and what to do with your new-found self-awareness. Laura is the author of Now What? 90 Days to a New Life Direction. She is a best-selling author, speaker, TV personality (The Oprah Winfrey Show and All national morning shows), corporate trainer, and spokesperson. Her Ted Tal...
Mar 10, 2021•38 min•Ep. 168
Since COVID hit last March, I have been putting out a lot of content on the podcast and in my weekly webinars around your job search. In this episode, I want to approach the topic of your job search from a slightly different angle. I want to start by giving you three recent podcasts that will be especially helpful for your job search: #154 – Five Ways Mind Drama Can Creep into your Job Search (with Jane Springer) – for those of you who are arguing with your own brain every day about your job sea...
Mar 03, 2021•19 min•Ep. 167
My guest today is Jawad Ahsan, CFO of Axon. We are talking about how to move into the executive ranks. Jawad set a goal for himself to become an executive, which he first achieved as a divisional CFO at GE Healthcare. By age 34, he was the CFO of a private equity-backed SaaS company; at age 37, he became the CFO of publicly traded Axon. In his current role, Jawad leads the company’s global finance, corporate strategy, legal, and IT organizations, as well as Axon’s consumer-facing business. Durin...
Feb 24, 2021•31 min•Ep. 166
Let me start by saying that LinkedIn is your single best job search resource. Today, I want to drill down on 12 specific ways to network using LinkedIn. CONNECTIONS 1. When you ask someone to connect with you, keep it simple. Comment on something you have in common, someone you have in common, or something you admire about them. 2. Thank each person who connects with you – regardless of who initiated the connection. 3. Once they have connected with you, start with a couple of simple, easy-to-ans...
Feb 17, 2021•18 min•Ep. 165
My guest for today’s episode is Fawn Germer, and we’re talking about why the pandemic offers a tremendous opportunity for those of use willing to step up to the plate. In this episode, we discuss the following: 1. Lessons learned about perseverance in the face of falling down – often. 2. Advice for people looking for a job during COVID, especially those who have been looking for months. 3. How to stand out in your job during these times of uncertainty and rapid change. 4. How to keep your skills...
Feb 10, 2021•36 min•Ep. 164
I’m finding a lot of my clients are missing some pretty amazing resources in looking for their next job, so I wanted to spend this episode going over 10 of these resources. 1. Your alumni association. University alumni associations are an often-overlooked resource for connecting with other alums. Here are just some of the job search-related help they can provide: -Connecting you with alums in your field -Connecting you with alums’ network in your field -Connecting you with alums in your industry...
Feb 03, 2021•30 min•Ep. 163
This week's guest is Adriel Lubarsky of Riveterworks.com - an online community for job seekers. We talk about how to make the most of your unemployment, both personally and professionally. Adriel has a special offer for listeners; check it out at riverterworks.com/Lesa You can email Adriel at adriel@riverterworks.com and find him on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Are you in the wrong job that chips away at you every day? The CareerSpring coaching program will help you find a job that uses your...
Jan 31, 2021•40 min•Ep. 162
This month, I’ve offered 5 action steps for your resume and 5 action steps for LinkedIn. Today, I’ll give you 5 action steps for interviewing in the pandemic. If you are happily employed right now, you can still get valuable takeaways from these clinics. I want to give the same caveat as the previous two weeks: Keep in mind that anything I teach you will be of little value without the proper mindset. If you are struggling to stay motivated and on-task with your job search, I highly recommend lis...
Jan 20, 2021•19 min•Ep. 161
Last week, I offered 5 action steps for your resume in the pandemic; today I am giving you 5 action steps for LinkedIn. Next week I will be giving an interviewing clinic. If you are happily employed right now, you can still get valuable takeaways from these clinics. I want to give the same caveat as last week: Keep in mind that anything I teach you will be of little value without the proper mindset. If you are struggling to stay motivated and on-task with your job search, I highly recommend list...
Jan 13, 2021•20 min•Ep. 160
So…here we are, closing in on the 1-year mark of the pandemic here in the U.S. I thought I would start the podcast off this year with some “clinics.” Today I’ll be giving you a resume clinic; next week will be a LinkedIn clinic and the following week will be an interviewing clinic. I decided in each clinic to give you 5 action steps you can take to help with your pandemic job search. If you are happily employed right now, you can still get valuable takeaways from these clinics. Keep in mind that...
Jan 06, 2021•17 min•Ep. 159
I want to break this conversation down into things to contemplate if you are unemployed and things to contemplate if you are employed. I want to focus on those of you who are employed, because I’ve put so much content out to help the unemployed during COVID. A couple of brief mentions for the unemployed first: Unemployed I highly recommend listening to episode # 154 on cleaning up your mind drama about your job search. It is so important that you look at your situation with honesty and gentlenes...
Dec 16, 2020•18 min•Ep. 158
I want to talk about overcoming an employment gap from an internal, and external, perspective. Internal – What you are thinking Step 1 – Acknowledge your role, if any, in the reason you have an employment gap – but DON’T beat yourself up. Step 2 – Clean up your thoughts about your former employer, boss, YOU. It will not serve you going forward to still be hating on your boss or a colleague who “did you wrong.” Step 3 – Spend some time journaling what you learned during your employment gap – abou...
Dec 09, 2020•23 min•Ep. 157
This week, I have return guest Bruce Tulgan with me. We are talking about the unique challenges of managing, and being managed, remotely. With so many companies working from home at least part of the time, this is a particularly relevant topic. Bruce and I discuss: -Best corporate practices for remote work -Key strategies for managers and employees working remotely -How companies will look moving forward…will we go back to “business as usual?” Bruce Tulgan is the best-selling author of 21 books....
Dec 02, 2020•37 min•Ep. 156
For several years now, I have blogged and/or podcasted a list of 5 unusual things to be thankful for each year at Thanksgiving time. There are lessons in each of these things that you can apply to your life. Here’s my 2020 list. Are you in the wrong job that chips away at you every day? The CareerSpring coaching program will help you find a job that uses your zone of genius, recognizes your value, and pays you what you’re worth. Schedule a complimentary consult to learn more: https://calendly.co...
Nov 25, 2020•23 min•Ep. 155
This week, I speak with life coach Jane Springer on the types of mind drama I am hearing from clients related to the current job market, their qualifications, themselves as human beings, their job search strategy, and their career focus. This mind drama is causing people to stop job searching or put in minimal effort – which, of course, solidifies their opinion of the job market and themselves. Step 1 is recognizing when you are engaging in mind drama; Step 2 is acknowledging which type(s) of mi...
Nov 18, 2020•50 min•Ep. 154
Many of you have been job searching this year and will be continuing your job search into 2021. Others of you will start a job search in the new year. I use the analogy of a starting line for your job search. Mid-January is the beginning of what is typically the largest hiring push of the year. At that time, you want to be ready to job search. This means you aren’t still creating a resume, polishing your LI profile, learning how to interview, or researching employers at that time – you are at th...
Nov 11, 2020•15 min•Ep. 153
I’ve given you tons of content around interviewing; today’s podcast is about the special considerations surrounding Zoom and phone interviews. The sources I used for this episode include: Theinterviewguys.com Indeed.com Careersidekick.com Thebalancecareers.com Let’s start with Zoom (or Skype or other video-based conferencing system): TECHNOLOGY -Download and get familiar with the app you’ll be using -Practice with a friend and record (an interview coach is always the best) -Check audio and video...
Nov 04, 2020•16 min•Ep. 152
I want to frame this discussion in three parts. At the Close of the Interview As the interview wraps up, there are three things you want to do: 1. Thank the interviewer for her time. 2. Re-state your interest in the position, if you are still interested. 3. Determine the next step in the hiring process. Immediately After the Interview Within 24 hours of the interview, do the following: 1. Send thank you emails 2. Send any additional information requested by the interviewer 3. Send any supplement...
Oct 28, 2020•13 min•Ep. 151
This is episode #150! Considering so many podcasts that flame out after a dozen or so episodes, I am so very proud of the body of work in my catalogue. I’m also working on a podcast index book, so stay tuned for more information on that. We’re talking today about behavioral interviews. Those interview questions that begin with “Tell me about a time when…” or “Describe a situation that…” There are episodes where I’ve talked about the behavioral interview – specifically episode #84. A brief recap:...
Oct 21, 2020•12 min•Ep. 150
I coach my clients on walking into the salary negotiation process with 3 numbers decided. In addition to talking about those numbers today, I’m also using the Forbes Article, “Are You Being Thorough in Your Salary Negotiations? The Complete Insider’s Checklist,” by Dawn Graham for additional information on salary negotiations. The First Number The first number you want to bring into salary negotiations is your ideal salary number. The number you WANT to end up with. This number should be based o...
Oct 14, 2020•25 min•Ep. 149
Today’s guest is Bruce Tulgan of Rainmaker Thinking. Rainmaker Thinking is a management research company founded in 1993 by Bruce, the best-selling author of 21 books. Today we talk about how to be indispensable at work. Bruce defines indispensability: to whom should you seek to be indispensable, and how to be indispensable while maintaining a work/life balance (or, as I like to call it, work/life blend). Bruce talks about his extensive research in this area, and the key takeaways you can use to...
Oct 07, 2020•37 min•Ep. 148
