The Voice of Job Seekers

Mark Anthony Dyson ★ Career Writer ★ Speaker ★ Thinker ★ Award-winning Blog & Podcast! ★ "The Job Scam Report" on Substack! ★ I hack and reimagine the modern job search!

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Critical Thinking Strategies to Impress Employers with Jeff Kavanaugh

Critical Thinking Strategies to Impress Employers with Jeff Kavanaugh

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Graduates undervalue communication and critical thinking. Employers want more of it. My guest today, Jeff Kavanaugh, explains how graduates can prepare for the job market. Jeff addresses much of this in his new book, Consultant 2.0. If you want to know more about his book you can go to his website.

How are you preparing for the job market?

I would love to hear your thoughts in one of three ways:

  • Call and leave a voicemail at 708-365-9822, or text your comments to the same number
  • Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com, press the “Send Voicemail” button on the right side of your screen and leave a message
  • Send email feedback to [email protected]

About Jeff Kavanaugh:

Senior Partner at Infosys, a $10bn global IT consulting firm. He is also an adjunct professor at The University of Texas at Dallas. He has been featured on Fast Company, Huffington Post, and Tech Crunch.

Here are some highlights from our discussion:

  • People with little experience should seek relevant internships
  • It is a credible data point and learn to apply real world examples and stories
  • Critical thinking demystified requires you to restructure your thinking– calls for rigorous application and logic
  • During interviews, state your conclusion first and support with 3-5 sub points
  • We discussed how imperative it is to use inductive logic to communicate your thinking
  • Knowing your audience, research, understand their experience, dig deeper
  • Show respect in researching the company and interviewer
  • Phrases, stories, adjectives are clues to the interviewer your willingness to connect and relate
  • We discussed studies showing employers value work ethic, professionalism, competency
  • Absorb the publications you read outside of college work. Read publications such as Wall Street and the Economists
  • After reading, write a 500-word blog post on what you’ve written over 2 or 3 years. Collecting 20 or 30 articles over time may catch the attention of prospective employers
  • Employers look for how a job candidate will frame their stories and answers. The right answer is secondary to how it’s analyzed and broken down by logic

Do you need job search coaching or instruction?

I am here for it! Use my contact information above to inquire about individual or group coaching. You can also sign up for my weekly newsletter at the top of my page.

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Three Reasons to Create Your Career to Endure Like The Fedora

Three Reasons to Create Your Career to Endure Like The Fedora

It’s likely you have a fedora. You wear it well, and it’s impossible not to feel superpowers of cool when you do. I can’t say everyone loves the look on you, but you know someone will. Successful careerists are adaptable and agile like the fedora. There are career lessons to learn from this comparison.
I own nine of them. And will probably buy one or two between now and the end of summer. In fact, my oldest calls me “Uncle Fedora” sometimes. She always compliments me when I wear one, but more importantly, so does my wife.
I wear them casually more now as it used to be for special occasions. When I go to one of my open office spots such as Panera Bread or Starbucks, I often wear one. Not just to look stylish, but to keep the air conditioning from blowing directly on my head. The Starbucks I go to often is cold. I’ll wear my fedora to keep my head warm even in the summer.
According to the History of Hats and other sources, the fedora has been around more than 130 years. It’s not just a fad, but a staple in American fashion culture. It has a prominent place in the wardrobes of Presidents and princes, singers and servants, and yes, mothers and mavens.
It has also endured fashion changes. No matter the trend, it has steadfastly stood out as the go to wear for timely fads. No matter how men or women suits the change in color, fit, or style, a fedora complements it. I am sure someone more fashion savvy than I will want to correct my details in style, but you get the idea.
My goal in writing this blog is to help inspire, or for you to aspire, to have always had a voice. Just as the Fedora has always had a place, you should have a voice. It’s one of the ways for you to survive all of the cultural and environmental changes in work.
So here are my three reasons for your career to be like the fedora:

1) Like the fedora, you’re not for everyone, and everyone is not for you

As you understand your skills and talents, your list of vendors, employers, contracts, or people who energize your career and inspire your aspirations will shrink. That’s still a lot of individuals, and you need to connect with those people.

Listen to Job Interviewing Best Practices

2) Like the fedora, be agile  
Future proofing is the best career strategy anyone can devise. Whenever there is an economy change, there is likely a technology drive to cause or to follow. The Fedora fits with any fashion you fancy no matter the period you favor to wear. Your skills matter as they are relevant,  but your personality is what will deepen your appeal to what’s important to the business.

3) Like the fedora, add value

The Fedora goes with most outfits and is appropriate for most social occasions.

Although your skills, abilities, and personality aren’t for everybody, like the Fedora, you’ll add value to many.

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Even with one talent you can serve and help many especially if you expand your network.

The Fedora has a broad audience, has experienced many adventures, and find its way to show up at all the right times. In your career, consider being like the Fedora.

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The Beyonce Syndrome, Career Aspirations, and Unconscious Bias

The Beyonce Syndrome, Career Aspirations, and Unconscious Bias

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The Beyonce Syndrome. Our definition of the show is about the career woman who has it all and does it all. Many feel it’s not enough to achieve the recognition for women to gain the same opportunities as men. Janine Truitt and Chris Fields are back on the show to discuss why it affects people of color much more. Much of what we talk about is unconscious bias, although it was accidental.

We would love your perspectives on this episode.

Here is how you can be a part of this conversation:

  • Call and leave a voicemail at 708-365-9822, or text your comments to the same number
  • Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com, press the “Send Voicemail” button on the right side of your screen and leave a message
  • Send email feedback to [email protected]

Let me share a little about each of my co-hosts:

Janine Truitt is the founder of her company, Talent Think Innovations, LLC is a multi-disciplinary business strategy and management consulting firm. She has been in HR and talent acquisitions for more than ten years. Her media features include Black Enterprise, Entrepreneur Magazine, and US News and Careers.

Chris Fields is the founder of the Resume Crusade, and also an HR professional and resume writer. He helps around 150 people yearly with resume and job search advice. His career advice was in O Magazine, Mashable, and Monster Working!

Here are a few of the highlights:

  • Women: Is it possible to have it all? Want it all?
  • Having it all doesn’t mean all at one time. Everyone defines what “all” means differently
  • We talked about how more work is not recognized by women (even more women of color) with the same respect
  • Janine noted how assertiveness and aggressiveness has negative connotations coming from people of color
  • Chris shared how standards are different for black men and white men in their use of language

Need help with your career goals, directions, or efforts? Do you need coaching or instruction? I am here for it!

Please note my spring hiatus is from May 9 to June 6, and Summer break July 19 to Sept. 12. No shows to be published during these dates. We will, however, publish more articles on the blog.