Have you updated your resume recently? If you're thinking of making a career change or change employers this episode is a must listen. Linda Olejniczak, owner of Phases Career Services brings over 25 years of experience in human resources, coupled with a deep understanding of marketing. Linda is committed to helping women stand out by crafting resumes that not only highlight their unique skills and achievements, but also align with their career aspirations. Linda emphasizes the importance of staying current with job search strategies, developing a professional brand and networking effectively. Embrace a transformative professional journey with Linda's advice on creating standout resumes, nurturing a strong professional brand, and leveraging change for growth. Her expertise doesn't stop there; dive into the essential tactics of updating your resume for our digital age, including the strategic use of LinkedIn and AI-enhanced job applications. We discuss the shift towards remote work that could revolutionize work-life balance, and specific tips to latch onto those sought-after flexible roles. Linda's insights into subtle job hunting are game-changing, especially in a world where your professional online presence is under constant scrutiny.
Resources:
Links are being provided for information purposes only. The information herein is general and educational in nature and should not be considered legal or tax advice. Tax laws and regulations are complex and subject to change, which can materially impact investment results. Pearl Planning cannot guarantee that the information herein is accurate, complete, or timely. Pearl Planning makes no warranties with regard to such information or results obtained by its use and disclaims any liability arising out of your use of, or any tax position taken in reliance on, such information. Consult an attorney or tax professional regarding your specific situation. Please note, changes in tax laws or regulations may occur at any time and could substantially impact your situation. Pearl Planning financial advisors do not render advice on tax matters. You should discuss any tax matters with the appropriate professional.
Have you updated your resume recently? If you're thinking of making a career change or change employers this episode is a must listen. Linda Olejniczak, owner of Phases Career Services brings over 25 years of experience in human resources, coupled with a deep understanding of marketing. Linda is committed to helping women stand out by crafting resumes that not only highlight their unique skills and achievements, but also align with their career aspirations. Linda emphasizes the importance of staying current with job search strategies, developing a professional brand and networking effectively. Embrace a transformative professional journey with Linda's advice on creating standout resumes, nurturing a strong professional brand, and leveraging change for growth. Her expertise doesn't stop there; dive into the essential tactics of updating your resume for our digital age, including the strategic use of LinkedIn and AI-enhanced job applications. We discuss the shift towards remote work that could revolutionize work-life balance, and specific tips to latch onto those sought-after flexible roles. Linda's insights into subtle job hunting are game-changing, especially in a world where your professional online presence is under constant scrutiny.
Resources:
Links are being provided for information purposes only. The information herein is general and educational in nature and should not be considered legal or tax advice. Tax laws and regulations are complex and subject to change, which can materially impact investment results. Pearl Planning cannot guarantee that the information herein is accurate, complete, or timely. Pearl Planning makes no warranties with regard to such information or results obtained by its use and disclaims any liability arising out of your use of, or any tax position taken in reliance on, such information. Consult an attorney or tax professional regarding your specific situation. Please note, changes in tax laws or regulations may occur at any time and could substantially impact your situation. Pearl Planning financial advisors do not render advice on tax matters. You should discuss any tax matters with the appropriate professional.
Welcome to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. I'm Melissa Joy, a certified financial planner and founder of Pearl Planning. I'm Melissa Freidenberg, financial advisor. We dive deep into topics like work-life balance, financial planning, personal growth and the intricacies of the sandwich generation. Tune in for money conversations that every woman needs to have. Hello and welcome to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. This is Melissa Freidenberg today and we have a remarkable guest who is on a mission to empower women in the ever-evolving professional landscape. I am so excited to welcome Linda Olanichak to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. We're so happy you're here, linda.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much and happy New Year.
Speaker 1:Thank you, happy New Year to you as well. This is the perfect time to have this conversation. Everybody's just getting their life in order, or thinking they should. This is a great way for people that maybe are thinking about changes this year when it comes to their career, at least preparing for the possibility. Linda is the owner of Phases Career Services. She brings over 25 years of experience in human resources, coupled with a deep understanding of marketing. Linda is committed to helping women stand out by crafting resumes that not only highlight their unique skills and achievements, but also align with their career aspirations. Linda emphasizes the importance of staying current with job search strategies, developing a professional brand and networking effectively. Linda's interactive approach fosters an environment, engages and motivates her clients, enabling them to discover their true worth. She's a self-driven critical thinker who firmly believes that change is good and that failure is an invaluable teacher. I love that you focus on women. Can you tell me a little bit about what inspired you to focus on providing career advice to women specifically?
Speaker 2:Yeah, when you're in human resources probably just like in your business you get the calls and questions from your family and friends about your industry. It's always. Can you look at my resume? Could you take a look at my friend's resume? I haven't looked at it for 10 years. I haven't done this in 10 years, 15 years, 20. Yeah, 20. I always said yes and helped them out and brought them to the next stage in their next phase in their career. But I also sensed a lot of fear in people, that fear of. I haven't looked at it in 20 years or it's in a banker's box in my basement. I don't even have an electronic version. What is LinkedIn? So many fearful comments come out and lack of confidence and more than likely.
Speaker 1:And do you feel like that's more so with women?
Speaker 2:100%, because their mind is thinking if you have a family of four, they're thinking for four people.
Speaker 1:And I just think confidence is something, especially when it comes professional confidence, and I hate to admit this. Obviously, I love helping women, uplifting them, promoting them, but I do feel like confidence professionally is harder to come by for women and I think they feel embarrassed too.
Speaker 2:Maybe they should have done more, or they didn't do enough, or I should be able to do this on my own Again, asking for help, asking for support, and it's okay. You're the expert in your lane and your field. I'm the expert in this area, and we should help each other. And you shouldn't be the expert in every field.
Speaker 2:No, I mean, there's no need for that Right. Imperfection isn't going to win you any race. It's just kind of gets toxic if you try to be too perfect and everything you do. So reach out and utilize those people in your community to help you in the area that they can have that expertise and take you to the next level.
Speaker 1:I love that. Tell me a little bit about yourself and your background. What prepared you in your career to kind of help with resume and career searches?
Speaker 2:Right. Well, I attended CMU and I have a journalism background, so obviously that was part of it. And then I worked for a large organization that I developed the human resources department from the ground up. So a lot of times when you're in a family run business, the controller is the HR person because they know the payroll and that was HR. But times have changed and there's a lot of compliance laws.
Speaker 2:I just listened to a webinar this morning on current legislations and just the state of Michigan that are going to probably come in past this year and employers need to know these things and that's why HR is so important. Even if you're a small business owner, to stay compliant you need to know what's happening in the industry. So I developed that HR department for that large organization. From there I went into running four offices for global staffing industry. In between there I got a master's in human resources back at Central Michigan University and it just became my passion and it's something I'm good at, so I stuck to it. And then this has just evolved from all of those pieces.
Speaker 1:And, just as you mentioned, you have people, family members, because of your experience, reaching out to you to review resumes, 100% Thinking. You know there's a need for this, obviously, and we know each other from the Girls Point Working Moms group here in Girls Point and there's weekly questions about they dislike their job, they're disappointed in things and how things are going at work.
Speaker 2:They forget the point in time when they love that job and why they took that job, because they're focused on, like we said earlier, all the negativity that's going on right now and it's depressing right. So part of my coaching when I work with someone is a couple of homework assignments. Yes, I'm sorry, but you will have a little bit of homework.
Speaker 1:So people are going to pay you to give them homework? Yes, yes, that's homework.
Speaker 2:I love it, but they're going to come out of it realizing all their successes, all the things that they should be celebrating, all the things that they achieved, all the outcomes and input that they put into that organization and why they're such a valuable candidate for that next job.
Speaker 1:And I think that's so important to do, because when you're feeling bad in your current job whether communication is broken down or you've been mistreated which I think happens a lot or just undervalued or made to do things that aren't really in your job description, then it really starts to eat away at your confidence in your own job performance. So by doing that homework to really kind of build that back up, I think that's so awesome that you do that.
Speaker 2:And people can also not just send a job that's ran its course, but possibly they have gaps. I know, you and I talk about gaps in employment, and that can really scare people. How do I explain this? I'm so nervous. How do I even write a resume when I haven't worked for 10 years? Three months yeah, I had to take a leave.
Speaker 1:Let's get right into that, because I think we'll go back to kind of some of the key elements in the resume, but let's talk first about if there is a gap. So I also I worked with a lot of women post-debourse who maybe stayed at home or worked part time and they didn't left their career. How do you handle that as far as in a formal resume?
Speaker 2:Well, in resume gaps it's in. I like to rephrase it as life happens, right, nine out of 10 people have a gap and life experiences happen. They can be positive life experiences. A lot of times we again right where our mindset goes right to that negative, and it doesn't have to be a negative. But what you have to do is don't let the hiring manager or that recruiter get the option of forming their own opinion on that gap. So explain exactly, be transparent, be strategic, be brief and, where there's different types of resumes, you can have a chronological one which someone who's worked 25 years has no gaps Great, perfect, right Start, reverse order with your current job, but someone who has those big gaps for whatever life experience. Through you, you could do a functional resume which just focuses on your areas of expertise.
Speaker 2:But you don't have to do it in the timeline version, Right you don't necessarily have to do the timeline version, but if you choose to do the timeline version we can put it in there and say personal leave from the state to the state, and there's always ways to explain it.
Speaker 1:So when you're a hiring manager and you see that somebody doesn't do the chronological life from this state to this state, does that? That doesn't cause a red flag.
Speaker 2:They're more interested in the cause of the gap or the reason for the gap than the actual lapse in time, why you weren't working or where were you and what this gap of time. So the lapse isn't disturbing to recruiters and I think, more than ever, I mean now's the time to go out there like no one really cares anymore. Right, that cookie cutter A to Z has to look like this, and if you don't look like that, we're not going to make you a great candidate. That's kind of really gone to the wayside. I mean, again, one of the things that came out of the pandemic was that, right, work from home, flexible work, work like balance these gaps can be explained.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Is there anything you shouldn't say in an interview? Or if your gap was caused by yes?
Speaker 2:And I can coach people on their interview skills. You've got to practice.
Speaker 1:Okay, so have an answer ready for that question.
Speaker 2:You have to practice. If you stand in front of a mirror, record yourself on your phone, but you have to practice and be prepared. Okay, and part of my homework that I give you for creating your bullets on your resume will actually end up being your interview prep. It's like you're rehearsing for your play, your Broadway play, because you're going to read it so many times that you will not hesitate in that interview.
Speaker 1:I love that I do a lot of webinars and presentations and I do find that my best presentations are when I've rehearsed in the mirror, because sometimes in your mind it's like a lot smoother. You write it down and you think you're going to say it a certain way, but until you hit record and watch it back on your phone or look at yourself in the mirror, it's a lot different, right.
Speaker 2:Well, I always say avoid the details, Stick to the facts, what happened during the gap, what you did during the gap, and then express that enthusiasm for getting back into the workplace. And if you become uncomfortable, I have actual verbiage I can give people. But again, be brief, don't overshare. And if you become uncomfortable you can decline answering the question and you can say I prefer not to go into this anymore and I'd like to move on to sharing my experience and how I think it's a fit for this company in this role. That's interesting, Okay, and of course you don't want to go into too many things because you can start hitting hippo laws and ADA and then it's just like an illegal interview.
Speaker 1:Because we sort of know each other from the working mom's club. I think this is something that comes up from time to time. Can they ask you about your kids?
Speaker 2:How old they are. No, they should not. Legally it's not a question they should ask.
Speaker 1:So if you feel like your interviewer is kind of fishing to see if you're going to need to go pick up Billy from school because he's got the stomach bug which we all know is what happens right. And that's usually the moms that are the ones that are going to go do it. How do you get out of that without sounding rude?
Speaker 2:You can say well, I would like to stick to my experience and your job description or job hosting, and I don't see how this is relevant.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 2:You can just brief, short, to the point and I think it's easy for us and it takes a lot of meditation or growth mindset to remember you're there for a professional reason. You're not there personally, you're not going to be their best friend, you might not make any friends. You're there for a job, maybe you're working remotely, so the coffee talk and the water cooler talk doesn't really matter. So you stick to professional points, professional views, professional topics. And I always tell our coach you're in an interview, you're a witness on a witness stand, answer what they asked you. Okay, don't be nervous, just stick to what they asked you and don't elaborate.
Speaker 1:When I get nervous.
Speaker 2:I chatter Right, so I totally do that.
Speaker 1:I'm like thinking about that right now.
Speaker 2:I mean, and silence is golden. Like, don't feel like you have to fill that void. Take it around and bring it back to a professional level too. Okay, so you know they should have a set of questions that they're asking each candidate and they certainly don't want to get into anything even on a you know so far as a drug screen or background check. Like they stay out of that. There's a medical review officer at the facility that's doing it and they'll let you know of the level that this person has in their background check, or drug screening is a level that's normal for a prescription drug. Okay, so the interviewer and the hiring manager and the recruiter should stay out of any of those things Interesting. It should stick to the job, the skills, the achievements, the organization's missions, values and goals.
Speaker 1:Whether or not there's a gap If you are, like you mentioned in the beginning, somebody who has not visited there. I mean, I was definitely fresh out of college last time I did a resume, so you're getting that banker's box out of the basement?
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly.
Speaker 1:I don't even know if it's on a thumb drive. I don't think thumb drives existed when I did mine, but I do not have a resume right now. Personally, myself, I would be starting from scratch. What is the first step?
Speaker 2:Well, in part of the reason, you know, when we were in our, we talked about our Facebook group is I posted some do's and don'ts, which is keep it, you know, to keep it simple for people and take out that fear and we're going to link that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I highlighted just a few of them for our conversation right now. So, of course, use a professional fund, a simple bullet point format. You know you can. You're doing most of this electronically now You're uploading it so you don't have to worry about going to Kinko's and getting blue paper or whatever you know color ivory paper you want. You might need a LinkedIn profile more than likely. If you haven't done your resume in a couple of decades, you might not even thought to put together a LinkedIn profile. So it's nice to do them simultaneously.
Speaker 2:You put the information in one copy and paste it, bring it over to the other. Or maybe you were forced to create a LinkedIn profile by your company and you just put your name in your company name and that's it. You should choose it up. We need to get the rest of the information in there, because that LinkedIn profile isn't for your company, it's for you and your personal brand. But we'll get into that, okay, later I know we have some more information about LinkedIn as a platform. Remove employment dates older than 15 and 20 years. Do you not put those references on there? You don't need to put your three references that you used to have to put on there. If asked for, you can supply them and more than likely most organizations are going to have you fill out an application anyways, just for their compliance.
Speaker 1:Sure, though, with references they can only call and really verify that you are employed, right, correct, or why you were termed. They can't. Can they ask if you went or were fired?
Speaker 2:They usually have that on the application. So they can ask the dates of employment, the reason for leaving, and they can also ask salaries. So they can ask those questions, but more than likely they're utilizing a third party service, that's just verifying everybody and make it up.
Speaker 2:Right, okay, right. So it's not that recruiter or that hiring manager. They're just waiting to get the report back from that third party that says, yes, this is all true, okay, yes, but don't include any pictures of yourself. No personal identifications, no social numbers, no gender, age, ethnicity. Have a professional email, and I don't mean you have to go and have a company in LLC. Just don't have a shared email with your entire family. Or make sure your kid hasn't changed the name of your Gmail account for his YouTube channel and it comes up as FuzzyLama or something at Gmailcom.
Speaker 1:So if it's like first name, last name and Gmail, that's professional enough, but if it's like FuzzySlippers, the Smith family.
Speaker 2:You know Goldleu or whatever. Keep it unidentifiable, right. It's also great, just they're free right Gmail accounts create one that you're just using for your job search. It'll keep it clean.
Speaker 1:So it doesn't get buried in all the shopping coupons Exactly.
Speaker 2:And you're the only one accessing it, so you don't miss anything. And always check that spam folder too. In that new email that you're creating, don't lie, of course, about your skills and certifications or experience. Add them on. If you have them, you've probably gained them in the last 20 years. Hand with your education section. Take away the dates of your college education, unless it's been in the last five years.
Speaker 1:So but still play your college education. But don't put like your graduation.
Speaker 2:Yeah put your college education, at what degree you earned, and possibly you didn't go in the university or college route, so maybe you have other certification programs that you did. So make sure they're listed. And I always say you don't have to list that street address anymore. Now that we're digital nomads, we can work from anywhere, so you could put your name, your certification, if you have a license, you know, cpa or what have you, you can put just your state, your LinkedIn account and access to an email and a phone number. Interesting and also now, for personal reasons, security reasons women probably should stop putting their street addresses and identifying information on there. You just don't know who you're encountering or scams. Okay, you know there's a lot of employment scams out there. People think they're getting legitimate work, from home jobs.
Speaker 1:And they're just getting right their information stolen.
Speaker 2:Right, that's so scary, it is, it is.
Speaker 1:Yes, so let's talk a little bit. I'm going to bounce to this age of technology. How can women leverage tools like chat, gpt or any kind of AI driven platform to assist in resumes, cover letters? All of the above, yeah, anything. What else do we need? Things that we know we need.
Speaker 2:Interview questions. Oh, that's a good one. So I love AI. I don't know if you use it every day in your industry. I use it every day, multiple times a day. I think it's the advantages to it it's time, efficient, right, right, efficiency. It's the ultimate thought starter. Yes, you know, sometimes you just need to gather your thoughts. So I think AI 100% all the way, but you have to do it properly so it helps you be efficient. It gives you word optimization, but you again, I say it's that thought starter, but you have to have that human touch.
Speaker 1:So you can't just type into chat GPT like write me a resume for a bank rate.
Speaker 2:And there's hundreds of thousands of resume builders out there and my friend is a recruiter and she said, yeah, I can tell her right away if it's a completely 100% generated AI resume, because it looks like five other ones she's gotten for that same position.
Speaker 1:So how do you? So? You get some ideas, you get a thought starter. Then how do you make it not look like it was just a AI generated?
Speaker 2:Well, what you want, to do is customize it. Obviously, and when I say word optimization, it helps you be clear and concise. So it might take like if you have a bullet that's five sentences. Could you make this bullet more concise in and put it in there and it'll generate a couple of answers for you? So, another way you can take your job posting or the job description, put it in there and say give me 10 keywords. So now you know I should filter those keywords into my resume or my cover letter. Don't be afraid of it. Employers have been using AI in their applicant tracking systems, so they're using it. You should use it. But, like we said earlier, you know there are some limitations to it. It's not personal, there's no storytelling, you're not identifying yourself or making yourself any different than the next person and in some instances it can be unethical. Right? You want to make sure that You're not taking I'm not taking your bullet item from there, or and sometimes you have to really read it it can be wrong.
Speaker 1:That is a lot with.
Speaker 2:AI. I've seen that as well. Right, but use it in small doses. Get your mind going right. Don't sit down and not be afraid To try it. Sign up for one that you find as user friendly. Talk to your friends, see which ones they're using. Have them demo it for you. I can demo it for you.
Speaker 1:Um, human resources are using it to write those job descriptions right, so they can really get mad at you for writing your job.
Speaker 2:Response right, but make sure you tailor, go in and put that human touch again. Like I said, go in and tell your story.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so when you're talking about telling a story, you're really doing that in the cover letter, not in the resume.
Speaker 2:You can kind of do them both. I think the cover letter is an awesome place to start, and I also have a unique Look at cover letters. It's not your, you know, with that 20 year old resume was that 20 year old cover letter that said hi, I'm applying to the job that I found in the details.
Speaker 1:I would like to apply for the job of financial advisor at such a right. So that's not how you do it anymore. I have a different take on it now.
Speaker 2:Other people might do it that way still, but I have a take where you need to be empathetic to the recruiting manager, okay, and I teach you how to do that. And also it's a whole nother page to put some more information out there about why you're the best fit. Okay, so you're gonna promote yourself. You're gonna promote yourself, but you're gonna promote your skills and achievements and your outcomes and your impact on how it would relate to that job. So it gives you a two-page resume without a two-page resume.
Speaker 1:So that's another question your your actual resume unless you're like 85 and have worked at 20 different places, should be one page one page one page, if, if we can do it in some.
Speaker 2:You know industries are different. Say, if you're academic Engineering, project management, you might have patents, you might have white papers you've written, so you might have a whole list of achievements that you and I don't need to put on there because we don't have that right, but in certain industries it's the norm and they might even have a much longer.
Speaker 2:They call it the CB so instead of a resume, but that's the norm in those industries, because these people have all these written things or, if they're a PhD, they probably have published a million different things. So those are exceptions yeah very much.
Speaker 2:So all of us should probably stick to a one-pager, one column. So that's like you know what you normally would look at on a 11-page two columns at the most. So when I say two columns, it means maybe the bulk of it is on one side and then you have maybe on a small right-hand side column with Skills or achievements or honors or things like that. But I wouldn't go any more than two columns.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you don't want to miss out on a job because you have, like, too many columns right now. You mentioned LinkedIn and that you should have a LinkedIn profile. Do you feel like LinkedIn is a good platform if you're looking for?
Speaker 2:jobs, 100%, I think it is either is the basic model, free, can't beat it. You can put it on your phone, which means you can never like not be without the ident, the notifiers, and you can always. You could be out and about. You'd be like, oh, I just met you at the coffee shop, so I'm gonna link in with her and connect. So it's a great tool to have and a great resource. It's a powerful platform for sure, I think. But you have to again, like my homework I give you. You have to use it. Yeah, so it's your personal brand. We talked about that. It's not your company's brand. You might list the company there, but it's not for them. It's for you, your personal brand. So keep your page updated. Post. That's the only way you're gonna get out there yes, into other people's fetus by posting, and you can post Something you read that was interesting. I could repost yours, you could repost mine. Just post, yeah, so you stay up in that algorithm, in that feed.
Speaker 1:We should take a picture before this interview is over and I'll post it on my LinkedIn and tag and I'll do it.
Speaker 2:Yes, and then you can comment. You know I can comment on yours, you comment on mine. Connect. You can go up and search and let's say your industry is banking. So you go up to the search bar, put the word banking, put the word people, click people or job postings or posts. All of those are ways to search your industry and then just start connecting with people.
Speaker 1:Like if they went to your college exactly this point, or they know friends that you know yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so start connecting with people. If there's organizations that you hope to work at, follow them. Get in there and follow them. Follow people that are working for that organization and like other people's posts, but like comment and share. Really, you have to use it. Set aside 15 minutes every morning and Do something yeah, linkedin.
Speaker 1:I'm I'm big on social media, but LinkedIn is probably my least Adaptive one, right, and I find it to be a bit spammy. Everybody wants to connect people who are coaches. They want to give me leads for life, you know, and it's just like want to buy leads, like I'm just trying it. You know what I mean. Yeah, so that that sort of turned me off to LinkedIn and and funny story, I was like I should start using it more to promote the podcast, so I get these. You know, do I try premium for free for 30 days? So I hit yes. Now apparently I toggled something off that said I was open to work.
Speaker 1:Don't check LinkedIn very often. I was sitting there like I don't know, maybe New Year's Eve, as I'm like having you know, trying to avoid my teenagers, who all have friends over, and I'm like why do I have 500 like inbox things? I'm I did and it's all like, hey, we want like just recruiters everywhere. Are you interested? I immediately like Texted the owner of pro planning. I was like, hey, I just want you to know. I did this accidentally, like I don't know if you've looked at my profile because she's on LinkedIn all the time. I was like I don't know what I hit, but my point being that, like, if you're using LinkedIn and you know you want to get a different job, doesn't that open you up to, like your current employer seeing that? Like, how do you handle that?
Speaker 2:well, the job searching won't come across on their end, and sometimes you're not even Connected to your employers, like the people your current manager or hiring managers or recruiters in your organization. But there are ways to. If you are connected with them, there are ways to block your searches and block your activity. Okay, yeah, and one person that's great at LinkedIn is you could, should, everybody should, follow her is Brenda Miller. It's M-E-L-L-E-R.
Speaker 2:Brenda Miller and she has a great book on it your LinkedIn profile and she is the guru when it comes to LinkedIn. Okay, but yes, there is tons of different ways to use it and stay safe. And when you're starting that resume, it's just a great Way to look at hey, what jobs are out there, what could I possibly bleep be interested in? Before you really take the plunge and grab some of those keywords Right, give you some thought starters and have it in your profile right and start using it for that next step of writing that real great resume that you haven't done in 20 years.
Speaker 1:So now let I'm going off. I'm going off the questions real quick because this is a question that I have. I will say, when I'm looking on LinkedIn, I see people's profile pictures and if it's like Christmas picture with their family and they've just cropped everybody else out, it like it gives me the ick and I'm not hiring manager, but I feel like professional headshot, right.
Speaker 2:Yes, okay, yes, great point Professional headshot. They also give you the chance to do the panel up above your headshot and nowadays, with technology and phones that we have your computer, you can get a very decent professional headshot without hiring someone and like an AI headshot. You could Okay, you could, it will. It could take you with your you know, your college t-shirt on, but then go put a professional suit on you. That's what some of the AI headshots can do. But also, you know, your iPhone can do amazing things. So go outside in nature and see a couple of headshots that you like and try and post yourself in the same manner.
Speaker 1:So it doesn't have to be like spending hundreds of dollars for a photographer and makeup and hair.
Speaker 2:Again, plan and prepare right. Dress appropriately, put on some makeup. You don't have to go crazy. Don't go buy new, new clothing. Just have something with the color minimal jewelry and you'll look great. But plan and prepare. If you see that the chamber's doing it, run over there and do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, that's a good, that's a good advice.
Speaker 1:So good professional picture in your LinkedIn. No picture on the resume, correct? All right, I'm taking notes here. This is great information. I'm so excited about this. All right Now we've talked a little bit about how things have changed with. One of the things that I feel like has been different since the pandemic is the new work from home opportunities that are available, and especially for women mothers. This is a great opportunity. You spend less time commuting, more flexibility. So if I'm somebody looking for a job and I specifically want to look for work from home opportunities, are there any specific strategies you would recommend?
Speaker 2:Well, I agree with you. This is the time. Like we talked about it earlier, digital nomads, which means work from home, work in different countries, go travel the world. I mean, you have to let your employer know, though. You can't pretend that you're doing this? I mean after the pandemic, believe it or not, a lot of HR managers realize their employees had moved not only out, of state but out of country.
Speaker 2:So, number one yes, there are ways to do it, but let your employer know, because if you're established in a new state, they might have to pay and file as an employer in that state or that country or get visas. So let your employer know. But yes, there's a ton of ways to do this. Identify those remote, friendly industries. Let's start there. So customer support, the design industry, graphic arts, digital marketing, of course, tech, hr, even right, finance. You can do any of these. Legal, there's a lot of things you can do from home, especially with the technology that they'll set you up with. But there's particular job boards and websites that are just for remote jobs. Really, and you can also see the notation in job postings Is this job remote? I mean, it's a top question now on LinkedIn and indeed it's right at the top, because people just don't want to go to the bottom if it's not.
Speaker 1:And maybe we could share some of the boards for that One does to you remote okay, flex jobs we work remotely or just a few that come to mind. Now do you feel like there's a little bit more? I think you mentioned like with the spammy or like made up jobs. How do you decipher if it's a?
Speaker 2:You definitely have to do your research Again. Going back into, you know the old cybersecurity, right, you want to look at the top, at the line of that website and look at that website. Is that a picture of a high school in your community saying that that's like their job, their company?
Speaker 2:Yes, that would be a good tech giveaway, right? So I mean, I know you're exhausted, you're tired of the job search, but you got to stay on your toes. You want to. You know, put two and two together If it doesn't feel right, it's not right. If it sounds too good to be true, it's probably too good to be true. There's a lot of ways to do it and I'll put some indicators out and we can link it later. But I've known a couple people who have gotten scammed, but typically it's also because of their rush to take the first thing that comes along.
Speaker 1:And people do that because when they decide they want to leave a job, it's like get me out of here. I can't scam the sound of their voice, or maybe they got laid off, so time is of the essence.
Speaker 2:So I'll put some dos and dos or things to look for so you don't get scammed. But also, you know what we were talking about linked in, so have that strong online presence too. Right, you have to look like you know what you're doing. You don't want to not be on LinkedIn and they'll say, well, this person wants to work from home, but they don't have any skills, they don't have a digital footprint.
Speaker 2:Yeah, in remote collaboration tools, you want to make sure that you highlight that you, you know, proficient in teams, proficient in Zoom, whatever it may be that you think this company is going to use, are possibly project management software, communication platforms.
Speaker 2:So you might have to do a little research on those, but you're going to want to be able to use these platforms that they're sending you so like, for instance, maybe there's a time where they want you to come in the office once a week, once a month, and they have a job, excuse me, a desk reservation app that they want you to download, and it's your personal cell phone and you need to put it on there and be able to use these.
Speaker 2:You want to be able to know how to do these things. So you can't just fake it, because it's going to come to light really quickly if you don't know how to use Teams, zoom, all the rest of the platforms out there. So you really have to know your stuff and whether you've taken, you've been doing it at your last job because you were working from home or you need to research it, go and do it. Yeah, you can thrive in that environment and also set yourself up for success. Have a location in your home, you know, a distraction-free place to work and it's dedicated to just you because it's important.
Speaker 1:And use that space for the virtual interview for that job. Yes, yes, don't be at your kitchen counter with kids like eating dinner next to you, or your dog parking and my dog is such a stator that he'll be quiet all day and I'll have this until somebody arrives on a Zoom and he thinks they're in our home and he just goes bananas. So tips to anybody that doesn't work from home regularly that if you are going to do an interview, even if your dog seems like in a deep sleep, put him in a different room, let the treat yes, with a bowl of food and a treat and just go into the other side of the house. But talk to me about networking. Okay, if you're looking for career growth, what advice do you have for women looking to build a strong network?
Speaker 2:Don't be afraid. It's easier said than done, I know, but don't be afraid. So, for instance, this is a perfect example. Right, we networked through Facebook and a working moms group. Yeah, and I feel like I've known you for years.
Speaker 1:I know I'm like new besties.
Speaker 2:You commented on my do's and don'ts for resumes. We messaged each other and here we are. Yeah, and had I not taken that chance, we wouldn't be here today. So it was pain-free, right.
Speaker 1:It just take the risk. I think they're are intimidated. No, what if they don't message me back?
Speaker 2:Right, what is the thing coming? You also have to look at your industry. So every industry should have an association, a conference, a newsletter, trade publications. Get involved, whether it's signing up for a free newsletter, a free email alerts from that association. Maybe you don't have the money to join it right now or go to a conference. There are so much free content.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You just have to Google it, google it. Go to Pinterest Even has free contact. Linkedin. Get out there. Create your own network if you want to. If you are, say, in the mortgage industry and you know so many people in that same industry, create your own group. Go to coffee once a quarter, that's a great idea.
Speaker 2:You know, I did that with a few people and we they're in other states, but we met at a conference and we just jelled. So we meet once a quarter virtually. Yeah, so you can create your own networks too. Find a mentor, someone that you maybe worked with at a former company or even at a current company, and say, hey, I'm trying to boost my career and I find what you did and your path amazing. Could you mentor me?
Speaker 1:Especially women, wanna help other women.
Speaker 2:Or become the person who mentors someone. It brings a lot more. Your knowledge comes back to you.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You might again, like we always say, we forget about everything. Great that we did so mentor someone or volunteer, get on a board. That's a great way. There's a couple of great sites that I'd love to well link up later. It's called Share Detroit and Volunteer Match, so both of those have all information about nonprofits that need help, and it's a great way, again, to network and get out there and up your skills at the same time, and you're showing your skills to other people in a different setting, right. So you're gonna meet different people on that board. That might have an opportunity for you down the road.
Speaker 2:But again, as we said before and I know I told you, you have homework to do, but prepare and practice, right. So if you wanna you've been doing all these online things well. Maybe you wanna get out of that Facebook group and you wanna go in person to something you saw. Post it in the group. So grab your bestie, grab your colleague, get that outfit that makes you feel comfortable and unconfident, download LinkedIn on your phone and get out there.
Speaker 2:I love it, you know and just have a small goal for yourself. I'm gonna go to this one a quarter or whatever it may be, and when I'm there. If I meet someone, I can immediately connect with them on my LinkedIn app, ask open-ended questions, let these people talk. You don't have to talk, you can just support them and listen, be an active listener and when you get comfortable and keep doing it and keep going to different networking things, you're gonna have your speech ready of telling them who you are and what you're looking for. So just take baby steps, but just go do it. Set some practical, realistic goals and again, prepare and practice.
Speaker 1:I like that, All right. So, as we wrap up, what final pieces of advice do you have that you wanna share with our listeners, especially women aiming to excel in their career or find a new career?
Speaker 2:Well, we've told them so many great things already, but I wanna just go back to my top five. I guess would be yes.
Speaker 3:Windows top five yes.
Speaker 2:Embrace challenges and learn from those sub-backs. Celebrate achievements. Prioritize what's important to you, both professionally and personally, so that you can have that work life balance and advocate for yourself. You're gonna be your biggest cheerleader. And be professional, not emotional.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's a tough one for women, I think it is, it is.
Speaker 2:But I always say when I'm coaching someone if your friend told you this story, what would you say back to them?
Speaker 2:And then say differently yes, would you coach them to get out of that job? Or how would you coach them to do that situation at work? And keep it professional, not emotional. It is the job. Yes, it is just a job. Yes, it pays your bills. Yes, it can be your identity in certain industries, but it is a job and you need to keep it professional, keep it that realm of professionalism and take your emotions out of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's great advice. Now I do think I love this episode because I think there's so many helpful tips and I just love the whole idea because so often I feel in lines that I work with or just friends. People feel stuck, like they can't get a new job or they can't change careers because they're too old and it's been too long. So this, I hope, is giving our listeners like at least, even if you're happy in your current job, just knowing that you can make a change and you can get yourself out there and network and find other opportunities. I think is so, especially in the beginning of the year awesome. So if somebody's listening and they're excited about this and they wanna get started, but they really don't know exactly where to start, even after hearing your tips, which were fabulous what is the best way for them to get ahold of you and find out more about your services?
Speaker 2:They can email me directly at phasescareersgmailcom.
Speaker 1:Okay, and I'm gonna link that and also maybe link your LinkedIn. Can we do that so people can get ideas and also connect with you there if they're not really ready to reach out specifically for themselves?
Speaker 2:No, I would love that.
Speaker 1:Okay, great. I really appreciate your time today, linda. This has been so awesome and, I just think, so helpful to our listeners. I know people are in need of this service and I love that you're focusing really on women in this space. So thank you so much, Linda Olanichuk, thank you so much for your time on the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Women's.
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