Take a leap, land the job: high-impact insights for career-climbers

Note: this content was originally delivered as a live workshop-style event featuring friend, colleague, guest speaker and ‘your favorite #commspro,’ Christina "CB" Brennan. Her insights are featured here as direct quotes.

?We all want to drive career impact, but what does that mean?

As women and femmes, we are forced to navigate a system and a culture rooted in that which has been built by the man in power. Our challenges in this process are particularly unique as women I think. There's this squirminess, this discomfort, and anxiety, and stress around introducing ourselves, communicating our value, selling ourselves as the perfect candidate for any job. Think about your career, think about where you are right now, think about what your ultimate goals are as you read this post.

The resources and insights shared here may help you navigate that process, hopefully with a little less anxiety and a little more confidence.

I did not always own my own business. In fact, I was a nine-to-fiver for another company in March 2020. As far as risk taking, and taking leaps and landing, making bold moves has been a consistent part of my career path. I quit my job, and it was a nice nine-to-five. Right in the midst of a pandemic, it was getting nicer. More opportunities, growth, all of those things. But at the end of the day, and I think you all can probably relate to this as well, this pandemic has opened my eyes, frankly, to what’s most important to me. What I want out of life, what I can imagine waking up to every day, that dream job. I created it for myself, I created my dream job for myself, and every one of you reading this right now can do the exact same thing. 

You already have the resources and the tools that you need. But it might not be the right time for you. Entrepreneurship is scary. I will tell you that it is a big, scary world that's wrapped up in the unknown. And that's probably the best and worst part about it. 

As far as my business goes, what I do is personal branding (strong emphasis on personal). I work with women on personal style, personal branding (i.e. resumes and digital assets), and I help them navigate their career. We also talk about mindset, we talk about tools, resources, assets, all of those things. I am all about driving impact. I want to connect you all with the lowest possible barrier resources available, that will give you the highest return on your investment in time. Remember that: high impact, low barrier resources.

I'm an advocate. I'm an ally, primarily for the underdog. The system that we're forced to navigate was built by men, primarily white men, who have access to resources and capital, those who have access to power. I love working with everyone and anyone who does not fit that mold. I'm going to be there right with you arm and arm showing you what's possible with everything you already have inside of you. 

Communicating Your Value

“I'm one of those people who's done a little bit of everything. So in terms of the communication umbrella, I've kind of touched it on marketing, PR, advertising, journalism. and everything in between. I was in a sales role, where I actually got to build my own sales team. So I was conducting interviews. I've been on the other side, if you will. 

“I’ve always been an entrepreneur at heart. But sometimes we need jobs. I have two jobs right now. One is a contract with Microsoft. A year ago, I was stressed out, looking at my mortgage like okay, we're running out of savings, let me go get a job. So I empathize. And I definitely can understand if you do have those other passions, sometimes you just have to get it done. 

“My personal specialties are around messaging development and kind of finding the right words… So what's gonna stand out? What are those stories that you want to bring to the front? And then the actual presentation skills part: how do you deliver that and really refine that delivery so that you stand out during the interview process?

“I've been working with this phrase, communicating your value, and I don't even know if I like this phrase anymore. It’s very much tied to those -isms that Maggie was talking about. The cis het, white supremacist, patriarchal, evil is in so many structures and systems that are built to not include everybody. Then you have to go out there and kind of sell yourself as if you aren't inherently valuable, but you are inherently valuable. You are worthy, not just to survive through these systems and these isms, but to thrive, you deserve that. So definitely got to keep that in mind as you're communicating your value. 

“It's for a reason, it's for a goal, you're valuable whether or not other people see it or not. That goes from the resume and the cover letter to the interview. I like to say you don't have a single value prop, you have different types of value that you need to prop up depending on who you're talking to, and what the given situation is. So you're simply not going to just list out your skills and your accomplishments. You want to talk about the value, right? The impact, the outcome, how did it benefit the organization?

That's what they [hiring managers] care about. This is a capitalist system. It's about how you can make them more money or save them money, or help them retain talent. How will you help the company grow and sustain? 

“We also tend to feel like we have to tell a story chronologically. I'm going to invite you to think about that a little differently. And it's not that hard. We've all seen a really great movie where you got to flash at the beginning, and you're like, what, how did they get there? And the movie shows you how they got there. You can do the same thing with your resume with how you tell your story. When they say, “Tell me about yourself,” you don't have to go chronologically. Bring those big benefits, those big highlights to the front, bring it to the top of the resume and to the front of the conversation. Don't bury the good stuff so it gets lost.

On Strengths Finder: 

“As a communications professional, it gives you language. So for people who have a hard time finding the right words to describe what it is you do, especially if you're trying to transfer skills or you're pivoting, you're having to go to a different role or a different industry, it can give you some words around how you work. And you can mold that to the different industries to the different roles. It also talks about how you work well with that type of strength. So you can go in there and talk about how you bring x, y, and z to the table. It’s a really great tool.

If you've taken the Myers Briggs, or any of those things, you get this results page that's got a bunch of information. Use it. Use some of those words or find synonyms, bust out the thesaurus, and figure out how you can describe that value that you bring. You're valuable. You’ve got to figure out how to find the right words in the right way to communicate that. But ultimately, you've got to know it here (gestures to temple) first.” 

Mentally Preparing for a Job Interview

“Again, you are inherently valuable. Tell yourself that all the time. You are worthy, no matter how many shitty interviews you've had, how many times you've blown it, you've gotten laid off, whatever negative job experiences, interview experiences, let it go. There's nothing you can do about it. And it does not serve you to hold on to any of that in the past. In fact, I would invite you to shift your perspective. Talk with yourself about how those weren't the right fit, that was not aligned with your purpose. Do whatever you need to do to be grateful for what it was and let it go. Take what you can learn from it and then let it go. 

“Some other tools around mentality, and these are little quick things that sound cute, and I'm going to talk about power poses and stuff. But it really is a long term thing you have to know. And it takes time to build that trust with yourself and that knowing. When you're getting beat down by society and the system that's telling you you're not valuable enough and you're not good enough, you've got to be 10 times harder going back against it. 

“I'm a big proponent of therapy or counseling, pastoral spiritual care, your astrologer, tarot reader, however it is that you heal and get through all of that nonsense that's going on in the world, stay committed to that practice. Make sure that you're not putting it to the side. Maybe you're not generating income right now or whatever, still make sure you are setting aside that time to, at the very least to get your mind right. 

“When I say practice, I mean every single day. It's not just like, Okay, this is the week for the job interview. I'm gonna get ready. No, build a practice around really appreciating what you have is going to help you call in those opportunities. And if that sounds a little woowoo for you, there's the law of attraction. There's all sorts of like more business logical books that talk about it as well.

"My next tip is practice, practice, practice. You’ve just got to do it. Get the camera out, record yourself. Get prepared and work through whatever those little things are. You don't like how you look or how you sound or whatever it is, you don't like how you explain a certain thing. You know, there's this awkward question coming up, and you just can't get past that. Practice. The more you do it, the more comfortable you'll get. And it'll be a little bit easier when you get to game day or like the actual interview. 

"Another one that's a little bit like affirmations, but a little different, is third-person self talk. So you kind of take yourself out of the situation a little bit. And instead of I am I am, I am, you know, I am prepared and all of that, you're going to say things like, for me, I would say things like, Christina did such a great job preparing for this interview. They loved Christina's resume. Christine is at the top of their list. Christina is prepared beyond measure. And when you get to that day, for your next big interview, you are going to be prepared beyond measure.

Physically Preparing for an Interview

Christina mentioned transferable skills earlier, and pivoting. For the record, with the right language, with the right words and the right context, all skills are transferable. Not only are you worthy, but all of your skills and experiences are transferable. They're going to come in handy for whatever role, whatever your next big move is. 

So we've prepared a little bit mentally, we’ve worked on some affirmations, meditations, whatever those intellectual introspective exercises are, but I want to talk a little bit about physically preparing for the interview. Christina mentioned power poses, but I'm not necessarily talking about your body, your physical person, although that's part of it, as well. Certainly, as a stylist, someone who's coming from a background in marketing and brand, I know that aesthetic certainly plays a role.

When I'm talking about physical preparation, though, I'm talking about tangibles, assets, namely, digital assets, especially in this virtual environment. 

Your resume is one of those. If you think of a career toolkit inside of which lives several pieces or a portfolio of resources, your resume is just one of those things, right? So it's kind of getting all your digital ducks in a row, making sure not only do you have your resume, and maybe any questions that you have for the hiring team about the specific job or the company's history, the culture, any of those things, write those down, make sure they're handy. Bring them with you, whether it's a virtual interview or in person. Have them handy. 

In addition to the resume, Christina mentioned highlights. A resume in my mind and in the hiring manager’s mind is like a snapshot, a highlight reel, everything that sizzles and pops and is relevant to that specific context of that specific role that you're applying for. In addition to a resume, you can also have something like a PDF one-pager. You might see that in marketing materials and things like that coming out of businesses, but we can borrow that same concept for ourselves. That's where a personal brand comes in. 

Again, get your digital ducks in a row. So you've got your resume, your cover letter, a template, whatever that looks like, you might have a one pager, like I said, that tells the story of you. But it's a story that keeps the context of this prospective job, and the employer and the culture, all of those things in mind. With your resume, a supplemental stylized PDF, any of those assets, all of those things should include your contact information, something super important to remember. It might seem obvious, but it is critical.

These guys don't have time to hunt you down, they don't have time to look you up. Although there is a fair amount of online social creeping that they do to kind of validate who you are, who you say you are, make sure everything every piece of information or content that you share with them, includes your contact information. It’s something really easy to do to make sure that they can get in touch with you.

Resumes, Cover Letters, and LinkedIn

As far as highlights and snapshots go, when we're talking about a resume, keep it short, concise, use bullet points. The hiring manager, the hiring team, your prospective supervisor, none of those guys have extra time. Neither do job hunters. We don't, as entrepreneurs, have extra time.

There's no magical 25th hour in the day that's going to appear for all of us. So your responsibility as a prospective candidate is to make it easy for the hiring team. Number one objective is to get them to walk away with the headline of you're the perfect candidate for the job. You're telling a story and illustrating with data points, highlights that showcase and validate the story that you're trying to tell. 

Christina mentioned cost savings and ROI, especially if you're talking to leadership, that is their language. Are you going to save them money? Are you going to reduce errors? Are you going to increase membership? Are you going to increase sales? Are you going to save bandwidth overall for the organization by helping out with a process implementation or improvement initiative, something like that? Illustrate that, take those data points from your previous experiences and articulate those in a concise way. Those are powerful statements that you can make that are rooted in facts. So there's no emotion attached, you don't have to feel weird about articulating your accomplishments in this way. 

In addition to that, another tip: keep a running list of your accomplishments and contributions, some document in a digital space that you're maintaining, and adding to, the more responsibility you take on the more experience you get. You have all these roles, all these different projects that you're really proud of initiatives that you've spearheaded. If you have to stop and think back for the last two decades, and try to extrapolate that information on the fly, it's going to hurt, it's going to be really painful. Keep that running list as a record for yourself. Think of it as a repository of information that you can pull from, depending on the context of whatever you're seeking in your career. 

One of the things you can do to make an impact during the interview process is something so simple and doesn't cost anything except your time. Always in a job interview, they say, “Okay, do you have any questions for us?” My advice is to never say no. Always have a question, at least one question. Keep that in mind. 

And the #1 thing you can do to make an impact following a job interview - another super simple one. It feels like it should be common knowledge, but not everyone does it. I'll tell you from personal experience from working with clients that have come back to me and said, the hiring manager sent me a note in response and said, You were the only one of X number of candidates who took this action and did this. SEND A THANK YOU NOTE. Send it following the interview the same day, same business day as the interview. If you have an interview, at four o'clock, on a Friday afternoon, you're going to get it into their inbox ASAP. They're not going to see it till Monday. But that's not your concern. It's the gesture, it's taking that action, being timely about it.

Inside of that thank you note, you're going to thank them for the opportunity for the interview. You're going to reiterate how excited you are for this opportunity to potentially work with them. In addition to that, you might plug another question or two. Something like, I was reflecting on our conversation, the interview, and it really sparked this idea. Or I didn't get a chance to mention this specific thing that I wondered about. 

This tees up an opportunity for them to reach back out to you. Even if they're going to reject you for the job. You've asked a question, right? And everybody from a business standpoint loves to talk about themselves. They're going to you're asking about the company, you're asking about the role. Maybe you're asking about their history with the company, they're more likely to get back to you.

No matter where you are in your career right now, maybe you've been unemployed for the last several months, because the pandemic hit your industry hard. Think about what the process looks like, think about what the experience feels like for you. You're unemployed, or you've got a job, and you're looking for the next thing, managing the job hunt, that entire experience is a full time job. So you're staying up late at night, you're getting up early, before the sun even rises before everyone in your house wakes up. You are planning and thinking and obsessing. And you're recording who you reached out to who's responded what the deadline for application is. All of those things.

It's also stressful. It's discouraging. It's high stakes. The bulk of responses that you're getting and so much of what you see through this experience is rejection. You’re going to get no, after no after no after no after no. Mindset wise, that can really take a toll on you mentally. And you need to be mentally strong. You need to be self aware and confident in order to do again with the hiring team and the hiring manager needs you to do, which is tell the story that supports the headline, you are the perfect candidate for this role. 

A different way to think about this is every no that you get, every bit of silence that you get, is one step closer to the right Yes for you. Job hunting, above all else, is a process. There are steps that you take and there are core elements that set you up for success. 

The pandemic has forced, or at least accelerated, a ton of change in the market. The system is changing. As far as mindset goes, I would encourage you to think about it that way. These are new opportunities never before seen, in the middle of a pandemic. Everyone needs talent. Everyone is hungry for talented people. They want people who have experience and the willingness and the drive to try new things, fail, learn from them and move on. But it's a process. And it's evolving. Communication is at the foundation of all of it. You're telling your story, you're selling yourself, you're illustrating all of that with data. Your job in the job hunt is to convince your target audience that you're the right person for this role.

Resume, cover letter, and digital assets aside: there's no single document or even a pair of documents that are going to land you your next dream gig. The other thing about resumes and cover letters - and I get this question a lot from clients. Do I need to revise it to customize it for every single job that I apply for? The short answer is yes.

And as far as the digital frontier goes in this new evolution of the market, LinkedIn, if you're not there already, you need to be yesterday. Here’s the way I think about it: if a resume itself is a snapshot, like the highlights reel, your LinkedIn is the deep dive. And chances are the hiring team, hiring manager, prospective employer, they're going to creep you online. They're going to look for your social, but probably their first stop is going to be LinkedIn. They have the highlights in their hand, they've got the top bullet points in the data.

LinkedIn is a really good place to tell the full story. All roads lead to this moment, where you're now the perfect candidate for the specific role. So it gets into the weeds, all the details of the previous positions you've held, responsibilities, projects, volunteer work (which is really important, and can actually pave the way for paid opportunities). Use it, not only as a space where you can search for opportunities and search for what people might be looking for, but it’s also a place to tell your story.

On Showing Up for Yourself and Work

What does it mean to show up for work? What does it mean to show up for an interview? What does it mean to show up for your career for your colleagues, your boss all of those things? None of those questions matter right now. Let’s go back to what Christina said about believing inside yourself that you're worthy, and that you have what it takes to land your next big move, take the leap and land safely and your next next career move.

Showing up for yourself is key. And it's a struggle, it can be painful. As women selling ourselves, it can be squirmy. My advice is to show up for you, feel good about you. When you look good, you feel good. When you feel good, you look good. And when those things are in concert with one another, you're on fire and that confidence radiates. That's the kind of characteristic and spark that's going to make you stick out in an interview and help you land that first impression and make it last for the people on that interview panel, or your prospective employer, whoever is on the other side of that virtual table. 

Show up for yourself first. Walk that walk. It's going to take some practice, especially in the middle of a pandemic, we've all been in quarantine for months. And if you're unemployed, you're in yoga pants, and no bra and a sweatshirt. Practice. Make it a habit. Get up on a Monday morning, just like you would if you had a nine to five, put on your best outfit, whatever makes you feel like a rock star. And that includes the shoes. Especially if we're talking about an interview, go all out because the act of dressing up and showing up for yourself has a positive impact on things like productivity and engagement. You feel more productive, and you actually are more productive. 

Another quick thing that I'll mention too, as far as virtual interviews go, is making eye contact with your audience. To do this, you need to look directly into the eye of the camera. It's going to feel awkward, but from your perspective, your experience, your hiring manager, prospective employer on the other side, it's really going to make a difference. If you're looking down or looking off camera or off to the side, that might make them question where you are as far as confidence or competence goes as well. 

Negotiating Salary + Benefits

I'm not an expert in this area. Definitely not a math major in school. I studied communication and gender. Numbers are not the language that I speak fluently. But there are some insights that I'm going to share with you around this piece that I think are going to be valuable. They're a little bit more cerebral. Again, we're talking a lot about mindset and confidence. One piece of insight that I'll share is an unspoken rule about negotiating salary and negotiating benefits. And then I'm going to share with you the best piece of advice that relates directly to salary negotiation that I've ever received in my entire career. 

First, the unspoken rule: whoever says the number first is the loser of the deal. You're not gonna see this written down anywhere, but it is the truth. Whoever says the number first loses the deal, which means they're going to ask you what your salary expectations are fully expecting that you're going to give them a number in response. You don’t want to deflect their question. You want it to be relevant. You want it to be contextual, but you can respond with a question versus what they’re expecting you to say. If you choose to do that, the question I would encourage you to ask is, what is the budget allocation for this specific role last fiscal year? What was the budget allocation for this specific role?

They know the answer to that. They know the midpoint, they know the low part of the range, and they know the absolute most that they're willing to invest for the specific role, unless it's a totally new job, new role, new position, in which case, that's a whole other set of challenges that you might want to consider. How do you know what to expect if there is no historical framework for expectations? What does success look like for this role? 

Ask them and see what they come back to you with. And just remember that whoever says that final number is ultimately the one that's going to concede in the deal. Do your research as well, as far as across industry across job titles, figure out what an average is on a national level, and do not settle for less. Don't settle for less. 

Which leads me to the other piece that may sound a little bit random. But the best piece of advice I ever got on salary negotiation was from a supervisor where I actually created a brand new position for myself in a multimillion dollar business. In preparation for leaving, we were talking about salary negotiation, what was next for my career. He told me, if you want a cat, ask for a horse. If you want a cat, ask for a horse. Picture proportion, there's this little cat, and a horse is that much bigger. It’s a metaphor, of course.

You're not asking for a horse, you're not asking for a cat. If you go in and say this is my bare minimum, they're going to try and talk you down from that. But if you reconcile, in your mind, this is the absolute bare minimum that I'm willing to accept in this deal if you get offered the position, shoot for the moon. Shoot for two or three tiers up from that. You can't go wrong, and the worst they can say is no. The best that can happen is they talk you down incrementally, and you walk away with maybe more than the bare minimum of what you expect for that specific role. Cat, horse, remember that. (Hopefully the cover photo will solidify this metaphor in your mind: aim higher.)

If you’re looking to grow your digital footprint and make a positive impact on your career with uniquely you personal branding, reach out for a free 30-minute consultation. No strings attached!

Resources + Recommended Reading

• [BOOK] Brag Better: Master the Art of Fearless Self-promotion by Meredith Fineman
• [VIDEO] Resumes + Cover Letters AMA with Maggie Greene Style
• [PDF] Resume Do’s and Don’ts from Maggie Greene Style