What Are Your Skills?

What Are Your Skills?

To figure out which job you want to do, you need to start with what you like to do.

This means asking yourself which activities and processes you want to fill your days doing -- or in other words, which skills you most enjoy.

The problem is, most of us are terrible at articulating our skills.

And if we can’t articulate our skills, how on earth can we determine which of them we enjoy most?

I see this problem frequently when my clients complete our direction-setting diagnostic. One question asks you to list all of your skills, and then categorize them into those you enjoy and don’t enjoy. With a full picture of what you can do and what you enjoy doing in front of you, it becomes easier to assess the career possibilities at your fingertips, and which of them may merit pursuit.

But when listing their skills, most people (no matter their industry!) tend to only include non-specific, soft skills like problem-solving, teamwork, communication, organizing, planning, collaborating.

This isn’t too surprising; we're socialized at work to focus on “we” over “I” and to talk in least common denominators about company and team goals -- we rarely delve into the specific parts of the process we individually own to help achieve those goals.

Yet because soft skills are applicable to most any job, they don’t help you discern which jobs you’re more likely to love than others.

For that level of insight, you need to go deeper into what I like to call “how skills.”

Stop Wasting Time on Your Resume: A Lesson From The Hunger Game

Stop Wasting Time on Your Resume: A Lesson From The Hunger Game

While phenomenal resume tips (and debates) abound, there’s one point everyone seems to miss:

Out of all the job search activities, crafting a perfect resume is the least likely to land you an interview; the odds are simply not in your favor.

You see evidence of the disadvantageous resume odds every time you apply for a position online. For example, one of my clients this past week wanted to apply for an HR Generalist position in Chicago that had been live for three days and had already received 649 applications.

On top of this, we know that recruiters spend on average 6.25 seconds reviewing a resume (if at all), and 80% of that time is spent on your name, and the company name, position title and date range of your two most recent positions -- all things you cannot change.

The takeaway: spend less time on your resume

Think of The Hunger Games. Those in power offered contestants false hope with the phrase, “May the odds be ever in your favor.” While most of the contestants rehearsed their fighting skills to marginally increase their chances, Katniss’ winning approach was to ignore conventional wisdom -- she changed the rules of the game instead.

If you’re still focusing the majority of your job search time on your resume, cover letter, and applying online, it’s time for you to rethink the rules of the job search game.

It’s not that you don’t need these resources; you still do (sorry!). But this week’s article shows you how to focus and complete your resume in the least amount of time so you can save the majority of your job search energy for higher value activities like strategic networking.

The key is to invest just enough time to make your resume strong enough to keep you in the running once you’ve gotten your foot in the door.

At NSC, we compiled all of the available research and advice into what we’ve found to be the highest value, safest bet, 30-minute resume creation template -- that still increases the odds of a recruiter or resume review software paying attention when you submit online.

Most importantly, your resume needs to accomplish two critical goals:

The 30-Minute Cover Letter

The 30-Minute Cover Letter

What’s the only part of the job search people hate more than networking?

Cover letters.

We already get the heebie-jeebies talking about ourselves, and now we have to spend an entire page writing about ourselves too? Yuch.

What’s more frustrating is that cover letters don’t even get you the job; they mostly keep you from getting crossed off the list of candidates while you’re landing the job through networking. But when an application calls for a cover letter, you need one, and it has to be strong.

Most candidates make two mistakes when writing cover letters. First, they spend too much time dumping all their work experience into the letter (making it an unnavigable stream of content). And second, they then spend too little time tailoring the letter to the specific opportunity (let’s be honest -- we’ve all quickly replaced the company name on a generic letter...). Sadly, both mistakes prevent you from making a clear and compelling presentation to your prospective employer.

This is why I teach my clients the template for writing dynamite cover letters in 20 minutes.

The secret to this template is that just like any interview question, the question you’re really responding to when writing a cover letter is “Why should I hire you?”

Your prospective employer doesn’t want your life story or a narrative recap of your resume. They want the top 2-3 reasons (max!), with supporting evidence, that you’re the best fit for the role. So why not just give it to them straight?

Keep reading for the step by step 20-minute process, or zip to the bottom of this article for the full plug-and-play template.

Dynamite Cover Letter Example

Dynamite Cover Letter Example

Stephanie recently received her Master’s degree in Special Education, and was applying for a full-time teaching position. She gave me permission to show you her full cover letter that follows our 20-minute template. 

How to start a human-centered job search (that gets you the job)

How to start a human-centered job search (that gets you the job)

If you’re just starting out in your job search, you may have spent time clicking around and applying to jobs online (nine out of ten early-stage job seekers tell me this). If so, take a moment to celebrate; shifting from thinking to action is the most challenging step in any endeavor.

But now let me level with you:

Successful job seekers focus on spending more time with people -- and less with postings.

In a complex, quickly-shifting job market with overwhelming options, you need peopleto give you context and guidance on where to focus your job search energy -- which positions to pursue, how to pursue them, and who can help you land them.

I know, I’ve said it countless times, and I’ll say it again: 85% of jobs are landed through networking. Yes, it requires picking up the phone and putting yourself out there. But the positive effects are staggering. I’ve seen languishing, months-old applications turn into interviews the same day an outreach email was sent to the right person, and I’ve seen informal interviews turn into on-the-spot job offers for positions that weren’t even posted.

And not only are the results of networking fast-acting and illuminating; as daunting as reaching out for help may seem, people have a magical way of injecting confidence and momentum into your search (both of which are hard to generate on your own).

Hence, what every early-stage job seeker needs most is a short and sweet plan for connecting with real people who can point you in the right direction and help you set your search up for success.

Read the full article for your five-step, human-centered, job search startup plan

The Bugs Test: Take ownership of your career in 10 minutes

The Bugs Test: Take ownership of your career in 10 minutes

Last week we broke down why job searching should be one of everyone’s 2017 New Year’s Resolutions. But the first job search step I tell all my clients to take is to honestly assess your potential to turn your current position into one you love, before you double down on looking elsewhere.

One of the best exercises I've found for assessing challenging situations and getting moving in the right direction is The Bugs Test, which I learned from my mentor Tony Brown at Duke University.

What makes The Bugs Test so powerful is its immediate ability to provide clarity by categorizing problems into:

  • the problems we can easily change,
  • the problems we should accept (because they’ll never change), and
  • the problems we might be able to change with serious thought and effort (hint: these are often the most important ones).

Whether you’re interested in moving on or simply making an already strong work situation even better, in 10 minutes you should have clearer insight into how to take ownership of your next steps and your future happiness at work.

Holiday Gift Ideas For Your Job-Seeking Friends & Family

Holiday Gift Ideas For Your Job-Seeking Friends & Family

Over the holidays, even if we know a friend or family member is actively looking for a job, we typically avoid asking them about it like the plague. The job search process is demoralizing, lonely and hard to navigate, so why bring up such a touchy subject?

In response to this I say: The job search process is demoralizing, lonely and hard to navigate -- show your support!

We all need affirmation, encouragement and positivity, but job seekers have to go to battle for it every day. In the spirit of our gift-giving holidays, here are a few gift ideas under $50 (and a couple of free ones!) to make someone’s search a little brighter.

4 Must-Ask Questions To Ask At The End Of Your Interview

4 Must-Ask Questions To Ask At The End Of Your Interview

At some point in the interview, likely towards the end, we know we’ll be asked for our questions (it happens in 84% of interviews). And we know asking good questions is important, since 32% of hiring managers in a recent study stated not asking good questions in the interview is one of the most detrimental mistakes job candidates make. 

Yet we often short-shift preparing for this inevitable moment of the interview. I hear it all the time: 

“I’ll just ask about company culture, or what they like most about working at the company, or about an exciting project coming up.” 

These mediocre questions may not hurt your chances of getting the job like some questions do (which I’ll be digging into next week), but they don’t help you either.

What few people realize is that great questions have the power to convince your interviewer to give you the offer -- sometimes right there in the interview room! And a handful of these great questions carry the dual benefit of eliciting information to help you determine whether you really want the job. 

The “Do you have any questions for me?” moment of the interview can confuse us, because we’ve prepared for and gotten used to responding; when the table turns, we can mistakenly put ourselves in the driver’s seat and assume what we ask doesn’t matter. 

And while in some cases this may be true (like when you know you’re the top pick for the job), most often you are still selling yourself during this part of the interview! Focus on questions that demonstrate your commitment and determination to helping your prospective employer be as successful as possible, and save the “me, me, me” questions for once you receive the offer.

Keep reading for our shortlist of dynamite win-win questions that get you one step closer to an offer -- and figuring out if you really want the job. 

5 Reasons Growth Mindset Candidates Get The Job

5 Reasons Growth Mindset Candidates Get The Job

I firmly believe that Stanford Professor Carol Dweck’s research on the growth mindset can positively impact all aspects of our personal and professional lives, which is why I share a 2-page summary of Dweck’s book with all of my clients.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Dweck’s research, here’s the 2-bullet summary:

  • Dweck shows that with the growth mindset, you can train your mind to approach challenges with wonder, excitement and resilience.
  • In contrast, the fixed mindset carries the detrimental effect of making us react to challenges with fear or avoidance, hence diminishing our potential to grow.

When I was working in Silicon Valley, I heard “growth mindset” used often in meetings about hitting goals or shifting directions. But to me, job seekers are the audience that can most benefit from Dweck’s findings. Because every phase of today’s job search process requires us to face rejection and a host of other challenges, the growth mindset is almost required for getting the job. And quite simply, it can make it a whole lot more fun.

Keep reading for the five reasons the growth mindset seeker lands the job -- and how to put those tenets into action yourself.