1. How did you arrive at running this business? What path brought you here?
2. What are you known for professionally? What do you have a knack for?
3. What’s the one problem you are best at solving for your clients? What do your ideal clients say about you?
4. Who have you worked with in the past? And what have you done for them?
5. What are you most passionate about professionally? What most excites you about your work & the contribution you can make?
6. What are you passionate about personally? What do you really enjoy? What can’t you stop talking about?
7. Where can we find you when you’re not working? What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend or a Sunday afternoon?
8. How long have you been doing what you do?
9. Where did you grow up and why aren’t you there now?
10. Any volunteer activities you’re crazy about?
11. Any nonprofits you love, & why?
12. Any awards or medals, or even medallions? Personal okay, too.
13. What would be impossible for you to give up?
14. Why would someone not want to work with you?
15. How do you want to be remembered?
16. Anything else you’d like to tell people about yourself?

Step-by-step Process for Applying to an Open Job

NOTE:  Prior to any job search you must do the following:

• Discuss your want/need for a job search with significant other, family, friends, dependents, etc.
  • Topics such as salary, benefits, location, transportation, day-care, vacation, job responsibilities, etc should be covered.
• Open a free LinkedIn account if you don’t have one already.
  • Your LinkedIn account should read as a CliffNote-version of your resume.
  • Send requests to everyone you know in and out of the industry.
  • More potential employers are sourcing candidates from LinkedIn rather than spend thousands for Monster, Dice, CareerBuilder, etc…
• LOCK DOWN YOUR FACEBOOK, MYSPACE OR ANY OTHER SOCIAL NETWORK, BLOG, ETC…SITE PRIOR TO JOB SEARCH!!!!!!!!!!
  • I can’t express this point enough.
  • Even your profile picture could be “offensive” to someone…even if it was a sweet little girl holding a puppy.
  • Google yourself to find any other material in cyberspace that may prevent you from getting an interview/job.

Without further ado……

• Find opportunity via
  • indeed.com
  • linkedin.com
  • theladders.com
  • pghtech.org
  • Company’s direct website.
    • Be sure to check the company’s website regardless, so you can research the organization.
  • Customize resume to job description
    • Take note of individual “requirements” as they are mostly written in order of importance
      • Your resume should reflect this order
      • Do not embellish or fabricate
        • You can count on having questions asked pertaining to every item in your resume
      • Resume layout with experience:
        • Summary
          • Make this short, sweat, to the point. Taylor to each job you are applying for.
          • Summary of skills
            • 6 to 8 bullet points spread across two columns
            • Bullets should pertain to description of job you are applying for.
• Professional Experience
  • Use month/year start/end date
  • Chronological method with most current position first
  • Toot your horn with your experience
    • Be selfish. Use “I”, “Me”, “My”.
  • Resume length should apply to scale below
    • 20+ years of experience should encompass 3 – 4 pages
    • 7 – 20 years: 2 – 3 pages
    • 2 – 7 years: 2 pages
    • 1 – 2 years: 1 page

1. •  Education
     1. • <School Name>, <city, state> – Degree, Major
          • Only see GPA if overall score is 4.0
        • Certifications
          • Type
          • Date acquired
          • Cert # if applicable
        • DO NOT attach references!
          • These can be used by the company or staffing firm you are applying to, to identify more candidates for the position you are going for.
          • Have them ready to send when asked during the interview process
            • Be sure to have recently spoken with your references to ensure they will give positive feedback of your professional experience.
          • Apply online
            • Double check your electronic resume document for typos.
            • Have someone else review it as a triple check.
            • Only add cover letter if “required”
            • DO NOT submit salary requirements unless “required”
              • If “required”, mark up your current compensation by 5-10%.
              • 5-10% is a realistic bump, unless you feel that you are tremendously below market value.
              • Identify the Hiring Manager and/or the H.R. manager
              • Network! Network!  Network!
              • Research LinkedIn
                • You may know someone in common
                • Company’s website

• Contact Hiring Manager and/or HR Manager
  • Call (if you have the number) within 24 hours of submitting resume online
    • State “I apologize for the interruption, but I recently applied to the xxxx position I found posted on xxxx and just wanted to make sure you are in receipt of my resume.”
    • If no answer on first shot, leave a voicemail stating “I recently applied to the xxxx position I found posted on xxxx and just wanted to make sure you are in receipt of my resume. I will email a copy directly to you just in case.  I look forward to hearing back from you.  Understanding you may be busy, if I don’t hear back, I’ll give you a call in a few days.”.

• Email resume to Hiring Manager and/or HR Manager

This may take you out of your comfort zone, but the squeaky wheel gets the grease…or the job in this case.

• This is a journey – enjoy the ride.
• Decide who you are and:
  • Don’t look at what you are today, look at what you want to become
  • Take some action every day. EVERY DAY. I can’t stress this enough… EVERY DAY!
  • Observe men and women who are where you want to be:
    • Meet them – be bold – successful people LOVE to give back to motivated young people who show respect and appreciation
    • Network Network Network
    • Find someone you respect and establish a mentor/mentee relationship
    • Do not waste their time – if they give advice do it.
  • Craft a profile of yourself of what you want people to see both right now and future you
  • With that profile
    • Own it
    • Do what it takes – invest in yourself. INVEST IN YOURSELF!
    • Be patient! Be patient! Be patient!
    • Take some action every day. EVERY DAY.
  • Build a library of resources
    • Cover letters
    • Resumes
    • Case studies
    • Job descriptions
    • Profile resources – like images, bios, summaries, etc. of yourself
    • Anything that can help you later
  • Read Dave Tyburski’s guide

Relax with it

• Seriously, relax with it. You are a great person, you have what it takes – you just need to
  • Take some action every day. EVERY DAY.
  • INVEST IN YOURSELF!
• Continue to focus on what God has given you and how He sees you
• Remember the Holy Spirit is your secret weapon.

BE BOLD

• Learn to enjoy networking
• LinkedIn can be your best friend
• Put yourself in the other people’s shoes, if you were successful and a young, up and coming, respectful young person was asking for advice…how would you feel? How would you react?
• Trust me on this, the fear that may rest in your heart about this is TOTALLY FABRICATED BY THE ENEMY! I know because I HAD IT TOO!
• Smile when you are talking on the phone – it comes through.
• If you are trying to get a thought out and you are struggling for the words
  • DO NOT GET FRUSTRATED
  • Do not get embarrassed
  • Pause – look them in the eye and state you need a minute to gather your thoughts
  • Measure your words – meaning after you gather your thoughts be sure your response is addressing the question at hand.
  • If after a short time you don’t know how to answer, THAT IS OK! Simply tell the person that and if the situation warrants it, tell them you can get back to them once you have a chance to find out the answer

Learn to be proactive

• Remember the main thing? Always know what is going on around you.
• Learn to be
• Listen and pay attention
• Remember Rule #1? Don’t panic.
• Ask questions.