January 30, 2021 • 39 mins
Everyone out there has at least filled out one job application and wondered: ”Why haven’t they gotten back to me? Or “Did I put down enough skills Or “My cover letter was too short? . When it comes to the game of applying for a job the rules of the game have changed over the years. FTP Host David Grasso talks to Vicki Salemi, career expert for Monster and she’ll explain how employers are looking for employees in today’s world.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Follow the Profit is a production of ging Ridge three
sixty and I Heart Radio. So I imagine everyone out
there has at least filled out one job application, if
not thousands, and you're probably wondering, why haven't they gotten
back to me? Did I put down enough skills? Was
my cover letter too short? What on earth did I
(00:23):
do wrong to deserve this? This is daunting. The game
of applying for a job is really hard and the
rules of the game change constantly. How do you succeed?
How do you get that job? And even importantly, if
you're looking to hire, if you're on the flip side
of that coin, that's really hard to So we're gonna
talk to one career expert and a friend of mine
(00:45):
who's going to break this all down and help you
better understand how to get a job, succeed and put
this error behind you and you're an employer, how to
find the right people. I'm David Grasso, and you're listening
to Follow the Profit. As always, we have one promise
(01:11):
for you. We're not here to be a motivational, get
rich quick show. We're here to deconstruct what's going on
around here, you know, in important buckets like the economy, politics,
and finance so that you can use your money to
help you follow the profit. Looking for a job is
a pain in the dairy air, to put it nicely. First,
there are job sites. Second, you can ask your friends,
(01:35):
and there's a writing and the assembly of the resume
and cover letter, and how do you talk to people?
How do you present your portfolio? How do you get references?
And then let's talk about the psychology. Once you submit,
there's radio silence, and you have this psychological thing going on,
(01:58):
the overwhelming antics, a patient of maybe possibly hopefully, well
maybe even just send me a rejection letter at this point.
And then let's say you don't get a rejection letter,
you get an interview, Oh my god, what do you do?
Then it's all very exhausting, but let's face it, it's
part of the game that you have to play if
(02:19):
you want to work somewhere. Well here today, I'm following
the profit. We're gonna try to make this easier and
we're going to try to help you think about this
whole process and strategize accordingly. And this isn't typically a
very pleasant conversation. That's why I brought someone in who
I believe does a really, really good job of making
it as pleasant as possible. I think she's a job
(02:41):
posting whisperer. She works for a brand that you'll definitely recognize.
My guest is Vicky so Lemmy. She's a career expert
and spokesperson for Monster. Hi VICKI, Hi David, thank you
so much for having me a congrats on your podcast. Well,
thank you, so Vicky, tell me a little bit more
about you. So you are a recruit and now you're
spokesperson for Monsters. So you've kind of seen both sides
(03:03):
of the divide. What are stories from your life that
can provide us inside on this area. I left recruiting
because I felt like I couldn't be an advocate for
job seekers. I saw the challenges that recruiters face, and
right now, you know of recruiters, they assessing candidates during
the interview, identifying quality candidates quickly. So I saw those
(03:26):
challenges and I felt badly. I couldn't reject everyone individually
when I had hundreds of candidates, and I couldn't give
people constructive feedback if they didn't do well. Let's say
they did well in the first round of the interview,
but then the second round they didn't do well, or
I've just seen candidates react too quickly to accept. Yes,
(03:49):
they're excited about the opportunity, this is the company that
they've been wanting to work for. Yes, they've got an offer.
They should always pause when negotiating. First express gratitude and
then second pause and say can I get back to
you tomorrow, and then just ask a question, do you
is there more money? I helped a career coaching client
last week with then one day he negotiated increase just
(04:11):
because he was able to ask the question. So I
think the number one thing with negotiating is people just
don't ask, and they may feel overwhelmed, like I don't
know how to negotiate. So just thrill it down to
a simple question, was there more money? And no, you're
not being greedy, because yes, they expect you to negotiate,
and if you don't negotiate, they may feel like, okay,
that was almost too easy, like there's there's money sitting here.
(04:35):
But always ask the question because if you start a
job and you didn't negotiate, and then then every year
that's compounded less money that you're going to be taking home.
So that's when monster and I collaborated it, and I
love working with them and as their career expert, I
feel like I'm in a position to help people and
also help employers in terms of knowing what their challenges
are too and how to you know, bridge that gap
(04:57):
because we're on the same team at the end of
the day. So I just love like being interviewed, like
right now. It's really fun and I feel like I'm
giving back to society. And a lot of times I
shouldn't say a lot, but job seekers will often say
they feel anxiety and especially now they're unemployed, you know, depression,
a lot of mental health around looking for a job,
(05:19):
and they feel overwhelmed. And I feel like it doesn't
have to be that way. This is your next job,
this is your next paycheck, your next work family, this
is a new, exciting opportunity. There are ways to think
about it in a really positive way. Even during dire times,
people are getting hired and companies are hiring. That's a
really important lesson. Okay, funny interview stories. I want one. Okay,
(05:43):
here we go. I you know, it's funny the stories
that stick out in your mind. Remember years ago, it
wasn't my candidate but it was my boss's candidate, and
the candidate had was chewing gum and spit out the
gum projectile motion into the guard bitch as the interview started.
That's the one thing, and it was like a senior
(06:05):
level candidate, and it's unfortunate that I looked at the
resume and it seemed great. My boss said after the
interview is like, that's the one thing I remember is
the projectile gom or candids will be like, oh my gosh.
And I don't remember if you got the job, but
I do remember after that interview were like, oh my gosh.
Things you should not do on an interview. How about
(06:27):
any funny resume mistakes done your resume? I have not personally,
but that's why it's so important for a spell chat
review your resume. It takes two minutes. Just look at
it to make sure there aren't any auto corrects in
there that should not be in there, and really just
look at it very closely. But the same applies to
thank you emails. I never got any lacky thank you emails,
(06:49):
but I do remember some typos, and so typos do
stand out. So you always want to make sure whatever
you're emailing or whatever you're sending is always accurate. Tell
us about those thank you emails. So if you do
of a resume, you always send thank you after an interview, Yes,
you always, even after an informational interview. It's not necessarily
a job interview. You always want to appreciate the person's
(07:11):
time and reference something you talked about, and then you
can always follow up from there. And you may not
get a response, but that's okay. You're doing it just
to acknowledge their time and consideration. Okay. So what would
you do, Vicky if you were unemployed right now? How
would you market yourself? I would start looking for a
part time job immediately or something to get keep my
(07:33):
skills sharp, get out of the house, or do something
even if it's remote. Just how money coming in the door? Next,
revise my resume in terms of marketing myself, looking at
where the hot jobs in demand right now and how
can I get them by transferring my skill set. So
for me, I would say no communication skills, customer service,
(07:54):
ability to interact with all levels of management and all
different types of people. So your executive summary, your cover letter,
and then I would hit the phones and I would
email people in my network. I mean, yesterday I connected
with my former boss from twelve years ago. It was
great just reconnecting for no other purpose than chatting. So,
you know, reconnect with your network and it's a good
(08:14):
time to network. Set up job alerts. I would apply
as soon as I saw jobs immediately. Don't overthink it
and stay positive. You've got this, like, have a positive
outlooks around yourself with positive people. Okay. And now if
you were an entrepreneur Vicky and I ventured capital fund
just you know, decided to invest in you because you're fabulous, right,
(08:35):
and they give you ten million dollars and you had
to grow your company, what would you do to hire people?
M hmmm. I would first look internally who would be
the right fit, and I would create an ideal candidate
by outlining a job description in terms of not only
the role but also the specific skill set and what
(08:55):
is the culture, what is the transparency? And then from
there I would was the job on monster and I
would start getting resumes and just think about who is
the ideal higher for this company and the role. What
is their background? Are they right out of school? Are
they senior level executive to let's say speared global recruiting
when we build a company to that point where it's global,
(09:17):
but also how am I emulating that as a leader,
So this way I could see if there's the right fit.
During the video interviews, if I'm looking at resumes, you
know what am I specifically looking for? What I want
to see them quantify? You know what questions am I
going to ask? And I would definitely always ask was
behavioral based interview questions like name a time when X,
Y Z or know during the pandemic, No, I noticed
(09:39):
that there's a gap on your resume. You know, what
have you been doing with your time? And I should
say what we found at the Future of Work survey,
David is companies don't see the same red flags that
they did in the past. So if you have a
gap on your resume, or if you are a job
hopper or have been a job hopper, it's not that
it's big of a deal as it once was. So
don't over think. Just have a narrative to talk about
(10:03):
pivoting into your next role. So if they ask about
a gap on your resume, talk about, Okay, well I
was in the travel industry during the pandemic. I got furloughed.
That's why I'm interested in this job because my skills
of X, y Z of customer service seemed great in
this health care facility for elderly people because I've customer
service skills at transfer. So you want to always focus
(10:23):
on the positive. How do we know whether we're dealing
with toxic people or not? Vicky from both angles, right,
whether we're going to hire a toxic person or a
toxic person is going to hire us. Are there certain
things that we should look for? Yes, the key is
what can you identify up front? If you're the job
seeker during an interview, see if the hiring manager pays
(10:46):
attention to you. And in the past, if you had
a job interview in an office, they would perhaps be
distracted by their phone or sending emails during the interview,
or asking you inappropriate questions, or talking down to their
colleagues or talking behind their colleagues back to you as
a job secret those are red flags. But now during
a video job interview, you know you can ask them
like where about the company culture and ask them why
(11:08):
they enjoy working there, and you may not necessarily be
able to pick up on certain toxicity, like if they're
a micromanager, or if they will throw you under the bus.
Ask about turnover. Why is this position available, how long
has it been open? Is the group expanding? You know,
you may be able to get insight from a variety
of people to tell you, oh, well, this person got promoted,
(11:30):
which is a good sign, versus we had to lay off,
but now we're rehiring, which is not necessarily a bad sign.
And on the other side, if you're a hiring manager,
I would dive into behavioral based interview questions as much
as you can. But I'll give you an example, because
past behavior many cases be able to help forecast future behavior.
(11:52):
I had one candidate in particular who was really rude
to the receptionist, and I remember telling the hiring manager
at the time, she's just not a nice person. She's
nice to you because you're interviewing her. But the candidates
behavior is observed from the minute the recruiter has the
first conversation with them, through the entire process, which includes
sitting in the waiting room. And I remember I told
(12:13):
the harder manager, I wouldn't hire her if I were you.
I think she's going to be I think behavior might
be an issue, and sure enough, in three months she
was hired and we had to let her go because
there were behavioral issues among the team. So if you
see your hire manager and you see certain things that
you're thinking that not that big of a deal, it
probably is going to be a big deal. Especially, let's
(12:34):
say during a video job interview, you won't have these
external cues, but you're assessing if they're the right fit.
So if they start bad mouthing their current boss or
their former situation, or there's something that just seems off
about a story that they're telling, dive deeper into asking
more questions and assess from there. We're going to take
(12:56):
a quick break here, be right back. So it's a
tough environment out there. Vicky, you lost your job. What
do you suggest here's the first thing you should do.
Take a step back and look at your resume and
your skills and assess what your strengths are and where
(13:17):
you excel. But Vicky, a lot of times we're very
poor marketers of ourselves and it's really hard to capture
like the spirit of who you are in a resume.
So how do you do that? And there's so many
different resume styles, templates of what a resume should look like.
Do you have any thoughts on that front. This is
where a lot of people get stumped. As well as
the cover letter on Monster. We have a variety of templates,
(13:40):
so you shouldn't feel like you have to recreate the wheel.
There are templates that exist that you can emulate. One
thing that you can do is create an executive summary
at the top of your resume. Look at your most
recent job. What needs to be tweaked on your resume,
and how can you quantify it? Look at all the accolades,
all the accomplishments, all the strides that you made in
(14:01):
that job. Quantify as much as possible. So I'm a
former corporate recruiter and I always looked at things that
popped out on the resume, like you managed to budget great,
what was the amount you manage a team? How many
people are on the team. That's really interesting. So even
if you don't think the statistics are notable, sometimes that's
what jumps out in a stack of resumes. How that
(14:23):
you specifically say. For instance, I was a journalist and
I worked for a brand that had three million hits
a month, and I was responsible for five thousand of
those hits that would be something that would stand out
to you. Yes, and I produced three stories a day
and four segments a week. Something else that also stands
out are key words. Number one, try to emulate what's
(14:46):
in the job description in terms of the keywords for
that role, so it's in your resume as well, so
the system will pick it up as well as recruiters
that are reviewing your resume. But too, you can do
a variation of the words. So this way, when you apply,
you're applying not only to that job, but then your
resume becomes part of the company's database. So any recruiter
in that company with access to the database could look
(15:08):
up keywords and find your resume for jobs that you
did not even apply to. So computer algorithms kind of
filter through job applications. So does this keyword exercise help
applicants succeed better in a digital world? Yes, because the
algorithms will pick up those keywords and with other recruiters
(15:30):
they may be able to they'll be able to search
for your resume by keywords. So depending on how they
which words they use, you can make your resume more
easily found by those recruiters by using keywords and varying it. Okay,
so we did resume cover letter? Do you have any
insight into that because those are sometimes really in many
(15:53):
ways harder than a resume, right, Like, what are you
trying to say? Hello, I need money, give me a job,
love always David, right, exactly, like hire me please looking
for work? Um. Your cover letter should be viewed as
a written version of an elevator pitch. You know your
elevator pitch you thirty seconds to brand yourself if you
(16:15):
meet someone or you're talking on the phone, the one
in terms of here's who I am, here are my strengths,
here's what I excel at, here's what I do really well,
and this is what I'm interested in. So your cover
letter number one expresses interest in the job. So always
referenced the job by the job title as well as
the code. There's usually a code written in the job description,
(16:36):
like if you're a recruiter, it would probably be your
initials like DGE. And you're doing this in case your
cover letter gets emailed to hiring managers and get separated
from your resume, or people don't know which job you're
applying to. They all know specifically through that job title
and the code your cover letter needs to be sustinct.
So the first sentence is like, hello, I'm interested in
(16:57):
applying to this job. Here's a job title and the
requisition number. Next paragraph, you know what really intrigued me
about this is that you're looking for someone with the
skill set of you know, sales drift driven entrepreneurial mindset.
And in my most recent role, I one salesperson of
the year for the second year in a row, and
I brought in one million dollars of new sales a business.
(17:19):
Or you know, get quantifiable highlight two or three accomplishments
and or skills and experiences that will help stand you
apart from your competition and really get them interested. And
then what you could do is copy and paste most
of your executive summary into the cover letters. So again
we're talking about efficiency. Let's streamline the process to get
(17:40):
you hired faster. So your cover letters second paragraph is
highlighting those things. And then the third paragraph, you know,
looking forward to hearing from you soon, thank you for
your consideration, sincerely, and then your name. Wow, that's actually
really good advice. I wish I had had that the
last time I wrote my cover letter. I'm Unfortunately, one
of those people, VICKI, that's been at the same job
for five years, so I forgot how this all works.
(18:03):
You're probably in the same goat with a lot of
people listening, so I'm glad you're asking these questions. Tell
me about references. Super awkward, right, because there's two types
of references. There's people that used to work with you
and then just kind of randos that they ask for.
Can you tell me a little bit about that. Yeah,
so your references are basically your former bosses, but it
(18:25):
could also be former colleagues, former clients, so you can
think out of the box. So let's say if you
work for a toxic boss and that's the reason why
you left your last job, you most likely will not
want to put down your toxic boss as a reference.
The whole point of a reference is to have someone
vouch for your abilities to work, but also the soft
(18:46):
skills that are coveted by employers, like integrity, ethics, and
just being a really great communicator and team player. So
to navigate those waters with the toxic boss, think of
those in that role who you worked with. And four,
so maybe it was an internal client. Maybe let's say
if you're a journalists and your boss was an editor
(19:07):
and your boss was toxic. But you're you work closely
with a sales team. So think about in each role,
who would be your best ambassador, And what you should
do is also prep them. Number one, would you be
my reference? I would be honored? And number two, if
they reach out to you, here are the talking points.
Create a tip sheet for them, and you can email
(19:27):
them two or three bullets of skills and experiences you'd
like them to specifically emphasize. If they do get called, Wow,
this is all really good advice, So let's move on
to the next thing. A lot of times, you know,
online portals, of course do help, but sometimes you get
jobs from word of mouth. How do you navigate that?
You may find it through networking. You will find out
(19:49):
about hidden job opportunities they haven't posted yet, but through
conversations you may discover that jobs are becoming available. I
just coached a client last week because in life, and
she's like, I don't know how to network, and I said,
you probably do. You're just you're just not calling a networking.
Do you have friends, do you know roommates, their parents,
your parents? We know, for instance, at monster. We're seeing
(20:10):
a surge in opportunities and logistics, healthcare, warehousing technology. So
if you were laid off, you know you may want
to pivot and mentioned earlier your transferable skills. Look at
those job descriptions and oftentimes we're seeing customer service skills
are often very much in demand. So if you were
in hospitality, really focus on how you can mark at
(20:32):
your transferable skills of customer service from a different industry
to pivot into a new industry. So on your cover
letter and the executive sugarty of your resume, focus on
those transferable skills. And that's where we're also finding in
the Future of Work report, the majority of employers are
saying the challenge for job secrets right now is we
need them to be better at explaining their transferable skills.
(20:55):
So they're definitely hirable, they're just not marketing themselves in
terms of transferable skill sets. So I want to talk
about something else. Why don't Why I apply to a
bunch of jobs and they never right back to me.
When did that become? Okay? Here your pain? I know,
I know a lot of times job seekers will say
I've applied and no, I went into a black hole.
(21:16):
It did not go into a black hole. Recruiters are
working fast, and I don't want to say furiously, but
they're working diligently to hire the most qualified candidates really
really quickly. So as much as job seekers may feel
disheartened discouraged by the process, recruiters are feeling pressure to
(21:37):
fill the jobs really fast for their hiring managers who
are really excited to meet you as a candidate. So
continue applying. Focus on keywords. Back to your question, when
did that become okay? Uh, it's it's such a challenging
UM situation. And when I can tell you from my experience,
when I used to look at the portal and have
(21:58):
hundreds of resumes for the same job, I just just
felt so like, oh my gosh, I I need to
go through these resumes very methodically but very quickly, and
didn't have necessarily time to get back to everyone because
you're focusing more on the candidates that are let's say
in the pipeline um than aren't or more qualified than aren't.
(22:18):
So that's why it's important when you see a job
online let's say job alert plan in your inbox, and
you see something that interests you don't overthink it, apply
this same day. So the faster you apply, I think
the better off you will be, because you never want
to take for granted that job will be there tomorrow,
I guess, Piggy I and I have strong opinions about this.
(22:38):
And I just remember the brands when I was seeking
a job that never wrote me back, and it's a
pr problem for them because it reflects now my consumer behavior.
And I remember those brands that didn't even bother to
send me a rejection email. So when I get people
applying to Bold TV, I make sure I send every
single person a rejection email because that's what I would
(23:01):
have wanted, and that's the right thing to do. And
also to that point, you never know. Let's say, David,
if you're hiring down the road and you reach out
to one of those candidates who had a great resume
but maybe they weren't the right fit for the job
at the time, they will most likely be very happy
to hear from you because they felt that you gave
them the courteous you know, they were courtesy and respectful.
(23:23):
And I'm not saying these companies who don't respond aren't it.
Sometimes it's just by nature of having an influx of resumes.
It can be very challenging to do that. I'm not
citing one way or the other, just I hear your pain, um,
and I see the other side of it too. But yeah,
to your point, I think that's a great, great practice
that you do, because then in turn they will think
about you and bow TV favorably. And then also you
(23:44):
never know who they know for networking as well down
the road, um, and what type of connections can be
built upon this. So it's not only the job that
you're applying to now, or let's say as a hiring
manager you're rejecting them kindly and courteously, but also down
the road you never know, we're gonna take a quick
break here, be right back. So I guess that begs
(24:09):
the question how long should I wait for a response?
Is there a timetable? There is not a specific timetable
to say like, yes, within two weeks you should hear back,
because it depends on many factors that you're not aware
of as a job seeker, such as how far along
the companies are into the interviewing process, and most of
them are posting jobs to hire right away, So it's
(24:31):
not like they're posting, and then they're sitting on the job,
you know, waiting for more resumes to come in. Most
of them are urgently looking to hire right now. So
I think what's the most important takeaway here, David, to
your question is be interested in the job when you apply,
keep it top of mind, but then move on to
the next job that you're applying to. So it's really
out of your control once you apply. So start, you know,
(24:53):
you can do research about the company, Start prepping your
interview questions if you're rusty on interviewing skills, and maybe
conduct a mock interview with a friend or former colleague
or your career office at your alma mater, find a
career coach, find ways to do other things in addition
to job searching, so you will be ready when you
get that call. So let's talk about interviews. Of course, awkward,
(25:16):
super awkward. You can never read what's going on. And
let me tell you, Vicky from one to ten, I
have really really high social eq emotional quotation, and I
kind of fall apart in interviews. And I do interviews
for a living, right, I'm interviewing you right now. I
was interviewed earlier by a nationally syndicated television show. But
(25:37):
when it when there's money on the line. In my career,
a lot of us don't do well, and I think
I'm in that group. So how do you navigate that? Well,
you're an awesome interviewer, so I I wouldn't beg to differ.
I mean, I imagine you probably do really well and
you don't give yourself a credit. But I'm just saying, so,
how do you navigate that? For someone who I'd say
it's like he was just outstanding at what they do,
(25:58):
but then comes to an interview and they may feel,
um like there it's not their top performance. You do
several things. First of all, practice start doing more interviews,
and just realize they're looking to hire you as much
as you want the job. So, according to our Future
of Work survey, they're three top factors employers used to
determine if you're the right fit and in person interview, resume,
(26:19):
prior work experience. So right now we're in this time
where video job interviews are the norm. So even recruiters
and hiring managers may feel similar to you on the
other side of the screen, thinking okay, this we want
to you know, see if there's rapports, see if they
can work with us. So it goes both ways. So
that will hopefully, first of all, help job seekers realize
(26:41):
that the interview, it's not just you interviewing them. I
mean not only them interviewing you. You're interviewing them. You
want to see if they're the right fit for you culturally.
Also the video interviews, I mean you won't necessarily have
the opportunities to shake their hand. You can definitely do
your best to maintain eye contact on a screen, but
also think about the humble brag and highlight your prior work,
(27:05):
current work experience that makes you shine. What is in
your executive summary, what's in your cover letter, and be
authentic and be relaxed. And with video interviews, I always
tell people, um, right now, especially, you may go to
the area of your home and turn on your ring
lamp and get ready, like one minute before the interview,
but give yourself at least ten or fifteen minutes or
(27:27):
more to get into that space and the frame of
mind and practice the questions and the answers in your
head so they don't sound canned, but they sound authentic.
But you have talking points ready. I always tell people too,
don't forget to look into the camera. Don't stare at
your own picture, because then you're looking away and people
don't remember that. With these types of platforms. Yes, and
(27:48):
that's a top tip. You can even put a post
it note with an arrow towards that lens so you're
not looking at yourself and make sure the height of
the camera is good. And so you could test out
technology and audio and all these things. So logisticly, you're
ready to hit the ground running. Okay, now we're going
to change hats here, Vicky, I want to hire people.
How does that work? What should I do? How do
(28:09):
you find quality employees? Number one, we're seeing that if
you're looking to hire, you may want to cast a
wider net and think outside of a geographic region. So
let's say you know, the Bold Studios were Manhattan. Maybe
right now, if you're doing virtual and you're thinking, okay, well,
do we need someone who's eventually based in New York
City or can they be based out of their home?
(28:30):
So think about location, think about the skill sets and
the type of skills that you need, and where your
talent pool will be. And it may be you know,
first of all, working with the recruiting team internally UM
and or h R in terms of crafting job descriptions
in terms of what are the top skills that you need?
(28:51):
Number two, how are you going to assess those skills
during an interview? The interview is of course after the resume,
so how are they going to assess those skills door
in the resume review process in terms of what are
you looking for specifically? And if someone doesn't have prior
work experience, if they're right out of college, do they
have internships, do they have relevant course work? And it
(29:12):
also comes down to UM connection and communication during the
interview itself. Okay, I want to talk about this social
media politics, your online presence, your opinions. Is this hurting
job seekers? It can be. So what can help job
(29:33):
seekers with social media is present themselves in a three
dimensional light. So you can post industry news. Maybe there's
a new recipe you tried out. Try to think, you know,
how can I be neutral? So I wouldn't necessarily always
post political views or anything that can be controversial or
more personal. You can post things that are more generic,
(29:53):
like hey, you know, thinking about my next daycation plan
over the summer, Any ideas you can do things in
such a way where it's inclusive and not divisive or exclusive. Wow,
So we should be careful what we post on social
media because employers look at that, don't they They absolutely
look at that, And they're also looking for not only consistency,
(30:16):
but also a consistent voice. Does their Instagram match, their
Twitter match, their linked in profile? And what are their
stories are here that may not be on their resume,
So they're looking for a variety of things like why
should we not hire you, or why should we hire you?
This person seems to have great energy, they seem really vibrant,
they would have they have excellent skills for this job
(30:38):
of X y Z. So leverage your social media in
such a way that if it is directly related to
your job, like if you're content creator and you're on
social media, then create a ton of content on your
own or post your own content that's been published elsewhere.
But if it's not necessarily related to your job, and
you're more private and you work and let's say more
conservative feel but maybe something more league or financial, then
(31:01):
make your profiles private. That's always an option as well. Yeah,
that's really good advice. Actually, So I want to you know,
do you really think things are going to get better
this year? I know your survey says that I think
you said said that they were hiring this year. But
a lot of people need a little hope for so
can you give us a little preview of what's coming up. Yes, yes,
(31:25):
I'm glad you use that word hope because I feel
the same way I feel like monster. We are hopeful
it can't rain forever. We do know companies are hiring.
We do know that now people are more accustomed to
working from home than were accustomed to the video job interviews.
So if I was unemployed, I would specifically be looking
in these areas because we know that there's most likely
(31:46):
going to be growth that continues, because we saw this
growth in logistics, security, occupational health and safety, healthcare. In
terms of safety administrators, so you don't necessarily, let's say,
need a specific licensing our certificate, credential medical assistant. You
can be training an instruction is another area, training and development,
(32:08):
as well as environment, solar and energy, environmental engineers, restoration planners,
energy auditors. So we're optimistic. Basically we're where, Yes, there
are challenges in this pandemic and their challenges the talent
acquisition industry faces, like the skills gap that's brought in
and the pandemics impact on our mental health. So I
(32:28):
think another more we can do is it both employers
and employees and job seekers to really focusing on mental
health in our careers as well as job search in
terms of you know, job related anxiety, depression and takes
from too much screen time. You know, these are real things,
so how can we hopefully navigate them better in the
new year and then follow the profit We always encourage
(32:51):
people to get side gigs to it. I heard you
mentioned that. I think that's really important advice, especially if
you're getting unemployment right. It gives you an opportunity to
stick your toes and some thing new right, and a
Plan B can become your Plan A. You may stick
your joys and something new and realize you really like it,
and while you're there, show up on time, work really hard,
connect do impeccable work, and you may want to explore
(33:13):
it further in terms of moving up the ladder or
other opportunities within or leveraging those skills to a different
role at another company. So I think there are options
and something else that we could something that we can
take away from this pandemic. That's on a positive note too,
is working remotely. Companies are seeing that they can hire remotely,
and so as they're doing that, as a job seeker,
(33:34):
you may realize, Okay, I'm not necessarily limited to the
zip code of where I am, where I currently live,
or where I'm writing up the pandemic, like I'm in
Texas right now, a little break from New York City.
So think about where the job is not necessarily or
where you are and where the job can be done,
which may very well be your own home or where
you're temporarily um staying during the pandemic. Yeah, well you,
(33:58):
Vicky and everyone else. I'm in Florida, you're in Texas.
It's a wonderful new world where we can enjoy the
sunshine amidst the winter, find fulfillment in our careers, and
really reinvent ourselves, like you're saying, Vicky, If you if
you are unemployed, if you know someone who's unemployed, it's
primetime for reinvention, isn't it, Vicky? It is? And really
(34:19):
think about those skills that you have, valuable skill sets
most likely that companies are looking for right now, So
think about, Okay, how can I market myself really well
into these jobs that can end up blossoming into a
whole new career path. Well, Vicky on that note, that
was Vicky s lem Me from Monster dot com spokesperson
(34:42):
Glamorous and I'm sure, just like me, you're missing old
New York. I hope things get better and I'll see
you back in midtown. Vicky sounds good. David, thanks so much,
so thank you all for joining me as we follow
the off it, and especially a big thank you to
(35:02):
Vicky Slemmy. She's a career expert for Monster, a friend
of mine, and someone I really rely on in this field.
She told us all the real world scoop about how
to apply, interview, and get a job, plus what really
goes on when you fill out a job application. As always,
I'd like to thank my team Emileano, Lemon, Scott Handler,
(35:22):
Cheyenne Reid, and our executive producers Knew king Rich and
Debbie Myers. I'm your host, David Grasso, So if you're
enjoying the show as much as I am, give us
five stars and give us a review so that others
can really learn what this show is all about Follow
the Profit is a production of ging Rich three sixty
and I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,
(35:42):
visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
you get your podcasts. All opinions expressed by David Grasso
and if guests on the show are solely their opinions
and do not reflect the opinions of Kinglich three sixty
or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by David
(36:04):
Grasso on this podcast, television, radio, internet, or other medium.
You should not treat any opinion expressed by David Grasso
as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or
follow particular strategy, but only as an expression of his opinion.
David Grass's opinions are based upon information he considers reliable,
but neither ging Rich Productions nor its affiliates and or
(36:24):
subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not
be relied upon as such. David Grasso, Gangwich Productions, its affiliates,
and or subsidiaries are not under any obligation to update
or correct any information provided on this website. David Grasso's
statements and opinions are subject to change without notice. No
part of David Grasso's compensation from Ginglish Productions is related
to the specific opinions he expresses. Past performance is not
(36:47):
indicative of future results. Neither David Grasso nor Gingrich three
sixty guarantees any specific outcome or profit. You should be
aware of the real risk of loss in following any
strategy or investment discussed on this website or on the show.
Strategies or investments discussed may fluctuate in price or value.
Investors may get back less than invested. Investments or strategies
mentioned on this website or on the show may not
(37:09):
be suitable for you. This material does not take into
account your particular investment objectives, financial situation, or needs, and
it is not intended as recommendations appropriate for you. You
must make an independent decision regarding investments or strategies mentioned
on this website or on the show. Before acting on
information on this website or on the show, you should
consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and
(37:31):
strongly consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment advisor.
All opinions expressed by David Grasso and his guests on
the show are solely their opinions and do not reflect
the opinions of eng Which three sixty or affiliates, and
may have been previously disseminated by David Grasso on this podcast, television, radio, internet,
or other medium. You should not treat any opinion expressed
(37:52):
by David Grasso as a specific inducement to make a
particular investment or follow particular strategy, but only as an
expression of his opinion. David grass His opinions are based
upon information he considers reliable, but neither ging Rich Productions
nor its affiliates and or subsidiaries warnt its completeness or accuracy,
and it should not be relied upon as such. David Grasso,
Gangwich Productions, its affiliates, and or subsidiaries are not under
(38:15):
any obligation to update or correct any information provided on
this website. David Grasslo's statements and opinions are subject to
change without notice. No part of David Grasso's compensation from
Ginglish Productions is related to the specific opinions he expresses.
Past performance is not indicative of future results. Neither David
Grasso nor Gingrich three sixty guarantees any specific outcome or
(38:35):
profit You should be aware of the real risk of
loss in following any strategy or investment discussed on this
website or on the show. Strategies or investments discussed may
fluctuate in price or value. Investors may get back less
than invested. Investments or strategies mentioned on this website or
on the show may not be suitable for you. This
material does not take into account your particular investment objectives,
(38:56):
financial situation, or needs, and is not intended as recommendation
it is appropriate for you. You must make an independent
decision regarding investments or strategies mentioned on this website or
on the show. Before acting on information on this website
or on the show, you should consider whether it is
suitable for your particular circumstances and strongly consider seeking advice
from your own financial or investment advisor.
Follow the Profit is a production of ging Ridge three
sixty and I Heart Radio. So I imagine everyone out
there has at least filled out one job application, if
not thousands, and you're probably wondering, why haven't they gotten
back to me? Did I put down enough skills? Was
my cover letter too short? What on earth did I
(00:23):
do wrong to deserve this? This is daunting. The game
of applying for a job is really hard and the
rules of the game change constantly. How do you succeed?
How do you get that job? And even importantly, if
you're looking to hire, if you're on the flip side
of that coin, that's really hard to So we're gonna
talk to one career expert and a friend of mine
(00:45):
who's going to break this all down and help you
better understand how to get a job, succeed and put
this error behind you and you're an employer, how to
find the right people. I'm David Grasso, and you're listening
to Follow the Profit. As always, we have one promise
(01:11):
for you. We're not here to be a motivational, get
rich quick show. We're here to deconstruct what's going on
around here, you know, in important buckets like the economy, politics,
and finance so that you can use your money to
help you follow the profit. Looking for a job is
a pain in the dairy air, to put it nicely. First,
there are job sites. Second, you can ask your friends,
(01:35):
and there's a writing and the assembly of the resume
and cover letter, and how do you talk to people?
How do you present your portfolio? How do you get references?
And then let's talk about the psychology. Once you submit,
there's radio silence, and you have this psychological thing going on,
(01:58):
the overwhelming antics, a patient of maybe possibly hopefully, well
maybe even just send me a rejection letter at this point.
And then let's say you don't get a rejection letter,
you get an interview, Oh my god, what do you do?
Then it's all very exhausting, but let's face it, it's
part of the game that you have to play if
(02:19):
you want to work somewhere. Well here today, I'm following
the profit. We're gonna try to make this easier and
we're going to try to help you think about this
whole process and strategize accordingly. And this isn't typically a
very pleasant conversation. That's why I brought someone in who
I believe does a really, really good job of making
it as pleasant as possible. I think she's a job
(02:41):
posting whisperer. She works for a brand that you'll definitely recognize.
My guest is Vicky so Lemmy. She's a career expert
and spokesperson for Monster. Hi VICKI, Hi David, thank you
so much for having me a congrats on your podcast. Well,
thank you, so Vicky, tell me a little bit more
about you. So you are a recruit and now you're
spokesperson for Monsters. So you've kind of seen both sides
(03:03):
of the divide. What are stories from your life that
can provide us inside on this area. I left recruiting
because I felt like I couldn't be an advocate for
job seekers. I saw the challenges that recruiters face, and
right now, you know of recruiters, they assessing candidates during
the interview, identifying quality candidates quickly. So I saw those
(03:26):
challenges and I felt badly. I couldn't reject everyone individually
when I had hundreds of candidates, and I couldn't give
people constructive feedback if they didn't do well. Let's say
they did well in the first round of the interview,
but then the second round they didn't do well, or
I've just seen candidates react too quickly to accept. Yes,
(03:49):
they're excited about the opportunity, this is the company that
they've been wanting to work for. Yes, they've got an offer.
They should always pause when negotiating. First express gratitude and
then second pause and say can I get back to
you tomorrow, and then just ask a question, do you
is there more money? I helped a career coaching client
last week with then one day he negotiated increase just
(04:11):
because he was able to ask the question. So I
think the number one thing with negotiating is people just
don't ask, and they may feel overwhelmed, like I don't
know how to negotiate. So just thrill it down to
a simple question, was there more money? And no, you're
not being greedy, because yes, they expect you to negotiate,
and if you don't negotiate, they may feel like, okay,
that was almost too easy, like there's there's money sitting here.
(04:35):
But always ask the question because if you start a
job and you didn't negotiate, and then then every year
that's compounded less money that you're going to be taking home.
So that's when monster and I collaborated it, and I
love working with them and as their career expert, I
feel like I'm in a position to help people and
also help employers in terms of knowing what their challenges
are too and how to you know, bridge that gap
(04:57):
because we're on the same team at the end of
the day. So I just love like being interviewed, like
right now. It's really fun and I feel like I'm
giving back to society. And a lot of times I
shouldn't say a lot, but job seekers will often say
they feel anxiety and especially now they're unemployed, you know, depression,
a lot of mental health around looking for a job,
(05:19):
and they feel overwhelmed. And I feel like it doesn't
have to be that way. This is your next job,
this is your next paycheck, your next work family, this
is a new, exciting opportunity. There are ways to think
about it in a really positive way. Even during dire times,
people are getting hired and companies are hiring. That's a
really important lesson. Okay, funny interview stories. I want one. Okay,
(05:43):
here we go. I you know, it's funny the stories
that stick out in your mind. Remember years ago, it
wasn't my candidate but it was my boss's candidate, and
the candidate had was chewing gum and spit out the
gum projectile motion into the guard bitch as the interview started.
That's the one thing, and it was like a senior
(06:05):
level candidate, and it's unfortunate that I looked at the
resume and it seemed great. My boss said after the
interview is like, that's the one thing I remember is
the projectile gom or candids will be like, oh my gosh.
And I don't remember if you got the job, but
I do remember after that interview were like, oh my gosh.
Things you should not do on an interview. How about
(06:27):
any funny resume mistakes done your resume? I have not personally,
but that's why it's so important for a spell chat
review your resume. It takes two minutes. Just look at
it to make sure there aren't any auto corrects in
there that should not be in there, and really just
look at it very closely. But the same applies to
thank you emails. I never got any lacky thank you emails,
(06:49):
but I do remember some typos, and so typos do
stand out. So you always want to make sure whatever
you're emailing or whatever you're sending is always accurate. Tell
us about those thank you emails. So if you do
of a resume, you always send thank you after an interview, Yes,
you always, even after an informational interview. It's not necessarily
a job interview. You always want to appreciate the person's
(07:11):
time and reference something you talked about, and then you
can always follow up from there. And you may not
get a response, but that's okay. You're doing it just
to acknowledge their time and consideration. Okay. So what would
you do, Vicky if you were unemployed right now? How
would you market yourself? I would start looking for a
part time job immediately or something to get keep my
(07:33):
skills sharp, get out of the house, or do something
even if it's remote. Just how money coming in the door? Next,
revise my resume in terms of marketing myself, looking at
where the hot jobs in demand right now and how
can I get them by transferring my skill set. So
for me, I would say no communication skills, customer service,
(07:54):
ability to interact with all levels of management and all
different types of people. So your executive summary, your cover letter,
and then I would hit the phones and I would
email people in my network. I mean, yesterday I connected
with my former boss from twelve years ago. It was
great just reconnecting for no other purpose than chatting. So,
you know, reconnect with your network and it's a good
(08:14):
time to network. Set up job alerts. I would apply
as soon as I saw jobs immediately. Don't overthink it
and stay positive. You've got this, like, have a positive
outlooks around yourself with positive people. Okay. And now if
you were an entrepreneur Vicky and I ventured capital fund
just you know, decided to invest in you because you're fabulous, right,
(08:35):
and they give you ten million dollars and you had
to grow your company, what would you do to hire people?
M hmmm. I would first look internally who would be
the right fit, and I would create an ideal candidate
by outlining a job description in terms of not only
the role but also the specific skill set and what
(08:55):
is the culture, what is the transparency? And then from
there I would was the job on monster and I
would start getting resumes and just think about who is
the ideal higher for this company and the role. What
is their background? Are they right out of school? Are
they senior level executive to let's say speared global recruiting
when we build a company to that point where it's global,
(09:17):
but also how am I emulating that as a leader,
So this way I could see if there's the right fit.
During the video interviews, if I'm looking at resumes, you
know what am I specifically looking for? What I want
to see them quantify? You know what questions am I
going to ask? And I would definitely always ask was
behavioral based interview questions like name a time when X,
Y Z or know during the pandemic, No, I noticed
(09:39):
that there's a gap on your resume. You know, what
have you been doing with your time? And I should
say what we found at the Future of Work survey,
David is companies don't see the same red flags that
they did in the past. So if you have a
gap on your resume, or if you are a job
hopper or have been a job hopper, it's not that
it's big of a deal as it once was. So
don't over think. Just have a narrative to talk about
(10:03):
pivoting into your next role. So if they ask about
a gap on your resume, talk about, Okay, well I
was in the travel industry during the pandemic. I got furloughed.
That's why I'm interested in this job because my skills
of X, y Z of customer service seemed great in
this health care facility for elderly people because I've customer
service skills at transfer. So you want to always focus
(10:23):
on the positive. How do we know whether we're dealing
with toxic people or not? Vicky from both angles, right,
whether we're going to hire a toxic person or a
toxic person is going to hire us. Are there certain
things that we should look for? Yes, the key is
what can you identify up front? If you're the job
seeker during an interview, see if the hiring manager pays
(10:46):
attention to you. And in the past, if you had
a job interview in an office, they would perhaps be
distracted by their phone or sending emails during the interview,
or asking you inappropriate questions, or talking down to their
colleagues or talking behind their colleagues back to you as
a job secret those are red flags. But now during
a video job interview, you know you can ask them
like where about the company culture and ask them why
(11:08):
they enjoy working there, and you may not necessarily be
able to pick up on certain toxicity, like if they're
a micromanager, or if they will throw you under the bus.
Ask about turnover. Why is this position available, how long
has it been open? Is the group expanding? You know,
you may be able to get insight from a variety
of people to tell you, oh, well, this person got promoted,
(11:30):
which is a good sign, versus we had to lay off,
but now we're rehiring, which is not necessarily a bad sign.
And on the other side, if you're a hiring manager,
I would dive into behavioral based interview questions as much
as you can. But I'll give you an example, because
past behavior many cases be able to help forecast future behavior.
(11:52):
I had one candidate in particular who was really rude
to the receptionist, and I remember telling the hiring manager
at the time, she's just not a nice person. She's
nice to you because you're interviewing her. But the candidates
behavior is observed from the minute the recruiter has the
first conversation with them, through the entire process, which includes
sitting in the waiting room. And I remember I told
(12:13):
the harder manager, I wouldn't hire her if I were you.
I think she's going to be I think behavior might
be an issue, and sure enough, in three months she
was hired and we had to let her go because
there were behavioral issues among the team. So if you
see your hire manager and you see certain things that
you're thinking that not that big of a deal, it
probably is going to be a big deal. Especially, let's
(12:34):
say during a video job interview, you won't have these
external cues, but you're assessing if they're the right fit.
So if they start bad mouthing their current boss or
their former situation, or there's something that just seems off
about a story that they're telling, dive deeper into asking
more questions and assess from there. We're going to take
(12:56):
a quick break here, be right back. So it's a
tough environment out there. Vicky, you lost your job. What
do you suggest here's the first thing you should do.
Take a step back and look at your resume and
your skills and assess what your strengths are and where
(13:17):
you excel. But Vicky, a lot of times we're very
poor marketers of ourselves and it's really hard to capture
like the spirit of who you are in a resume.
So how do you do that? And there's so many
different resume styles, templates of what a resume should look like.
Do you have any thoughts on that front. This is
where a lot of people get stumped. As well as
the cover letter on Monster. We have a variety of templates,
(13:40):
so you shouldn't feel like you have to recreate the wheel.
There are templates that exist that you can emulate. One
thing that you can do is create an executive summary
at the top of your resume. Look at your most
recent job. What needs to be tweaked on your resume,
and how can you quantify it? Look at all the accolades,
all the accomplishments, all the strides that you made in
(14:01):
that job. Quantify as much as possible. So I'm a
former corporate recruiter and I always looked at things that
popped out on the resume, like you managed to budget great,
what was the amount you manage a team? How many
people are on the team. That's really interesting. So even
if you don't think the statistics are notable, sometimes that's
what jumps out in a stack of resumes. How that
(14:23):
you specifically say. For instance, I was a journalist and
I worked for a brand that had three million hits
a month, and I was responsible for five thousand of
those hits that would be something that would stand out
to you. Yes, and I produced three stories a day
and four segments a week. Something else that also stands
out are key words. Number one, try to emulate what's
(14:46):
in the job description in terms of the keywords for
that role, so it's in your resume as well, so
the system will pick it up as well as recruiters
that are reviewing your resume. But too, you can do
a variation of the words. So this way, when you apply,
you're applying not only to that job, but then your
resume becomes part of the company's database. So any recruiter
in that company with access to the database could look
(15:08):
up keywords and find your resume for jobs that you
did not even apply to. So computer algorithms kind of
filter through job applications. So does this keyword exercise help
applicants succeed better in a digital world? Yes, because the
algorithms will pick up those keywords and with other recruiters
(15:30):
they may be able to they'll be able to search
for your resume by keywords. So depending on how they
which words they use, you can make your resume more
easily found by those recruiters by using keywords and varying it. Okay,
so we did resume cover letter? Do you have any
insight into that because those are sometimes really in many
(15:53):
ways harder than a resume, right, Like, what are you
trying to say? Hello, I need money, give me a job,
love always David, right, exactly, like hire me please looking
for work? Um. Your cover letter should be viewed as
a written version of an elevator pitch. You know your
elevator pitch you thirty seconds to brand yourself if you
(16:15):
meet someone or you're talking on the phone, the one
in terms of here's who I am, here are my strengths,
here's what I excel at, here's what I do really well,
and this is what I'm interested in. So your cover
letter number one expresses interest in the job. So always
referenced the job by the job title as well as
the code. There's usually a code written in the job description,
(16:36):
like if you're a recruiter, it would probably be your
initials like DGE. And you're doing this in case your
cover letter gets emailed to hiring managers and get separated
from your resume, or people don't know which job you're
applying to. They all know specifically through that job title
and the code your cover letter needs to be sustinct.
So the first sentence is like, hello, I'm interested in
(16:57):
applying to this job. Here's a job title and the
requisition number. Next paragraph, you know what really intrigued me
about this is that you're looking for someone with the
skill set of you know, sales drift driven entrepreneurial mindset.
And in my most recent role, I one salesperson of
the year for the second year in a row, and
I brought in one million dollars of new sales a business.
(17:19):
Or you know, get quantifiable highlight two or three accomplishments
and or skills and experiences that will help stand you
apart from your competition and really get them interested. And
then what you could do is copy and paste most
of your executive summary into the cover letters. So again
we're talking about efficiency. Let's streamline the process to get
(17:40):
you hired faster. So your cover letters second paragraph is
highlighting those things. And then the third paragraph, you know,
looking forward to hearing from you soon, thank you for
your consideration, sincerely, and then your name. Wow, that's actually
really good advice. I wish I had had that the
last time I wrote my cover letter. I'm Unfortunately, one
of those people, VICKI, that's been at the same job
for five years, so I forgot how this all works.
(18:03):
You're probably in the same goat with a lot of
people listening, so I'm glad you're asking these questions. Tell
me about references. Super awkward, right, because there's two types
of references. There's people that used to work with you
and then just kind of randos that they ask for.
Can you tell me a little bit about that. Yeah,
so your references are basically your former bosses, but it
(18:25):
could also be former colleagues, former clients, so you can
think out of the box. So let's say if you
work for a toxic boss and that's the reason why
you left your last job, you most likely will not
want to put down your toxic boss as a reference.
The whole point of a reference is to have someone
vouch for your abilities to work, but also the soft
(18:46):
skills that are coveted by employers, like integrity, ethics, and
just being a really great communicator and team player. So
to navigate those waters with the toxic boss, think of
those in that role who you worked with. And four,
so maybe it was an internal client. Maybe let's say
if you're a journalists and your boss was an editor
(19:07):
and your boss was toxic. But you're you work closely
with a sales team. So think about in each role,
who would be your best ambassador, And what you should
do is also prep them. Number one, would you be
my reference? I would be honored? And number two, if
they reach out to you, here are the talking points.
Create a tip sheet for them, and you can email
(19:27):
them two or three bullets of skills and experiences you'd
like them to specifically emphasize. If they do get called, Wow,
this is all really good advice, So let's move on
to the next thing. A lot of times, you know,
online portals, of course do help, but sometimes you get
jobs from word of mouth. How do you navigate that?
You may find it through networking. You will find out
(19:49):
about hidden job opportunities they haven't posted yet, but through
conversations you may discover that jobs are becoming available. I
just coached a client last week because in life, and
she's like, I don't know how to network, and I said,
you probably do. You're just you're just not calling a networking.
Do you have friends, do you know roommates, their parents,
your parents? We know, for instance, at monster. We're seeing
(20:10):
a surge in opportunities and logistics, healthcare, warehousing technology. So
if you were laid off, you know you may want
to pivot and mentioned earlier your transferable skills. Look at
those job descriptions and oftentimes we're seeing customer service skills
are often very much in demand. So if you were
in hospitality, really focus on how you can mark at
(20:32):
your transferable skills of customer service from a different industry
to pivot into a new industry. So on your cover
letter and the executive sugarty of your resume, focus on
those transferable skills. And that's where we're also finding in
the Future of Work report, the majority of employers are
saying the challenge for job secrets right now is we
need them to be better at explaining their transferable skills.
(20:55):
So they're definitely hirable, they're just not marketing themselves in
terms of transferable skill sets. So I want to talk
about something else. Why don't Why I apply to a
bunch of jobs and they never right back to me.
When did that become? Okay? Here your pain? I know,
I know a lot of times job seekers will say
I've applied and no, I went into a black hole.
(21:16):
It did not go into a black hole. Recruiters are
working fast, and I don't want to say furiously, but
they're working diligently to hire the most qualified candidates really
really quickly. So as much as job seekers may feel
disheartened discouraged by the process, recruiters are feeling pressure to
(21:37):
fill the jobs really fast for their hiring managers who
are really excited to meet you as a candidate. So
continue applying. Focus on keywords. Back to your question, when
did that become okay? Uh, it's it's such a challenging
UM situation. And when I can tell you from my experience,
when I used to look at the portal and have
(21:58):
hundreds of resumes for the same job, I just just
felt so like, oh my gosh, I I need to
go through these resumes very methodically but very quickly, and
didn't have necessarily time to get back to everyone because
you're focusing more on the candidates that are let's say
in the pipeline um than aren't or more qualified than aren't.
(22:18):
So that's why it's important when you see a job
online let's say job alert plan in your inbox, and
you see something that interests you don't overthink it, apply
this same day. So the faster you apply, I think
the better off you will be, because you never want
to take for granted that job will be there tomorrow,
I guess, Piggy I and I have strong opinions about this.
(22:38):
And I just remember the brands when I was seeking
a job that never wrote me back, and it's a
pr problem for them because it reflects now my consumer behavior.
And I remember those brands that didn't even bother to
send me a rejection email. So when I get people
applying to Bold TV, I make sure I send every
single person a rejection email because that's what I would
(23:01):
have wanted, and that's the right thing to do. And
also to that point, you never know. Let's say, David,
if you're hiring down the road and you reach out
to one of those candidates who had a great resume
but maybe they weren't the right fit for the job
at the time, they will most likely be very happy
to hear from you because they felt that you gave
them the courteous you know, they were courtesy and respectful.
(23:23):
And I'm not saying these companies who don't respond aren't it.
Sometimes it's just by nature of having an influx of resumes.
It can be very challenging to do that. I'm not
citing one way or the other, just I hear your pain, um,
and I see the other side of it too. But yeah,
to your point, I think that's a great, great practice
that you do, because then in turn they will think
about you and bow TV favorably. And then also you
(23:44):
never know who they know for networking as well down
the road, um, and what type of connections can be
built upon this. So it's not only the job that
you're applying to now, or let's say as a hiring
manager you're rejecting them kindly and courteously, but also down
the road you never know, we're gonna take a quick
break here, be right back. So I guess that begs
(24:09):
the question how long should I wait for a response?
Is there a timetable? There is not a specific timetable
to say like, yes, within two weeks you should hear back,
because it depends on many factors that you're not aware
of as a job seeker, such as how far along
the companies are into the interviewing process, and most of
them are posting jobs to hire right away, So it's
(24:31):
not like they're posting, and then they're sitting on the job,
you know, waiting for more resumes to come in. Most
of them are urgently looking to hire right now. So
I think what's the most important takeaway here, David, to
your question is be interested in the job when you apply,
keep it top of mind, but then move on to
the next job that you're applying to. So it's really
out of your control once you apply. So start, you know,
(24:53):
you can do research about the company, Start prepping your
interview questions if you're rusty on interviewing skills, and maybe
conduct a mock interview with a friend or former colleague
or your career office at your alma mater, find a
career coach, find ways to do other things in addition
to job searching, so you will be ready when you
get that call. So let's talk about interviews. Of course, awkward,
(25:16):
super awkward. You can never read what's going on. And
let me tell you, Vicky from one to ten, I
have really really high social eq emotional quotation, and I
kind of fall apart in interviews. And I do interviews
for a living, right, I'm interviewing you right now. I
was interviewed earlier by a nationally syndicated television show. But
(25:37):
when it when there's money on the line. In my career,
a lot of us don't do well, and I think
I'm in that group. So how do you navigate that? Well,
you're an awesome interviewer, so I I wouldn't beg to differ.
I mean, I imagine you probably do really well and
you don't give yourself a credit. But I'm just saying, so,
how do you navigate that? For someone who I'd say
it's like he was just outstanding at what they do,
(25:58):
but then comes to an interview and they may feel,
um like there it's not their top performance. You do
several things. First of all, practice start doing more interviews,
and just realize they're looking to hire you as much
as you want the job. So, according to our Future
of Work survey, they're three top factors employers used to
determine if you're the right fit and in person interview, resume,
(26:19):
prior work experience. So right now we're in this time
where video job interviews are the norm. So even recruiters
and hiring managers may feel similar to you on the
other side of the screen, thinking okay, this we want
to you know, see if there's rapports, see if they
can work with us. So it goes both ways. So
that will hopefully, first of all, help job seekers realize
(26:41):
that the interview, it's not just you interviewing them. I
mean not only them interviewing you. You're interviewing them. You
want to see if they're the right fit for you culturally.
Also the video interviews, I mean you won't necessarily have
the opportunities to shake their hand. You can definitely do
your best to maintain eye contact on a screen, but
also think about the humble brag and highlight your prior work,
(27:05):
current work experience that makes you shine. What is in
your executive summary, what's in your cover letter, and be
authentic and be relaxed. And with video interviews, I always
tell people, um, right now, especially, you may go to
the area of your home and turn on your ring
lamp and get ready, like one minute before the interview,
but give yourself at least ten or fifteen minutes or
(27:27):
more to get into that space and the frame of
mind and practice the questions and the answers in your
head so they don't sound canned, but they sound authentic.
But you have talking points ready. I always tell people too,
don't forget to look into the camera. Don't stare at
your own picture, because then you're looking away and people
don't remember that. With these types of platforms. Yes, and
(27:48):
that's a top tip. You can even put a post
it note with an arrow towards that lens so you're
not looking at yourself and make sure the height of
the camera is good. And so you could test out
technology and audio and all these things. So logisticly, you're
ready to hit the ground running. Okay, now we're going
to change hats here, Vicky, I want to hire people.
How does that work? What should I do? How do
(28:09):
you find quality employees? Number one, we're seeing that if
you're looking to hire, you may want to cast a
wider net and think outside of a geographic region. So
let's say you know, the Bold Studios were Manhattan. Maybe
right now, if you're doing virtual and you're thinking, okay, well,
do we need someone who's eventually based in New York
City or can they be based out of their home?
(28:30):
So think about location, think about the skill sets and
the type of skills that you need, and where your
talent pool will be. And it may be you know,
first of all, working with the recruiting team internally UM
and or h R in terms of crafting job descriptions
in terms of what are the top skills that you need?
(28:51):
Number two, how are you going to assess those skills
during an interview? The interview is of course after the resume,
so how are they going to assess those skills door
in the resume review process in terms of what are
you looking for specifically? And if someone doesn't have prior
work experience, if they're right out of college, do they
have internships, do they have relevant course work? And it
(29:12):
also comes down to UM connection and communication during the
interview itself. Okay, I want to talk about this social
media politics, your online presence, your opinions. Is this hurting
job seekers? It can be. So what can help job
(29:33):
seekers with social media is present themselves in a three
dimensional light. So you can post industry news. Maybe there's
a new recipe you tried out. Try to think, you know,
how can I be neutral? So I wouldn't necessarily always
post political views or anything that can be controversial or
more personal. You can post things that are more generic,
(29:53):
like hey, you know, thinking about my next daycation plan
over the summer, Any ideas you can do things in
such a way where it's inclusive and not divisive or exclusive. Wow,
So we should be careful what we post on social
media because employers look at that, don't they They absolutely
look at that, And they're also looking for not only consistency,
(30:16):
but also a consistent voice. Does their Instagram match, their
Twitter match, their linked in profile? And what are their
stories are here that may not be on their resume,
So they're looking for a variety of things like why
should we not hire you, or why should we hire you?
This person seems to have great energy, they seem really vibrant,
they would have they have excellent skills for this job
(30:38):
of X y Z. So leverage your social media in
such a way that if it is directly related to
your job, like if you're content creator and you're on
social media, then create a ton of content on your
own or post your own content that's been published elsewhere.
But if it's not necessarily related to your job, and
you're more private and you work and let's say more
conservative feel but maybe something more league or financial, then
(31:01):
make your profiles private. That's always an option as well. Yeah,
that's really good advice. Actually, So I want to you know,
do you really think things are going to get better
this year? I know your survey says that I think
you said said that they were hiring this year. But
a lot of people need a little hope for so
can you give us a little preview of what's coming up. Yes, yes,
(31:25):
I'm glad you use that word hope because I feel
the same way I feel like monster. We are hopeful
it can't rain forever. We do know companies are hiring.
We do know that now people are more accustomed to
working from home than were accustomed to the video job interviews.
So if I was unemployed, I would specifically be looking
in these areas because we know that there's most likely
(31:46):
going to be growth that continues, because we saw this
growth in logistics, security, occupational health and safety, healthcare. In
terms of safety administrators, so you don't necessarily, let's say,
need a specific licensing our certificate, credential medical assistant. You
can be training an instruction is another area, training and development,
(32:08):
as well as environment, solar and energy, environmental engineers, restoration planners,
energy auditors. So we're optimistic. Basically we're where, Yes, there
are challenges in this pandemic and their challenges the talent
acquisition industry faces, like the skills gap that's brought in
and the pandemics impact on our mental health. So I
(32:28):
think another more we can do is it both employers
and employees and job seekers to really focusing on mental
health in our careers as well as job search in
terms of you know, job related anxiety, depression and takes
from too much screen time. You know, these are real things,
so how can we hopefully navigate them better in the
new year and then follow the profit We always encourage
(32:51):
people to get side gigs to it. I heard you
mentioned that. I think that's really important advice, especially if
you're getting unemployment right. It gives you an opportunity to
stick your toes and some thing new right, and a
Plan B can become your Plan A. You may stick
your joys and something new and realize you really like it,
and while you're there, show up on time, work really hard,
connect do impeccable work, and you may want to explore
(33:13):
it further in terms of moving up the ladder or
other opportunities within or leveraging those skills to a different
role at another company. So I think there are options
and something else that we could something that we can
take away from this pandemic. That's on a positive note too,
is working remotely. Companies are seeing that they can hire remotely,
and so as they're doing that, as a job seeker,
(33:34):
you may realize, Okay, I'm not necessarily limited to the
zip code of where I am, where I currently live,
or where I'm writing up the pandemic, like I'm in
Texas right now, a little break from New York City.
So think about where the job is not necessarily or
where you are and where the job can be done,
which may very well be your own home or where
you're temporarily um staying during the pandemic. Yeah, well you,
(33:58):
Vicky and everyone else. I'm in Florida, you're in Texas.
It's a wonderful new world where we can enjoy the
sunshine amidst the winter, find fulfillment in our careers, and
really reinvent ourselves, like you're saying, Vicky, If you if
you are unemployed, if you know someone who's unemployed, it's
primetime for reinvention, isn't it, Vicky? It is? And really
(34:19):
think about those skills that you have, valuable skill sets
most likely that companies are looking for right now, So
think about, Okay, how can I market myself really well
into these jobs that can end up blossoming into a
whole new career path. Well, Vicky on that note, that
was Vicky s lem Me from Monster dot com spokesperson
(34:42):
Glamorous and I'm sure, just like me, you're missing old
New York. I hope things get better and I'll see
you back in midtown. Vicky sounds good. David, thanks so much,
so thank you all for joining me as we follow
the off it, and especially a big thank you to
(35:02):
Vicky Slemmy. She's a career expert for Monster, a friend
of mine, and someone I really rely on in this field.
She told us all the real world scoop about how
to apply, interview, and get a job, plus what really
goes on when you fill out a job application. As always,
I'd like to thank my team Emileano, Lemon, Scott Handler,
(35:22):
Cheyenne Reid, and our executive producers Knew king Rich and
Debbie Myers. I'm your host, David Grasso, So if you're
enjoying the show as much as I am, give us
five stars and give us a review so that others
can really learn what this show is all about Follow
the Profit is a production of ging Rich three sixty
and I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,
(35:42):
visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
you get your podcasts. All opinions expressed by David Grasso
and if guests on the show are solely their opinions
and do not reflect the opinions of Kinglich three sixty
or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by David
(36:04):
Grasso on this podcast, television, radio, internet, or other medium.
You should not treat any opinion expressed by David Grasso
as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or
follow particular strategy, but only as an expression of his opinion.
David Grass's opinions are based upon information he considers reliable,
but neither ging Rich Productions nor its affiliates and or
(36:24):
subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not
be relied upon as such. David Grasso, Gangwich Productions, its affiliates,
and or subsidiaries are not under any obligation to update
or correct any information provided on this website. David Grasso's
statements and opinions are subject to change without notice. No
part of David Grasso's compensation from Ginglish Productions is related
to the specific opinions he expresses. Past performance is not
(36:47):
indicative of future results. Neither David Grasso nor Gingrich three
sixty guarantees any specific outcome or profit. You should be
aware of the real risk of loss in following any
strategy or investment discussed on this website or on the show.
Strategies or investments discussed may fluctuate in price or value.
Investors may get back less than invested. Investments or strategies
mentioned on this website or on the show may not
(37:09):
be suitable for you. This material does not take into
account your particular investment objectives, financial situation, or needs, and
it is not intended as recommendations appropriate for you. You
must make an independent decision regarding investments or strategies mentioned
on this website or on the show. Before acting on
information on this website or on the show, you should
consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and
(37:31):
strongly consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment advisor.
All opinions expressed by David Grasso and his guests on
the show are solely their opinions and do not reflect
the opinions of eng Which three sixty or affiliates, and
may have been previously disseminated by David Grasso on this podcast, television, radio, internet,
or other medium. You should not treat any opinion expressed
(37:52):
by David Grasso as a specific inducement to make a
particular investment or follow particular strategy, but only as an
expression of his opinion. David grass His opinions are based
upon information he considers reliable, but neither ging Rich Productions
nor its affiliates and or subsidiaries warnt its completeness or accuracy,
and it should not be relied upon as such. David Grasso,
Gangwich Productions, its affiliates, and or subsidiaries are not under
(38:15):
any obligation to update or correct any information provided on
this website. David Grasslo's statements and opinions are subject to
change without notice. No part of David Grasso's compensation from
Ginglish Productions is related to the specific opinions he expresses.
Past performance is not indicative of future results. Neither David
Grasso nor Gingrich three sixty guarantees any specific outcome or
(38:35):
profit You should be aware of the real risk of
loss in following any strategy or investment discussed on this
website or on the show. Strategies or investments discussed may
fluctuate in price or value. Investors may get back less
than invested. Investments or strategies mentioned on this website or
on the show may not be suitable for you. This
material does not take into account your particular investment objectives,
(38:56):
financial situation, or needs, and is not intended as recommendation
it is appropriate for you. You must make an independent
decision regarding investments or strategies mentioned on this website or
on the show. Before acting on information on this website
or on the show, you should consider whether it is
suitable for your particular circumstances and strongly consider seeking advice
from your own financial or investment advisor.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.