Articles - The Voice of Job Seekers

How to Use Tech Productively in Your Job Search

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She said I made her feel important, and Kris McDonald (@littletechgirl) is quite the savvy professional when it comes to tech. This episode is a job search light episode and focused more on productivity. You want to listen to this episode if you’re in-between tech usage and knowing the depth of the use of let’s say a smart phone.This is a special Christmas edition of the podcast. It is also the end of this season for the show. I will be publishing new episodes on January 12, 2016. You want to subscribe to the show as we talk about salary negotiation for women (although many of the same principles we discuss will apply to all). Don’t miss that episode.I would love to hear what you think? Here’s how you can let me know:

Call and leave a voicemail at 708-365-9822
Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com, press the “Send Voicemail” button on the right side of your screen and leave a message
Send email feedback to mark@thevoiceofjobseekers.com

Let me tell you a little about Kris, who is a Digital Lifestyle Expert. Her press mentions include CNN, Black Enterprise, Ebony, and Huffington Post. She partners with small to large corporation clients advising on tech.

Here’s a light outline of our discussion:

Smartphone usage and it’s usefulness
Data usage and phone plans, Wi-Fi to save on data
Travel
Ideas on using syncing info from phone to computer, backing your info, calendar, phone numbers
Here is a link to a post about keeping your contact list no matter what phone you upgrade to
Photos syncing and software
Evernote and it’s under utilization, freemium vs. premium
Fresh books use to connect to PayPal, loging travel miles and expenses
Square or PayPal if you’re consulting to take debit or credit cards
Scanning receipts and documents to Dropbox
Using Neat and Epson to scan
Here is a link to a post on business efficiency written by Kris

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

Also, join our Linkedin community! You’ll enjoy some of the insights shared by community members and other career pros!

I would still like to help self-published career professionals promote their books. If you’re interested, find more info here.

Again, join me and my guests on January 12 for the special salary negotiation episode!

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Nail the Interview with Michelle Lederman

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I presented several interview experts and books in this podcast including Michelle Lederman’s last interview book for veterans, Heroes Get Hired. Her latest book focuses on reframing the limiting beliefs preventing a confident presentation and standing out. The book also details what needs to be done after the interview process.

What are your interview challenges? I would love to hear your thoughts in one of three ways:

Call and leave a voicemail at 708-365-9822
Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com, press the “Send Voicemail” button on the right side of your screen and leave a message
Send email feedback to mark@thevoiceofjobseekers.com

If you are a career professional who advise job seekers and adds feedback whether it’s advice or a differing opinion, I will include a link in future show notes and read your comments on an upcoming show. Just let me know if it’s OK with you.

Michelle Lederman is one of my favorite people and a friend of the blog. Michelle is founder of executiveessentials.org, and author of the new book, Nail The Interview Land the Job. Her book, The 11 Laws of Likability from four years ago is now a Rutgers class, and “Heroes Get Hired” is an interview book specifically for Military, military veterans, and their families. Her media credits include CBS, Fox, NPR, NY Times, Forbes & MSNBC).

Highlights from our conversation include:

Michelle said one of the common challenges to interviewing is limiting beliefs, yet most are unaware of this as a challenge and rarely talked about
Limiting beliefs are statements such as, “They are not going to let a new graduate into this position.”
One way to overcome this is to reframe the limiting messages inside of our heads
Michelle has her clients do a tracking of their inner self-talk, frequency, what do these messages say
These messages and reframing limiting beliefs reach beyond interviewing and into our lives
The feeling of judgment affects our overall limiting belief, uncomfortable, feeling awkward
“The mind drives the body, and the body drives the mind” (defensive body positions, reveals lack of confidence
Reframe by making yourself bigger (in mind and physical) broaden chest, larger hand gestures, and through adding confidence
Michelle references the Amy Cuddy TED talk about “power-posing.”
Too much practice can appear inauthentic
“Practice but do not script…” –Understand the structure in your mind as you tell stories of “How did you resolve a complaint?”
What stories highlight your strengths? Tell those stories.
Michelle offered personal stories of corporate interviews she had out of college
We talk about her section of the book on “mind games” which is much like “truth or dare.”

Two more episodes before the end of this season of the show. Dec. 16 is the last show and I’ll resume on Jan. 12 with a special Salary Negotiation show that focuses on helping WOMEN!

Have you subscribed to this show on iTunes? If you haven’t, please do so. iTunes is a great place to write an honest review and increase the show’s visibility. Enjoy listening to the show.

Let us know what you think.

Do you need help with resume writing or career direction? Do you need coaching or instruction?I can help.

Also, join our LinkedIn community! You’ll enjoy some of the insights shared by community members and other career pros!

I would still like to help self-published career professionals promote their books. If you’re interested, find more info here.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

A Negotiating Strategy for Women Only

The follow article is reprinted from the Ivy Exec blog with their permission as part of our content exchange.

Women don’t negotiate as much as men do.

Study after study shows women are less likely to push for a better salary offer. The common explanations: women lack confidence and women are socialized not to speak up. Those may be part of the problem, but there is more to it.

What if the reason is that women are correctly assessing that asking for more might actually harm them?

Women who negotiate often suffer negative consequences, a phenomenon that researchers call “social cost.” In studies in which people rated their impressions of employees who negotiate and those who don’t, and then determine who they would most wanted to work with, researchers found that people were less inclined to work with someone who has negotiated. The effect was greater for women than men, sometimes significantly so.

According to the paper, “Male evaluators penalized female candidates more than male candidates for initiating negotiations; female evaluators penalized all candidates for initiating negotiations. Perceptions of niceness and demandingness explained resistance to female negotiators.”

Interestingly, women who were negotiating for other people were evaluated more favorably than those who are advocating for themselves.

A Negotiating Strategy for Women Only

So what is the solution? One of the researchers, Hannah Riley Bowles of Harvard’s Kennedy School, advises in HBR.org that women use a “relational account” —that is, an “I and We”strategy. The idea is to approach negotiations by asking for what you want while also showing the person on the other side of the table that you are also taking their perspective. Beyond the classic win-win, the strategy is not just about both sides winning, but winning together.

The key is explaining to your negotiating counterpart why — from his point-of-view — it’s legitimate for you to be negotiating. Sheryl Sandburg, for example, has written that in her negotiations with Facebook, she legitimized her stance by reminding them that being a good negotiator would be necessary to succeeding in the role they wanted her to fill. “Show you care about your relationship,” writes Bowles. Prepare for your negotiations by scripting the conversation to highlight the importance of your relationship—how much you value it—with the person across the table.

When a woman’s reasons for negotiating were perceived as legitimate, the strategy worked to lessen negative repercussions. The same was true when she communicated concern fororganizational relationships. Using that formula “helped women both get what they wanted andmake the impression that they wanted to make,” writes Bowles.

Interestingly, negotiating using an outside job offer was not as successful; perhaps because it defeated the “we” aspect of the strategy that emphasizes an ongoing relationship. It’s hard to convince someone to give you a raise when you have one foot out the door.

About the Author

Susan Price has been writing about careers, entrepreneurs and personal finance for more than a decade. She’s been an editor at BusinessWeek, Money, and iVillage.com, among others.