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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Job Search: Be More Like Ella

You’re asked a question in an interview you might have prepared to answer. You forgot. What do you?

Channel your inner Ella. Let me explain.

Ella Fitzgerald is called the “queen of jazz vocals.” In a recorded concert in 1960, she was to sing “Mack the Knife,” a pop and jazz standard that everyone in the audience knew.

She rehearsed it several times but couldn’t wrap her memory around it. She went over it on the plane to Germany yet couldn’t remember the lyrics.

In the original recording, you can hear her voice her doubts (“I hope I can remember all of the words”).

She sang the first two lines fine, but afterward, she forgot the rest. She made the rest of the song up.

Well, the audience and the Grammy voters awarded her. It’s one of the most memorable jazz performances of all time.

But we understand, too, her performance perfections outweigh her imperfections in this performance.

A job interview is a performance, and the interview’s success results from an excellent performance. One mistake does not erase other great offerings. Keep that in mind when you are presenting before employers.

But if you’re going to improvise, offer water from the well of expertise. The hours of reading, conversations, writing, or speaking will serve you well. The buckets of stories and examples are accessible at this moment.

They may appear eagerly and voluntarily.

But whatever you do, don’t stifle. It is a powerful opportunity to show how the depth of your well.

Like Ella, you can improvise the same song where everyone knows the lyrics.

Unlike Ella, you won’t be rewarded if you’re not well rehearsed or just not ready.

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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The One Job Search Strategy for Perpetual Career Advancement

The One Job Search Strategy for Perpetual Career Advancement

I had great mentors during my career, and three of them were bosses, and all of them were women. They leveraged their position to help position me to advance my career. Not only were they meaningful teachers of what they shared with me, but were also practitioners of what they taught me. One of them taught me a significant job search and career strategy you’ll want to use from now on. 

One of my mentors and bosses was Eileen, who, from the day she became my boss, assured me she would prepare me to take her position when she moved. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, but her preparation took me to the next step. To this day, there was one thing she told me I wanted to share with you. It aligns with my mantra of job search being a lifestyle. 

I shared with Fast Company several months ago (reprinted by The Ladders) that Eileen told me once no matter how well or not so well things were going in her current job or career, she interviewed once a year with another company. I thought that was crazy at the time, but I remembered it but did NOT practice at the time. But it did come in handy later in my career, especially as I shared this advice with past clients and job seekers over the years. 

Many of you are still fighting the idea of managing your career closer than you have in the past. Here are the benefits you’re missing:

  1. Unless you are actively involved in an industry organization (and every job has its industry), interviewing is the only you’ll find out how the landscape is changing. Today, most industries and jobs evolve because of tech upgrades, making things easier, faster, bigger, or stronger. You may think that you work the cash register, yet you’re in the retail or department stores industry if you work at Best Buy. You can start by checking the list of organizations at Job Stars. By default, you may consider joining a customer service organization (or name a logical association with your profession) such as the National Customer Service Association. 
  2. Job interviewing is a skill, and there are trends constantly changing in all industries. You’ve heard much about video interviews are becoming a staple in screening applicants and job candidates before meeting with a decision-maker. You probably didn’t know some industries use panel interviews and require the candidate to engage in more than five rounds of interviews. Those are important if the last time you’ve interviewed was two years ago. 
  3. Your ability to adapt will be tested either by the process itself or within the interviewing process through questioning. If you fail to articulate your challenges during the pandemic through trials or transition, you may not resonate with a company that has endured multiple challenges from the beginning. 
  4. Interviewing more often will challenge your knowledge of emerging technology. Companies prefer someone who is tech-ready from day one. Others may train you, but it helps to know what’s trending. You can decide if you need to invest in updated training or add value to your current employer by mentioning what the industry is using.  They may ask you to make suggestions. There’s no need for me to tell you what that means to every employer. 
  5. Interviewing each year could increase your network when you are getting referrals if you’re thoughtful in creating great conversations. Let’s say you don’t get a job offer from the company you meet with, but you ask them to connect with you on LinkedIn. By maintaining that relationship opens many possibilities to get other referrals or interview again at a better time when you’re a better fit. 
  6. You’ll get used to customizing your storytelling abilities to each employer. No one tells a story, a joke, anecdote the same way each time. As you understand the industry at large, you’ll appreciate each interview will listen for a resonating narrative. 
  7. Industry terminology also changes, like the direction of the wind. I’m sure if I told you to “cool out,” you’ll think I’m a Cro-Magnon man. Similarly, if you use a term, you think it sounds like you’re knowledgeable, and it isn’t changing the way an interviewer sees you. 

The more frequently you interview while you’re employed, the better you’ll prepare yourself for when it’s time to change jobs or careers. I didn’t discuss in this article how this practice can help you bring more value to your current company or provide you with additional intrinsic motivation. You can also decide if there is a future in the industry and decide it’s time to explore other options. Over time, you control the pivots and advances and are caught unready for economic or sector crashes. 

 

 

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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How to Show Employers Your Resilience During Unemployment

How to Show Employers Your Resilience During Unemployment

No one won or lost during the recession. Some succeeded in losing and landing jobs. Others were able to hold on to their jobs and managed to get promoted. But it doesn’t matter because if you’re able to breathe while reading this, you’ve won.

Again, you’ve won. Not barely, but with flying colors. Even when many employers didn’t make layoffs any easier, yet, they had tools to help them, help employees.

If you’re unemployed now matter the reason, you will be employed. This is the mantra you must carry, internalize, and believe.

There’s one interview question I think employers got together and decided to ask: What did you do while unemployed? So the interviewing will weigh your response along with the other responses.

It’s like, what did you do while waiting to get in the barber’s chair? So I would say dismiss the question, but employers’ are valuing and evaluating candidates on that question. So when they put a lot of weight on a question, you can’t avoid it.

You can find many good answers in many articles right now. I would consider reading this one and that one. I will add my own in my own way.

Some employers have an unemployment bias where they see the candidate with more than six months of unemployment negatively. However, others are more empathetic since the pandemic and give the candidate a lengthy unemployment period.

Practice, but don’t overdo it.

Most job seekers don’t practice, which has proven to be a critical piece of interviewing for remote work positions. Rehearsing and recording talking into a webcam or phone give you objective feedback where your attention is placed. Job seekers must be comfortable giving answers to a bot or software that’s not interactive. Similarly, it’s also easy to overthink answering each question. The temptation is to script it or rely on mental muscle memory.  But rehearse what you will say. I promise the small difference it will make to practice is significant.

Top 3 tips for how to answer an interviewer’s questions about being unemployed:

Be direct and brief about your experience.

Video viewers have short attention spans. The attention-getter has been how you have remained sharp and positive during your time of unemployment. In your brief answer, you can say, “This was a meaningful period for me as I added to my skill set during this time. I’ve had many great conversations with industry writers and experts through Live streaming the conversation on Facebook.” It shows you are learning and providing your community resources for them.

Do many informational interviews.
Informational interviews are a 180-degree conversation where you seek intel to power up your career journey in an industry or company. Although it’s not the time to expect or ask for a job, the information attained could inform your thoughts or add to potential skills you’ll need to get in the company/job/industry. In the first tip, I used an example of someone making the most of their advice from others while simultaneously increasing the interviewee’s value. Although some people don’t want to do that, interview them and, most importantly, ask questions about their career path, how they choose their career, and who else would provide helpful information from their network. You can also share and introduce people you met.

Strive to get referred.

Surveys show referrals increase the opportunities for interviews and longer tenures at companies. Informational interviews can provide those opportunities as I’ve seen my past clients/students/participants use these conversations to get feedback, follow-up after talks, and the next person referred by the interviewee ends up being the referrer for an interview. For example, asking them, “Do you know anyone else I can talk to who can provide useful information.” The key is to make it easy for them to give you feedback and constructive direction (instructions or an action to help you further).
Become the perpetual learner who anyone would find approachable. You want to be easily teachable, receive and act on feedback, and be grateful someone took the time to help. You may lack skill and experience, and the perpetual learner attitude makes you more viable than someone more experienced and unapproachable.
I think it’s crucial now more than ever that job search is incorporated into your lifestyle rather than deploying your efforts when you’re unemployed.

Your job search as a lifestyle looks like this:

1) Interviewing when you have a secure job or at least once a year. The way you deliver interviews will change as it did in 2020 because of tech.
2) Professional development is each individual’s responsibility. Companies will only train you what you need for that job, but not necessarily for the industry. Therefore, you must control your career narrative by investing in the training for your future.
3) Know your market value with or without a job. Most people wait until they get an offer to discerning if the salary is their actual market value. Know and research arduously before starting your job search.
4) Every industry has an association or industry. Join and participate in them as they present many unadvertised opportunities. The more you’re exposed to exclusive opportunities, the more you’ll stand out.

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.