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Your #Career : The Future of Work – You Should Plan On Switching Jobs Every Three Years for The Rest Of Your Life.. Do you Know? Workers who Stay with a Company Longer than Two Years are said to Get Paid 50% Less. The Stigma of Being a Flaky Job-Hopper is Quickly Becoming a Thing of the Past, and That’s a Good Thing.

May 16, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Changing jobs every couple of years used to look bad on a resume. It told recruiters you can’t hold down a job, can’t get along with colleagues, or that you’re simply disloyal and can’t commit.

That stigma is fast becoming antiquated—especially as millennials rise in the workplace with expectations to continuously learn, develop, and advance in their careers. This sentiment is different than the belief of past generations that you cling to an employer over a lifetime in the hopes that your long-term employer will treat you fairly in the end with a matching 401(k) plan, among other benefits.

Workers who stay with a company longer than two years are said to get paid 50% less.

There are a lot of arguments for jumping ship every few years. The economy isn’t what it used to be—and never will be again. Workers who stay with a company longer than two years are said to get paid 50% less, and job hoppers are believed to have a higher learning curve, be higher performers, and even to be more loyal, because they care about making a good impression in the short amount of time they know they’ll stay with each employer.

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Patty McCord, former chief talent officer for Netflix (and responsible for the company’s current innovative work culture), says job hopping is a good thing, and young people should plan to do so every three to four years.

“I think that the most important, critical change in people’s mental outlook is to view employees as smart contributors from the beginning,” advises McCord, who now coaches and advises companies and entrepreneurs on culture and leadership.

If we changed our perspective and said, ‘Everyone here wants to come in, do a great job, and contribute,’ then they either fit or they don’t,” she adds. “You build skills faster when changing companies because of the learning curve.”

Job hoppers are believed to have a higher learning curve, be higher performers, and even to be more loyal.

Why the high learning curve? Because job hoppers are constantly placed outside of their comfort zones. They join companies, know they have to learn fast, make great impressions, and improve the bottom line—all within a couple of years before moving on to their next conquest. As a result, they’re usually overachievers and learn a lot in a short span of time.

According to Penelope Trunk, serial entrepreneur and author, life is actually “more stable” with frequent job changes.

“In terms of managing your own career, if you don’t change jobs every three years, you don’t develop the skills of getting a job quickly, so then you don’t have any career stability,” Trunk tells Fast Company. “You’re just completely dependent on the place that you work as if it’s 1950, and you’re going to get a gold watch at the end of a 50-year term at your company.”

She adds:

I read a lot of research about what makes a good employee . . . and people used to think that the longer you kept an employee, the more worth they are to you, because you train them and they get used to their job and then they do it. But, in fact, an employee who stays on the job and isn’t learning at a really high rate is not as engaged, so they’re not doing as good work. So it turns out, the employee who stays longest, you get the least work out of, and the employees that job hunt are the most receptive of becoming extremely useful, very fast.

Trunk believes that the learning curve “pretty much flattens after three years.” While there are few exceptions to jobs people should stay in for longer, such as academia, most people should leave if they want to stay engaged, says Trunk.

If you don’t change jobs every three years, you don’t develop the skills of getting a job quickly, so then you don’t have any career stability.

But what about companies? We all know how costly it is to train employees. If companies have to keep training new employees, how does this affect their business objectives?

This is a concen McCord is asked about regularly by the companies she consults. Employee retention is a big issue, and “it scares the hell out of” employers, says McCord. They’ve invested a lot in hiring big talent. To that, McCord has some advice: In 15 years, when your company is growing rapidly because of all the high, job-hopping achievers that have come and gone, unless you’re an institution, don’t worry that no one has any institutional knowledge of your company.

RELATED: CAN YOU HANDLE A CAREER CHANGE?

FastCompany.com | January 7, 2016 | Vivian Giang

#Leadership : 15 Questions to Ask every #JobCandidate for #ManagerialRoles …When it comes to #ManagerialCandidates , you Need to Ask More than What You would Ask Prospective Front-Line Employees.

May 15, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Interviewing a potential manager is different from questioning a front-line office worker. The manager will be supervising, mentoring, guiding, shaping, and evaluating their employee at various times in the relationship. They also have a finger on the pulse of culture, if they’re doing their job well, and a vision toward the future.

Moreover, bottom line accountability often rolls up to them.

The following 15 questions can help identify characteristics, traits, information, knowledge, and behavior patterns that will help you learn if the next management candidate is a fit for your company’s goals.

QUESTION 1: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE CULTURE IN YOUR DEPARTMENT/DIVISION/BUSINESS UNIT? WHY?

Why it works: The manager’s reflectiveness (or lack thereof) in responding to this question will indicate whether they are indeed in touch with the idea of building a great culture or have been so busy in the weeds of the day to day that culture hasn’t been a priority.

As a follow-up, ask …

QUESTION 2: HOW WOULD YOUR EMPLOYEES DESCRIBE THE CULTURE IN YOUR DEPARTMENT/DIVISION/BUSINESS UNIT? WHY?

Why it works: Similarly, if the manager is stumped or slow to respond, it might be they haven’t given this topic much thought. However, if they are quick to reveal, with enthusiasm, that the individuals on their team would espouse a positive, empowerment culture where they are safe to express opinions and take calculated risks, for example, then you probably are interviewing a manager who gets the importance of shaping a meaningful and employee-centered culture.

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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QUESTION 3: WHAT WAS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE, BUT GRATIFYING MILESTONES IN YOUR CAREER?

Why it works: The answer to this question will help determine what motivates this management candidate in their career, what it is that gives them a sense of growth and satisfaction. This is helpful in assessing whether the candidate will sustain satisfaction in the particular environment for which you are assessing them.

QUESTION 4: WHAT WOULD YOUR HIGHEST PERFORMING EMPLOYEE SAY ABOUT YOU?

QUESTION 5: WHAT WOULD YOUR MOST STRUGGLING EMPLOYEE SAY ABOUT YOU?

Why these 2 questions work: In both the above instances, there is fertile opportunity to unearth how in touch the manager is with their employees’ development, successes, opportunities to improve, etc. It would provide insight into their mentoring and coaching skills, as well as empathy.

QUESTION 6: TELL ME ABOUT A TIME WHEN YOU HAD A MAJOR OBJECTIVE TO ACHIEVE UNDER A TIGHT TIME CONSTRAINT, LEAN BUDGET, AND WITH FEWER PEOPLE THAN TYPICALLY WOULD SUPPORT THE GOAL?

Why it works: This question homes in on the core value of a manager–their ability to manage, allocate, and leverage resources (people, time, money). It also speaks to their flexibility in handling imperfect scenarios, successfully.

QUESTION 7: IN YOUR MOST RECENT ROLE, WHAT WAS YOUR OVERARCHING IMPACT? I.E., HOW DID YOU HELP THE COMPANY GROW, GAIN MARKET SHARE, INCREASE CLIENT BASE, IMPROVE PROFITABILITY?

This question ferrets out the manager’s bottom-line impact, and can be followed with …

QUESTION 8: WHAT ARE 2-3 KEY ACHIEVEMENTS THAT LED TO THE OVERARCHING IMPACT?

Why these 2 questions work: Ask the candidate to answer questions 7 and 8 for their past 2-3 positions, to help uncover a theme.

QUESTION 9: WHOM HAVE YOU PROMOTED, AND WHY? DO YOU HAVE A PROCESS FOR MENTORING AND DEVELOPING YOUR EMPLOYEES?

Why it works: Again, this speaks to their people management, coaching, and mentoring skills and ability to respond to their team members’ needs and goals.

QUESTION 10: WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST FAILURE YOU HAD IN YOUR MOST RECENT ROLE? HOW DID YOU RESPOND TO THE SITUATION? WHAT DID YOU LEARN?

Why it works: This question will help identify the manager’s capacity to admit mistakes, and mostly how they respond to and learn from them, imperative to their long-term success.

QUESTION 11: WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST TAKEAWAY FROM YOUR LAST 3 ROLES? WHY WILL IT MATTER TO ME (THE HIRING COMPANY)?

Why it works: Not only will this question provide insight as to specific skills, etc. the manager has gained along their career journey, but it also will reveal how they are able to connect the dots with their go-forward goals, and specifically, how that will add value to your organization.

QUESTION 12: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MANAGEMENT STYLE?

Why it works: This question gets to the heart of the candidate. Where do their words focus: on the employees/teams; on the company; on themselves; equally divided among the three? Are they hands-on; hands-off; a mix of the two; concerned about building a happy place to work; etc.?

QUESTION 13: HOW WOULD YOUR EMPLOYEES DESCRIBE YOUR MANAGEMENT STYLE?

Why it works: It is interesting and beneficial to see how in-sync the answers to questions 12 and 13 are.

QUESTION 14: TELL ME ABOUT A TIME WHEN YOU ACHIEVED A BREAKTHROUGH RESULT THAT IS NOT DIRECTLY QUANTIFIABLE BUT WHICH HAS HAD A MONUMENTAL IMPACT ON THE COMPANY’S GOALS?

Why it works: While this is a bit of a brainteaser, the ultimate goal is to unleash the candidate’s creative juices beyond proving their bottom-line value. For example, perhaps the interviewing company has ambitions to break out into a more visible force in the community, beyond being a service or widget provider. If the candidate is able to share stories where they expanded the visibility and presence in a community service sort of way, (beyond the bottom line), then they would be showing how they could fulfill a particular need the hiring company wants to satisfy.

QUESTION 15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TECHNOLOGY AND/OR DIGITAL TOOL, AND WHY? HOW HAS IT SUPPORTED YOUR GOALS AS A MANAGER?

Why it works: With today’s ever-evolving technology landscape, including AI, social media, etc., it is important to assess a manager’s touchpoints in these areas.

FastCompany.com | BY JACQUI BARRETT-POINDEXTER—GLASSDOOR | 4 MINUTEREAD

Your #Career : How I Got the Attention of #SeniorLeaders When I Was a #Temp …As an #Intern or #TempWorker , it Can be Difficult to Impress Senior Leaders . Two Professionals Share their Strategy on How they Successfully Navigated this Process.

May 15, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

When Tida Jarjou was hired as a temp employee at a broker dealer in Stamford, Connecticut–her first role out of college–she found herself in a team meeting with four white males. “[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][I] realized I was the only African American and woman on the team,” she told Fast Company. She felt self-conscious. “I was worried that my chances [of obtaining a full-time position] were slim and that the only slots available would go to the white males instead of me,” she says.

But Jarjou did land a full-time job with the company. The week of Thanksgiving, senior management gave its workers the option of working half a day. Most of Jarjou’s colleagues took this option, but Jarjou decided to stay behind to demonstrate her commitment to her work.

She ended up dealing with an angry client, who demanded that their issue be fixed right away. Jarjou knocked on the door of the only other person in the office, who happened to be the company’s CMO. They resolved the matter together. Less than two months into her job, the company offered her a permanent role. She discovered that the CMO had spoken highly of her as she was the only temp who had asked for his help.

As a junior employee, intern, or a temp worker–it can be difficult to gain the attention of senior management, let alone impress them. It can feel even more daunting when many of those senior managers don’t look like you. Two professionals told Fast Company how they navigated this challenge early in their careers .

PERCEPTION AND PRESENTATION MATTERS

Office dress-codes might be on the way out, but it can make a difference in how others perceive you. Charreah Jackson, a senior editor at Essence and author of the upcoming book Boss Bride: The Powerful Woman’s Playbook for Love And Success, told Fast Company that when she interned at the magazine between her junior and senior year, she made a special effort to dress like the editors did. “I just remembered thinking, I never want to signal my age,” Jackson said. By looking like a young editor, rather than an intern, she was presenting herself to be taken seriously.

Jarjou echoed this sentiment. Three years after her job at the broker dealer, she decided that she wanted to transition to the New York finance world. She ended up getting a role as a “floater” for JP Morgan Chase, an associate that filled needs for various investment teams on a short-term basis. Once again, Jarjou had to prove herself to get a permanent position. She answered phones and dealt with clients –illustrating that she was a self-starter who understood the business. “I tried to be as polished as I could. I made sure I really dressed for the job that I wanted. I listened to the conversations that the associates were having. I joined Toastmasters to practice my public speaking and focused on how I presented myself.” She eventually joined a team as a full-time investment associate.

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TREAT YOUR ROLE LIKE AN EXTENDED INTERVIEW

Jackson and Jarjou both treated their temp positions and internships as an extended interview process. Jarjou told Fast Company, “I showed a sense of urgency working as a temp and didn’t rest on my laurels.” At the broker dealer, the workers’ output were measured in the customer relationship management system. “I knew anything that was quantifiable–where I could show my value–was the best way for me to control my output. I knew that I might not have the same social leg up as the white men on the team, but what was in my control was the quality of my work output. I stayed longer, I asked the right questions, and I showed genuine interest in the business.”

Jackson made a special effort to study the industry and the publication during her internship, and later on when she was hired on contract as an editorial assistant (she was eventually made into a full-time online associate web editor a few months later). In addition to making an effort to ask as many questions as possible, she also stayed in touch with different members of the team when her internship ended and she went back to college for her senior year. Every month or so, Jackson would come up to New York from D.C., and organize a meeting with a different staff member from Essence. One day, she was introduced to the new web editor, who happened to be hiring for an editorial assistant at the time. She ended up hiring Jackson.

KEEP YOUR EGO IN CHECK

Jarjou believes that her willingness to be vulnerable was critical to her success. “Had I been so consumed with my ego, worrying about myself and how the CMO might perceive me if I approached him, I would have missed the opportunity to make a positive impression on senior management and wouldn’t have added value to that client’s experience,” she told Fast Company. She also knew that what the CMO thought of her wasn’t something she had control over, and as a result–it wasn’t worth spending her energy on.

START BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS BEFORE YOU NEED THEM

When Jackson started her internship at Essence, there was one piece of advice from their editor-in-chief that stuck with her–build relationships before you need them. Now that she is on the other side, Jackson said that she is amazed at how many interns don’t stay in touch when they finish their internship, only to contact her when they graduate and are looking for a job. “Every hiring decision is made by a person, [so] you really need to make [building relationships] a priority,” Jackson says. During her internship, Jackson would go out of her way to find commonalities between her and the senior editors, and give (genuine) compliments on their work.

Jarjou agrees. Even when the senior leadership doesn’t look like you, there are always ways to show that you are not so different from each other. “I like to think of it as a matter of education. Consider building rapport with higher-ups and help them to understand you just as much you want to understand them.” She acknowledges that it’s important not to lose yourself and pretend to be someone else in the process, but she had to have an “interest of the majority” in order to find her place there. “It’s a dance that you have to do, you have to figure out what other people are doing. Assimilate to the extent that you’re comfortable. I don’t think it hurts to do that.”

FastCompany.com | May 15, 2018 | BY ANISA PURBASARI HORTON 5 MINUTE READ

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Your #Career : 5 Ways to Take Your #JobSearch to the Next Level… There’s No Shortage of Great #CareerAdvice , But One of the Most Powerful Resources you can Tap is Somebody Who Recently Landed a Job Themselves.

May 15, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

For one, they’ll have a more accurate view of the labor market. (For example: Ever had a grandparent tell you that the best way to get a job is to walk right into the office and ask for one? Not exactly the case anymore.) But for another, the fact that they’ve managed to break through and score a job means that they usually have insight into how you can do the same.

To get some of these invaluable tips, we reached out to Katherine L. from Denver, who found a job on Glassdoor last summer and has been thriving at her new company. Here are five of her tips on how you can take your job search to new heights in order to land your dream role.

Tip #1: Use Job Alerts

It’s no secret that the job hunt can be a slog, so any time you can automate part of the process, you should. If you’re tired of scrolling through job listings to find the right match, you might want to create a job alert. Job alerts do the heavy lifting for you when it comes to finding the job that’s right for you. Just enter the job title you’re looking for, the location you’re targeting and your email address, and you’ll get personalized job search results delivered to your inbox daily.

“I had a saved, filtered search on Glassdoor and I got emails with jobs in travel and tourism that I might be interested in. I saw listings for my current company and thought, ‘I have to check it out — I keep getting recommended jobs from there.’ Once I did, I thought the company looked super cool,” Katherine said.

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Tip #2: Look for Jobs That Align With Your Interests

A lot of folks feel pressured to find a new job ASAP, whether out of financial need after a long period of unemployment or a desire to leave a toxic environment. But if you can take a little bit of extra time to find a job and company that you’re really passionate about — not just one that will pay the bills — it’ll likely pay off in the long run.

Katherine had always been passionate about travel and tourism, and was, in fact, on a career break traveling southeast Asia when she first started searching for jobs on Glassdoor. For her next opportunity, she became increasingly convinced that she wanted to marry her interests with her 9-to-5.

“What really drew me to my current company was the fact that I’m very passionate about travel and hospitality… We do vacation rental management, so we essentially help people earn their maximum possible vacation rental income, so it fit into my whole career curve,” Katherine said.

Tip #3: Research Everything You Can About a Company

Learning as much as you possibly can about a company before you apply will help you decide whether or not it’s right for you. Plus, research shows that nearly nine in ten hiring decision makers(88 percent) agree that an informed candidate is a quality candidate (Source: Aptitude Research Partners, 2017).

Katherine relied heavily on Glassdoor to scope out the companies she was applying to.

“Other sites may provide a job description, but I just love how Glassdoor has reviews, too. They’re very candid, and people don’t hold back. I really appreciate that — it lets you hear the good and the bad,” she said. “I felt the information I came across was very reflective of how it actually is now — I knew what I was getting myself into, rather than being thrown off guard.”

A few other things Katherine recommended looking into were benefits, company photos and, of course, salaries.

“Sometimes, I would see jobs and think, ‘Oh, that’s a really great opportunity!’ But then once I saw the salary, I realized that it actually wasn’t practical for where I am now. Rather than getting yourself all the way to the end of the process and realizing it’s not going to work for you, Glassdoor lets you set opportunities aside in the beginning,” Katherine said. “With Glassdoor, you get the actual jobs, reviews, salaries and benefits all in one spot.”

Tip #4: Discover Which Questions Interviewers Ask

One of the best features on Glassdoor is the interview reviews section. Using this tool, you can explore individual companies to see how difficult their interviews are, whether candidates have had a positive or negative experience, how often candidates tend to accept offers and even which questions recruiters and hiring managers at that company ask. For example, a recently-hired Senior Recruiter at Glassdoor reported that they were asked questions like “Tell me about a time you had to work with a difficult manager?” and “What makes you a great recruiter?”

You can also enter the name of the position you’ll be interviewing for to see which questions candidates for those roles are typically asked. Someone interviewing for an Executive Assistant position could be asked “What’s the toughest job you’ve held so far and why?” or “Describe a time when you had to manage up.”

This was a feature that Katherine made sure to leverage before heading into her job interview.

“I was definitely all over the interview reviews just so I could see what to expect and give myself an idea of what I needed to focus on,” she shared.

Tip #5: Remember — Once You’re Hired, the Work’s Not Over

Even if you nail the interview and land the job, as Katherine did, you can’t rest on your laurels just yet. All of the information you’ve gathered in the research phase and interview process should all be leveraged to help you thrive once you actually start the job. To really wow your new colleagues, take everything you’ve learned about what the expectations for the role are, what success looks like at the company and how you can most effectively collaborate with your coworkers and use it to become a star employee.

Katherine, for one, was able to put all the knowledge she gathered to good use and in just under a year, she was promoted to a new title and a new team.

“It’s neat to see how coming across my initial job on Glassdoor has led to further career opportunities at my current company,” Katherine said. “Thanks to Glassdoor, my current role is by far the best fit I’ve had in my professional career.”

GlassDoor.com | May 14, 2018 | Posted by Emily Moore

Your #Career : #ChangingCareers ? Here’s Exactly What To Put On Your #Resume . And What to Leave Off…

May 14, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

It’s not that hard to update your resume when you’re applying for the next role up the ladder in your field. You’re an associate operations manager trying to become a senior operations manager? Just show how what you’ve already done qualifies you to do similar things at a higher level.

Things get trickier when you’re trying to change industries. You’ve got to rebrand experiences here as transferable qualifications there. You need to explain why you’re a better hire than the candidate who’s spent their whole career in the field you’re trying to get into. And you’ve got to decide which parts of your experience just aren’t relevant anymore.

Figuring this out is a highly situational challenge–what works for one career changer’s resume might not work for another’s. But Erica Breuer, founder of Cake Resumes, says there are some straightforward dos and don’ts that can point you in the right direction.

DO: INCLUDE GROUP WORK

“I often work with career changers who don’t feel they have the right to include projects on their resume that were a team effort, especially when these projects fell outside of their normal job duties,” Breuer tells Fast Company. But it’s precisely those experiences you’ll want to rely on the most. “Including them, while nodding to the team-based or ‘special projects’ nature of the work is the way to go,” she says. “If it happened, it’s a fact, and it can go on your resume.”

Think of it this way: The tasks that are small, routine, or specialized enough for you to complete on your own may not be that relevant outside your industry. But bigger, collaborative projects tend to involve processes and challenges of a higher order, which draw on skills that just about every employer needs–no matter their field.

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DON’T: FUDGE JOB TITLES

“Many career changers get the advice to tweak job titles on their resume to look like the perfect fit. This almost always backfires,” Breuer explains. “It risks looking dishonest or, worse, the self-assigned titles they create add confusion more than they align them with a new path.”

While you can’t control your past job titles, you can control how you describe what you accomplish while you held them. Breuer’s suggestion? “Add a tagline of sorts to the true job title, one that states experience related to the new career direction, for example; ‘Director of Operations—Global Recruitment & Talent Acquisition.’” This way a hiring manager in the HR field, which you’re trying to get into, can spot right away that your operations role had to do with recruiting and talent.

(SOMETIMES) DO: DITCH STRICT CHRONOLOGY IF YOU NEED TO

For job seekers with a lot of experience, it’s common to truncate anything that came before the past 15–20-year period. But Breuer says this rule doesn’t always suit, especially “when you have an early-career experience that applies to an upcoming career change. Drawing this line is important, but so is sharing the details relevant at this very moment. If you’re not doing that, the resume is pointless,” she points out.

So feel free to shake up the chronological approach if you need to. “There are a number of ways to loop early experiences back into a resume without the kitchen sink-style timeline,” says Breuer. For example, you might try breaking your work history into subcategories like “Technical Experience” and “Managerial Experience.”

DON’T: GO TOO BROAD

A final common mistake Breuer sees pretty often among job seekers hoping to change careers is “expecting their resume to do too many things at once,” she says. “They want to capture their career wins, life story, hobbies, and persona as a whole, when a resume actually functions best when it’s a compelling and concise record of your experiences as they pertain to the role at hand.”

When you’re worried about being under-qualified, you might be tempted to overstuff your resume to compensate. Don’t do that. The key is to give recruiters and hiring managers a clear narrative about why you’re the best fit from the role because you’d be coming at it from a nontraditional angle. No, that won’t be the full story of your career, but it will probably be the most effective one for this opportunity.

To take some of the pressure off, Breuer suggests remembering that your resume–while important–is only one piece of the self-portrait you’re presenting to employers. She adds, “It should stack with other branding platforms, such as a personal website, LinkedIn profile, or even a cover letter, in order to tell the whole story of who you are and the value you bring.”

FastCompany.com | May 14, 2018 | Rich Bellis

Your #Career : 3 Ways To Develop #TransferrableSkills In Your Current #Job …This Google #Recruiter Shares How he Leveraged his #Skills to #ChangeCareers , from #Sales to #Recruiting .

May 14, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

My first job out of college was in sales. Today I’m a recruiting manager at a global tech company in Silicon Valley. I’m also a podcaster. The one thing that connects the dots of my career trajectory and every job move in between: transferrable skills.

At the point that I decided sales wasn’t for me, I reflected on what I enjoyed (helping people), what I wanted to do next (HR), and what would be the stepping stone role to help me get there. It turned out that recruiting at a staffing agency was a good middle ground. Recruiting meant I’d sell companies to candidates and candidates to companies. I’d help job seekers take the next step in their careers while ensuring hiring managers had access to great people.

But before I landed a job as a recruiter at Google, I teased out the skills I needed to highlight in my resume and interviews–skills like the ability to build relationships, persuade others, and provide a high level of customer service. All skills that continue to prove key to this day, even as a podcaster. Here are a few ways you can identify and leverage transferrable skills to help you secure your next opportunity.

TRACK YOUR TASKS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

One of the biggest challenges I had for years was recalling everything I accomplished when it came time for performance review season. I’d sit there wracking my brain in hopes of recovering all I’d done over the past 6 to 12 months so I could write a stellar self-evaluation. Then one day I decided to start a project and task log that I’d update throughout the year. Recalling the details of projects became much easier.

This log also helped me identify skills and themes that’d be transferrable if and when I decided to make a move. It was easier to update my resume and speak to these skills during interviews because everything was already written down. Instead of searching for examples, I was picking from a list I’d already created.

I also encourage you to include projects, tools, and accomplishments from your extracurriculars, especially if you hold a role in a club, organization, or have a side project. Skills picked up outside the office can be just as valuable. For example, producing and releasing podcast episodes has required me to create workflows to get tasks done. Since I’ve documented them, a new team member can be dropped in and become productive right away. Creating and improving processes to drive efficiency is a key skill that’s transferrable to a wide range of jobs. It also speaks to problem-solving, as you’re usually identifying something that isn’t working well and then fixing it.

Podcasting has also provided me public speaking opportunities that have in turn made me a better presenter at work. I’ve learned the importance of storytelling, which is just as valuable when talking about data as it is when you’re trying to motivate a team to overcome a major hurdle.

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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LEVERAGE LINKEDIN AS YOUR CAREER CONSULTANT

LinkedIn is great for networking, but it’s also a great way to research what skills and experiences you need beyond what you find in job descriptions. For example, when searching for new positions, I’ve made it a habit to look up various versions of the job title and find people already in the role. Their career history and current responsibilities give me a blueprint for my resume and LinkedIn profile. I can create a list of the common themes across profiles and cross-reference my log to find relevant examples.

BE PROACTIVE ABOUT YOUR NEXT STEP AND NEW SKILLS

Even if you’re happy in your current position, you should consistently revisit what’s next in your career and if you have the skills to get there. After doing role research, you’ll sometimes realize you don’t have everything in the job description or all the skills you saw in other profiles. That’s okay. When you’re moving into something new–even if it’s within your field–there will be gaps. Your goal is to minimize these gaps by picking up news skills that can be transferred to your next job.

Maybe you realize the next target role requires in-depth quantitative analysis skills, which you don’t get to flex in your current position. You could survey what’s happening around the company and ask to be involved in a project that gives you more exposure to Excel or the opportunity to track and report on key metrics. Maybe you do the weekly or monthly team reporting in collaboration with your manager.

Perhaps there’s someone whose spreadsheet abilities make you wonder what you’ve been doing all your life? Compliment them on the great work they’ve done and ask if they can show you some of the basics. Nearly a year ago, I asked a respected program manager to show me how she keeps various projects and deadlines organized. With her help, I ended up developing a project tracker that’s helped me manage large cross-functional initiatives that involve many moving parts and people. This speaks to taking the initiative to develop myself and the ability to manage complex projects and deliver results–two things that are expected in nearly every professional position.

These are just a few ways to help you think about transferrable skills and navigate your career development. You’ll be surprised by how relatable your skills are to many different fields. The first step is to write things down. Once you do that, it becomes a game of plug and play. Happy hunting!

This article originally appeared on The Well, Jopwell’s digital magazine and is reprinted with permission.Jopwell is the career advancement platform for Black, Latino/Hispanic, and Native American students and professionals.

FastCompany.com | May 11, 2018 | BY RICH JONES—JOPWELL 4 MINUTE READ

Your #Career : 18 Companies Looking to #Hire for #EntryLevelJobs …We’ve Made It a Bit Easier for You by Identifying Companies that are Actively #Hiring for Entry-Level or New Grad Roles.

May 10, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

With employers adding another 164,000 new jobs to payrolls in April, the nation’s unemployment rate is down to 3.9 percent. This means that there are growing labor shortages in tech, skilled trades, and health care are putting more workers in the driver’s seat when it comes to negotiating for pay. But before negotiating salary, you’ve got to find a job, right?!

Whether you’ve just gotten your AA, BA, MA or PhD, you’re a new grad looking for that first entry-level job that will unlock the door to the rest of your career. You’ve got the skills and the knowledge, now you need the right role.

We’ve made it a bit easier for you by identifying companies that are actively hiring for entry-level or new grad roles. After you’ve checked and triple checked your resume, click submit on one of these open jobs.

Harris Corp
Where Hiring: Chantilly, VA; Melbourne, FL; Clifton, NJ; Colorado Springs, CO; Columbia, MD & more.
What Roles: Finance, Mechanical Engineer, Software Engineer, Subcontracts, Material Planning, Systems Administrator, Systems Engineer & more.
What Employees Say: “The greatest part being what we do for the military. Our products have saved lives and I am proud to work at Harris for that reason alone!” —Current Employee

RELATED: CAN YOU HANDLE A CAREER CHANGE?

QUESTION 1: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE CULTURE IN YOUR DEPARTMENT/DIVISION/BUSINESS UNIT? WHY?

QUESTION 2: HOW WOULD YOUR EMPLOYEES DESCRIBE THE CULTURE IN YOUR DEPARTMENT/DIVISION/BUSINESS UNIT? WHY?

QUESTION 3: WHAT WAS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE, BUT GRATIFYING MILESTONES IN YOUR CAREER?

QUESTION 4: WHAT WOULD YOUR HIGHEST PERFORMING EMPLOYEE SAY ABOUT YOU?

QUESTION 5: WHAT WOULD YOUR MOST STRUGGLING EMPLOYEE SAY ABOUT YOU?

QUESTION 6: TELL ME ABOUT A TIME WHEN YOU HAD A MAJOR OBJECTIVE TO ACHIEVE UNDER A TIGHT TIME CONSTRAINT, LEAN BUDGET, AND WITH FEWER PEOPLE THAN TYPICALLY WOULD SUPPORT THE GOAL?

QUESTION 7: IN YOUR MOST RECENT ROLE, WHAT WAS YOUR OVERARCHING IMPACT? I.E., HOW DID YOU HELP THE COMPANY GROW, GAIN MARKET SHARE, INCREASE CLIENT BASE, IMPROVE PROFITABILITY?

QUESTION 8: WHAT ARE 2-3 KEY ACHIEVEMENTS THAT LED TO THE OVERARCHING IMPACT?

QUESTION 9: WHOM HAVE YOU PROMOTED, AND WHY? DO YOU HAVE A PROCESS FOR MENTORING AND DEVELOPING YOUR EMPLOYEES?

QUESTION 10: WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST FAILURE YOU HAD IN YOUR MOST RECENT ROLE? HOW DID YOU RESPOND TO THE SITUATION? WHAT DID YOU LEARN?

QUESTION 11: WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST TAKEAWAY FROM YOUR LAST 3 ROLES? WHY WILL IT MATTER TO ME (THE HIRING COMPANY)?

QUESTION 12: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MANAGEMENT STYLE?

QUESTION 13: HOW WOULD YOUR EMPLOYEES DESCRIBE YOUR MANAGEMENT STYLE?

QUESTION 14: TELL ME ABOUT A TIME WHEN YOU ACHIEVED A BREAKTHROUGH RESULT THAT IS NOT DIRECTLY QUANTIFIABLE BUT WHICH HAS HAD A MONUMENTAL IMPACT ON THE COMPANY’S GOALS?

QUESTION 15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TECHNOLOGY AND/OR DIGITAL TOOL, AND WHY? HOW HAS IT SUPPORTED YOUR GOALS AS A MANAGER?

PERCEPTION AND PRESENTATION MATTERS

TREAT YOUR ROLE LIKE AN EXTENDED INTERVIEW

KEEP YOUR EGO IN CHECK

START BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS BEFORE YOU NEED THEM

Tip #1: Use Job Alerts

Tip #2: Look for Jobs That Align With Your Interests

Tip #3: Research Everything You Can About a Company

Tip #4: Discover Which Questions Interviewers Ask

Tip #5: Remember — Once You’re Hired, the Work’s Not Over

DO: INCLUDE GROUP WORK

DON’T: FUDGE JOB TITLES

(SOMETIMES) DO: DITCH STRICT CHRONOLOGY IF YOU NEED TO

DON’T: GO TOO BROAD

TRACK YOUR TASKS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

LEVERAGE LINKEDIN AS YOUR CAREER CONSULTANT

BE PROACTIVE ABOUT YOUR NEXT STEP AND NEW SKILLS

WHEN ASKING SOMEONE YOU KNOW WELL

WHEN ASKING SOMEONE YOU KIND OF KNOW

WHEN ASKING SOMEONE YOU DON’T KNOW

First Round

Second Round

Final Round(s)

1. BE SMART ABOUT HIGHLIGHTING YOUR MOST IMPRESSIVE SKILLS

2. LOAD UP ON ACTION VERBS

3. TAILOR YOUR RESUME TO THE JOBS YOU’RE APPLYING FOR

4. CRAFT A STRONG COVER LETTER