In this episode of Wednesday Wisdom, I spoke with Mike Farragher, CEO and Co-Founder of Career Letters, to dive deep into the art and science of professional branding and executive resume building.
With a rich background in senior commercial leadership within Fortune 100 companies and a passion for storytelling, Mike shares invaluable insights on how to stand out in today's competitive job market.
From leveraging the power of keywords for AI and recruitment algorithms to personal branding and leadership effectiveness, Mike offers a unique perspective on navigating career transitions and scaling professional growth.
Whether you're looking to reinvent yourself or simply refine your career narrative, this episode is packed with practical advice and inspiring stories to help you craft a career that truly resonates.
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Mike Farragher Website – https://mikefarragher.com/
Career Letters Website – https://www.careerletters.com/
About the Wednesday Wisdom Series
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ali Taylor (00:12):
Hello, Happy Wednesday. Welcome to the next
edition of the Wednesday wisdomseries. My name is Ali Taylor, I
am the founder and consultant atwisdom and Wayfinder, where we
help you find a clear path togrowth and profitability. Unless
you have discovered the secretto ever less than life, you
don't have enough time to learneverything there is to learn
(00:34):
about running, growing andscaling a business on your own.
And so this series is whereexperienced professionals come
and share their wisdom about howto do that. Today I'm here with
Mike Farrago, CEO and founder ofcareer ladders. And we're going
to be diving deep into the artand science of professional
branding and executive resumebuilding. Mike has a rich
(00:55):
background in Senior Commercialleadership within fortune 100
companies and a passion forstorytelling. And today Mike is
going to share some invaluableinsights on how to stand out in
today's competitive job market.
From leveraging the power ofkeywords for AI and recruitment
algorithms to personal brandingand leadership effectiveness. I
think you will enjoy his uniqueperspective on navigating career
(01:16):
transitions and scaling yourprofessional growth. And we'll
also dive into some of hiscreative storytelling pursuits
as it relates to all thingsIrish culture. Mike, thank you
for being here today.
Mike Farragher, Chief Storyte (01:29):
I think with all that big
introduction, we're out of time.
Okay. Bye. Bye, everybody. Thankyou for that introduction. It
was great.
Ali Taylor (01:38):
Yeah, yeah, you're welcome. I took some time to
practice it. I was like, Mike,you were in front of the mirror
now. And I could tell I was itwas like, He's the chief
storytelling officer. So I gottamake sure I'm better up the
game.
Mike Farragher, Chief Stor (01:52):
Good to see. Ya. You
Ali Taylor (01:54):
too. You too. While speaking of upping the game. You
know, just share a little bitabout how did you transition
from I know you have your workin the corporate field. But what
made you decide to use yourtalents and your experience and
your gifts towards the resumewriting and executive career
building?
Mike Farragher, Chief Stor (02:13):
It's a great question. So I can take
you back to January, July of2020. And I was working for a
large fortune 100 company. Anddue to some shifts in the
business with COVID, I was laidoff. And on the same day, I was
laid off that July, my mother inlaw passed away of COVID. So by
(02:36):
all measures, thank you, by allmeasures, that was I'm an
optimist, but by all measures,that was a really bad day,
right? So I rememberspecifically with my wife,
Barbara, who's a co founder ofcareer ladders with me, you
know, we sat there on the porchand we said you know we can we
thank God we have the financialmeans to weather out the rest of
(02:59):
the year grieve he'll be withthe family, whatever we needed.
So nobody would find fault withus doing that. Or it's July 1,
or there abouts we have the restof the year to create a banner
year, what are we going to do.
And we both had the samethinking that lets, you know, go
with the fields, but let's notwrite off the rest of the year.
(03:22):
So being a writer, and being afortune 50 Hiring Manager, and
also writing some of the booksthat I've written that are
humorous, I typically get anumber of requests around
writing. The first one is, hey,can you help me with your
(03:43):
resume? And then the other oneis, hey, can you help me with my
dating profile? You know, you'refunny, and can you kind of punch
that up? So long story short, mywife had the idea to say, you
know, there are people that arecharging folks online for
dating, writing, profilewriting, you're writing out in
(04:04):
the back of napkins for freedrinks at a bar with some of my
single friends. Like you couldbe making a business out of
that. And then also we you know,wanted to really take a look at
what was missing in the resumewriting and professional
branding part. So after doingsome of that research, just
(04:25):
hanging the shingles, so we hadcareer letters for resume
writing and love letters,profiles for dating, profile
writing. And I know we're hereto talk about career letters,
but I just want to do one quickthing detour about love letters.
Yeah, as you can imagine, I gotsome of the craziest wildest
(04:45):
dating stories as a result oftalking with people about where,
you know, love has not foundthem. And what I did was there
was one in particular that wewas so offbeat and hilarious, I
said, I have to make a scriptout of this. So I made a script
out of it. It wins the Londonscreenwriting festival for Best
(05:08):
Comedy. So I decided to produceit. And then it went on to win
some awards for at the filmfestivals for Best Comedy, Best
Actor, Best writer, and I sharethat story with anybody that
might be listening that might bein a career, crosswords
crossroads, or cross row words,whatever. Out of that darkest
(05:31):
day, if you told me a yearlater, I'd be on the festival
circuit with a best script fromLondon, screenwriting and a film
that's running around thefestivals. I mean, that just
wasn't even in the radar, I wasin grief mode, I was shocked
everything else. But a yearlater, there I was. So out of
(05:54):
that darkest day came thisincredible new chapter in my
life that I couldn't haveimagined. So I do ask people to
really be open to any and allpossibilities that might be
before you and not just jumpback into what I know, and
what's safe, if you findyourself impacted by a layoff,
(06:17):
or a divestiture or whatever.
Ali Taylor (06:25):
Yeah, that's so incredibly important. And it's a
couple of things that I that Iliked about what you shared in
terms of just the way that youand Barbara decided to look at
what you were going through thetake that pain and that grief
that you were experiencing, andusing that to channel it into
something positive and creativeout into the world. Like one I
(06:47):
think people who do that, whohave that kind of ability are
superheroes in their in theirown right. Just like a real
force for good to be able to dothat. But then also just
touching upon how I think, love,you know, dating is the same
energy or frequency is like, youknow, money and looking for a
(07:09):
career, right? It's the sametype of effort, energy that
you're putting into it andtrying to find, where can you
really express yourself? Wherecan you really show up inside of
these two different avenues, andbeing able to write your own
story out of you, no layoffs, abreakup, a divorce, etc. It's
that same like same energy thatthat tends to happen. So I love
(07:33):
the way that you and Barbdecided to approach that and use
your stuff to make that positiveinfluence and positive impact.
You
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (07:42):
very, very perceptive on your part.
It's the same story. Peoplewonder like, well, that's how
could you like I actuallyoffered life packages where I
would do your dating profile andyour resume for one low price,
whatever. And people were like,those are so different, but not
really, because, you know, I'mnot saying this about everybody.
But if you find yourself out ofa job for a while, or single for
(08:07):
a while, and you don't want tobe your it's the same things
you're gonna say in your head,I'm damaged goods, nobody's
gonna want me it's, you know,the list goes on. And every one
of those disempowering contextsis keeping you from getting what
you want. So part of the Careerletters and the love letters for
(08:31):
that matter is certainlywriting, you know, being clever
and funny on a dating profile orcoming up with the, you know,
really packing in the keywordsto get the searches you want
from LinkedIn, a lot of itswriting and skill. And a lot of
what I do is coaching andcounseling. I'm not a
psychologist, I won't play oneon TV, but people really need a
(08:55):
confidence boost because if theylost a job or if they've in some
case, in some cases lost asignificant other through death
or breakup. Their confidence istaken ahead and an employer can
see right through that you know,when you're on a zoom or stream
(09:16):
yard, like we are now anemployer can see right through
that so it's, I can doeverything I possibly can to get
you the interview. But the restis up to you. You have to sell
it once you're on a zoom call orin front of a boardroom and then
similar. You know, I get put thebait on the hook for the daters.
(09:39):
You gotta wiggle the hook in thewater. Right. So and both of
those do well,
Ali Taylor (09:44):
first, you got to go decide to go fishing, right that
you're gonna go fishing to beginwith.
Mike Farragher, Chief St (09:49):
That's right. That's right. So, but
yeah, but people won't make thatleap. And, you know, going over
to the career part of it. Peoplenot only make that They won't
make that leap. But they'll alsonot leap high enough. So, when
you look at a job description,like a lot of people would go,
(10:13):
Oh, I could do my boss's job.
You know, I could do I'm moretalented than he is. Or she is,
okay, well, why don't we putyour boss's job, find that job
description, on line somewherein some job board, compare and
contrast that to yourexperience. And a lot of times
that person's right, they coulddo your boss's job. So if you
(10:37):
did get laid off, why not go foryour boss's job or hire if
you're qualified for it? Andsometimes that that's the
coaching I would do in careerletters.
Ali Taylor (10:52):
Yeah, there are a lot of ways in which people hold
themselves back. And I thinkwhat's really powerful about
what you do is that even thoughyou're the chief storytelling
officer, you're the one doingthe writing, you're really
empowering them to sort ofrewrite their own narrative, or
at least their the experience oftheir own story, when it comes
(11:12):
to their career, or even theirdating profile their love life.
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (11:16):
Yeah, or become present to their own
innate greatness, you know, thatI am very marketable either as a
as a data or a lover, or as acandidate. And I have had that
feedback from some of therecruiters that I've worked on,
I do have some relationshipswith, you know, large recruiter
networks, and they come to mewith like, Oh, my God, this,
(11:38):
this person's resume was faxedover to me. And it's like, from
the 90s, they haven't looked fora job in 37 years help. So yeah,
and, you know, and you do findthat sometimes the feedback I'll
get, was that, wow, thatperson's confidence was here,
and you brought them here, andwhat did you do? And, you know,
(12:02):
it's, it's it goes from? Am Imarketable to your GED? Right on
marketable, you know, and I'lllet you fill in the blanks
there, you know, that, yeah, I'mmarketable. And that's a part of
it, that's extremely rewarding.
I will say that. One of thethings that taught that I was
(12:25):
taught after the layoff wasreally looking at, and I'm at a
certain age where I'm, you know,I got a number a few years left
to retire, still have to work.
But one of the things that Ikind of came up with was, what's
your mission statement? Youknow, every time you go to a
(12:45):
company, the company will havetheir mission statement, why do
we, Why do we exist? What Why doyou exist, and then doing that
work, and finding a job thatwould attract that is a bonus, I
have a very good friend of minethat has gone through gene and
(13:06):
Celts, Gene and cell therapy,like this is cancer came back.
And he knock on wood has beat itagain. And he has newly
invigorated to be an advocatefor patient voices in the pharma
industry. So now he's pursuingjobs that would put him in a
(13:28):
position to do that. So for me,my mission statement is aspire
to inspire. And the universewill take notice. So it's really
not about it's not about like,how many resumes Can I write?
It's how many people can Ireach? If I help a mother or a
(13:51):
father, get a job and findfinancial security? I'm touching
the lives of countless people,families I've never known. And
that really becomes my NorthStar when I have myself bouts of
confidence, because let's faceit, we're human. Yeah, when I
have my own bouts of confidence,I really look at that North Star
and say, Are you right now?
Inspiring to inspire? And is theuniverse taking notice and what
(14:17):
do you need to do if you're notthat get yourself back in that
headspace? So I find that asyou're going back to the job
market, or looking to changecareers, are looking at shift
switch industries. You know,having your own mission
statement, what's my life forand having a career commensurate
(14:39):
with that? That's That's whatwork life balance is really
about because then it won't feellike work when you're working
all night. And I you know, Iwork. I have clients in Europe.
I have clients in China. Yeah.
It doesn't feel like work to me.
My day job doesn't feel likework. To me, this doesn't feel
(15:01):
like work to me, because it'sall inside of a work life
balance that I've attained overthe years.
Ali Taylor (15:08):
Yeah, it's all in service to the mission
statement, the mission thatyou've really created for your
life. And that reminds me ofthis book, here on Mission,
which is written by DonaldMiller, but really, it's like
looking at your whole life, likeyou said, creating a mission
statement for yourself. Like,yeah, the company has a mission
(15:28):
statement. They have theirvision, but what's yours, right,
and does the job, or the jobsthat you're applying to is your
resume written in a way thatactually services that mission?
I think a lot of a lot ofpeople, a lot of candidates
today are very hopeless in someaspects, because they haven't
taken the time to really createthat mission for themselves. And
(15:50):
they think they're just resignedto whatever job is available,
because you know, they've gotto, you've got to pay the rent,
you got to get to take care ofthe kids or the dog and the
bills and all those otherthings. And I think where a lot
of people shortchange themselvesis that they don't have that
personal mission. And they don'tfind those things that align
with that personal mission.
Yeah,
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (16:12):
100%.
So, you know, if you don't wantif you don't know what you want,
ultimately, it's, you know, it'sgonna be a very hollow life.
When you're out there lookingfor a new new job. And you can,
it's funny. I can't remember whosaid this. I think it was Jim
(16:32):
Carrey. He said, Every actorshould win an Oscar as soon as
possible, so that they realizethat ain't it? That's not what
Yes. Yeah. So you know, I haveI've plenty of people that I
coach in my leadership, coachingand training where, you know,
(16:54):
oh, my God, I, I was like, I wasnumber two in the country. And I
was like, Oh, my God, I'm numbertwo in the country and like
beating yourself up and it'slike, yeah, yeah, but you were
in the Diamond Club. You outyour number. And every one of
those is a milestone that younever celebrated. So if being
(17:15):
number not being number one, isis the only thing you're heading
towards that year after year.
That's, that's a that's a holeor a trap that just doesn't have
any cheese in it after a while.
Ali Taylor (17:32):
Yeah, yeah, it's an endless black hole. That reminds
me
Mike Farragher, Chief Storyt (17:36):
so you shouldn't you shouldn't you
should when you should, whenDiamond Club salesperson of the
year once early on, to realizethat ain't it?
Ali Taylor (17:46):
Yeah, it's not the thing that's gonna that's good.
Yeah, yeah, I had a conversationthe other night with a woman who
works with a lot of ultra highnet worth individuals. And she
one of her famous lines, or atleast that I've, that I, it's
famous to me, is that money onlysolves money problems. And so
(18:07):
she's working with a lot ofthese people who have access to
wealth and luxury that, youknow, most of us will, could
only ever imagine or dream of,and the identity struggles that
they that they come across,similar to you and I, everyday
people, right?
Mike Farragher, Chief Storyt (18:26):
If you're having girl problems, I
feel bad for your problem. Imean, I'm not gonna finish that.
But yeah. To quote the great JayZ,
Ali Taylor (18:37):
yes, yes, yes.
Mike Farragher, Chief Story (18:43):
But you didn't think that was gonna
happen today? Did you know Iwasn't gonna bring out some Jay
Z just willy nilly.
Ali Taylor (18:51):
Let's say and you are you are tapped into a lot of
different cultures and whatnot.
And I want to I want to talkabout some of the Irish culture
stuff that you do as well. Butfirst, I want to just jump back
to you know, what, like, in yourwork with with a lot of the
candidates that you're seeingwhen it comes to like their
LinkedIn profile for say? Whatare some of the the most
(19:13):
egregious mistakes that you'reseeing people make when it comes
to their LinkedIn to their, theway they present themselves
online?
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (19:24):
Well, I would probably answer that
slightly different, where maybeI'd go through the process of
what I do when I'm trying toattract a client. And it's so
let's sell, I don't do sell. Iask them one simple question. If
a customer, a future employer,or a business prospect landed on
(19:47):
your LinkedIn profile, wouldthat be what you'd want them to
see? Yes or no? Um, yeah. Andthen I bring it up. And it's
like, first of all, it looksCasper the Friendly Ghost,
there's no profile picture,there's so it's just that white
outline. It's even paler than Iam. By the way, can you tell me
(20:08):
this look at this big tamcomplexion in the in the Zoom
light. But so that's the firstthing I asked. There's no
profile picture. And if there'sanything worse than no profile
picture, it's the profilepicture of the mirrored
sunglasses holding up a bigbass, you know, bat, you know,
like a big tuna fish with atrucker cap and you're like,
Well, unless you're going out tobe a big game fisherman, that
(20:32):
image of your profile picture isnot in line with what you're
trying to attract. So sometimeswe do I do recommend, and I do
work with some profile, picturetakers, so that you have a
professional look. So just likepeople judge a book by its
cover, and my author pursuits,they certainly judge a book by
(20:53):
its image. So is that in line.
And then the other thing that Ithink is the Venn diagram,
Ali Taylor (20:59):
the Venn diagram of profile pictures of guys holding
fish, and wearing the sunglassesfor LinkedIn, and their dating
profiles is a circle, just justso it is,
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (21:09):
yeah, or the other one, like I really
looked, I really looked really,really good in that suit. But
unfortunately, it's got my Ihave my arm around my ex wife or
ex girlfriend. So the arms cutout, I mean, on both profile
pictures for dating andLinkedIn, I've seen him like,
it's the same picture and someof the clients. I'm like, Oh, my
(21:30):
God, really. So the other thingthat I think is egregious as
well, is that, you know, whenyou have a little bit of gray on
your temples, a lot of peoplefancy themselves as a mentor,
you know, so it's like, oh, youknow, I help people I help, I'm
a VP and I help people, youknow, aspire to their careers,
(21:53):
and there's going to be all thattalk about and then you get to
the bottom of their LinkedInprofile, and they haven't
recommended one person. Andnobody's recommended them. So
it's not bad or wrong. But it'sinconsistent with who you say
you are. If you don't havepeople coming back to you and go
(22:15):
and publicly writing on yourprofile, thank you for, you
know, you helped me make mysales goal, you helped me get
promoted, you helped me do this.
And then also sprinkle the loveas well. I call it practicing
random acts of acknowledgement.
And I suggest the clients dothis typically. Fourth of July
(22:37):
weekend, the week betweenChristmas and New Year's where
people are, you know, kind ofjust trolling LinkedIn just
because they're bored. Yeah,right, write a paragraph or two,
on somebody that you're like,wow, that that teacher, that
mentor, that person really setme straight. I wouldn't be here
where I am without them. Who isthat person, you can go on their
(23:00):
profile, write a few sentences,on what that person meant for
you so that the world knows it.
And it's good karma. Nobody losta job because of good karma. And
it goes back to what I saidearlier, aspire to inspire and
the universe takes notice, ifyou put that kind of karma out
there. Then when you are down onyour luck in getting a job, you
(23:25):
have all those people thatremember like, wow, that, that
that guy wrote on my page andgive me a recommendation, I'm
gonna see if I can find him ajob here, karma doing something
like that without expectinganything back. You will get a
lot back. And I do tell peoplethat if you're putting yourself
(23:47):
out there as a mentor, wherewould I see that digitally? So
that's Yeah, where's that?
Ali Taylor (23:56):
Where's the evidence? Yeah, yeah. And
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (24:00):
it's, it's, it's the apart from the
tuna fish picture, profilepicture. That would be the most
egregious thing I see onLinkedIn profiles, especially
when you're touting yourself asa mentor, when you haven't
demonstrated in digitally thatyou are.
Ali Taylor (24:17):
Yeah, I think it's it's really important,
especially now to start givingpeople their flowers before,
before their funeral. Start, youknow, acknowledging people for
the difference that they've madefor you whether it's, you know,
and even if you've neveractually worked with someone, or
if they've done something ifthey said something that has
(24:37):
made a difference for you. Goahead and do that. In fact, I
actually had that happen to me.
Very unexpectedly a couple ofweeks ago, I went to a
networking I'm part of aWhatsApp group. And so I went to
one of the networking events atanother chapter. And there was
someone that I had met overChristmas, we had a conversation
and he was telling me how hechanged it up His whole
(24:59):
Instagram strategy because ofsomething that I had said that
night, I don't even rememberwhat I said. But it made such a
difference for him and how hewas showing up online. And it
really influenced him. And thenother people started taking
notice. And he made it a pointto let me know. And I tell you,
it was such a gift to have thatto hear that acknowledgement
(25:21):
from him, and to see the waythat he's been showing up
online. And it's like, trust me,it makes a difference if you can
do that for people.
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (25:30):
Yeah.
It also gives you a bit of ajumpstart scared, doesn't it?
Because you're like, I saidthat. Boy, that's pretty smart.
When did I say that?
Ali Taylor (25:42):
Yeah, it's like damn sharp. Yeah, yeah. Awesome. All
right. So let's dive into youdid mention that you are of
higher Irish heritage. And soI'd like to know a little bit
more about like, how do youweave that into your
(26:03):
storytelling? And given theawards that you've won recently?
You know, obviously, I've beenkeeping up with that. Why do you
think it resonates with peopleso much?
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (26:15):
Well, I think on late on LinkedIn,
people, people will always tellme I get a lot of DMS,
especially in the last post Idid where I want to Best Film
Award and in a film festivalrecently, like, how do you do
that? And like, work full timeand do your day job? And like,
(26:37):
like, Do you sleep? And Bababah? And you know, my answer to
that is anything that'smeaningful to you, is going to
be on your calendar. And you'llfind a way. So I have plenty of
examples, which I've learnedabout from mentors, by the way
of, you know, senior vicepresidents that were with me in
(26:58):
Cologne, Germany for a meetingat Bear flew over there and
right back home to meet to go totheir daughters championship
lacrosse game. That's a personthat's knows what's important.
Providing for his family andshowing up for his family. I
(27:19):
never forgot that. So if it'smeaningful for you, it'll be on
the calendar for me. You know,writing is to Mike. What fish is
to water and breathing is justwhat I need to breathe. Yeah,
I've you know, and the employersthat get that I thrive under and
(27:44):
the employers that don't getthat final work for them. One of
my most recent positions that Ihad, I got this job over, they
said 30 other applicants, sothey were all like PhDs and
chemists and I'm not I graduatedsummer come lucky. From from
(28:05):
University. I was like, Why didyou hire me? Because I'm in
these meetings. And yeah, we'retalking about, you know,
hepatocytes, and we're talkingabout livers and all this the
workout what? And his answerwas, you know, he said, I have
(28:26):
plenty of chemists andbiochemists and biologists, I
don't have any writers. So thesescientists can always tell the
story of why this is important.
So I thought, let me throw awriter in the mix. Yeah, and see
what that does. And, you know,for a CEO to, for a CEO to
(28:48):
acknowledge that I thought wasreally took me back. It's
something I've always thought.
But that's really where, youknow, I know that the word
diversity gets thrown around.
But it's not just diversity inage, race or creed. It's also
(29:09):
diversity and experiences whereif you're top loaded with a lot
of chemists and biochemist andthey can't really talk to
people, then you know, there isa place for a writer to be the
storyteller and to frame theimportance of this to customers
when we're dealing withcommercial negotiation. So So I
(29:30):
think part of it is is to Iwrite because that's what I need
to do in my life. And then overthe years, I've been grateful
that I've been working formentors and companies that see
that they appreciate it. Andmany years, I was a closeted
(29:51):
writer where I keep that off aLinkedIn and now I don't and I
run it A memoir writing classesat Monmouth University on Zoom
since the pandemic, I can't tellyou how many bosses and senior
people I've had over the lastcouple of years, former and
current, that have come to myclasses because they see me
(30:13):
doing it. They want it forthemselves, and they put
themselves in a class tounderstand how to get started.
So I think there's a lot ofcloseted writers on LinkedIn
that look at those posts and go,I want to do that. It's all
about putting a scheduletogether and getting it done.
Ali Taylor (30:34):
Yeah, that's so very, very true. You know, what,
what matters to you is going toget scheduled, it's going to be
up to become a priority. It'sthat old saying, it's like,
yeah, if it, if it's importantto you, you'll find a way. If
it's not, you'll find an excuse.
Yeah, there will be, there'll bethe next showed up to binge
watch, there's always the Doomscrolling on tick tock that's
(30:57):
available for you at any givenpoint in time. But until you get
real with yourself real honestwith yourself about how
important something is to you,it's not going to go into your
calendar, and you're not goingto organize your life in service
of that thing.
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (31:15):
Yeah, yeah. And a lot of times, and
I'll just use, you know, I'lluse I hope I don't embarrass you
when I tell you this. But youknow, I've seen pictures of you
on Facebook and on LinkedIn, andthere's pictures of you at the
gym. And there was one that, youknow, you were all ripped, and
you look like a superhero. Youknow, and I was like, you know,
I think you're gonna have aSuperman shirt on, as I recall,
(31:36):
because we're both Yeah, we'recomic book nerds, we, that's a
whole other podcast. But anyway,you know, there's a lot of
people that are runners,yourself, you know, that,
obviously, you were health andfitness is among your top
priorities in your life,otherwise, you wouldn't look the
way you do. I'd like to looklike that I don't like and, you
(32:01):
know, that's why I'm coming outwith a book called my one skinny
summer. This summer, becauseI've only ever had one. But you
know, it's, it's if, if I tookthe intensity I have with
writing into health and fitness,I'd have the results you do. So
(32:21):
for many people, they haveintensity somewhere, to be a
runner, or to be the bestwoodworker. Or they're the or
they're they do you know, theycompete on professional dog, you
know, the dog show circuit, Iyou know, plenty of people have
those side hustles that they'reintense about. And it's just a
(32:41):
matter of taking that intenseperson over here and putting
them into another category andhaving those results. So people
that want to write that looklike you, you took that same
level intensity in the gym, andjust wrote a few words a day,
you'd have it done.
Ali Taylor (33:01):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think the other thing,too, is is it doesn't always
have to be I think a lot ofpeople feel like they they're
just stuck with one track.
Right? Like, okay, I can only bethis way, because that is what
I'm used to. That's all that Iknow. And they don't want to do.
The shitty sucky parts ofsucking at first, right? Failing
(33:26):
it first. You know, becausethere were those moments early
on, you know, I used to be 50pounds heavier. And, you know, I
had to change my eating habits,I had to change my sleeping
habits. I had to, you know, getup early and go do that and make
that commitment, regardless ofwhat the weather was like,
outside and it's it sucked alot. But once you get into that
(33:49):
groove, you start to find apattern to wear, I guess, you
know, just your brain finallyswitches on. It's like, okay,
this is what we're doing. Thisis what we need. We got to keep
this momentum going. And soyeah, when it comes to writing,
your first drafts are going tosuck. But I think people need to
give themselves permission tosuck at first and we don't do
(34:09):
that enough.
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (34:10):
Yeah, yeah. And, you know, also,
certainly, you know, people cango on my social medias, and they
could see a book signingtonight. You know, this past
Sunday, I was, you know, I wonthat award. So you'd be like,
Wow, that seems like that'spretty incredible. It is pretty
incredible. But what you alsodon't hear is that I applied to
(34:34):
12 festivals. I got into twoYeah. Yeah, you're gonna see the
red carpet pictures of the two.
Maybe I should be speaking alittle bit more about the 10. I
didn't get into. I've gone tobook signings where I've
literally spoken at LincolnCenter. across the lawn, there
was 1000s of people there. Andthen there's times I drove all
(34:57):
the way up to Boston and Sixpeople showed up, you know, so
yeah, you know, it's one ofthose things where you, you
definitely never mind thewriting process. But also once
you get these things tofruition, there's, that's where
the real work begins in thatyou're looking to always find an
audience and, you know, makingsure that you don't lose money.
(35:23):
Maybe I'm not gonna make a lotof money, but I don't want to
lose money doing these films andbooks. So keeping an eye on the
bottom line that's equally asimportant as getting the first
draft done. Yes, I really, Ireally enjoy my, some of my some
of my creative heroes are notnecessarily writers. They're,
(35:44):
it's, you know, I'm a hugeRolling Stones fan. You know,
Mick Jagger monos, the same way.
You know, Mick Jagger is thecreative, he puts the tour
together, he writes the albumswith Keith. And when it comes
time to tour, he knows the cityin which the tour breaks even.
(36:07):
And the profitability starts.
He's got that. Yeah. So it'slike a London School, London
School of Economics over here,creative over here. Those I have
many, many friends, you beingone of them. That that I really
admire people that have thatleft brain, right brain to not
only create something, butmanage the creative business,
(36:29):
the business of creativity,because it's, it's called show
business for a reason. Yeah.
Ali Taylor (36:37):
1,000% I, man. So I've been watching the marvelous
Mrs. Maisel. Watching that forthe first I'm like, damn, shows
really good. And one of thethings that I really liked is
they showed the process of herworkshopping the jokes and try
them out and seeing which oneslanded, which ones didn't. And
(37:00):
she had to do a lot of reallycrappy, you know, greasy, low
down and dirty dive bars inorder to really practice and
hone your skill. And I thinkwith a lot of people, you know,
a lot of people with their jobsearches, you know, like you
were talking about the 10 showsthat you didn't get into, you
know, we don't always see all ofthe rejections from submitting
(37:23):
an application submitting that,that resume. We don't see all
the failures that come up, wejust see you know, the success
and find them when they get thecorner office, and they get the
job and their first paycheck,etc, we celebrate with them. But
there is so much that goes onseen. Well, there
Mike Farragher, Chief Storyt (37:41):
is certainly also in right now, for
the date that we're recordingthis job market is pretty good.
It's tightening up in someareas, not in others, which is
kind of the story of life,right. But I look back on on the
last two jobs that I got, I sentout 60 applications. And this is
(38:03):
a guy that's kind of a pro atinterviewing and a pro it, you
know, optimizing LinkedIn andresume profiles, so I can I can
do the best job on your resume,or LinkedIn profile ever. And
yeah, it there's because oftechnology in the LinkedIn, easy
Apply button as an example.
People are just gonna, like bein their pajamas gone. Yeah. Oh,
(38:25):
apply for that. So the result ofthat is that almost every job
out there has, you know, 40applications, and they're
looking for one person. So thereyou have it, you have to be
prepared that if you wanted tomake a job switch, or if you're
out of work, I tell people thatit's you know, it's four to six
(38:49):
months to find something elsebetween pummeling the job market
for job applications, waitingfor somebody to get back from
vacation to do that third, Zoominterview, going through four or
five interviews, and you'rethinking to yourself, Oh, my
God, if you're, if you're goingto take one more hour of my
time, I'm going to 1099 you forit. Just give me the job
(39:10):
already. That's part of theprocess. And it really is yeah.
So
Ali Taylor (39:17):
yeah, I think one of the I forgot when you were
telling me this story, but youwere, I think maybe it was with
your niece that you had givenher some coaching in her
interview, to ask, you know, theCEO, it's like, like, what is it
that they need or something likethat to remember that story?
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (39:36):
Yeah.
My god daughter who got down andfound herself laid off, not laid
off her position was eliminated.
So obviously, going through theshock of that, and she was, you
know, one of those things whereshe got glowing reviews, you
know, just a couple of monthsbefore and then all of a sudden
(39:58):
they eliminated her position.
And why me as like, first of allthe answer is there's no logic
behind it. They're just nolonger in X business or why
business there. It's like a it'slike a waterbed. We're gonna
blow it up here and deflatedover there or whatever, you
know. Yeah, I by the way, I'llI'll wait till people Google
what the waterbed referencesbecause people of a certain age
(40:19):
will have no idea what awaterbed has. But anyway, so
then, you know, during the,during the interview session, I
I coached her to say, what does?
What are the things you'remeasured by Mr. Hiring Manager
by success? And what were thingsin my credentials that you saw
(40:42):
as an opportunity for me tocontribute? Especially if a
person of a certain age, thehiring manager, apparently the
you know, the, the cranium blewoff the front the top of his
head? Because who asked me that,you know, when you have 30
people saying, so what, youknow, what am I gonna get? When
(41:06):
can I get promoted after I like,you know, what? Policy? What's
the vacation policy? Yeah, justbasically, wow, what are you
looking for in this candidate?
What was something in my resumethat you thought would really be
like? Well, I, I'm interested inthat. And how can I contribute
to your success? Nobody asked.
(41:29):
Me, it's not a gimmick, either.
By the way, it's not just mesaying, here's how you stand
out? Wouldn't you want to knowthat? Anyway, because that is an
opportunity for you to determinewhether or not the kind of work
that's going to create successin that organization is the kind
of work you want to do. So it's,it does set you out. It is an
interview technique or agimmick, but it's also something
(41:50):
you'd kind of want to knowanyway.
Ali Taylor (41:54):
Yeah, I think everyone should take time to if
your journal or whatnot, buttake some time to sit down and
really answer that question foryourself, if you're going to
give up your time, your energy,you know, your resource, your
vitality to this organization,you know, what is it that you
(42:15):
would need to bring to the tableto have that be successful? And
not because you're trying to beloyal or to the company, because
you know, they're going to maketheir decisions, you obviously
want to protect yourself in someway, and don't over give. But I
think anything that you add toyour skill set that you add to
(42:35):
your wisdom or ability can onlyhelp you in the future, in
crafting whatever it is that youwant to
Mike Farragher, Chief Story (42:44):
do.
Yeah, well, those are the kindsof things that we talk about
when I do a career letters,consults. So, you know, with the
career letters, which is careerletters.com. You know, what I do
is I, first of all, once you'vepaid, I asked you for your
current resume. And then I'malso going to ask somebody, what
(43:04):
are the two or three jobs you'relooking to go after? Can you
send me links to those? Let's,let's format your resume, so
works well with AI. But thenalso, let's, let's, you know,
let's pack that with keywordsthat attract jobs like that, so
that not only are you going tobe more successful, going after
(43:28):
the jobs, you know, but mayberecruiters might be looking for
you. So you might be able to getaccess to jobs, you didn't know
you didn't know what's outthere. So we do that. And then
part of that, no matter how muchAI is out there. And so many of
these resume writing companiesutilize a lot of AI where you'll
(43:52):
never talk to a human being.
Maybe I'm old fashioned, but Iactually looked somebody square
in the electronic eye ear overzoom. And I asked them what's
important to you, and let'sdesign it based on that. So as
much as you can automateresumes, there's no automating
that human connection, listeningfor what's important to
(44:14):
somebody, and then crafting aresume that that attracts that
crafting a dating profile thatattracts that, as you know,
going back to that as well. Andthat has been highly successful.
One of the things I also thinkis egregious on LinkedIn, you
know, that easy Apply buttonmakes it really easy to just
(44:34):
apply and upload your resume andyou're done. But I tell people
don't do that. You can hit theeasy Apply button. But before
you upload your resume, makesure that resume conforms with
the job you're applying for. Somake sure you're utilizing some
of those key words. That kind ofthing because those those things
(44:58):
will make a difference at theend of The day, a human being is
going to pick who comes in forthe second interview. But it's
the robot eyes, it's the AIrobot eyes, that will sort the
pile that you really want tomaster. And that's, that's what
we take AI. And we turn it onits head and leverage it to make
(45:21):
sure that you're at the top ofthe resume pile. And then we
also offer that human touch toactually get on a zoom call with
you and understand what you'relooking for next. And that
really helps delivering that inthe way that an AI algorithm
just can't.
Ali Taylor (45:38):
Yeah, yeah. So so what I'm hearing is like, it's
really, just to kind of recapeverything is that one, when you
get clear on your personalmission, your personal mission
statement and vision for yourlife, you're going to look for
and find things that actuallymatch that. But then to just
(45:58):
like with the dating apps, youknow, the AI, job recruitment
tools, but also the dating apps,there's a way that you need to
organize and format your profileso that it actually gets through
the filters so that a humanhuman being can actually see
(46:19):
that profile, see that personand then have a conversation,
and then how you show up in thatconversation is what's going to
make the difference in whetheryou get that that job that
position, that relationship,etc. Yeah,
Mike Farragher, Chief (46:32):
exactly.
I mean, there could be, and Iget this all the time, like, I
used to do this job, I used towork in that company, I want to
get back to that company. Whydid I not even get a callback
answer, you know, and the reasonis, is that somebody probably
optimize their AI resume, sothat the AI robot eyes move that
(46:52):
person to the top, you're overhere. And I tell people all the
time to it's like a Googlesearch, you know, if you put
Chinese restaurants near me, howoften do you go to page six? To
find the Chinese restaurant?
Page? Don't even go to page two?
Yeah, you don't even go to pagetwo. So why what would make you
think that a hiring managerthat's got 46 resumes in front
(47:15):
of them, if they go through thefirst 15 and they find three
candidates, they're not going togo down to the rest of the 40.
So you want to just make surethat you're in the top third. I
don't guarantee a job. But Iguarantee that you're going to
get increased traffic, for sure.
And then you have to make yourYeah.
Ali Taylor (47:36):
Yeah, you increase their opportunities to be seen.
Absolutely. That goes for thatgoes for jobs and for dating
Mike Farragher, Chief Story (47:42):
for anything. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
Yeah. Yeah. Cool.
Ali Taylor (47:47):
Cool. All right.
Well, we're getting close to ourtime here, I always like to ask
everyone that comes on is whatis one piece of wisdom that you
would share? It doesn't have tobe related to the topic for
today, but just one piece ofwisdom that you would like to
impart to anybody that'swatching today.
Mike Farragher, Chief Storyte (48:05):
I go back to the mission statement
aspire to inspire in theuniverse takes notice, my
business really started toexpand when I stopped measuring
it by units, and measuring it bypeople impacted, as I said a
little earlier, so it definitelyis. How many people do I reach
(48:25):
with, you know, how many unitsdid I move from the for books,
that's another example. I've hadsome really great successful
years as an author. And the onethat always sticks with me is a
woman that told me she sheordered 40 copies of my book,
(48:48):
One Christmas, and I was like, Icalled her I said, this must be
a mistake. It's 40. Did you meanfour? And she said, No, I'm in
40. Because my mother was in achemo chair. And that book made
her laugh. And she passed away.
I didn't want to give that bookto everybody that she loved so
that they could read what shewas reading that lifted her
(49:11):
spirits during her darkesthours.
Ali Taylor (49:17):
What wow,
Mike Farragher, Chief Story (49:18):
you know, at the end of the day,
that's what you want to bemeasured on not the units. So
yeah, I tell myself that a lotduring those days. Because you
get tons of rejection fromagents and TV producers. I mean,
I'm just like, half the world.
I'm trying to get into Netflixand all these other things. But
(49:39):
I know that once I get in there,I can impact and reach people.
But that can't be the game. Youknow, it has to be just Yeah.
What are you doing right now toimpact people and their
families. If you can help if youcan help a breadwinner. Be back
into the job market earlier.
(50:00):
unemployed sooner, you'reimpacting that whole family.
That's what really keeps megoing. And it can't just be
about the numbers, the numbers,the numbers, it has to be about
the impact you're making. Sovery long answer to your
question, but I hope, I hope theanswer is in there somewhere.
Ali Taylor (50:18):
Oh, it's, it's just all I can say. It's just thank
you. Just thank you for what youjust shared. I think that is one
of the most impactful thingsthat I just heard, like, I got I
have chills right from from whatyou just shared. And I think
that's just the perfect place tokind of leave it. So if
Mike Farragher, Chief Storyt (50:42):
we have to plug right we have to
plug career letters.
Ali Taylor (50:46):
Yeah, I'm gonna put all of that in the show notes.
Mike Farragher, Chief Stor (50:49):
COMM right there. There's my name
somewhere there. All right. Gota bunch of websites?
Ali Taylor (50:54):
Yeah, career? Well, career letters.com. Of course,
for anybody that wants to resumewriting, there is the love
letters.com for anybody thatwants their dating profile done.
But if you want to keep up witheverything with Mike, go to Mike
faragher.com You know, umbrellawebsite that we created for you
to make sure that everybody hasaccess to everything that you're
(51:14):
doing. And where are you goingto be this Saturday for anybody
that's local. So
Mike Farragher, Chief Stor (51:21):
this Saturday, I'm produced with
Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank,New Jersey, the Irish American
Film Festival, and I'm superexcited about that, first of
all, because one of my films isin there, the last temptation to
marry which is based on my sixthbook. But we had such a
successful Festival last year,that we took some of the profits
and we're actually flying in twoyoung filmmakers from Dublin
(51:46):
that were part of the Dublininternational comedy film
festival. So we have apartnership between the Count
Basie Dublin internationalcomedy film festival, we're
flying these two youngfilmmakers into give them the
thrill of watching an Americanaudience laugh at their comedy.
And again, it's all about peoplereached and yeah, the numbers
(52:07):
will follow that I understandthat we're nearing a sellout
capacity. So if you are planningon going get a move on. No.
Irish are usually the last youknow they do last minute plans
do not get shut out of this one.
It's gonna be a really, reallyspecial night. I can't wait to
give these Dublin filmmakers ajersey welcome and just watch
(52:28):
their faces lineup. It's gonnabe awesome.
Ali Taylor (52:32):
Yeah, I'll be there.
So I can't wait to see that aswell. And, Mike, thank you so
much for being here today.
Really appreciate all of theknowledge and insights and
wisdom that you shared. Foreveryone, whether it's on the
business side on the datingside, or just for wanting to
make a difference in an impactin the world around them. Now is
(52:55):
the there's never been a bettertime to write your own story.
And you as the chiefstorytelling officer are
definitely an example of that.
And so thank you once again forbeing here. And I will catch you
Mike Farragher, Chief Storyt (53:06):
as well. Yeah, thank you. Well, of
course you've been you've been agreat contributor to my
business, you've been a greatfriend. So I think your business
insights on how to attract andgain your new customers or your
business has been supervaluable. So thank you for
everything you're doingpersonally and professionally
for me. I really appreciate it.
Yeah,
Ali Taylor (53:26):
thank you for those flowers. I've received them and
accept them. All right.
Everybody, take care. Thank you.
And I'll see you all next week.
Hello, Happy Wednesday. Welcome to the next
edition of the Wednesday wisdomseries. My name is Ali Taylor, I
am the founder and consultant atwisdom and Wayfinder, where we
help you find a clear path togrowth and profitability. Unless
you have discovered the secretto ever less than life, you
don't have enough time to learneverything there is to learn
(00:34):
about running, growing andscaling a business on your own.
And so this series is whereexperienced professionals come
and share their wisdom about howto do that. Today I'm here with
Mike Farrago, CEO and founder ofcareer ladders. And we're going
to be diving deep into the artand science of professional
branding and executive resumebuilding. Mike has a rich
(00:55):
background in Senior Commercialleadership within fortune 100
companies and a passion forstorytelling. And today Mike is
going to share some invaluableinsights on how to stand out in
today's competitive job market.
From leveraging the power ofkeywords for AI and recruitment
algorithms to personal brandingand leadership effectiveness. I
think you will enjoy his uniqueperspective on navigating career
(01:16):
transitions and scaling yourprofessional growth. And we'll
also dive into some of hiscreative storytelling pursuits
as it relates to all thingsIrish culture. Mike, thank you
for being here today.
Mike Farragher, Chief Storyte (01:29):
I think with all that big
introduction, we're out of time.
Okay. Bye. Bye, everybody. Thankyou for that introduction. It
was great.
Ali Taylor (01:38):
Yeah, yeah, you're welcome. I took some time to
practice it. I was like, Mike,you were in front of the mirror
now. And I could tell I was itwas like, He's the chief
storytelling officer. So I gottamake sure I'm better up the
game.
Mike Farragher, Chief Stor (01:52):
Good to see. Ya. You
Ali Taylor (01:54):
too. You too. While speaking of upping the game. You
know, just share a little bitabout how did you transition
from I know you have your workin the corporate field. But what
made you decide to use yourtalents and your experience and
your gifts towards the resumewriting and executive career
building?
Mike Farragher, Chief Stor (02:13):
It's a great question. So I can take
you back to January, July of2020. And I was working for a
large fortune 100 company. Anddue to some shifts in the
business with COVID, I was laidoff. And on the same day, I was
laid off that July, my mother inlaw passed away of COVID. So by
(02:36):
all measures, thank you, by allmeasures, that was I'm an
optimist, but by all measures,that was a really bad day,
right? So I rememberspecifically with my wife,
Barbara, who's a co founder ofcareer ladders with me, you
know, we sat there on the porchand we said you know we can we
thank God we have the financialmeans to weather out the rest of
(02:59):
the year grieve he'll be withthe family, whatever we needed.
So nobody would find fault withus doing that. Or it's July 1,
or there abouts we have the restof the year to create a banner
year, what are we going to do.
And we both had the samethinking that lets, you know, go
with the fields, but let's notwrite off the rest of the year.
(03:22):
So being a writer, and being afortune 50 Hiring Manager, and
also writing some of the booksthat I've written that are
humorous, I typically get anumber of requests around
writing. The first one is, hey,can you help me with your
(03:43):
resume? And then the other oneis, hey, can you help me with my
dating profile? You know, you'refunny, and can you kind of punch
that up? So long story short, mywife had the idea to say, you
know, there are people that arecharging folks online for
dating, writing, profilewriting, you're writing out in
(04:04):
the back of napkins for freedrinks at a bar with some of my
single friends. Like you couldbe making a business out of
that. And then also we you know,wanted to really take a look at
what was missing in the resumewriting and professional
branding part. So after doingsome of that research, just
(04:25):
hanging the shingles, so we hadcareer letters for resume
writing and love letters,profiles for dating, profile
writing. And I know we're hereto talk about career letters,
but I just want to do one quickthing detour about love letters.
Yeah, as you can imagine, I gotsome of the craziest wildest
(04:45):
dating stories as a result oftalking with people about where,
you know, love has not foundthem. And what I did was there
was one in particular that wewas so offbeat and hilarious, I
said, I have to make a scriptout of this. So I made a script
out of it. It wins the Londonscreenwriting festival for Best
(05:08):
Comedy. So I decided to produceit. And then it went on to win
some awards for at the filmfestivals for Best Comedy, Best
Actor, Best writer, and I sharethat story with anybody that
might be listening that might bein a career, crosswords
crossroads, or cross row words,whatever. Out of that darkest
(05:31):
day, if you told me a yearlater, I'd be on the festival
circuit with a best script fromLondon, screenwriting and a film
that's running around thefestivals. I mean, that just
wasn't even in the radar, I wasin grief mode, I was shocked
everything else. But a yearlater, there I was. So out of
(05:54):
that darkest day came thisincredible new chapter in my
life that I couldn't haveimagined. So I do ask people to
really be open to any and allpossibilities that might be
before you and not just jumpback into what I know, and
what's safe, if you findyourself impacted by a layoff,
(06:17):
or a divestiture or whatever.
Ali Taylor (06:25):
Yeah, that's so incredibly important. And it's a
couple of things that I that Iliked about what you shared in
terms of just the way that youand Barbara decided to look at
what you were going through thetake that pain and that grief
that you were experiencing, andusing that to channel it into
something positive and creativeout into the world. Like one I
(06:47):
think people who do that, whohave that kind of ability are
superheroes in their in theirown right. Just like a real
force for good to be able to dothat. But then also just
touching upon how I think, love,you know, dating is the same
energy or frequency is like, youknow, money and looking for a
(07:09):
career, right? It's the sametype of effort, energy that
you're putting into it andtrying to find, where can you
really express yourself? Wherecan you really show up inside of
these two different avenues, andbeing able to write your own
story out of you, no layoffs, abreakup, a divorce, etc. It's
that same like same energy thatthat tends to happen. So I love
(07:33):
the way that you and Barbdecided to approach that and use
your stuff to make that positiveinfluence and positive impact.
You
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (07:42):
very, very perceptive on your part.
It's the same story. Peoplewonder like, well, that's how
could you like I actuallyoffered life packages where I
would do your dating profile andyour resume for one low price,
whatever. And people were like,those are so different, but not
really, because, you know, I'mnot saying this about everybody.
But if you find yourself out ofa job for a while, or single for
(08:07):
a while, and you don't want tobe your it's the same things
you're gonna say in your head,I'm damaged goods, nobody's
gonna want me it's, you know,the list goes on. And every one
of those disempowering contextsis keeping you from getting what
you want. So part of the Careerletters and the love letters for
(08:31):
that matter is certainlywriting, you know, being clever
and funny on a dating profile orcoming up with the, you know,
really packing in the keywordsto get the searches you want
from LinkedIn, a lot of itswriting and skill. And a lot of
what I do is coaching andcounseling. I'm not a
psychologist, I won't play oneon TV, but people really need a
(08:55):
confidence boost because if theylost a job or if they've in some
case, in some cases lost asignificant other through death
or breakup. Their confidence istaken ahead and an employer can
see right through that you know,when you're on a zoom or stream
(09:16):
yard, like we are now anemployer can see right through
that so it's, I can doeverything I possibly can to get
you the interview. But the restis up to you. You have to sell
it once you're on a zoom call orin front of a boardroom and then
similar. You know, I get put thebait on the hook for the daters.
(09:39):
You gotta wiggle the hook in thewater. Right. So and both of
those do well,
Ali Taylor (09:44):
first, you got to go decide to go fishing, right that
you're gonna go fishing to beginwith.
Mike Farragher, Chief St (09:49):
That's right. That's right. So, but
yeah, but people won't make thatleap. And, you know, going over
to the career part of it. Peoplenot only make that They won't
make that leap. But they'll alsonot leap high enough. So, when
you look at a job description,like a lot of people would go,
(10:13):
Oh, I could do my boss's job.
You know, I could do I'm moretalented than he is. Or she is,
okay, well, why don't we putyour boss's job, find that job
description, on line somewherein some job board, compare and
contrast that to yourexperience. And a lot of times
that person's right, they coulddo your boss's job. So if you
(10:37):
did get laid off, why not go foryour boss's job or hire if
you're qualified for it? Andsometimes that that's the
coaching I would do in careerletters.
Ali Taylor (10:52):
Yeah, there are a lot of ways in which people hold
themselves back. And I thinkwhat's really powerful about
what you do is that even thoughyou're the chief storytelling
officer, you're the one doingthe writing, you're really
empowering them to sort ofrewrite their own narrative, or
at least their the experience oftheir own story, when it comes
(11:12):
to their career, or even theirdating profile their love life.
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (11:16):
Yeah, or become present to their own
innate greatness, you know, thatI am very marketable either as a
as a data or a lover, or as acandidate. And I have had that
feedback from some of therecruiters that I've worked on,
I do have some relationshipswith, you know, large recruiter
networks, and they come to mewith like, Oh, my God, this,
(11:38):
this person's resume was faxedover to me. And it's like, from
the 90s, they haven't looked fora job in 37 years help. So yeah,
and, you know, and you do findthat sometimes the feedback I'll
get, was that, wow, thatperson's confidence was here,
and you brought them here, andwhat did you do? And, you know,
(12:02):
it's, it's it goes from? Am Imarketable to your GED? Right on
marketable, you know, and I'lllet you fill in the blanks
there, you know, that, yeah, I'mmarketable. And that's a part of
it, that's extremely rewarding.
I will say that. One of thethings that taught that I was
(12:25):
taught after the layoff wasreally looking at, and I'm at a
certain age where I'm, you know,I got a number a few years left
to retire, still have to work.
But one of the things that Ikind of came up with was, what's
your mission statement? Youknow, every time you go to a
(12:45):
company, the company will havetheir mission statement, why do
we, Why do we exist? What Why doyou exist, and then doing that
work, and finding a job thatwould attract that is a bonus, I
have a very good friend of minethat has gone through gene and
(13:06):
Celts, Gene and cell therapy,like this is cancer came back.
And he knock on wood has beat itagain. And he has newly
invigorated to be an advocatefor patient voices in the pharma
industry. So now he's pursuingjobs that would put him in a
(13:28):
position to do that. So for me,my mission statement is aspire
to inspire. And the universewill take notice. So it's really
not about it's not about like,how many resumes Can I write?
It's how many people can Ireach? If I help a mother or a
(13:51):
father, get a job and findfinancial security? I'm touching
the lives of countless people,families I've never known. And
that really becomes my NorthStar when I have myself bouts of
confidence, because let's faceit, we're human. Yeah, when I
have my own bouts of confidence,I really look at that North Star
and say, Are you right now?
Inspiring to inspire? And is theuniverse taking notice and what
(14:17):
do you need to do if you're notthat get yourself back in that
headspace? So I find that asyou're going back to the job
market, or looking to changecareers, are looking at shift
switch industries. You know,having your own mission
statement, what's my life forand having a career commensurate
(14:39):
with that? That's That's whatwork life balance is really
about because then it won't feellike work when you're working
all night. And I you know, Iwork. I have clients in Europe.
I have clients in China. Yeah.
It doesn't feel like work to me.
My day job doesn't feel likework. To me, this doesn't feel
(15:01):
like work to me, because it'sall inside of a work life
balance that I've attained overthe years.
Ali Taylor (15:08):
Yeah, it's all in service to the mission
statement, the mission thatyou've really created for your
life. And that reminds me ofthis book, here on Mission,
which is written by DonaldMiller, but really, it's like
looking at your whole life, likeyou said, creating a mission
statement for yourself. Like,yeah, the company has a mission
(15:28):
statement. They have theirvision, but what's yours, right,
and does the job, or the jobsthat you're applying to is your
resume written in a way thatactually services that mission?
I think a lot of a lot ofpeople, a lot of candidates
today are very hopeless in someaspects, because they haven't
taken the time to really createthat mission for themselves. And
(15:50):
they think they're just resignedto whatever job is available,
because you know, they've gotto, you've got to pay the rent,
you got to get to take care ofthe kids or the dog and the
bills and all those otherthings. And I think where a lot
of people shortchange themselvesis that they don't have that
personal mission. And they don'tfind those things that align
with that personal mission.
Yeah,
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (16:12):
100%.
So, you know, if you don't wantif you don't know what you want,
ultimately, it's, you know, it'sgonna be a very hollow life.
When you're out there lookingfor a new new job. And you can,
it's funny. I can't remember whosaid this. I think it was Jim
(16:32):
Carrey. He said, Every actorshould win an Oscar as soon as
possible, so that they realizethat ain't it? That's not what
Yes. Yeah. So you know, I haveI've plenty of people that I
coach in my leadership, coachingand training where, you know,
(16:54):
oh, my God, I, I was like, I wasnumber two in the country. And I
was like, Oh, my God, I'm numbertwo in the country and like
beating yourself up and it'slike, yeah, yeah, but you were
in the Diamond Club. You outyour number. And every one of
those is a milestone that younever celebrated. So if being
(17:15):
number not being number one, isis the only thing you're heading
towards that year after year.
That's, that's a that's a holeor a trap that just doesn't have
any cheese in it after a while.
Ali Taylor (17:32):
Yeah, yeah, it's an endless black hole. That reminds
me
Mike Farragher, Chief Storyt (17:36):
so you shouldn't you shouldn't you
should when you should, whenDiamond Club salesperson of the
year once early on, to realizethat ain't it?
Ali Taylor (17:46):
Yeah, it's not the thing that's gonna that's good.
Yeah, yeah, I had a conversationthe other night with a woman who
works with a lot of ultra highnet worth individuals. And she
one of her famous lines, or atleast that I've, that I, it's
famous to me, is that money onlysolves money problems. And so
(18:07):
she's working with a lot ofthese people who have access to
wealth and luxury that, youknow, most of us will, could
only ever imagine or dream of,and the identity struggles that
they that they come across,similar to you and I, everyday
people, right?
Mike Farragher, Chief Storyt (18:26):
If you're having girl problems, I
feel bad for your problem. Imean, I'm not gonna finish that.
But yeah. To quote the great JayZ,
Ali Taylor (18:37):
yes, yes, yes.
Mike Farragher, Chief Story (18:43):
But you didn't think that was gonna
happen today? Did you know Iwasn't gonna bring out some Jay
Z just willy nilly.
Ali Taylor (18:51):
Let's say and you are you are tapped into a lot of
different cultures and whatnot.
And I want to I want to talkabout some of the Irish culture
stuff that you do as well. Butfirst, I want to just jump back
to you know, what, like, in yourwork with with a lot of the
candidates that you're seeingwhen it comes to like their
LinkedIn profile for say? Whatare some of the the most
(19:13):
egregious mistakes that you'reseeing people make when it comes
to their LinkedIn to their, theway they present themselves
online?
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (19:24):
Well, I would probably answer that
slightly different, where maybeI'd go through the process of
what I do when I'm trying toattract a client. And it's so
let's sell, I don't do sell. Iask them one simple question. If
a customer, a future employer,or a business prospect landed on
(19:47):
your LinkedIn profile, wouldthat be what you'd want them to
see? Yes or no? Um, yeah. Andthen I bring it up. And it's
like, first of all, it looksCasper the Friendly Ghost,
there's no profile picture,there's so it's just that white
outline. It's even paler than Iam. By the way, can you tell me
(20:08):
this look at this big tamcomplexion in the in the Zoom
light. But so that's the firstthing I asked. There's no
profile picture. And if there'sanything worse than no profile
picture, it's the profilepicture of the mirrored
sunglasses holding up a bigbass, you know, bat, you know,
like a big tuna fish with atrucker cap and you're like,
Well, unless you're going out tobe a big game fisherman, that
(20:32):
image of your profile picture isnot in line with what you're
trying to attract. So sometimeswe do I do recommend, and I do
work with some profile, picturetakers, so that you have a
professional look. So just likepeople judge a book by its
cover, and my author pursuits,they certainly judge a book by
(20:53):
its image. So is that in line.
And then the other thing that Ithink is the Venn diagram,
Ali Taylor (20:59):
the Venn diagram of profile pictures of guys holding
fish, and wearing the sunglassesfor LinkedIn, and their dating
profiles is a circle, just justso it is,
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (21:09):
yeah, or the other one, like I really
looked, I really looked really,really good in that suit. But
unfortunately, it's got my Ihave my arm around my ex wife or
ex girlfriend. So the arms cutout, I mean, on both profile
pictures for dating andLinkedIn, I've seen him like,
it's the same picture and someof the clients. I'm like, Oh, my
(21:30):
God, really. So the other thingthat I think is egregious as
well, is that, you know, whenyou have a little bit of gray on
your temples, a lot of peoplefancy themselves as a mentor,
you know, so it's like, oh, youknow, I help people I help, I'm
a VP and I help people, youknow, aspire to their careers,
(21:53):
and there's going to be all thattalk about and then you get to
the bottom of their LinkedInprofile, and they haven't
recommended one person. Andnobody's recommended them. So
it's not bad or wrong. But it'sinconsistent with who you say
you are. If you don't havepeople coming back to you and go
(22:15):
and publicly writing on yourprofile, thank you for, you
know, you helped me make mysales goal, you helped me get
promoted, you helped me do this.
And then also sprinkle the loveas well. I call it practicing
random acts of acknowledgement.
And I suggest the clients dothis typically. Fourth of July
(22:37):
weekend, the week betweenChristmas and New Year's where
people are, you know, kind ofjust trolling LinkedIn just
because they're bored. Yeah,right, write a paragraph or two,
on somebody that you're like,wow, that that teacher, that
mentor, that person really setme straight. I wouldn't be here
where I am without them. Who isthat person, you can go on their
(23:00):
profile, write a few sentences,on what that person meant for
you so that the world knows it.
And it's good karma. Nobody losta job because of good karma. And
it goes back to what I saidearlier, aspire to inspire and
the universe takes notice, ifyou put that kind of karma out
there. Then when you are down onyour luck in getting a job, you
(23:25):
have all those people thatremember like, wow, that, that
that guy wrote on my page andgive me a recommendation, I'm
gonna see if I can find him ajob here, karma doing something
like that without expectinganything back. You will get a
lot back. And I do tell peoplethat if you're putting yourself
(23:47):
out there as a mentor, wherewould I see that digitally? So
that's Yeah, where's that?
Ali Taylor (23:56):
Where's the evidence? Yeah, yeah. And
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (24:00):
it's, it's, it's the apart from the
tuna fish picture, profilepicture. That would be the most
egregious thing I see onLinkedIn profiles, especially
when you're touting yourself asa mentor, when you haven't
demonstrated in digitally thatyou are.
Ali Taylor (24:17):
Yeah, I think it's it's really important,
especially now to start givingpeople their flowers before,
before their funeral. Start, youknow, acknowledging people for
the difference that they've madefor you whether it's, you know,
and even if you've neveractually worked with someone, or
if they've done something ifthey said something that has
(24:37):
made a difference for you. Goahead and do that. In fact, I
actually had that happen to me.
Very unexpectedly a couple ofweeks ago, I went to a
networking I'm part of aWhatsApp group. And so I went to
one of the networking events atanother chapter. And there was
someone that I had met overChristmas, we had a conversation
and he was telling me how hechanged it up His whole
(24:59):
Instagram strategy because ofsomething that I had said that
night, I don't even rememberwhat I said. But it made such a
difference for him and how hewas showing up online. And it
really influenced him. And thenother people started taking
notice. And he made it a pointto let me know. And I tell you,
it was such a gift to have thatto hear that acknowledgement
(25:21):
from him, and to see the waythat he's been showing up
online. And it's like, trust me,it makes a difference if you can
do that for people.
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (25:30):
Yeah.
It also gives you a bit of ajumpstart scared, doesn't it?
Because you're like, I saidthat. Boy, that's pretty smart.
When did I say that?
Ali Taylor (25:42):
Yeah, it's like damn sharp. Yeah, yeah. Awesome. All
right. So let's dive into youdid mention that you are of
higher Irish heritage. And soI'd like to know a little bit
more about like, how do youweave that into your
(26:03):
storytelling? And given theawards that you've won recently?
You know, obviously, I've beenkeeping up with that. Why do you
think it resonates with peopleso much?
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (26:15):
Well, I think on late on LinkedIn,
people, people will always tellme I get a lot of DMS,
especially in the last post Idid where I want to Best Film
Award and in a film festivalrecently, like, how do you do
that? And like, work full timeand do your day job? And like,
(26:37):
like, Do you sleep? And Bababah? And you know, my answer to
that is anything that'smeaningful to you, is going to
be on your calendar. And you'llfind a way. So I have plenty of
examples, which I've learnedabout from mentors, by the way
of, you know, senior vicepresidents that were with me in
(26:58):
Cologne, Germany for a meetingat Bear flew over there and
right back home to meet to go totheir daughters championship
lacrosse game. That's a personthat's knows what's important.
Providing for his family andshowing up for his family. I
(27:19):
never forgot that. So if it'smeaningful for you, it'll be on
the calendar for me. You know,writing is to Mike. What fish is
to water and breathing is justwhat I need to breathe. Yeah,
I've you know, and the employersthat get that I thrive under and
(27:44):
the employers that don't getthat final work for them. One of
my most recent positions that Ihad, I got this job over, they
said 30 other applicants, sothey were all like PhDs and
chemists and I'm not I graduatedsummer come lucky. From from
(28:05):
University. I was like, Why didyou hire me? Because I'm in
these meetings. And yeah, we'retalking about, you know,
hepatocytes, and we're talkingabout livers and all this the
workout what? And his answerwas, you know, he said, I have
(28:26):
plenty of chemists andbiochemists and biologists, I
don't have any writers. So thesescientists can always tell the
story of why this is important.
So I thought, let me throw awriter in the mix. Yeah, and see
what that does. And, you know,for a CEO to, for a CEO to
(28:48):
acknowledge that I thought wasreally took me back. It's
something I've always thought.
But that's really where, youknow, I know that the word
diversity gets thrown around.
But it's not just diversity inage, race or creed. It's also
(29:09):
diversity and experiences whereif you're top loaded with a lot
of chemists and biochemist andthey can't really talk to
people, then you know, there isa place for a writer to be the
storyteller and to frame theimportance of this to customers
when we're dealing withcommercial negotiation. So So I
(29:30):
think part of it is is to Iwrite because that's what I need
to do in my life. And then overthe years, I've been grateful
that I've been working formentors and companies that see
that they appreciate it. Andmany years, I was a closeted
(29:51):
writer where I keep that off aLinkedIn and now I don't and I
run it A memoir writing classesat Monmouth University on Zoom
since the pandemic, I can't tellyou how many bosses and senior
people I've had over the lastcouple of years, former and
current, that have come to myclasses because they see me
(30:13):
doing it. They want it forthemselves, and they put
themselves in a class tounderstand how to get started.
So I think there's a lot ofcloseted writers on LinkedIn
that look at those posts and go,I want to do that. It's all
about putting a scheduletogether and getting it done.
Ali Taylor (30:34):
Yeah, that's so very, very true. You know, what,
what matters to you is going toget scheduled, it's going to be
up to become a priority. It'sthat old saying, it's like,
yeah, if it, if it's importantto you, you'll find a way. If
it's not, you'll find an excuse.
Yeah, there will be, there'll bethe next showed up to binge
watch, there's always the Doomscrolling on tick tock that's
(30:57):
available for you at any givenpoint in time. But until you get
real with yourself real honestwith yourself about how
important something is to you,it's not going to go into your
calendar, and you're not goingto organize your life in service
of that thing.
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (31:15):
Yeah, yeah. And a lot of times, and
I'll just use, you know, I'lluse I hope I don't embarrass you
when I tell you this. But youknow, I've seen pictures of you
on Facebook and on LinkedIn, andthere's pictures of you at the
gym. And there was one that, youknow, you were all ripped, and
you look like a superhero. Youknow, and I was like, you know,
I think you're gonna have aSuperman shirt on, as I recall,
(31:36):
because we're both Yeah, we'recomic book nerds, we, that's a
whole other podcast. But anyway,you know, there's a lot of
people that are runners,yourself, you know, that,
obviously, you were health andfitness is among your top
priorities in your life,otherwise, you wouldn't look the
way you do. I'd like to looklike that I don't like and, you
(32:01):
know, that's why I'm coming outwith a book called my one skinny
summer. This summer, becauseI've only ever had one. But you
know, it's, it's if, if I tookthe intensity I have with
writing into health and fitness,I'd have the results you do. So
(32:21):
for many people, they haveintensity somewhere, to be a
runner, or to be the bestwoodworker. Or they're the or
they're they do you know, theycompete on professional dog, you
know, the dog show circuit, Iyou know, plenty of people have
those side hustles that they'reintense about. And it's just a
(32:41):
matter of taking that intenseperson over here and putting
them into another category andhaving those results. So people
that want to write that looklike you, you took that same
level intensity in the gym, andjust wrote a few words a day,
you'd have it done.
Ali Taylor (33:01):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think the other thing,too, is is it doesn't always
have to be I think a lot ofpeople feel like they they're
just stuck with one track.
Right? Like, okay, I can only bethis way, because that is what
I'm used to. That's all that Iknow. And they don't want to do.
The shitty sucky parts ofsucking at first, right? Failing
(33:26):
it first. You know, becausethere were those moments early
on, you know, I used to be 50pounds heavier. And, you know, I
had to change my eating habits,I had to change my sleeping
habits. I had to, you know, getup early and go do that and make
that commitment, regardless ofwhat the weather was like,
outside and it's it sucked alot. But once you get into that
(33:49):
groove, you start to find apattern to wear, I guess, you
know, just your brain finallyswitches on. It's like, okay,
this is what we're doing. Thisis what we need. We got to keep
this momentum going. And soyeah, when it comes to writing,
your first drafts are going tosuck. But I think people need to
give themselves permission tosuck at first and we don't do
(34:09):
that enough.
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (34:10):
Yeah, yeah. And, you know, also,
certainly, you know, people cango on my social medias, and they
could see a book signingtonight. You know, this past
Sunday, I was, you know, I wonthat award. So you'd be like,
Wow, that seems like that'spretty incredible. It is pretty
incredible. But what you alsodon't hear is that I applied to
(34:34):
12 festivals. I got into twoYeah. Yeah, you're gonna see the
red carpet pictures of the two.
Maybe I should be speaking alittle bit more about the 10. I
didn't get into. I've gone tobook signings where I've
literally spoken at LincolnCenter. across the lawn, there
was 1000s of people there. Andthen there's times I drove all
(34:57):
the way up to Boston and Sixpeople showed up, you know, so
yeah, you know, it's one ofthose things where you, you
definitely never mind thewriting process. But also once
you get these things tofruition, there's, that's where
the real work begins in thatyou're looking to always find an
audience and, you know, makingsure that you don't lose money.
(35:23):
Maybe I'm not gonna make a lotof money, but I don't want to
lose money doing these films andbooks. So keeping an eye on the
bottom line that's equally asimportant as getting the first
draft done. Yes, I really, Ireally enjoy my, some of my some
of my creative heroes are notnecessarily writers. They're,
(35:44):
it's, you know, I'm a hugeRolling Stones fan. You know,
Mick Jagger monos, the same way.
You know, Mick Jagger is thecreative, he puts the tour
together, he writes the albumswith Keith. And when it comes
time to tour, he knows the cityin which the tour breaks even.
(36:07):
And the profitability starts.
He's got that. Yeah. So it'slike a London School, London
School of Economics over here,creative over here. Those I have
many, many friends, you beingone of them. That that I really
admire people that have thatleft brain, right brain to not
only create something, butmanage the creative business,
(36:29):
the business of creativity,because it's, it's called show
business for a reason. Yeah.
Ali Taylor (36:37):
1,000% I, man. So I've been watching the marvelous
Mrs. Maisel. Watching that forthe first I'm like, damn, shows
really good. And one of thethings that I really liked is
they showed the process of herworkshopping the jokes and try
them out and seeing which oneslanded, which ones didn't. And
(37:00):
she had to do a lot of reallycrappy, you know, greasy, low
down and dirty dive bars inorder to really practice and
hone your skill. And I thinkwith a lot of people, you know,
a lot of people with their jobsearches, you know, like you
were talking about the 10 showsthat you didn't get into, you
know, we don't always see all ofthe rejections from submitting
(37:23):
an application submitting that,that resume. We don't see all
the failures that come up, wejust see you know, the success
and find them when they get thecorner office, and they get the
job and their first paycheck,etc, we celebrate with them. But
there is so much that goes onseen. Well, there
Mike Farragher, Chief Storyt (37:41):
is certainly also in right now, for
the date that we're recordingthis job market is pretty good.
It's tightening up in someareas, not in others, which is
kind of the story of life,right. But I look back on on the
last two jobs that I got, I sentout 60 applications. And this is
(38:03):
a guy that's kind of a pro atinterviewing and a pro it, you
know, optimizing LinkedIn andresume profiles, so I can I can
do the best job on your resume,or LinkedIn profile ever. And
yeah, it there's because oftechnology in the LinkedIn, easy
Apply button as an example.
People are just gonna, like bein their pajamas gone. Yeah. Oh,
(38:25):
apply for that. So the result ofthat is that almost every job
out there has, you know, 40applications, and they're
looking for one person. So thereyou have it, you have to be
prepared that if you wanted tomake a job switch, or if you're
out of work, I tell people thatit's you know, it's four to six
(38:49):
months to find something elsebetween pummeling the job market
for job applications, waitingfor somebody to get back from
vacation to do that third, Zoominterview, going through four or
five interviews, and you'rethinking to yourself, Oh, my
God, if you're, if you're goingto take one more hour of my
time, I'm going to 1099 you forit. Just give me the job
(39:10):
already. That's part of theprocess. And it really is yeah.
So
Ali Taylor (39:17):
yeah, I think one of the I forgot when you were
telling me this story, but youwere, I think maybe it was with
your niece that you had givenher some coaching in her
interview, to ask, you know, theCEO, it's like, like, what is it
that they need or something likethat to remember that story?
Mike Farragher, Chief Sto (39:36):
Yeah.
My god daughter who got down andfound herself laid off, not laid
off her position was eliminated.
So obviously, going through theshock of that, and she was, you
know, one of those things whereshe got glowing reviews, you
know, just a couple of monthsbefore and then all of a sudden
(39:58):
they eliminated her position.
And why me as like, first of allthe answer is there's no logic
behind it. They're just nolonger in X business or why
business there. It's like a it'slike a waterbed. We're gonna
blow it up here and deflatedover there or whatever, you
know. Yeah, I by the way, I'llI'll wait till people Google
what the waterbed referencesbecause people of a certain age
(40:19):
will have no idea what awaterbed has. But anyway, so
then, you know, during the,during the interview session, I
I coached her to say, what does?
What are the things you'remeasured by Mr. Hiring Manager
by success? And what were thingsin my credentials that you saw
(40:42):
as an opportunity for me tocontribute? Especially if a
person of a certain age, thehiring manager, apparently the
you know, the, the cranium blewoff the front the top of his
head? Because who asked me that,you know, when you have 30
people saying, so what, youknow, what am I gonna get? When
(41:06):
can I get promoted after I like,you know, what? Policy? What's
the vacation policy? Yeah, justbasically, wow, what are you
looking for in this candidate?
What was something in my resumethat you thought would really be
like? Well, I, I'm interested inthat. And how can I contribute
to your success? Nobody asked.
(41:29):
Me, it's not a gimmick, either.
By the way, it's not just mesaying, here's how you stand
out? Wouldn't you want to knowthat? Anyway, because that is an
opportunity for you to determinewhether or not the kind of work
that's going to create successin that organization is the kind
of work you want to do. So it's,it does set you out. It is an
interview technique or agimmick, but it's also something
(41:50):
you'd kind of want to knowanyway.
Ali Taylor (41:54):
Yeah, I think everyone should take time to if
your journal or whatnot, buttake some time to sit down and
really answer that question foryourself, if you're going to
give up your time, your energy,you know, your resource, your
vitality to this organization,you know, what is it that you
(42:15):
would need to bring to the tableto have that be successful? And
not because you're trying to beloyal or to the company, because
you know, they're going to maketheir decisions, you obviously
want to protect yourself in someway, and don't over give. But I
think anything that you add toyour skill set that you add to
(42:35):
your wisdom or ability can onlyhelp you in the future, in
crafting whatever it is that youwant to
Mike Farragher, Chief Story (42:44):
do.
Yeah, well, those are the kindsof things that we talk about
when I do a career letters,consults. So, you know, with the
career letters, which is careerletters.com. You know, what I do
is I, first of all, once you'vepaid, I asked you for your
current resume. And then I'malso going to ask somebody, what
(43:04):
are the two or three jobs you'relooking to go after? Can you
send me links to those? Let's,let's format your resume, so
works well with AI. But thenalso, let's, let's, you know,
let's pack that with keywordsthat attract jobs like that, so
that not only are you going tobe more successful, going after
(43:28):
the jobs, you know, but mayberecruiters might be looking for
you. So you might be able to getaccess to jobs, you didn't know
you didn't know what's outthere. So we do that. And then
part of that, no matter how muchAI is out there. And so many of
these resume writing companiesutilize a lot of AI where you'll
(43:52):
never talk to a human being.
Maybe I'm old fashioned, but Iactually looked somebody square
in the electronic eye ear overzoom. And I asked them what's
important to you, and let'sdesign it based on that. So as
much as you can automateresumes, there's no automating
that human connection, listeningfor what's important to
(44:14):
somebody, and then crafting aresume that that attracts that
crafting a dating profile thatattracts that, as you know,
going back to that as well. Andthat has been highly successful.
One of the things I also thinkis egregious on LinkedIn, you
know, that easy Apply buttonmakes it really easy to just
(44:34):
apply and upload your resume andyou're done. But I tell people
don't do that. You can hit theeasy Apply button. But before
you upload your resume, makesure that resume conforms with
the job you're applying for. Somake sure you're utilizing some
of those key words. That kind ofthing because those those things
(44:58):
will make a difference at theend of The day, a human being is
going to pick who comes in forthe second interview. But it's
the robot eyes, it's the AIrobot eyes, that will sort the
pile that you really want tomaster. And that's, that's what
we take AI. And we turn it onits head and leverage it to make
(45:21):
sure that you're at the top ofthe resume pile. And then we
also offer that human touch toactually get on a zoom call with
you and understand what you'relooking for next. And that
really helps delivering that inthe way that an AI algorithm
just can't.
Ali Taylor (45:38):
Yeah, yeah. So so what I'm hearing is like, it's
really, just to kind of recapeverything is that one, when you
get clear on your personalmission, your personal mission
statement and vision for yourlife, you're going to look for
and find things that actuallymatch that. But then to just
(45:58):
like with the dating apps, youknow, the AI, job recruitment
tools, but also the dating apps,there's a way that you need to
organize and format your profileso that it actually gets through
the filters so that a humanhuman being can actually see
(46:19):
that profile, see that personand then have a conversation,
and then how you show up in thatconversation is what's going to
make the difference in whetheryou get that that job that
position, that relationship,etc. Yeah,
Mike Farragher, Chief (46:32):
exactly.
I mean, there could be, and Iget this all the time, like, I
used to do this job, I used towork in that company, I want to
get back to that company. Whydid I not even get a callback
answer, you know, and the reasonis, is that somebody probably
optimize their AI resume, sothat the AI robot eyes move that
(46:52):
person to the top, you're overhere. And I tell people all the
time to it's like a Googlesearch, you know, if you put
Chinese restaurants near me, howoften do you go to page six? To
find the Chinese restaurant?
Page? Don't even go to page two?
Yeah, you don't even go to pagetwo. So why what would make you
think that a hiring managerthat's got 46 resumes in front
(47:15):
of them, if they go through thefirst 15 and they find three
candidates, they're not going togo down to the rest of the 40.
So you want to just make surethat you're in the top third. I
don't guarantee a job. But Iguarantee that you're going to
get increased traffic, for sure.
And then you have to make yourYeah.
Ali Taylor (47:36):
Yeah, you increase their opportunities to be seen.
Absolutely. That goes for thatgoes for jobs and for dating
Mike Farragher, Chief Story (47:42):
for anything. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
Yeah. Yeah. Cool.
Ali Taylor (47:47):
Cool. All right.
Well, we're getting close to ourtime here, I always like to ask
everyone that comes on is whatis one piece of wisdom that you
would share? It doesn't have tobe related to the topic for
today, but just one piece ofwisdom that you would like to
impart to anybody that'swatching today.
Mike Farragher, Chief Storyte (48:05):
I go back to the mission statement
aspire to inspire in theuniverse takes notice, my
business really started toexpand when I stopped measuring
it by units, and measuring it bypeople impacted, as I said a
little earlier, so it definitelyis. How many people do I reach
(48:25):
with, you know, how many unitsdid I move from the for books,
that's another example. I've hadsome really great successful
years as an author. And the onethat always sticks with me is a
woman that told me she sheordered 40 copies of my book,
(48:48):
One Christmas, and I was like, Icalled her I said, this must be
a mistake. It's 40. Did you meanfour? And she said, No, I'm in
40. Because my mother was in achemo chair. And that book made
her laugh. And she passed away.
I didn't want to give that bookto everybody that she loved so
that they could read what shewas reading that lifted her
(49:11):
spirits during her darkesthours.
Ali Taylor (49:17):
What wow,
Mike Farragher, Chief Story (49:18):
you know, at the end of the day,
that's what you want to bemeasured on not the units. So
yeah, I tell myself that a lotduring those days. Because you
get tons of rejection fromagents and TV producers. I mean,
I'm just like, half the world.
I'm trying to get into Netflixand all these other things. But
(49:39):
I know that once I get in there,I can impact and reach people.
But that can't be the game. Youknow, it has to be just Yeah.
What are you doing right now toimpact people and their
families. If you can help if youcan help a breadwinner. Be back
into the job market earlier.
(50:00):
unemployed sooner, you'reimpacting that whole family.
That's what really keeps megoing. And it can't just be
about the numbers, the numbers,the numbers, it has to be about
the impact you're making. Sovery long answer to your
question, but I hope, I hope theanswer is in there somewhere.
Ali Taylor (50:18):
Oh, it's, it's just all I can say. It's just thank
you. Just thank you for what youjust shared. I think that is one
of the most impactful thingsthat I just heard, like, I got I
have chills right from from whatyou just shared. And I think
that's just the perfect place tokind of leave it. So if
Mike Farragher, Chief Storyt (50:42):
we have to plug right we have to
plug career letters.
Ali Taylor (50:46):
Yeah, I'm gonna put all of that in the show notes.
Mike Farragher, Chief Stor (50:49):
COMM right there. There's my name
somewhere there. All right. Gota bunch of websites?
Ali Taylor (50:54):
Yeah, career? Well, career letters.com. Of course,
for anybody that wants to resumewriting, there is the love
letters.com for anybody thatwants their dating profile done.
But if you want to keep up witheverything with Mike, go to Mike
faragher.com You know, umbrellawebsite that we created for you
to make sure that everybody hasaccess to everything that you're
(51:14):
doing. And where are you goingto be this Saturday for anybody
that's local. So
Mike Farragher, Chief Stor (51:21):
this Saturday, I'm produced with
Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank,New Jersey, the Irish American
Film Festival, and I'm superexcited about that, first of
all, because one of my films isin there, the last temptation to
marry which is based on my sixthbook. But we had such a
successful Festival last year,that we took some of the profits
and we're actually flying in twoyoung filmmakers from Dublin
(51:46):
that were part of the Dublininternational comedy film
festival. So we have apartnership between the Count
Basie Dublin internationalcomedy film festival, we're
flying these two youngfilmmakers into give them the
thrill of watching an Americanaudience laugh at their comedy.
And again, it's all about peoplereached and yeah, the numbers
(52:07):
will follow that I understandthat we're nearing a sellout
capacity. So if you are planningon going get a move on. No.
Irish are usually the last youknow they do last minute plans
do not get shut out of this one.
It's gonna be a really, reallyspecial night. I can't wait to
give these Dublin filmmakers ajersey welcome and just watch
(52:28):
their faces lineup. It's gonnabe awesome.
Ali Taylor (52:32):
Yeah, I'll be there.
So I can't wait to see that aswell. And, Mike, thank you so
much for being here today.
Really appreciate all of theknowledge and insights and
wisdom that you shared. Foreveryone, whether it's on the
business side on the datingside, or just for wanting to
make a difference in an impactin the world around them. Now is
(52:55):
the there's never been a bettertime to write your own story.
And you as the chiefstorytelling officer are
definitely an example of that.
And so thank you once again forbeing here. And I will catch you
Mike Farragher, Chief Storyt (53:06):
as well. Yeah, thank you. Well, of
course you've been you've been agreat contributor to my
business, you've been a greatfriend. So I think your business
insights on how to attract andgain your new customers or your
business has been supervaluable. So thank you for
everything you're doingpersonally and professionally
for me. I really appreciate it.
Yeah,
Ali Taylor (53:26):
thank you for those flowers. I've received them and
accept them. All right.
Everybody, take care. Thank you.
And I'll see you all next week.
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