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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How To Infuse Your Career and Life with Empowering Options

How To Infuse Your Career and Life with Empowering Options
The first fundamental step to infuse your career with a surge of career options is good work. Taking control of your career not only requires strategic branding but also means making your work visible. Framing success for any employer, recruiter, or network is challenging without good work. You make a case to your next employer by what you accomplish.
Your work is the only evidence to say you did the job well. If you want options, there is work to do, and it takes more than just a “to-do list.” You can apply my suggestions below to infuse your career and life to attract options when it’s time to make the next career move:

  1. Infuse Your Career with Critical Thinking to Confront Complex Problems

Find solutions to complex problems and build processes to solve them. If you can be the one to train others to solve the problem, they’ll call you an expert. Correct answers make it easier for your coworkers, who depend on you to solve many other issues. In my conversation with Bethany Wallace a few months ago, she said being open-minded and “… always looking for the solution, always trying to check yourself against what you currently think to ensure that it’s even accurate.”
Instead of running from complexity, embrace the opportunities for solutions and what they will do for your team, job, and career. If you want a significant impact and a great reward, embrace and solve complex business problems. Find seams to make them easier to understand and more straightforward to solve.

  1. Infuse Your Career with Resilience to Handle the Difficult Person

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There are opportunities to be the hero, but it will cost you pride, a little dignity, and time. It’s an accomplishment when you calm a disgruntled person. If you can show others the method to your madness, they won’t send their problem children to you.
Before I got into management, I embraced the role of handling demanding clients and members. I was great at listening with empathy and tempering their frustration. My team appreciated it as much as my bosses did. I wasn’t perfect at it, but embracing the challenge bought me respect from the team and the organization. Respect and tact were noticed and rewarded in my performance reviews.

  1. Infuse Your Career with Learning, Then Conduct The Training

Training is an implicit prerequisite to leadership. When you can break down concepts to explain analogies, anecdotes, and stories (even with humor), your career will reshape in value and add value to your brand.
I understand most people don’t want to train, but the person who can grow leadership from training brings an audience with them. They’ve mastered finding answers and facilitating them in a positively authoritative way.

  1. Infuse Your Career with Personality

Let’s say it all together: Companies cannot train character (or personality). I say it often because it is the common denominator in every networking, interviewing, and revealing of your superpowers to the world. People don’t forget others who make them think, laugh, reminisce, acquiesce, act, or react. 

  1. Infuse Your Career with Permission to Promote Yourself

People are afraid of the label “expert.” But you don’t have ever to call yourself an “expert.” These days it is necessary to put on your marquee accomplishments or notoriety. It is the only way employers will gain interest in your uniqueness and your value offerings.
Your career has many small victories to frame as success you may not have acknowledged. While it helps to have others encourage you to see achievements, you must be the main one to lead with them. Ideally, you want to gather around you people who will fan the flames of what makes you great. You’ll probably see your future differently.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

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Think Like a Consultant: Win at Job Search 2023

Think Like a Consultant: Win at Job Search 2023

Think Like a Consultant: Win at Job Search 2023 by Mark Anthony Dyson

What is a “consultant mindset”? And what does it have to do with finding a new job?

Some of my colleagues will boo me for this, but past clients in presenting a resume first is not always the answer.

Instead, find work during your job search by leveraging the mindset of a consultant.

In other words: present solutions first, then your resume. A resume will be an afterthought if you have a straightforward, well-thought-out approach and current short- and long-term solutions to employers. (Look at your keyboard, and now look at me in disbelief, and repeat. I know this is hard to imagine.)

You’re the superhero in consultant garb. You have felt a passion for this industry for a long time. You’ve read hundreds of articles and at least a dozen books. You’ve attended workshops, regional events, and national conventions. You’ve stalked the industry leaders. You have piloted several projects and people you know… people who know even more than you do.

And now, with all this know-how, you have some ideas. You’ve seen what some companies have done well. You’ve seen what has failed. And with a consultant mindset, you know the right solution.

That’s right: be a consultant, not a job seeker.

Many others have said it. Stephen Covey said it. My points below were inspired by him. You can’t be everything to everyone, but you can be the perfect solution to THE one and be audacious doing it.

Here’s how:

Be Prepared to Do Something Different

Use popular social media networks to read the thoughts of your targeted company influencers. You will indeed find the aches and pains of the company there. One way is to call the target or prospective company’s call center and pretend to be a customer. When you can speak to customer issues and concerns in any setting, you will score (customer service reps are known to cough up the goods!)

Write a Contribution Statement

Your contribution statement, which looks and acts more like a plan resulting from research, is much more profound than a cover letter. It is a current state report to help you sound more impressive than any job seeker can. Done right, you’ll sound downright intentional. Many coaches and thought career leaders will say: “Look for the unposted job opportunity.”

And, yes, it’s much harder work than going to a job board, as everyone else does. I didn’t say it was easy: It’s the consultant’s solution-oriented life. It’s a suggestion from Stephen Covey I’ve liked for years now.

Be Humble and Modest

Any inquiry to a company must be humble and modest, so double-check for tone. Confidence is needed, but humility will open the ears of your target audience. That is not to say be mousy, of course. Strike the right balance, and your subject matter expertise will rise to the top. It is best to practice your delivery with an experienced person to ensure you come across as a humble officer reporting what is happening on the battlefield.

Use the Actions of Competitors as Leverage

Find out what’s happening in your prospect’s industry and competitive forces. When possible, compare and contrast what the competitor is doing at your target company. Even if it’s a call center position, you can show what you’ve noticed through a grid or spreadsheet and the solutions you offer.

Be Courageous and Creative

There are times when you must be audacious in your approach. When faced with rejection (“no” too many job seekers get daily), it might be time for tactful directness. No, this is not taught in schools; it’s more intuitive. Sometimes it’s asking a supplementary question makes the other person think. Other times, it is assertively offering an opinion. You’ll know when the time comes.

Put yourself in a position to discover and experience problems. Focus on building relationships with the perspective and become familiar with the company’s culture and challenges. Present a solution to relieve the pain. Present your solution in a way the prospective employer can quickly identify with it during your job search.

That is how you leverage the consultant mindset. And today— not your resume — will help you win your job search.

This article was first published on YouTern.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

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5 Ways Your Job Search Can Catch the Spirit of March Madness

5 Ways Your Job Search Can Catch the Spirit of March Madness

 

5 Ways Your Job Search Can Catch the Spirit of March Madness by Mark Anthony Dyson

Not everyone enjoys college basketball, but the NCAA’s March Madness tournament is an exciting thing to watch. I, personally, get hooked on the enthusiasm of the fans. I also love those last-minute game-winning shots, especially when the home crowd rushes the court to celebrate.

In stark contrast to the spirit of March Madness, your average job search is rarely a celebratory affair. The experience is intense, but for many, it’s more like torture than a basketball tournament.

That said, the interview process does have some things in common with a basketball tournament. Each candidate is scrutinized for strengths, weaknesses, and potential competitiveness. Those who make it through each round of the interview process will eventually emerge victorious above all competitors.

Read  7 Ways to WOW Employers This Year

Unfortunately, few candidates really understand their value.

My clients never seem to understand their full potential until I’ve worked closely with them to flesh it all out.

You don’t necessarily need a career consultant to cheer you on through the job search. You can capture the exciting spirit of March Madness in your own job search by following some of these tips:

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1. Get Some Early Wins

In March Madness, the losers go home with no second chance. Similarly, when no one notices your unique abilities, you have no shot at landing your dream job.

You win when your achievements meet the employer’s needs. How can you score some early wins to really show off your skills? Schedule some informational interviews. Find employees at your target companies and network. Get that first request for an interview.

Read 8 Ways to Foster Effective Job Interview Conversations

2. Get Your Team Involved

It’s rare for an individual to carry their whole team all the way to the championship. Making it that far takes everyone doing their part.

You, similarly, need a job search team. Career coaches, references, supportive network contacts, and even the people who watch your kids while you go on interviews – they are your team. You must keep all of your teammates engaged and enthusiastic in order to succeed.

3. Out-Compete Other Candidates

You need to compete to land the job. You need to impress the potential employer more than anyone else does.

To do this, you need to know what your competitors are doing and how they are winning over employers. The point is not to copy your competitors. On the contrary, you will need to do better than they do; you will need to exceed the employer’s expectations.

The winner in any job search is the one who delivers the most value to the employer.

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4. Use Your Timeouts Wisely

During March Madness, coaches wait to use their timeouts until doing so is critical. Similarly, the use of timeouts at the right moments is crucial to your job search success and your well-being. Take timeouts wisely. Give your body and mind time to re-energize when need be.

Listen to  You’ll Need These Linkedin Strategies for Job Search Readiness with Marc Miller

 

5. Finish Strong

Even if your interview went well, you must accept your competition might do better. The little things matter. Thank-you notes, follow-up calls, and how you treat the people with whom you come in contact make all the difference. Your best bet is to connect with interviewers and potential referrers on social media and through personal contact. Keep the relationships warm.

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Those of us who watch the NCAA tournament understand the enthusiasm, drama, and unpredictability of March Madness. The competitive spirit makes it exciting for us fans.

Many job seekers enter “Job Search Madness” knowing others are doing the same, but few understand the competitiveness needed to win over employers. Just as you expect a team to compete in order to win the tournament, you should expect to put in the same kind of effort to position yourself as the best candidate.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.