First, I want to apologize for those that were following the answering of the questions from episode 254 and I said there’s more coming in episode 255, but I got sick. I got so sick. Again, it’s the second time I get sick in 2024, with a very bad cold. I know exactly where I got it because I hardly get out of the house.
So now, you know, when I do get out of the house and if I get sick, I know where it happened. Anyhow, Episode 255 was a rebroadcast of an interview I did with Paola Baieto, who is one of the co founders and an expert in cognitive assessment, strength assessments. And this is becoming more and more important as part of the recruitment and selection process, if not there as part of the onboarding process when you get a job.
So I think it’s a very important interview for you to go and listen to episode 255 if you haven’t yet. Done so. And in this episode, now we’re going back to the questions that were asked, during that, period where I was preparing for the webinar, asking people to send me questions, please, because it helps me prepare my slide deck.
But, you know, it’s an hour and a half every time I run this free job hunting webinars and it’s still, it’s never enough. There’s still way more questions to, to answer than I have time for. so it makes great content for the podcast. I hope you’ll agree. These questions are great. So I don’t usually over prepare for these questions.
Otherwise, it would take me too much time. And I wanted you to know that, these questions are really not somewhat a final advice. So the answers are not really final advice for you. It’s more educating you on how to think about your career, how to think about job search, the things you have to reflect.
So that’s what I’m somewhat hoping, to address when I answer them because I have to answer them in a very generic way. and not in a specific way. I mean, I don’t know the people that have asked me. Sometimes it can be quite specific in the way that they are presented to me, but I, I, Don’t want to leave any stone unturned, you know, I really, if people register to attend the webinar and take time away from their chores and work or whatever to spend time with me, I want them to be satisfied and happy and have all their issues resolved.
So, yeah. So the free job hunting masterclass is a great way for me to interact with professionals like you and If you want to attend events like this in the future, make sure that you subscribe to my newsletter because sometimes if you are just listening to the podcast episodes, I may not have enough time to let you know that, an event’s happening.
And if you’re a subscriber, you will get an email from me and that might be an easier way for you to be notified. You can tell I’m struggling with my voice too. I hope I can make it to 12 answers. Ooh, if you’re following me on my Instagram account, you will know that it’s been quite a tough week for me.
I hardly ever have days where I don’t function at all, even when I’m sick. I can still do a little bit of work, but they were like two days this week that I could not do anything. So it was really, really hard. I I, a few things before I start with the main. topic of this episode. As you know, I like to now somewhat debrief.
I got a very interesting feedback on LinkedIn. It was really lovely because it was a private message, not a comment. So it wasn’t made in a public way about me sometimes overselling my services on the podcast. Oh, it’s such a hard balance for me to strike. It really is. And I can, I completely understand the sentiment.
And I am. You know, delighted that the person took time to write to me to say look, I love your episodes. It was actually a really nice feedback about how good it is and how much they appreciate it, but that sometimes I oversell my services and it becomes a bit icky. You know what? You would not believe how many people still don’t know What I do for a living and that I am a coach and that you can work with me, you know, the somewhat Messages that I usually get when I say usually I’m I’m I mean daily like daily messages on LinkedIn or Instagram or Facebook or You know, reply backs to my emails, which I believe is like, besides the podcast, what else do you do?
tell me about the types of coaching you do. I mean, it’s so clear, isn’t it? But I still sometimes have to explain and where can I find a good coach to help me is most definitely The biggest question that I get on LinkedIn DMs, where can I find a good coach to help me? I don’t understand. Like, it’s really, can you, you know, can you feel for me how hard it is for me to kind of find a balance?
But of course, there are times, especially when I am running the group coaching program, which I don’t run all the time, that I need to really boost my sales and promote it a little bit more. And then I tone it down. So we’re going through that phase now where I’m toning it down. the group has started and you can’t join anymore.
So this is not a sales pitch about it. It’s just an observation that, Oh my gosh, the group, Is so good. And it’s not like this group is better than the others. They’re always good. And this is what really impresses me, you know, and it makes me really proud of this podcast and the content that I provide, that it creates a pipeline of That ends up with an amazing curated selection of either private clients for me or amazing group clients, group coaching clients.
The professionals in this group and in previous groups have been so good, so high quality, so experienced and skilled and So great to talk to. And we had this amazing conversation. I haven’t asked them yet. I hope that they liked it, but I really did like it, you know, on Thursday, because on Tuesdays, the group coaching is more me talking at them and telling them what the module is for that week.
It goes for seven weeks. And then on Thursdays, it’s like, If they don’t bring up questions, I have nothing to say. I, you know, the responsibility is on the group to kind of raise what they want to talk about. And it was like absolutely great. We, we had amazing questions and I’m not the first one to answer.
I always ask the group to share experiences and tell others, you know, what they think about the question, if they have an answer for it. And then I step in and kind of guide a little bit. So that the outcome is always one that I think is the best solution for the question raised. But many times there’s so much expertise in there and experiences that people do exponentially learn, you know, not just from me, but from others as well.
So it was really delightful to see yet again, the group come together. It’s interesting. I got a comment from my post sale survey where I sent it to people that I knew were interested, but they, they didn’t sign up. And of course, like 90 percent of people say it’s because it’s too expensive. That’s my bad when they say that, because if they can’t see the value of expediting, bringing forward the job that they want by participating in a program with me for seven weeks, you know, what I want is for them to be happy.
not search for a job for so long. You know, I want them to find a job more quickly. So I think that the price is right for that. So it’s my bad and I need to fix that. But sometimes people say, Oh, you know, I think 20 people is too much, but these people are all busy. Even if they have their job hunting full time, which only a few of them are, most of them have full time jobs.
They They don’t all come all the time, you know, the sessions are recorded and you can listen to it later, but I think 22, I would like to have 30 to be honest, because I want always to have about 12 to 15 people interacting at any one time. And I think 30 allows people enough flexibility to not attend. I don’t want to end up with just like two or three in the room.
I mean, I could, it would be great for them. But, you know, commercially for me, that wouldn’t be such a great outcome. But, yeah, we have, I think, 21, which is a perfect number. Okay. Now the Q& A, like I was saying before, this is not like final advice. This is not really what coaching is as well. This is me trying to really help you and educate you on how to think, about these questions, and maybe from a different lens, from a different perspective, and maybe where to find the answers as well.
I think that that’s really important. I, I, I find that this is probably an important disclaimer when I do Q& A’s like this. but yeah, let’s hope I have some of the answers for you. Okay, first question is this. In the current, In competitive job market, what strategies or best practices would you recommend for someone with five years of experience as a financial controller in a small business to position themselves effectively for a finance manager role in a larger organization.
What steps can be taken to enhance the chances of securing such a role? within the next three to six months. If you’re not a financial controller and you don’t want to be a finance manager just replace those two words. Let’s say if you’re a marketing professional and you want to be a marketing manager or if you’re you know, a two IC and you want to be the CEO, like it’s a level up.
So my, my reflection on this is that, you know, I was feeling quite optimistic about the person already answering their own question by mentioning the steps that can be taken. But then when I saw the timeframe of three to six months, I’m like, That will be hard. Okay, so I think it’s important to map your motivations and your life goals, which is what we’ve just gone through the group coaching as well to kind of understand exactly what you’re trying to achieve.
Are you trying to achieve a more ambitious role higher up in the food chain of the organization? Are you trying to also work for larger organizations? Can you do those two things at once in one go in one jump? Possibly not, frankly, I don’t think it’s as feasible as you doing it in a two steps system, right?
So it’s, it’s important to think about, first of all, what’s more important. If both of those, goals are important, larger organization and more responsibility, more leadership opportunities, then how can you, you know, once you decide what the long term goal is, then what are the steps to get that? And the jump of moving from a small organization to a large organization and from a more junior position to more senior position all at once in three to six months.
That’s good. In my view, it’s probably harder to do than having a more strategic career plan designed to help you get to where you want to go. And this may be the reason why if you’re applying, I don’t know, I don’t know if you are or not, but if you’re applying for roles and not getting it, this may be the reason why you want too many changes, too much change all at once.
You can definitely achieve those two goals. It’s just a matter of designing a plan That gets you there, eventually, right? So you can do a move to, let’s say, the larger organization first as a financial controller and then move to a finance manager, manager role in a larger organization in a few years.
Or you can do that. move to a finance manager role in a small organization, and then try to move to a larger organization later on. And it’s workshopping these ideas with mentors, with people that have done it, with a coach that will kind of, help you decide what’s the best solution. all right.
Second question. How do you deal with responses like we think you are too senior for this role? That’s feedback for you. You are probably too senior for the role, so it may be a mismatch between your personal and professional brand and the jobs that you are applying for. For example, if you have been very senior in your career, but you don’t want to be, you know, very senior anymore, then you will have to adapt your resume.
From the narrative, to the verbs you choose, to the way that you present yourself in the executive summary, the dot points that you choose to disclose. It’s a remake of your resume if you don’t want senior roles anymore, if you want to go. You know, down a level or two, which is completely fine. A lot of people want demotion, not promotion, and they don’t even realize it.
You know, it’s talking to me that they’d say, Oh, okay, I get it. Like I actually don’t want those, those responsibilities anymore. They have, you know, burned me out. It’s totally fine. You know, we need to find the right career path for you, for your future, but you need to match your responsibilities. with the jobs that you’re applying for.
So, so that there, if you, that’s what you want, then, then we need to do a revamp of your professional presence, overall, from the way you present to the way that you talk to the way that you write about your work. Most of the time, that is not the case with clients of mine. They’re still highly ambitious.
They just, have failed to find jobs at the level that they were aiming at and they have given up and started applying for levels just below and got the feedback that they were too senior for the role. And as a career coach, I’m like, let’s not apply for those jobs. Let’s make sure that your application for the jobs that you really deserve to have and you really want are well done enough for you to move to the interview phase and so on and so on.
And so, I’ve just had a conversation like that with a client yesterday, you know, she was working without me and applying for junior roles. She’s now at the tail end of a process for a more junior role, very unhappy with the salary and I’m like, But why did, you know, like, don’t apply. so we were thinking what she could do if she did get the job, but it’s harder to move up again.
It takes longer. So sometimes the impatience or the anxiety of being without a job can make you make those, decisions that, and you would either, you know, be considered too senior for a role, Or you would go through it and be very unsatisfied because that’s not the role that you wanted.
Okay, here we go. Third question. I listened to a lot of your podcasts and got some amazing prep tips early in the year for a role that I really wanted. And I came out feeling like it was my best interview ever. However, the outcome was predetermined. What is your advice when you are competing against somebody who is promised the role?
I went in feeling like I could score perfectly. I could give him a run for his money. However, they marked me down for a question that was completely left field and designed Just for that person. P. S. I know this is a tough question. I did know, but it did knock my confidence a lot and I haven’t felt ready to try again yet.
Look, I’ve been a manager and I’ve been, and I advertised a gazillion roles, right? I, I, I have done that, a gazillion, hundreds of roles, okay? I have. from time to time, not always, but definitely every now and then, had somebody that I was hoping would get the role. I’m not gonna lie, but I was not, I mean, maybe because of the organizations I worked for, they were large and big and I was never the only decision maker.
sometimes I wasn’t even the primary decision maker. It was a panel. And it was due diligence and fair game, and if there was somebody else that presented better than the person that I had spotted for, you know, scouted for the role, that person got the job. So, it’s, I think it’s actually not so much that the person was promised the role, but Recruiters almost don’t need to look for candidates anymore through, job searches traditionally.
You know, the ones that you see advertised and you then apply code, and then you get a job interview because of your, you know, ability to match the skills and expertise required. Many recruiters now will warm up. Candidates and invite them to apply, right? So that is obviously because LinkedIn makes it so easy for recruiters to find people that are very good match for their clients, jobs and, and, and they will contact these people even before they advertise to assess them out, to ask questions.
So, so, It is important to know that it’s important to have an optimized LinkedIn profile, to have a network helping you, and that you may be tapped on the shoulder for opportunities like that, and you would want that. Right? So, I think that that’s important. the, the rest of the experience is very much like any other.
recruitment process. Even at the tail end of a great recruitment process where you were told, where you feel amazing and you did well, the recruiters tell you you’re doing well, they’re also telling the other candidate that that candidate is doing well and that other candidate is possibly also feeling well because they have progressed, through the stages, through the recruitment process.
Even if you’re at the final two, You still have 50 percent of a chance to get the job. So it’s, it’s never 90 percent your chance or anybody else’s chance. I think it’s a, it’s a difficult process to go through recruitment and selection, because people do forget that it is a competition and there is somebody else that you haven’t even met and you probably don’t even know.
In this case, it seems like, you, you had some insight on who the preferred candidate was. I, I remember once walking into an interview where I knew I wouldn’t get the job. I have mentioned this on the podcast before, but I just, you know, you know, from the panel’s body language. They could have interviewed somebody just before you that they have fallen in love with.
The person just, you know, did a great job answering the questions, gained their trust, was really likable, and they just felt comfortable with that person. They still have to interview maybe two, three more people, five sometimes, but they have already made their decision and you can tell. And, I think that it’s important to remember that.
The process is not just great when you get the job. The process is also great when you get to meet people, when they get to see how confident and professional you are, how well you’re answering the questions, and you want to make them feel really bad for not hiring you. Make it a tough decision for them.
I always tell people that, you know, like, make it really hard for them not to choose you, because they will remember you for other opportunities. Your career is long. Chances are this is not your last rodeo. there will be more opportunities, and they will think of you. In fact, many times, the people that I have met, I’ve scouted for opportunities where people I had interviewed in the past that I didn’t offer a job, but I thought they were brilliant and I’m like, come back again, you know, I have a new opportunity.
Why don’t you apply? So it’s just something to think about. All right, that was a long answer. Let’s try one more. How to best explain gap in work history after a layoff? During a tied to job market. Additionally, I’m more of a mature job seeker and finding the right level role with a culture where I can grow and be valued is more challenging.
Okay, so first of all, let’s talk about the layoff and the tight job market. You have to explain, and it’s the, the more honest and frank the story, the better. If you lost your job. let’s say we’re now in the middle of 2024, September, you know, tail end and you lost your job at the beginning of this year and it’s been a tough year, you know, explain that.
Look, I, I’ve been working all my life, you know, I lost my, my, the, the job was made redundant. in February I took some time off, I went away, I rested, I relaxed, I haven’t done this in so many years. I needed the sabbatical. And then, started looking a few months ago, and I’m on the market, you know, I’ve been talking to recruiters.
These things take time, and recruiters know that. Recruiters know that. That each process that they run, go for like two, three months, sometimes. You know, this is for the professionals I work for, of course, if you’re more junior, and you’re listening to this. Look, even like if you’re a graduate and you’re listening to this, a graduate recruitment process could start as early as March and finish in July, and you start your job in January, February the next year, right?
So these things take time. So I want you to be comfortable telling recruiters who know that these things take time, who see people just like you every single day. So sometimes the There are, I find that sometimes job seekers over, they get too concerned about problems. That is not a big problem for the good recruiters.
Okay. Good recruiters will know that 2024 has been a tough market, so much so they are finding it really hard to keep the lights up. You know, some recruiters are really complaining that they don’t have clients. Nobody’s advertising roles. You know, it’s getting a little bit better now, but it’s been a tough year 2024.
Okay. Then, it’s not just that you are, you want to find a culture. So this is the second half of the question where you can go and be valued because you’re a more mature professional. Everybody wants that. The more mature profession, the young professionals, everybody wants, a culture where you can grow and be valued.
It’s challenging for absolutely everyone. And it’s the thing that people tell me the most when I run those webinars and I ask questions at the beginning, tell me what you’re looking for, there’s a chat. People always say I want a better culture. You know, usually they’re moving away from a bad boss. We know that.
Most people change jobs because they’re moving away from bad culture, bad jobs, toxic environments, and so forth. Be careful not to carry that with you, in terms of the toxic environment or the bad culture. Sometimes you get bad habits, either by being too scared and afraid or, cocooned because we’ve been gaslighted or we worked in an environment for so long that was really toxic.
When you’re being interviewed by a great organization, they want to see great culture represented in your interview. So if culture is important to you, you need to bring that along because culture is not completely intangible. Culture is a sum of all the parts and everybody that comes in from a different environment into a culture, you know, will bring some, something great to complement the culture that exists in that new workplace that you’re joining.
So make sure that you’re presenting yourself as a contributor and not as a passive, sponge absorbing all the culture that they, great culture that they have in there. I think this is really something that I have to work a lot with clients that are going through interviews so that they understand that they will be contributors and not sponges of great culture.
So something to think about there as well. da da da. More more questions. So we did one, two, sorry, one, two, three, four, five. Okay. Referee fatigue. That’s a good question. I have now on two occasions been referenced, checked before I attended the second and final interview. In both cases I was unsuccessful in the end.
Okay. Which was embarrassing for me. When I get another interview, I’m now uncomfortable and reluctant going back to these referees in case I once again waste their time. I don’t have Ooh, where’s the rest? I don’t have a treasure chest of referees. I think nobody does. I can call and I am not sure what to do.
Right, so this is, this is a very good question. It’s one that’s coming up more and more, referees are being, called before, the end of the process from time to time. And it’s not just in Australia or in the U. S., I’ve seen that in other countries as well. I think the most important thing, you know, is to educate the referees that this is happening so that they know that it’s not the tail end of the process.
Nurturing those relationships. Your referees are the most important network that you have. It’s important to have more than two, I think, because from time to time you might feel like there’s a different referees that will somewhat play well with the skill set that is required for specific roles. So it’s always good to nurture, if possible, referees.
Three to four referees, just so that you can play with the different understandings of what you can do and how it matches well with the organizations that you are applying for. So, good idea to think about. But even then, they may be from a generation where that, type of reference check that happens before the tail end of the process.
They don’t know that, right? So it’s important for you to let them know. By the way, it’s not the tail end of the process. Now recruiters are checking referees way before the end of the process. So I just wanted to let you know that there are probably three or four candidates that they are calling the references for I may not get the job.
Is that okay with you? They will say yes. People love to, I mean, I’m not, I would never say no to a reference check of unless I didn’t, I hadn’t worked with the person, but you know what I mean? Like it’s, It’s okay. I don’t think you need to, worry about that, but it’s important to nurture those relationships, to say thank you, to let them know how you’re doing, to send them the job ad, the position description and your resume and your call for letter so that they have the information.
I always, I always ask that when people ask me to be a reference for them. So don’t even wait for them to ask. Just send them that information as soon as you can. And let them know, let them know the outcome. Of course, another question. Requests for proposals and presentations. At interviews At three final interviews, I have been asked to present my ideas or whatever the board had prioritized.
I have spent a huge amount of time and energy. developing a proposal as requested and presentations. In each case, I was unsuccessful for whatever reason and I believe it’s for the best. However, in my last interview, the board was taking notes of all my ideas and leads from the proposal as I was asked to present and will no doubt follow up at the, with at least One very valuable lead.
Not really sure about that, but I understand, what the question is here. If you are in a senior executive, and you are looking for a senior executive role, chances are, at the tail end of that process, there will be a presentation to a group of executives, maybe your counterparts, your colleagues, if you get the job, or a board, if you’re a CEO.
Or even some other C level role. There is no way around it. And I have worked with a client or two, I can’t remember if it was one or two, where we actually did an NDA. So that the information disclosed wouldn’t be used. I mean, you can’t really enforce it, but at least Freaks them out a little bit. And I think it’s important, especially if you’re applying for consultancies.
I feel that, you know, that was one of the issues with one of the clients. Okay. There was definitely two clients. There’s one, it was a consultancy and it was really sus. There was a time when we felt like some, I’m not going to name them, but some large consultancies were advertising roles that they didn’t plan to fill.
They just wanted to get ideas. And that was. confirmed by a husband of a client of mine who worked in a consultancy and I went damn, you know, I was trying to be all, no, this doesn’t happen. This can’t be true. But, apparently it was true back at the time. I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything recently from consultations with clients, that that’s still happening, but it could be, but you know, I, I’ve applied for several C level roles and I’ve done lots of presentations.
It’s a long process, you know, and it’s, Usually two or three people doing that amount of work and there was, at least in one situation, I knew that they were, they did use the, the information that I shared with them in my presentation. I was never annoyed or upset by that because my relationship with that board, even though I didn’t get the job.
was so good. You know, it was good for my career, for my future, the future jobs that I had. They were so nice to me. I was invited to annual dinners for years to come. I, you know, it was really a great relationship, not only with the, CEO that got the job, who I was introduced to by the board. Like it was really an odd situation to be in.
And I know it doesn’t happen all the time, but yeah, it was a really, great relationship. And I feel like it’s okay. It really helped my career in other ways, even though I didn’t get the job. So it’s something to think about. Every time I did those presentations, I learned so much about the industry, the sector, the organization, and it always helped me.
I always found a way. I love recycling content. I never miss the opportunity to recycle content. So it’s something to think about, but if you want to look at how you can do NDAs. Happy to discuss. It would probably have a, have to be a private consultation for that. Does writing for a bot require much more resume customization?
Does writing for a bot require much more resume customization? I think what they are trying to ask here is a reflection of, you know, conversations I’ve had on this podcast about the importance of writing. resumes for bots to read before humans to read. So there’s the ATS system, the applicant tracking systems or softwares that, you know, if you’re applying on LinkedIn, you know, you will click on a button, you submit it, it somewhat self populates.
there’s so many different ATSs out there. Some of them are really sophisticated, other not so much. and we have. kind of a recipe for making sure that you always go through that system without, being bottlenecked by not knowing how to template your resume properly. So I think it was in, episode two, five, three, where I reviewed lots of free, freely available resume templates and was horrified that I couldn’t find a single good one for you to use.
I offered some examples, but still asked you to adapt it just to make sure that it would go through. But in addition to the templating that you need to do, the customization is absolutely important because it’s, it’s a matching system. If you’ve, I am too old for this, and I’ve been married for many decades, but if you’ve been on a matching, app, You know, trying to find a date or if you’ve been to, you know, trying to buy real estate and you’re on, you know, website or applications that find you house in specific suburbs with specific number of bedrooms and, and all of that, that’s the same thing for recruitment and selection.
I can’t believe I never used that analogy before, but, It’s, it’s how it works, right? So whatever is in the job advertised needs to be in your, job application so that it matches. So yes, it does require customization and I teach that. That’s what I do. Sometimes you get some bits of information about it on the podcast.
I think that that’s kind of, there’s a logic to it that’s kind of easy to understand and then there is. Me as a professional who wants to help professionals, helping them understand how it’s done through the consultation services that I do, through the private coaching that I do, and also through the online courses, you know.
Reset your career. 150 Australian dollars. That’s like 80 US dollars. You will learn that. Just, you can do it, right? Absolutely, you can do it. So, yep, you have to customize it. Another question. How important is the referral process here to even recruiters? That’s a weirdly worded, I should have cleaned that up, shouldn’t I?
How important is the referral process for recruiters? Of course it’s super important. I have had clients that did not get jobs because the referral process didn’t go well, right? And, you know, sometimes people just don’t know how to be references. It’s not that they didn’t like working with you. They just don’t know how to answer the questions correctly.
So. You have to get good people that know you very well and that understand how, what the referral process is. so, you know, I’ll give you my own example. I’ve had a problem with a reference once. I think the question that the HR person asked my reference was, is Renata always on time for her meetings?
And the person who was my boss at the time said, She said, how should I know? I never go with me to meetings with her. I think that my boss. Felt like she was being like that, you know, she had a legal background bless her heart I think she thought she was like on trial and you know She just wanted to give the honest answer and it’s true.
We never went to meetings together I was the one doing the meetings But of course if I had been late for meetings the clients would have told her what about this woman that works for you, that’s always late for her meetings. So anyway, but that was a negative on my referral. And then they had to ask for another reference.
Look, we had some problems with one of your reference. Do you have another reference? I’m like, yeah. And then later my boss, my new boss, I got the job, thank goodness, said, Oh, you know, that’s what happened. And I’m like, Oh my god, it’s so bizarre. So, yeah, I think it’s important to educate referrals so that they know what they need to do.
And now, it’s sometimes a software that you have to log in, so you have to create the login, and then you log in and there are lots of yes or no questions. And some questions where you need to type information. Yeah, it’s very thorough and it should be. It should be. Because there’s a lot of opportunity for you to lie these days and hack your way into a recruitment process.
So, two things that are important. References and strengths, cognitive assessments. Those assessments are really important. So, listen to episode two. And, and that would give you a clue. There is an assessment, as one of my services as well, if you want to do one and have that information. You know, that experience of doing an assessment and learning the results.
In your experience, another question everyone, in your experience, what is key building trust in an interview? What is key to building trust in an interview? So many things. It’s a combination and it’s holistic. It’s how you present yourself for the job you want. That goes with looks. That goes with the job.
tone of voice that goes with confidence of your narrative, how to answer your questions, how well prepared you are, how natural you are as well, because, you know, they want to make sure that you have that experience and not that you rehearsed it to present it to them. so off the cuff, you know, it’s like, you know, that there was the, candidates debate in the U S recently, and, you know, you have to be good at Reading from script, but you also have to be good at off the cuff.
Otherwise people won’t trust you, right? You know, all of these things are really important in an interview, you know The somewhat questions that you ask them Trust and likeability go hand in hand. Sometimes even if we don’t like somebody, but we trust them We hire them anyway. The other way around is Not so much.
We may not like a candidate, but we end up voting for them because we trust them more. So trust always trumps likability, but they are both important. So you have to prepare to be likable and trustworthy. All right, what if the job hunting process and recruiters are causing the mental, okay, what if the job hunting process and the recruiters are causing the mental health issues?
Yeah, I can see that happening a hundred percent, right? And I’m sure that people listening to the job hunting podcast can relate to this as well. Job hunting is a, well, Job hunting, when you’re alone and you’re inexperienced in job hunting, you can be a very experienced professional and completely inexperienced in job hunting.
I have a new client that fits that bill to a T. Extremely experienced, really knowledgeable, lots of worldly experience, leadership experience of large projects, large teams, have never had to look for work before. For her, jump hunting is a wicked kind of task. A wicked kind of task is a task that is very complex, ambiguous, volatile.
It’s too difficult, right? My role as a coach is to make that task a kind Kind type of task. I don’t know if you’re familiar with those terms, kind versus wicked tasks. It’s, it’s, you know, management, research, psychology, for example, playing chess is difficult, but it’s a kind task. If you go through it time and time again, you will learn it because the rules never change.
It’s one set of rules, one type of competition, and if you spend 10, 000 hours doing it, it will never change. Job hunting is not like that. If you do job hunting 10 years ago, five years ago, and you’re now doing it now, it has changed, right? It’s always changing. You know, the, the, the goalpost is always changing the rule of the games.
Now it’s too, there’s a lot of technology. The job market is so many variables that influence job search. that it becomes a wicked kind of task. My role as a career coach with my courses and my services is to make it kind. It’s provide a framework that you can follow so it go back to chess level. Okay.
it’s not easy, you know, it’s just simple. You know, the program that I explained it to the group coaching program, like this is not job hunting made easy. It’s job hunting made simple. You can learn this because I’ve simplified it for you. It can be very detrimental to mental health if you’re doing this somewhat wicked type of task, trying to learn it and, you know, getting more and more anxious about your finances, what it, you know, what it means to the market, to your network, that you still don’t have a job.
So get help for both. the job search and your, your mental health. It’s really important that you access that support. And I hope, I hope that the, podcast, this podcast is the beginning of that journey for you. If not the only journey that you need, it really, it should always be like that. You know, start listening to the podcast.
If you still think you need more help, check, you know, if you can get it from a mentor or a friend, if you still need more help, go and check my services. You know, start from, I don’t know, 31 days of action. That’s 31 if you’re still nubile, you know what I mean? Like, don’t, you don’t need to over, over invest.
You know, you can do it step by step if that is more comfortable for you, if you’re more risk averse in engaging with that type of support. Okay, second last question. I do have a question. Okay, good. I would be interested to know how your clients balance busy home life’s full time work and other commitments with finding the time and energy to run a full scale job hunt.
I understand all the steps and activities needed to run a good campaign, but often struggle to find the time and create momentum in my search. Oh my goodness. Yes. There was a time that I had available for everybody that wanted to subscribe to my newsletter the optimized job search schedule this person may have received it because everybody that that answered the Everybody that answered the post sales survey.
So when they did not sign up for the group coaching. I sent out a survey asking why I said, if you, if you answer it, you will have access to my, my free resources. And I gave them the access. So I just checked the name of this person and I know that they got it. it’s called optimize job search schedule.
I, I did it. I did it because It was the beginning of my coaching, my full time coaching, and it was actually during holiday season and I felt like some people don’t, you know, don’t do Christmas like I do. They might, you know, not be religious or, you know. It’s not part of their culture. They might want to continue doing job search.
So, during that holiday period in 2020, I said, I’m going to design something for people to continue to look for work. And I did the optimized job search schedule. And now the schedule, because I’ve improved it, it has a full time schedule, a part time schedule and a light schedule. My clients love that schedule.
It really does help them think about, you know, all of the different holistic tasks that you need to do and when you can, you, you can do it to optimize. you’re weak and not, so that you don’t have to worry about it all the time. You can compartmentalize your life. If you’re doing like a light search and not a full time search, you’re not going to be worried about it because you know you have a schedule and you’re going to follow it.
So let’s do this. It’s not available anymore. I’ve pulled it. back. I’m gonna bring it, I’ll bring it again as a free download for those that subscribe to my newsletter. I’m not ready to do that yet. I’m too sick as you can tell from my voice. So if you write, if you write a recommendation for this podcast on Apple or Spotify or whatever other app allows you to write a little review and say good things about us or Even if it’s not good things, you know, write the feedback that you think we deserve and get in touch with me through DMs.
I will send you a link so that you can access the optimized job set schedule if that’s of interest to you until I get myself sorted. And then it will be available for download for everybody that wants to subscribe to my newsletter. It’s just a teaser so that people subscribe. I really love to work with subscribers because I know they’re my people.
I actually don’t get upset when people unsubscribe because if they don’t need me anymore, that’s fine. There are plenty of people looking for work. and those are the ones that I want on my subscribers list. Those that are interested in job search. Now we’re in the future, interested in career development, professional development.
I’m always hoping. or every Tuesday when I write to them that it will be information that they want to read. So, yeah, find me, write me a good recommendation and, let me know that you’ve done so, so I know to send you the link to the Optimized Job Set Schedule. Oh, the final question is when do the group start?
Okay, that was I don’t need to answer that. So the group coaching has already started. It will go on for seven weeks. Like I said, the group’s great. Next time I run the group coaching will be February, 2025. So if you’re interested, get in touch with me. I’ve been thinking about launching the online course on its own.
If anybody that missed out on the group coaching wants to. DIY it. Maybe like the online course with maybe a couple of consultations with me might be something that’s appealing to some, but I haven’t had enough bandwidth to think about it yet. So if that’s of interest to you, if you think, Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I can do that.
Yes, please. Cause February is too far away. Let me know somehow, send me a Instagram, or if you’re a newsletter subscriber, reply to any of my emails. It’s really funny sometimes when people are newsletter subscribers, and instead of replying to that email, they go to my website and use a contact form. I’m like, you’re a subscriber, you don’t need to do this, just reply.
I’m that small, like, you know, if I, if, if, if, you know, Somebody from the team gets it, they will still send it to me and, and I’ll reply to you, all right? Okay, everybody, it was lovely talking to you today. Thank you so much for being here for almost an hour And I will see you next week. Bye for now.
