September 2, 2025 • 37 mins
If you’re in the middle of a job search and feeling frustrated by the lack of responses, this episode is a must-listen. Today, I’m joined by Chris Bond, who candidly shares the data from his six-month job search in 2025. His story sheds light on what’s working, and what’s not, in today’s competitive mid-career job market.
Chris applied for 125 positions and achieved a 50% personalized response rate and a 10% interview rate. These are numbers that far exceed typical job search expectations!
In our conversation, he explains the strategies behind these results, including:
- Why tailoring your applications to targeted roles is more effective than applying everywhere
- How he optimized his resume to pass AI screening tools and land more interviews
- The importance of following up (and how to do it without feeling pushy)
- Why in-person job opportunities turned out to be more successful than remote roles
- How powerful “I help” statements transformed his interview performance.
Chris also emphasizes the importance of being clear about your non-negotiables and how to confidently communicate your value in interviews. His story is a roadmap for mid-career professionals who are tired of spinning their wheels and ready to take a more strategic approach.
Whether you’re actively searching for a new role or simply considering your next move, this episode will help you navigate the complexities of today’s job market with clarity, persistence, and confidence.
Connect with Chris Bond on LinkedIn by clicking here.
Ready to give your career the jumpstart it needs to whatever is next? Schedule a $197 Career/Leadership Strategy Session. Click here to learn more about how this transformative strategy session will help you.
Visit https://johnneral.com/resources to:
- Subscribe to my free leadership and career newsletter
- Get The Mid-Career Promotion Blueprint to help you figure out whatever is next for you and your career
- Join The Mid-Career GPS Membership Community.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
John Neral (00:00):
Less than a month ago, I received an email from a
former client sharing his recentjob search experience, along
with some data.
He ended his email with this.
I know this is anecdotal data,but didn't know if it helps you
at all.
Happy to answer any questionsabout it, I only had one
(00:22):
question for him Would you bewilling to share your
experiences on the podcast?
And he graciously said yes.
Today you will meet a formerclient of mine, chris Bond, who
will share what he learned fromhis recent job search, in hopes
it will help you put some thingsin perspective about this job
market, based on his experiences.
(00:43):
This is an eye-openingconversation.
Let's get started.
Hello, my friends, this is theMid-Career GPS Podcast and I'm
your host, John Neral.
I help mid-career professionalslike you find a career they
(01:06):
love, or love the one they have,using my proven four-step
formula.
There are things we can doright or wrong in any job search
, and if you're frustrated thatyou aren't getting the results
you want, I want you to get myfree guide in video training why
your mid-career job searchisn't working and what to do
(01:26):
about it.
In this guide and training, youwill learn some of the biggest
mistakes mid-careerprofessionals are doing in this
job market and how it's notgetting them the results that
they want.
This is a chance to coursecorrect and if you're ready, all
you have to do is visit mywebsite, johnneral.
com/resources or check the shownotes for more information.
(01:50):
Now on to this week's interview.
Chris Bond is a success-driven,visionary and operations
executive with unique experienceenhancing community relations
for nonprofits and academicprograms that result in positive
organization, visibility andreputation.
(02:10):
You see, chris knows how tonavigate complex executive team
challenges.
He does that by influencingstakeholders across multiple
functions and divisions,improving accountability,
integrity and participation.
As a transparent and relatableleader, chris has proven
(02:31):
experience evaluating grantresources and data trends to
optimize operating and capitalexpenditures, raising over six
figures in nonprofit funding.
Having successfully navigatedhis recent job search, chris is
here to share his experiences tohelp you build your mid-career
GPS and learn from what hediscovered in this job market.
(02:54):
It is my pleasure to introduceyou to my client, a wonderful
connection and a friend, chrisBond.
Chris Bond, welcome to thepodcast.
It's great to see you again, myfriend.
Chris Bond (03:09):
Thank you, John.
It's great to see you again andappreciate you having me on.
John Neral (03:13):
Yeah.
So, chris, I shared a littlebit of this in the interview
that a while back.
You reached out to me in anemail and shared some very
personal data related to yourjob search, and it's why I am so
grateful you decided to come onthe podcast and accept the
invitation today, because whatyou've gone through is what I am
(03:35):
seeing across so manymid-career professionals right
now, so many of my clients whoare going through this, that
while this job market isdifficult, it is not impossible,
right.
Chris Bond (03:49):
Would you agree?
I would agree.
It can be frustrating,certainly for anyone looking for
a job in this market or anymarket, but you just have to be
resilient.
I mean, you don't even have achoice about it.
If you want to land a job, youjust have to stay at it and be
(04:14):
as enthusiastic on day 120 asyou were on day two.
So my story is not unique.
I'm sure many of your listenerscan relate, even if not now at
some point in their lives or,unfortunately, maybe you know,
they'll be looking at thesituation soon, given cuts in
various places.
So I'm happy to share myexperience with anyone.
Again, I don't think I'mspecial or unique.
I just did what I had to dothat anyone else would have to
(04:36):
do.
John Neral (04:38):
So, chris, let's go through some of the data.
Let's go through the timelinedata, let's go through the
timeline.
So you found yourself activelylooking for a job in
mid-February of 2025.
Correct yes, when did you endup accepting your new position?
Chris Bond (04:56):
It was about on or about August 10th of this year
and, interestingly enough, itwas a job that I had initially
applied for back in March of2025.
So one of the first jobs Iapplied for was one that I
(05:17):
actually ended up accepting, butbecause of the lengthy job
process, it took five monthsfrom first application to job
acceptance.
John Neral (05:30):
Okay, so to clarify then so you applied for this job
back in March, you didn'treapply, it's just their
timeline took a while toactually move you through their
pipeline.
Chris Bond (05:40):
Correct and I didn't know for most of that time
period, so I continued to applyfor other jobs.
It's a government job, so mostpeople can understand that it is
not a fast process.
The wheels of any governmentlocal, state, federal don't move
very quickly, so this was a jobwith a bureau within the State
(06:05):
Department of Agriculture inPennsylvania.
Okay, it took a while.
John Neral (06:09):
Yeah.
So right away, it definitelyconfirms what we're seeing in a
lot of the research, that onaverage for mid-career
professionals, we're talkingaround five to six months to
find that new job.
But, chris, what I want tohighlight here is that in this
time period of you applying forpositions, you were very
(06:30):
aggressive in terms of yourapplication strategy.
So, in total, how many jobs didyou apply for this year?
Chris Bond (06:38):
I applied to 125 jobs between the middle of
February and the middle of June.
Okay.
John Neral (06:46):
Out of those 125,.
How many responses did you get?
Chris Bond (06:51):
Not counting the, you know, rote response of we've
received your application.
Responses that were eitherpersonalized, like we want to
move you ahead in the process,or more commonly thank you for
your application, but we'vechosen another candidate to move
you ahead in the process.
Or more commonly thank you foryour application, but we've
chosen another candidate to moveahead in this process.
I heard back from 62 of those125.
John Neral (07:14):
So I want to stay with you on this for a minute,
because when we worked togetherpreviously, we talked about
response rates and we talkedabout that.
The goal was to get thatpersonalized response and I
remember when we were workingtogether, I shared with you if
you could get a 25% responserate.
(07:34):
You were doing incredibly well.
So you're now telling us inthis round you were able to get
a basically 50% response rate.
Chris, what were the thingsthat you did to elicit such a
high response rate from yourapplications?
Chris Bond (07:53):
Sure, I don't know how much of this can be
attributed to luck, but I was.
I'll say I was pretty specificin what I was looking for, but I
have a very niche role.
I'll say I was pretty specificin what I was looking for, but I
(08:18):
have a very niche role, so thatprobably limits some of the
competition, In other words, alot of the jobs I applied for.
Maybe they didn't get inundatedwith 2,000 applications
previously.
And having my resume optimizedfor the AI that's going to
review it first in more casesthan not, hopefully that also
led to some of my success.
Also following up with a lot ofthese organizations.
If I didn't hear anything backwithin two or three weeks, I
(08:40):
would typically send a follow-upemail just say you know I'm
still interested in this role.
Can you let me know if I'mstill a candidate?
I'm very much interested.
So a combination of a goodresume to begin with that's yeah
faces the reality that you'regoing to probably be weeded out
first, you know, by not a humanhuman applying specifically for
(09:07):
those roles that I believe I wasa good candidate for, rather
than taking a shotgun approachand whatever you know hits it,
and also just following upBecause I was out of work.
My job was to find a job, so Ihad to take it seriously, devote
time every day to the search,you know, out of 125 that I
applied for, withoutexaggerating I'm sure I had to
(09:30):
read over a thousand jobdescriptions to find ones that I
thought I could be a fit for.
So I attribute some of thathigher response to that type of
follow-up and the you know,having a a good product to begin
with to offer to folks thathopefully would be a good fit.
John Neral (09:51):
So, chris, what I'm taking away here is that one.
You were crystal clear on thetype of positions you believed
you were a great fit for, and so, because of that, you were able
to pinpoint exactly the typesof organizations, departments
and agencies that you were goingto look for jobs in and apply
(10:15):
for.
Chris Bond (10:16):
Correct and I realize not everyone has that
luxury.
So you know I did not have totake the first job I could find
and that is a privilege.
I know that.
So my experience may not be thesame as everybody's.
I don't want to suggest thatI'm sitting here high on the hog
and you know I can take my timeand being picky and choosy and
(10:38):
what I want.
I can take my time and beingpicky and choosy and what I want
, but fortunately I have.
I have a partner who wasemployed and you know I can.
I had a bit of savings I could.
I could take my time and do itright, even though I wanted to
get back to work as soon as Icould.
So and I realized that that isnot a position that everybody
can take.
John Neral (10:57):
Well, and I thank you for sharing that.
I also want to acknowledge,though, that when anyone, in any
situation, goes from a twoincome household down to a one
income household, there aresacrifices that have to be made,
right, it's not?
It's not easy in that regard.
Chris Bond (11:14):
No, no, there were certainly sacrifices, and you
know belt tightening, yeah,despite the fact that my partner
has a good income.
You're right, we're set up fora two-income lifestyle.
John Neral (11:27):
But to your point, when someone like you is in this
process and they're searchingfor jobs, one of the things that
we talked about, too, regardingfit, was you have to have your
non-negotiables right.
So non-negotiables could beeverything from the kind of work
where you want to work, butalso look, I can't take a 50%
(11:51):
pay cut here.
That's just not going to beworth my time, effort and energy
to applying for, especiallygiven your background and
expertise.
So that clarity that's what Iwant to pull out here is having
that kind of clarity in terms ofexactly what you were wanting
to look for was integral in thesuccess of your job search.
Chris Bond (12:09):
Correct, I could not take a 50% pay cut.
I mean I would be wasting mytime and their time if I were to
be focusing on those types ofjobs.
I didn't expect that I'd beable to necessarily replace the
income of my previous job I washoping to.
Fortunately, I came very closewith the role I did accept.
But, yeah, it didn't make sensefor me to devote my time to
(12:35):
find something that was going tojust put me right back in the
same position, because if I hadaccepted a role that paid half
of what I was making, I wouldstill be looking for another job
to eventually replace that.
So in the interest of my timeand potential employers' times,
I did not focus on those jobs,okay.
John Neral (12:53):
Right.
So you have the career clarity,you have a resume that you feel
confident in submitting, thatyou believed was set up to get
you through that initial screenwith the applicant tracking
system, and then you go ahead,confidence, to follow up
(13:25):
regarding that position when,for so many people, they have a
thought of I don't want to be apest, I don't want to be a
bother, I don't want to upsetthe hiring manager.
How did you find a way toconfidently and competently
follow up with prospectiveemployers?
Chris Bond (13:44):
I mean there certainly was some of that
self-doubt.
I had the same dialogue withmyself.
You know I don't want to seemtoo pushy, too pesky and have
that be the reason that I'mtaken off of the consideration
list.
But at the end of the day, if Idon't advocate for myself,
(14:05):
they're not going to.
So that was part of the impetus, also just respecting my own
time, that there's no point inme devoting emotional energy and
getting my hopes up on aparticular job if in fact they
have moved on to anothercandidate.
(14:25):
So it was as much aboutrespecting again my time as
theirs and realizing that I am apotential candidate, I am
qualified enough to have appliedfor that job.
Potential candidate, I amqualified enough to have applied
for that job.
So you know I deserve to knowwhether I'm in consideration
(14:47):
still for the role.
John Neral (14:48):
Absolutely so, chris , let's go back and take a look
at your stats, right?
So you applied for 125 jobs.
You get about a 50%personalized response rate.
And then, out of those 125 jobsyou applied to, how many of
them did you get invited to foran interview?
12.
(15:08):
Okay, so 10% essentially Yep,all right, which again is a
incredible response rate.
Okay, that speaks volumes tohow targeted you were in that.
Just to take a step back, forpeople who are listening, it
(15:29):
sounds like we are talkingsolely about you applying for
positions online.
Did you do any type ofnetworking or outreach to your
network in terms of having themperhaps advocate or suggest for
you for a position within theirorganization?
Chris Bond (15:49):
or ones I had worked with in previous roles, just
letting them know that this wasthe situation.
Maybe they knew of an openingsomewhere, maybe they had a role
(16:11):
themselves that I could fill.
Even in the interim it turnedout that the job I ended up
accepting was not one that wasthe result of networking, but I
did in fact rely on some folksto either let me know if they
knew anything and again, in theworld I'm in, a lot of it is
dependent on federal funding,which, of course, in this
(16:31):
climate is not abundant.
So it turned out that theindividuals I'd reached out to
they were either they didn'thave an opening available or
they too knew a lot of folks inthe same situation I was.
But I still would recommendthat people lean on their
network.
(16:53):
Even if it doesn't bear fruitthis time around, it keeps you
in mind for maybe futureopportunities.
It keeps you in mind for maybefuture opportunities.
But, yes, the majority of myapplications probably 96% of
(17:14):
them were the result of justscrolling through open positions
.
Everyone's experience is notgoing to be the same as mine.
I did not look at LinkedIn Onlybecause every time I saw a job
that I might have been suitablefor, it says you know how many
people have already applied forit, so I did not include
LinkedIn in my job search.
(17:39):
I certainly read through jobdescriptions that popped up, but
when did you search?
Descriptions that popped up,but where did you search?
So my two most fruitful placeswere Idealist and
governmentjobscom, where you canhone in on you know, state,
county town.
You can isolate, you know paylevels, whether it's remote work
(18:04):
, whether it's in-person work.
So I found most of my luckbetween those two sites, between
Idealist and the governmentjobs.
But again, that's becausethat's the area of focus.
I work in either education ornonprofits.
But I did not find anything onLinkedIn to be helpful as far as
(18:25):
job listings that I followed upon.
John Neral (18:29):
And there's nothing wrong in that, chris, right?
I mean, you had to go whereessentially the jobs were for
you and that's where you wereable to maximize your time.
Chris Bond (18:39):
Sure, I also used Indeed, but so probably the
majority of those 125 I appliedfor were on Indeed.
The most success I found waswith the ones on Idealist or
Government Jobs Got it okay,super helpful there.
John Neral (18:57):
thank you All right.
So now you get to theinterviews.
All right, you go through 12different organizations and
interviews and things like that.
What can you share with thelisteners about your interview
experience that either you foundvery helpful in terms of your
(19:18):
preparation, or also whatsurprised you about interviewing
in 2025?
Chris Bond (19:25):
Sure, I would say, the majority of those 12 for the
initial interviews were eitherphone screens or Zoom calls.
The ones I went ahead beyondthe initial 12 were the ones
that I did in person.
So I don't know if that is justa function of it's still in
(19:49):
2025, more important to haveFaceTime, one-on-one, you know,
real-world connections, orthat's just coincidentally the
field I'm in.
That that happened to work.
So I applied for a lot ofremote work and even though I
would get interviews for remotejobs, those didn't work out, for
(20:10):
whatever reason.
The jobs where I was actuallymade offers were ones that I had
gone to in person right off thebat.
So that's my experience.
That doesn't mean that'severybody's experience, of
course.
So it was surprising that themajority of jobs I applied for
were indeed remote, but the onesthat were of serious
(20:34):
considerations were ones thatwere local, you know, within 45
minutes drive of where I live.
So that was kind of a surprise.
I expected that in this climate, I would have more success with
remote work, but, of course,the difference being that when
it's remote you can getapplicants from everywhere
across the country, and when ajob is in person, unless someone
(20:57):
is going to relocate, then thepool of eligible candidates is
probably smaller than for aremote job.
John Neral (21:05):
Got it when you were going through your final round
interviews for several positionsyou were applying for and,
ultimately, the position youlanded.
Was there a point during theinterview when you felt like you
(21:28):
either were going to get thejob offer or you felt like this
was a great fit?
I would be thrilled if theymade me an offer.
Chris Bond (21:42):
Sure, and I should have mentioned to your question
earlier about interview prep.
I took every interviewseriously.
I tried to inquire ahead oftime who would be there, because
typically it was a panel ofpeople as opposed to a
one-on-one time.
Who would be there becausetypically it was a panel of
(22:02):
people as opposed to aone-on-one.
I would, you know, do myappropriate level of facebook
stalking, so to speak.
Uh, try to look up these folks,look at their linkedin if I
could find any youtube videos ormaybe they were interviewed
previously.
I wanted to just get a sense ofwhat people's particular
expertise may be, how they seemto interact with other people,
(22:23):
if I had that information.
So, having done my duediligence ahead of time, going
into an interview, I did, andthat was beneficial.
(22:53):
That helped me to be on sensefor how they treated customers,
how their organization looked,and I came with suggestions.
So when I came to the interview, I had let them know that I had
done that and I focused on thepositives primarily, and then I
offered a few instances where myexpertise would lend itself
well for improvements.
They were very impressed withthat and I would feel in that
(23:17):
particular interview that fromthe moment we started talking.
I felt like you know, withoutbeing arrogant, I nailed it, I
have this job if I want it, andin fact they were one of the
ones that made me an offer.
I didn't ultimately accept it,but without having done that
preparation ahead of time, Idon't think I would have had
that level of confidence and hadthat level of conversation
(23:43):
during the interview that gaveme that confidence.
In another case, for the job Idid accept.
I was made to feel at ease withsome of the introductions where
I was congratulated for beingone of three finalists out of a
nationwide search and just thetone of questioning was not one
(24:07):
of.
I didn't feel like it wasaccusatory, like how could you
do this or what would you dohere?
Or I shouldn't say accusatory,but more inquisitive this or
what would you do here, or Ishouldn't say accusatory, but
more inquisitive um, instead itwas looking at my previous
experience and how we might uhleverage that in the role um.
So I was made to feel that Iwould have been a valued part of
(24:29):
the team.
So in those instances I feltlike I I feel very comfortable
that I'm going to get an offeror at least move ahead in this
process.
The ones where I didn't get thatkind of vibe from the
interviewer I did not in factmove ahead with Although I
should say there were other jobsthat I felt I interviewed well
(24:52):
and we had a good rapport, theyultimately went for other
candidates.
So I'm not sure what the magicformula is other than to come in
prepared, be ready for any typeof question.
So another aspect of interviewprep is actually having mock
interviews and I found that veryhelpful.
With a previous job search youhelped me with John, where you
(25:15):
and I would go through the pacesand you would ask me the types
of questions that an interviewermight ask.
And even though a lot of peopleknow what those questions are
ahead of time, it isn't untilyou actually kind of practice
what your answers may be so thatyou're better prepared and this
go-around my partner was verysupportive and helped me playing
(25:38):
that role of the interviewer.
So I could not have had assuccessful a job search as I did
without both the tools that youhad provided me with previously
and having a supportive partnerwho was almost as expensive as
I was, and you know, finding anappropriate job.
John Neral (25:55):
Absolutely.
Thank you for sharing all ofthat.
And when you started your jobsearch back in February of this
year and you look back on it andyou say, gosh, I had two job
offers and I got to choose.
I got to ultimately choosebetween two different job offers
, was that something you thoughtwas a possibility at the start
(26:20):
of your job search?
Or did that surprise you insome way that, given this job
market, you would be in aposition to entertain two
different offers and choose one?
Chris Bond (26:31):
I think at the outset I didn't realize how long
of a journey it was going to beand I probably falsely thought
that the first dozen jobs Iapplied for.
Well, why wouldn't they want meto come in and why wouldn't I
get my pick of the litter?
Well, I quickly learned that,you know, 12 jobs became 25 jobs
(26:52):
, became 50 jobs, became 100jobs that I applied for, and
then more, more ultimately, andthat I would not necessarily
have my pick of the litter, thatit was a very competitive job
market and, especially when youhave your expertise lay in a
niche aspect of an industry, youwould probably be lucky to get
(27:13):
two job offers at once.
So, whereas initially Iprobably thought I would have my
choice, as the months draggedon, I did not foresee that
happening and it was justcoincidence that two jobs that I
was made offers at roughly thesame time allowed me to have
that luxury of choice.
John Neral (27:35):
Nice, nice.
So, chris, you and I workedtogether pretty intensely in 22
and 23.
We touched base a little bit in24.
We touched base earlier thisyear when things kind of
happened and stuff.
What I'd love for you to sharea little bit is when people
consider going through careercoaching, you and I often talked
(27:59):
, especially at the beginning,that this wasn't necessarily
going to be a long-term thing,right.
Career coaching kind of dropsin, helps out at a specific
moment, and then you kind oftake away some things with it
with career coaching that youget to continue to use and
develop and move forward withwhat would you say was a big
(28:21):
takeaway from our work togetherthat ultimately helped you, not
just in 22 and 23 when we wereworking closely together, but
even relying on some of thethings that we talked about and
you got coached on going throughthis job search about and you
got coached on going throughthis job search.
Chris Bond (28:41):
So I felt more confident in this job search
because we had worked togetherpreviously for my last job
search.
So, even though it wasn'tnecessarily as fresh in mind as
when we had last worked, therewere several tools that I took
away that allowed me to be moreconfident in this particular job
search, one of which wasreframing how I present myself,
both on paper and in person.
I found it very helpful whenyou taught me that it's very
(29:07):
powerful to go in and with youropening statement.
Be that I help, that it's a.
I'm not going in saying I dothis, I do this, I do this, but
framing it as what value youbring to an organization and
just having a I don't want tosay concise, but you know you
(29:31):
have to be pithy Having anintroduction that is powerful.
So if I go in and say that, youknow, oftentimes the interviewer
will, you know, tell mesomething about yourself.
Well, instead of hemming andhawing about my background, I
could go in with an openingstatement and say I hope
organizations do this and ofcourse, I would tailor it based
(29:52):
on the job I was applying for,making it relevant whether it
was, depending on the aspect ofthe nonprofit or for-profit
world it may have been, but tobe able to be prepared, knowing
ahead of time what I'm going tosay, was very helpful, and that
was not an approach that I wouldhave had prior to working with
you, to be so consistent and onpoint entering the interview
(30:18):
phase.
So the tools allowed me to bemore confident entering an
interview, which can be anintimidating scenario.
I mean, you're automatically atthe disadvantage, but knowing
what to say ahead of time andknowing how you're going to
present yourself does level thatfield a little bit.
John Neral (30:37):
Well, thank you.
Yeah, that whole work on theunique professional value
statement was definitely such agame changer for you and for so
many of my clients and things.
But thank you again for justreiterating.
There's such power in when wecommunicate our value by simply
saying I help.
Chris Bond (30:55):
What.
John Neral (30:56):
I'm seeing so much right now, especially in this
job market, is companies and Iwant to be careful on how I
phrase this, but the reality iscompanies don't care a whole lot
about you.
They want to care what you'regoing to do for them.
They want to know how you'regoing to help them, how your
results are transferable ortranslatable into this new role,
(31:20):
what's the successes you've hadin a previous role that you can
bring over here into thisorganization?
That's going to help move thisorganization forward, because we
choose to bring you on SureRight.
So oftentimes people get caughtup in the.
You know I'm a hard worker, I'ma great communicator.
They expect all those things.
Chris Bond (31:54):
Right, it sounded like you were really able to
lean into your resultsspecifically from that place.
Believe that that led to someof my success in getting job
offers.
Nice Good stuff, chris.
Go ahead, no go ahead.
I was going to say, and to yourpoint about how they approach
you.
It's understandable, approachyou.
(32:21):
It's understandable.
If you are having work done atyour house, you may be selecting
from three differentcontractors.
You don't care if they're hardworkers, you would expect that.
So you want to know what elsethey had done and what they can
offer you.
It's not a matter ofnecessarily a personality
contest.
So I guess, just flipping thescript a little bit, I can
understand why when I go into aninterview they don't really
(32:42):
care about me personally.
They want to know how I canhelp their organization.
So, yeah, totally agree withthat.
John Neral (32:51):
Yeah, I mean, yeah, and exactly.
I mean there's so many waysthey're assessing fit, just as
you, as the job candidate, areassessing fit, and of course you
have to be a good person andnice person and play well with
others and all those kind ofthings but at the end of the day
, they're looking for resultsand that's how you get to
deliver that.
So, chris, I am so thrilled andhappy for you that you are
(33:14):
going to be starting this newjob by the time this episode
drops.
As we go to wrap up, whatadvice would you give the
listeners today who arecurrently job seeking or they
are frustrated with their jobsearch that, as they think about
building their mid-career GPSto find whatever is next for
(33:38):
them, what advice would you givethem based on your most recent
experiences to help them?
Chris Bond (33:44):
Patience in this particular market and again, I
realize that that comes from aplace of privilege, because some
people do have to take thefirst thing that's offered
because they aren't able tofloat in the interim.
But just realizing that thereare a lot of people applying for
the same roles that they may be, be patient, be persistent with
your follow-ups and that willlikely increase the amount of
(34:08):
interviews that you'll get, orat least the amount of
follow-ups you'll get from thejobs that you had applied to.
Again, I know that that was myexperience.
It doesn't mean it's going tobe everyone's experience, but I
think there is value inrealizing that you may have to
settle in for this job searchjourney.
It's not going to be fixedovernight.
(34:30):
So if you go in with thatmindset that this is going to
take work, I have to stay at it.
I have to make uncomfortablefollow-up sometimes because your
job and livelihood depends onit.
John Neral (34:46):
Yeah Well, Chris, thank you so very much for
sharing your story, yourexperiences, your insights with
all of us today.
Congratulations again on thenew job and continued success
and best wishes to you.
Chris Bond (35:02):
Thank you.
It was my pleasure, john.
I've appreciated working withyou in the past and the tools
you have helped me to hone, andI wish much success for all of
your clients and all of yourlisteners in their job search.
John Neral (35:13):
Well, thank you so very much.
All right, my friends.
So look, if there's one bigtakeaway from all of the
wonderful things that Chrisshared today, what I want to
offer you is it's the careerclarity in order to get there.
(35:43):
Being resilient in terms of whyyou are valuable to a new
organization or a futureorganization.
And when your brain kicks inand says I don't want to be a
pest, I don't want to be abother, how are you going to
help them?
That's where the follow-upcomes in.
How are you going to help them?
Let them tell you no, but inthe meantime, if they haven't,
there is still an opportunityfor a yes.
That's there.
And in this job market, where itis an employer's job market,
(36:06):
chris demonstrated so clearlythe power of patience and
resilience in your job search.
So, chris, thank you again.
Everybody remember this.
Just like Chris, you're gonnabuild your mid-career GPS one
mile or one step at a time, andhow you show up matters.
Make it a great rest of yourday.
Thank you for listening to theMid-Career GPS Podcast.
(36:31):
Make sure to follow on yourfavorite listening platform and,
if you have a moment, I'd loveto hear your comments on Apple
Podcasts.
Visit johnnerrellcom for moreinformation about how I can help
you build your mid-career GPSor how I can help you and your
organization with your nextworkshop or public speaking
event.
Don't forget to connect with meon LinkedIn and follow me on
(36:53):
social at John Nerrell Coaching.
I look forward to being backwith you next week.
Until then, take care andremember how we show up matters.
Thank you.
Less than a month ago, I received an email from a
former client sharing his recentjob search experience, along
with some data.
He ended his email with this.
I know this is anecdotal data,but didn't know if it helps you
at all.
Happy to answer any questionsabout it, I only had one
(00:22):
question for him Would you bewilling to share your
experiences on the podcast?
And he graciously said yes.
Today you will meet a formerclient of mine, chris Bond, who
will share what he learned fromhis recent job search, in hopes
it will help you put some thingsin perspective about this job
market, based on his experiences.
(00:43):
This is an eye-openingconversation.
Let's get started.
Hello, my friends, this is theMid-Career GPS Podcast and I'm
your host, John Neral.
I help mid-career professionalslike you find a career they
(01:06):
love, or love the one they have,using my proven four-step
formula.
There are things we can doright or wrong in any job search
, and if you're frustrated thatyou aren't getting the results
you want, I want you to get myfree guide in video training why
your mid-career job searchisn't working and what to do
(01:26):
about it.
In this guide and training, youwill learn some of the biggest
mistakes mid-careerprofessionals are doing in this
job market and how it's notgetting them the results that
they want.
This is a chance to coursecorrect and if you're ready, all
you have to do is visit mywebsite, johnneral.
com/resources or check the shownotes for more information.
(01:50):
Now on to this week's interview.
Chris Bond is a success-driven,visionary and operations
executive with unique experienceenhancing community relations
for nonprofits and academicprograms that result in positive
organization, visibility andreputation.
(02:10):
You see, chris knows how tonavigate complex executive team
challenges.
He does that by influencingstakeholders across multiple
functions and divisions,improving accountability,
integrity and participation.
As a transparent and relatableleader, chris has proven
(02:31):
experience evaluating grantresources and data trends to
optimize operating and capitalexpenditures, raising over six
figures in nonprofit funding.
Having successfully navigatedhis recent job search, chris is
here to share his experiences tohelp you build your mid-career
GPS and learn from what hediscovered in this job market.
(02:54):
It is my pleasure to introduceyou to my client, a wonderful
connection and a friend, chrisBond.
Chris Bond, welcome to thepodcast.
It's great to see you again, myfriend.
Chris Bond (03:09):
Thank you, John.
It's great to see you again andappreciate you having me on.
John Neral (03:13):
Yeah.
So, chris, I shared a littlebit of this in the interview
that a while back.
You reached out to me in anemail and shared some very
personal data related to yourjob search, and it's why I am so
grateful you decided to come onthe podcast and accept the
invitation today, because whatyou've gone through is what I am
(03:35):
seeing across so manymid-career professionals right
now, so many of my clients whoare going through this, that
while this job market isdifficult, it is not impossible,
right.
Chris Bond (03:49):
Would you agree?
I would agree.
It can be frustrating,certainly for anyone looking for
a job in this market or anymarket, but you just have to be
resilient.
I mean, you don't even have achoice about it.
If you want to land a job, youjust have to stay at it and be
(04:14):
as enthusiastic on day 120 asyou were on day two.
So my story is not unique.
I'm sure many of your listenerscan relate, even if not now at
some point in their lives or,unfortunately, maybe you know,
they'll be looking at thesituation soon, given cuts in
various places.
So I'm happy to share myexperience with anyone.
Again, I don't think I'mspecial or unique.
I just did what I had to dothat anyone else would have to
(04:36):
do.
John Neral (04:38):
So, chris, let's go through some of the data.
Let's go through the timelinedata, let's go through the
timeline.
So you found yourself activelylooking for a job in
mid-February of 2025.
Correct yes, when did you endup accepting your new position?
Chris Bond (04:56):
It was about on or about August 10th of this year
and, interestingly enough, itwas a job that I had initially
applied for back in March of2025.
So one of the first jobs Iapplied for was one that I
(05:17):
actually ended up accepting, butbecause of the lengthy job
process, it took five monthsfrom first application to job
acceptance.
John Neral (05:30):
Okay, so to clarify then so you applied for this job
back in March, you didn'treapply, it's just their
timeline took a while toactually move you through their
pipeline.
Chris Bond (05:40):
Correct and I didn't know for most of that time
period, so I continued to applyfor other jobs.
It's a government job, so mostpeople can understand that it is
not a fast process.
The wheels of any governmentlocal, state, federal don't move
very quickly, so this was a jobwith a bureau within the State
(06:05):
Department of Agriculture inPennsylvania.
Okay, it took a while.
John Neral (06:09):
Yeah.
So right away, it definitelyconfirms what we're seeing in a
lot of the research, that onaverage for mid-career
professionals, we're talkingaround five to six months to
find that new job.
But, chris, what I want tohighlight here is that in this
time period of you applying forpositions, you were very
(06:30):
aggressive in terms of yourapplication strategy.
So, in total, how many jobs didyou apply for this year?
Chris Bond (06:38):
I applied to 125 jobs between the middle of
February and the middle of June.
Okay.
John Neral (06:46):
Out of those 125,.
How many responses did you get?
Chris Bond (06:51):
Not counting the, you know, rote response of we've
received your application.
Responses that were eitherpersonalized, like we want to
move you ahead in the process,or more commonly thank you for
your application, but we'vechosen another candidate to move
you ahead in the process.
Or more commonly thank you foryour application, but we've
chosen another candidate to moveahead in this process.
I heard back from 62 of those125.
John Neral (07:14):
So I want to stay with you on this for a minute,
because when we worked togetherpreviously, we talked about
response rates and we talkedabout that.
The goal was to get thatpersonalized response and I
remember when we were workingtogether, I shared with you if
you could get a 25% responserate.
(07:34):
You were doing incredibly well.
So you're now telling us inthis round you were able to get
a basically 50% response rate.
Chris, what were the thingsthat you did to elicit such a
high response rate from yourapplications?
Chris Bond (07:53):
Sure, I don't know how much of this can be
attributed to luck, but I was.
I'll say I was pretty specificin what I was looking for, but I
have a very niche role.
I'll say I was pretty specificin what I was looking for, but I
(08:18):
have a very niche role, so thatprobably limits some of the
competition, In other words, alot of the jobs I applied for.
Maybe they didn't get inundatedwith 2,000 applications
previously.
And having my resume optimizedfor the AI that's going to
review it first in more casesthan not, hopefully that also
led to some of my success.
Also following up with a lot ofthese organizations.
If I didn't hear anything backwithin two or three weeks, I
(08:40):
would typically send a follow-upemail just say you know I'm
still interested in this role.
Can you let me know if I'mstill a candidate?
I'm very much interested.
So a combination of a goodresume to begin with that's yeah
faces the reality that you'regoing to probably be weeded out
first, you know, by not a humanhuman applying specifically for
(09:07):
those roles that I believe I wasa good candidate for, rather
than taking a shotgun approachand whatever you know hits it,
and also just following upBecause I was out of work.
My job was to find a job, so Ihad to take it seriously, devote
time every day to the search,you know, out of 125 that I
applied for, withoutexaggerating I'm sure I had to
(09:30):
read over a thousand jobdescriptions to find ones that I
thought I could be a fit for.
So I attribute some of thathigher response to that type of
follow-up and the you know,having a a good product to begin
with to offer to folks thathopefully would be a good fit.
John Neral (09:51):
So, chris, what I'm taking away here is that one.
You were crystal clear on thetype of positions you believed
you were a great fit for, and so, because of that, you were able
to pinpoint exactly the typesof organizations, departments
and agencies that you were goingto look for jobs in and apply
(10:15):
for.
Chris Bond (10:16):
Correct and I realize not everyone has that
luxury.
So you know I did not have totake the first job I could find
and that is a privilege.
I know that.
So my experience may not be thesame as everybody's.
I don't want to suggest thatI'm sitting here high on the hog
and you know I can take my timeand being picky and choosy and
(10:38):
what I want.
I can take my time and beingpicky and choosy and what I want
, but fortunately I have.
I have a partner who wasemployed and you know I can.
I had a bit of savings I could.
I could take my time and do itright, even though I wanted to
get back to work as soon as Icould.
So and I realized that that isnot a position that everybody
can take.
John Neral (10:57):
Well, and I thank you for sharing that.
I also want to acknowledge,though, that when anyone, in any
situation, goes from a twoincome household down to a one
income household, there aresacrifices that have to be made,
right, it's not?
It's not easy in that regard.
Chris Bond (11:14):
No, no, there were certainly sacrifices, and you
know belt tightening, yeah,despite the fact that my partner
has a good income.
You're right, we're set up fora two-income lifestyle.
John Neral (11:27):
But to your point, when someone like you is in this
process and they're searchingfor jobs, one of the things that
we talked about, too, regardingfit, was you have to have your
non-negotiables right.
So non-negotiables could beeverything from the kind of work
where you want to work, butalso look, I can't take a 50%
(11:51):
pay cut here.
That's just not going to beworth my time, effort and energy
to applying for, especiallygiven your background and
expertise.
So that clarity that's what Iwant to pull out here is having
that kind of clarity in terms ofexactly what you were wanting
to look for was integral in thesuccess of your job search.
Chris Bond (12:09):
Correct, I could not take a 50% pay cut.
I mean I would be wasting mytime and their time if I were to
be focusing on those types ofjobs.
I didn't expect that I'd beable to necessarily replace the
income of my previous job I washoping to.
Fortunately, I came very closewith the role I did accept.
But, yeah, it didn't make sensefor me to devote my time to
(12:35):
find something that was going tojust put me right back in the
same position, because if I hadaccepted a role that paid half
of what I was making, I wouldstill be looking for another job
to eventually replace that.
So in the interest of my timeand potential employers' times,
I did not focus on those jobs,okay.
John Neral (12:53):
Right.
So you have the career clarity,you have a resume that you feel
confident in submitting, thatyou believed was set up to get
you through that initial screenwith the applicant tracking
system, and then you go ahead,confidence, to follow up
(13:25):
regarding that position when,for so many people, they have a
thought of I don't want to be apest, I don't want to be a
bother, I don't want to upsetthe hiring manager.
How did you find a way toconfidently and competently
follow up with prospectiveemployers?
Chris Bond (13:44):
I mean there certainly was some of that
self-doubt.
I had the same dialogue withmyself.
You know I don't want to seemtoo pushy, too pesky and have
that be the reason that I'mtaken off of the consideration
list.
But at the end of the day, if Idon't advocate for myself,
(14:05):
they're not going to.
So that was part of the impetus, also just respecting my own
time, that there's no point inme devoting emotional energy and
getting my hopes up on aparticular job if in fact they
have moved on to anothercandidate.
(14:25):
So it was as much aboutrespecting again my time as
theirs and realizing that I am apotential candidate, I am
qualified enough to have appliedfor that job.
Potential candidate, I amqualified enough to have applied
for that job.
So you know I deserve to knowwhether I'm in consideration
(14:47):
still for the role.
John Neral (14:48):
Absolutely so, chris , let's go back and take a look
at your stats, right?
So you applied for 125 jobs.
You get about a 50%personalized response rate.
And then, out of those 125 jobsyou applied to, how many of
them did you get invited to foran interview?
12.
(15:08):
Okay, so 10% essentially Yep,all right, which again is a
incredible response rate.
Okay, that speaks volumes tohow targeted you were in that.
Just to take a step back, forpeople who are listening, it
(15:29):
sounds like we are talkingsolely about you applying for
positions online.
Did you do any type ofnetworking or outreach to your
network in terms of having themperhaps advocate or suggest for
you for a position within theirorganization?
Chris Bond (15:49):
or ones I had worked with in previous roles, just
letting them know that this wasthe situation.
Maybe they knew of an openingsomewhere, maybe they had a role
(16:11):
themselves that I could fill.
Even in the interim it turnedout that the job I ended up
accepting was not one that wasthe result of networking, but I
did in fact rely on some folksto either let me know if they
knew anything and again, in theworld I'm in, a lot of it is
dependent on federal funding,which, of course, in this
(16:31):
climate is not abundant.
So it turned out that theindividuals I'd reached out to
they were either they didn'thave an opening available or
they too knew a lot of folks inthe same situation I was.
But I still would recommendthat people lean on their
network.
(16:53):
Even if it doesn't bear fruitthis time around, it keeps you
in mind for maybe futureopportunities.
It keeps you in mind for maybefuture opportunities.
But, yes, the majority of myapplications probably 96% of
(17:14):
them were the result of justscrolling through open positions
.
Everyone's experience is notgoing to be the same as mine.
I did not look at LinkedIn Onlybecause every time I saw a job
that I might have been suitablefor, it says you know how many
people have already applied forit, so I did not include
LinkedIn in my job search.
(17:39):
I certainly read through jobdescriptions that popped up, but
when did you search?
Descriptions that popped up,but where did you search?
So my two most fruitful placeswere Idealist and
governmentjobscom, where you canhone in on you know, state,
county town.
You can isolate, you know paylevels, whether it's remote work
(18:04):
, whether it's in-person work.
So I found most of my luckbetween those two sites, between
Idealist and the governmentjobs.
But again, that's becausethat's the area of focus.
I work in either education ornonprofits.
But I did not find anything onLinkedIn to be helpful as far as
(18:25):
job listings that I followed upon.
John Neral (18:29):
And there's nothing wrong in that, chris, right?
I mean, you had to go whereessentially the jobs were for
you and that's where you wereable to maximize your time.
Chris Bond (18:39):
Sure, I also used Indeed, but so probably the
majority of those 125 I appliedfor were on Indeed.
The most success I found waswith the ones on Idealist or
Government Jobs Got it okay,super helpful there.
John Neral (18:57):
thank you All right.
So now you get to theinterviews.
All right, you go through 12different organizations and
interviews and things like that.
What can you share with thelisteners about your interview
experience that either you foundvery helpful in terms of your
(19:18):
preparation, or also whatsurprised you about interviewing
in 2025?
Chris Bond (19:25):
Sure, I would say, the majority of those 12 for the
initial interviews were eitherphone screens or Zoom calls.
The ones I went ahead beyondthe initial 12 were the ones
that I did in person.
So I don't know if that is justa function of it's still in
(19:49):
2025, more important to haveFaceTime, one-on-one, you know,
real-world connections, orthat's just coincidentally the
field I'm in.
That that happened to work.
So I applied for a lot ofremote work and even though I
would get interviews for remotejobs, those didn't work out, for
(20:10):
whatever reason.
The jobs where I was actuallymade offers were ones that I had
gone to in person right off thebat.
So that's my experience.
That doesn't mean that'severybody's experience, of
course.
So it was surprising that themajority of jobs I applied for
were indeed remote, but the onesthat were of serious
(20:34):
considerations were ones thatwere local, you know, within 45
minutes drive of where I live.
So that was kind of a surprise.
I expected that in this climate, I would have more success with
remote work, but, of course,the difference being that when
it's remote you can getapplicants from everywhere
across the country, and when ajob is in person, unless someone
(20:57):
is going to relocate, then thepool of eligible candidates is
probably smaller than for aremote job.
John Neral (21:05):
Got it when you were going through your final round
interviews for several positionsyou were applying for and,
ultimately, the position youlanded.
Was there a point during theinterview when you felt like you
(21:28):
either were going to get thejob offer or you felt like this
was a great fit?
I would be thrilled if theymade me an offer.
Chris Bond (21:42):
Sure, and I should have mentioned to your question
earlier about interview prep.
I took every interviewseriously.
I tried to inquire ahead oftime who would be there, because
typically it was a panel ofpeople as opposed to a
one-on-one time.
Who would be there becausetypically it was a panel of
(22:02):
people as opposed to aone-on-one.
I would, you know, do myappropriate level of facebook
stalking, so to speak.
Uh, try to look up these folks,look at their linkedin if I
could find any youtube videos ormaybe they were interviewed
previously.
I wanted to just get a sense ofwhat people's particular
expertise may be, how they seemto interact with other people,
(22:23):
if I had that information.
So, having done my duediligence ahead of time, going
into an interview, I did, andthat was beneficial.
(22:53):
That helped me to be on sensefor how they treated customers,
how their organization looked,and I came with suggestions.
So when I came to the interview, I had let them know that I had
done that and I focused on thepositives primarily, and then I
offered a few instances where myexpertise would lend itself
well for improvements.
They were very impressed withthat and I would feel in that
(23:17):
particular interview that fromthe moment we started talking.
I felt like you know, withoutbeing arrogant, I nailed it, I
have this job if I want it, andin fact they were one of the
ones that made me an offer.
I didn't ultimately accept it,but without having done that
preparation ahead of time, Idon't think I would have had
that level of confidence and hadthat level of conversation
(23:43):
during the interview that gaveme that confidence.
In another case, for the job Idid accept.
I was made to feel at ease withsome of the introductions where
I was congratulated for beingone of three finalists out of a
nationwide search and just thetone of questioning was not one
(24:07):
of.
I didn't feel like it wasaccusatory, like how could you
do this or what would you dohere?
Or I shouldn't say accusatory,but more inquisitive this or
what would you do here, or Ishouldn't say accusatory, but
more inquisitive um, instead itwas looking at my previous
experience and how we might uhleverage that in the role um.
So I was made to feel that Iwould have been a valued part of
(24:29):
the team.
So in those instances I feltlike I I feel very comfortable
that I'm going to get an offeror at least move ahead in this
process.
The ones where I didn't get thatkind of vibe from the
interviewer I did not in factmove ahead with Although I
should say there were other jobsthat I felt I interviewed well
(24:52):
and we had a good rapport, theyultimately went for other
candidates.
So I'm not sure what the magicformula is other than to come in
prepared, be ready for any typeof question.
So another aspect of interviewprep is actually having mock
interviews and I found that veryhelpful.
With a previous job search youhelped me with John, where you
(25:15):
and I would go through the pacesand you would ask me the types
of questions that an interviewermight ask.
And even though a lot of peopleknow what those questions are
ahead of time, it isn't untilyou actually kind of practice
what your answers may be so thatyou're better prepared and this
go-around my partner was verysupportive and helped me playing
(25:38):
that role of the interviewer.
So I could not have had assuccessful a job search as I did
without both the tools that youhad provided me with previously
and having a supportive partnerwho was almost as expensive as
I was, and you know, finding anappropriate job.
John Neral (25:55):
Absolutely.
Thank you for sharing all ofthat.
And when you started your jobsearch back in February of this
year and you look back on it andyou say, gosh, I had two job
offers and I got to choose.
I got to ultimately choosebetween two different job offers
, was that something you thoughtwas a possibility at the start
(26:20):
of your job search?
Or did that surprise you insome way that, given this job
market, you would be in aposition to entertain two
different offers and choose one?
Chris Bond (26:31):
I think at the outset I didn't realize how long
of a journey it was going to beand I probably falsely thought
that the first dozen jobs Iapplied for.
Well, why wouldn't they want meto come in and why wouldn't I
get my pick of the litter?
Well, I quickly learned that,you know, 12 jobs became 25 jobs
(26:52):
, became 50 jobs, became 100jobs that I applied for, and
then more, more ultimately, andthat I would not necessarily
have my pick of the litter, thatit was a very competitive job
market and, especially when youhave your expertise lay in a
niche aspect of an industry, youwould probably be lucky to get
(27:13):
two job offers at once.
So, whereas initially Iprobably thought I would have my
choice, as the months draggedon, I did not foresee that
happening and it was justcoincidence that two jobs that I
was made offers at roughly thesame time allowed me to have
that luxury of choice.
John Neral (27:35):
Nice, nice.
So, chris, you and I workedtogether pretty intensely in 22
and 23.
We touched base a little bit in24.
We touched base earlier thisyear when things kind of
happened and stuff.
What I'd love for you to sharea little bit is when people
consider going through careercoaching, you and I often talked
(27:59):
, especially at the beginning,that this wasn't necessarily
going to be a long-term thing,right.
Career coaching kind of dropsin, helps out at a specific
moment, and then you kind oftake away some things with it
with career coaching that youget to continue to use and
develop and move forward withwhat would you say was a big
(28:21):
takeaway from our work togetherthat ultimately helped you, not
just in 22 and 23 when we wereworking closely together, but
even relying on some of thethings that we talked about and
you got coached on going throughthis job search about and you
got coached on going throughthis job search.
Chris Bond (28:41):
So I felt more confident in this job search
because we had worked togetherpreviously for my last job
search.
So, even though it wasn'tnecessarily as fresh in mind as
when we had last worked, therewere several tools that I took
away that allowed me to be moreconfident in this particular job
search, one of which wasreframing how I present myself,
both on paper and in person.
I found it very helpful whenyou taught me that it's very
(29:07):
powerful to go in and with youropening statement.
Be that I help, that it's a.
I'm not going in saying I dothis, I do this, I do this, but
framing it as what value youbring to an organization and
just having a I don't want tosay concise, but you know you
(29:31):
have to be pithy Having anintroduction that is powerful.
So if I go in and say that, youknow, oftentimes the interviewer
will, you know, tell mesomething about yourself.
Well, instead of hemming andhawing about my background, I
could go in with an openingstatement and say I hope
organizations do this and ofcourse, I would tailor it based
(29:52):
on the job I was applying for,making it relevant whether it
was, depending on the aspect ofthe nonprofit or for-profit
world it may have been, but tobe able to be prepared, knowing
ahead of time what I'm going tosay, was very helpful, and that
was not an approach that I wouldhave had prior to working with
you, to be so consistent and onpoint entering the interview
(30:18):
phase.
So the tools allowed me to bemore confident entering an
interview, which can be anintimidating scenario.
I mean, you're automatically atthe disadvantage, but knowing
what to say ahead of time andknowing how you're going to
present yourself does level thatfield a little bit.
John Neral (30:37):
Well, thank you.
Yeah, that whole work on theunique professional value
statement was definitely such agame changer for you and for so
many of my clients and things.
But thank you again for justreiterating.
There's such power in when wecommunicate our value by simply
saying I help.
Chris Bond (30:55):
What.
John Neral (30:56):
I'm seeing so much right now, especially in this
job market, is companies and Iwant to be careful on how I
phrase this, but the reality iscompanies don't care a whole lot
about you.
They want to care what you'regoing to do for them.
They want to know how you'regoing to help them, how your
results are transferable ortranslatable into this new role,
(31:20):
what's the successes you've hadin a previous role that you can
bring over here into thisorganization?
That's going to help move thisorganization forward, because we
choose to bring you on SureRight.
So oftentimes people get caughtup in the.
You know I'm a hard worker, I'ma great communicator.
They expect all those things.
Chris Bond (31:54):
Right, it sounded like you were really able to
lean into your resultsspecifically from that place.
Believe that that led to someof my success in getting job
offers.
Nice Good stuff, chris.
Go ahead, no go ahead.
I was going to say, and to yourpoint about how they approach
you.
It's understandable, approachyou.
(32:21):
It's understandable.
If you are having work done atyour house, you may be selecting
from three differentcontractors.
You don't care if they're hardworkers, you would expect that.
So you want to know what elsethey had done and what they can
offer you.
It's not a matter ofnecessarily a personality
contest.
So I guess, just flipping thescript a little bit, I can
understand why when I go into aninterview they don't really
(32:42):
care about me personally.
They want to know how I canhelp their organization.
So, yeah, totally agree withthat.
John Neral (32:51):
Yeah, I mean, yeah, and exactly.
I mean there's so many waysthey're assessing fit, just as
you, as the job candidate, areassessing fit, and of course you
have to be a good person andnice person and play well with
others and all those kind ofthings but at the end of the day
, they're looking for resultsand that's how you get to
deliver that.
So, chris, I am so thrilled andhappy for you that you are
(33:14):
going to be starting this newjob by the time this episode
drops.
As we go to wrap up, whatadvice would you give the
listeners today who arecurrently job seeking or they
are frustrated with their jobsearch that, as they think about
building their mid-career GPSto find whatever is next for
(33:38):
them, what advice would you givethem based on your most recent
experiences to help them?
Chris Bond (33:44):
Patience in this particular market and again, I
realize that that comes from aplace of privilege, because some
people do have to take thefirst thing that's offered
because they aren't able tofloat in the interim.
But just realizing that thereare a lot of people applying for
the same roles that they may be, be patient, be persistent with
your follow-ups and that willlikely increase the amount of
(34:08):
interviews that you'll get, orat least the amount of
follow-ups you'll get from thejobs that you had applied to.
Again, I know that that was myexperience.
It doesn't mean it's going tobe everyone's experience, but I
think there is value inrealizing that you may have to
settle in for this job searchjourney.
It's not going to be fixedovernight.
(34:30):
So if you go in with thatmindset that this is going to
take work, I have to stay at it.
I have to make uncomfortablefollow-up sometimes because your
job and livelihood depends onit.
John Neral (34:46):
Yeah Well, Chris, thank you so very much for
sharing your story, yourexperiences, your insights with
all of us today.
Congratulations again on thenew job and continued success
and best wishes to you.
Chris Bond (35:02):
Thank you.
It was my pleasure, john.
I've appreciated working withyou in the past and the tools
you have helped me to hone, andI wish much success for all of
your clients and all of yourlisteners in their job search.
John Neral (35:13):
Well, thank you so very much.
All right, my friends.
So look, if there's one bigtakeaway from all of the
wonderful things that Chrisshared today, what I want to
offer you is it's the careerclarity in order to get there.
(35:43):
Being resilient in terms of whyyou are valuable to a new
organization or a futureorganization.
And when your brain kicks inand says I don't want to be a
pest, I don't want to be abother, how are you going to
help them?
That's where the follow-upcomes in.
How are you going to help them?
Let them tell you no, but inthe meantime, if they haven't,
there is still an opportunityfor a yes.
That's there.
And in this job market, where itis an employer's job market,
(36:06):
chris demonstrated so clearlythe power of patience and
resilience in your job search.
So, chris, thank you again.
Everybody remember this.
Just like Chris, you're gonnabuild your mid-career GPS one
mile or one step at a time, andhow you show up matters.
Make it a great rest of yourday.
Thank you for listening to theMid-Career GPS Podcast.
(36:31):
Make sure to follow on yourfavorite listening platform and,
if you have a moment, I'd loveto hear your comments on Apple
Podcasts.
Visit johnnerrellcom for moreinformation about how I can help
you build your mid-career GPSor how I can help you and your
organization with your nextworkshop or public speaking
event.
Don't forget to connect with meon LinkedIn and follow me on
(36:53):
social at John Nerrell Coaching.
I look forward to being backwith you next week.
Until then, take care andremember how we show up matters.
Thank you.
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