Real Job Talk

Welcome to L’areal Lipkins, a sales trainer and expert in goal setting, vision boards, and how to make your goals a reality by adopting the right plan and mindset. L’areal does NOT believe in SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timebound) , and we get right into it asking about her approach to goal setting. L’areal is a “recovering SMART goals user,” and she pivoted to her CLARITY method when she saw clients coming back year after year with the same goals. CLARITY stands for: C- crystal clear L- linked to a bigger goal (like your company’s or your boss’ or a step towards a bigger personal goal) A- actionable R- realistic I- important T- time bound Y- tied to your core “why” “Your why is irrelevant unless you know WHY your why is important.” You have to go deep to figure out why something is important to you to find your emotional connection to your goal in order to make the sacrifices needed to make it happen. If you don’t have the vision of where you are going, you don’t have enough oomph behind your why. We talk about flexibility, and how you need to adjust goals and not have a 30 year plan. Where do I want to be 1-2 years from now vs 30 years from now. For L’areal, she knew she wanted to own her own business, but she didn’t know what form that would take. We talk about how important it is for leaders to bring in their people to co-create goals and make sure everyone’s goals feed into the company goals to bring the company to achieve success. We talk about sales goals and aligning sales and personal career goals. Sales goals are usually tied to revenue, but we talk about how a certain revenue target will help them to achieve personal goals- whether that is a new house, a working spouse or other personal goals. We then go bigger picture and learn about other people’s compelling “why” around their career driver. L’areal wrote a book called A Woman With Vision (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RCLH5GD/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?encoding=UTF8&btkr=1). She instructs people to divide their yearly goals into quarters, and then uses her CLARITY method to dive deeply into what each goal looks like and what it will take to get there. Focusing on quarterly goals helps L’areal’s clients prevent being overwhelmed, and allows them to break goals into achievable chunks. Having a visual representation in front of you helps you stay focused, but also having the whole team share their goals helps teams get to know each other. For example, 4 people on a team L’areal worked with wanted to buy a house, so they brought in a home buying expert to help…. Increasing transparency, especially when times are tougher, is hard as a leader, but it helps keep the team aligned and help everyone get on the same page to success. Especially if there are discrepancies between different teams at a company, helping everyone understand each other’s needs and struggles allows everyone to set goals that lead everyone to success. Gratitude is a powerful mindset tool, and when we need to shift our goals (like we all did in 2020), we look to gratitude and our core beliefs to reset or adjust our goals. Want a tool to help? Here's L'areal's free tools page (https://www.awomanwithvision.com/freebies). Want to changed a fixed mindset? Remind yourself (like L’areal does with her 4 year old), “I can figure it out!" Believing in yourself and your ability to overcome will help you move to a growth mindset and get rid of your negative beliefs. How do I shift my mindset? We think 55-75,000 thoughts a dayand 80% of them are negatively pre-dispositioned, so if we’re not actively working on positivity, we could allow those negative thoughts to take over. We have to identify our negative thoughts and then find the positive, rooted in truth and then repeat it as an affirmation. It takes practice, but eventually you can do it in real time. L’areal loves the image of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, shedding old skins to grow into our new selves. She also talks about Vision, Goals, and Rewards. A goal is not a handbag -- a goal is something that moves you forward and a reward is something you can get when a goal is met. Rewarding yourself is important to avoid burnout and grind. Another important thing about setting goals that align with your vision is to identify and make a plan for any potential roadblocks. Roadblocks often derail us from our goals, but if we have a plan for us, we can overcome them with ease. L'areal's web site: A Woman with Vision (https://www.awomanwithvision.com/freebies) L'areal Lipkin on Instagram: @awomanwithvision (https://www.instagram.com/awomanwithvision/) L'areal Lipkin's book: A Woman With Vision (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RCLH5GD/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?encoding=UTF8&btkr=1)

Welcome Jason Levin, founder and CEO of Ready, Set, Launch. We’re talking with Jason about launching a job search in a virtual world. Jason grew up with a happy family whose lives changed dramatically when his father lost the only job he had ever had in New York's garment district. Suddenly Jason and his brothers were the kids getting free lunch in school, and the family was struggling. Jason was always the person who would help with mock interviews and resume review in school; later his MBA program asked him to be a coach, and that became the foundation of his career. Job searching has always been a mindset game, but with Covid, it’s about maintaining the mindset to get through the day -- and to deal with the job uncertainty as well as career and financial uncertainty. Jason tells people to follow their energy; for him, he needs to laugh, for someone else, it might be sports. He wants people to approach change from a place of strength vs a place of fear. His advice is to work through roadblocks to focus on the good behaviors you do have. We discuss avoiding things that suck your energy in order to build your energy towards the positive. He distinguishes between people who help you and people who mean well... Identifying the people who help vs the ones who project onto you without help allows you to know who to reach out to, and who will build you up. Jason reminds his clients that “Waiting is the Hardest Part." You can do things while you wait, but waiting is part of the process. It’s easy to tell yourself stories while you wait -- to imagine what is going on or why the process is taking a long time; but instead, keep trucking and don’t try to figure out why things are dragging. Your goal is the next job, and spending time wondering doesn’t help you towards your goal. Ready, Set, Launch is Jason’s career coaching business. He uses the principles of consumer marketing for outplacement, resume writing and speaking. He helps people go from point A to point B. He sees career decisions as purchasing decisions -- a two sided marketplace. One service Jason offers is Outplacement, which is a benefit given to people when they are laid off to help them transition to their next role. If you get this benefit, USE IT! It’s paid for by your current employer to help you find your next position, and it is free career coaching. We asked Jason what he is telling people about job search after a layoff during this pandemic. His first piece of advice was to write out what gives you energy, strength, and joy, and then to practice articulating those strengths. He looks at industry, employer, and role around where you want to go, and having the pitch that addresses all three. Once you define what you want to do, then get your pitches in order. Number 1 rule: no complaining. Number 2: know how much time you have to spend looking and hold yourself to it. Number 3: Lists are your friend; they help you stick to your plan. Jason tells people to put together a list of people who have been most influential in your career and reach out to ask advice, which may just lead to jobs (vs asking for jobs, which may lead to advice). Networking will get your resume seen faster and by the right people, more than "posting and praying." Jason says to spend the majority of your time networking, and then when you see a posting, think of who you can network with to get close to the job. If you have 60-70% of the job spec, you need to apply by seeing if you know someone at the company. Employee referral programs are awesome, so are Diversity/Equity/Inclusion officers. Employees want to refer you and get the bonus, and DEI want to hire you because it helps their numbers. These folks are your ins! “Your life is not in danger because of this interview." This is what Jason tells people who need to psych themselves up for interviews. Be yourself and find people you like and who like you. Do your homework so you feel good about you and you feel prepared. Be ready to answer what’s driving you to want to work in this job at this company. You have to want the job; there are plenty of people who do. We asked Jason about Covid’s impact on job searches. Industries like hospitality have been hard hit, and also the hiring process across many industries seems to take longer. People with more experience adding value when they can articulate their value, but new grads with less experience sometimes struggle when entering this kind of job market. Jason's site: readysetlaunch.net (readysetlaunch.net) Jason's email (mailto:[email protected])

Dr. David Campt is a national expert on inclusion and intergroup dialogue. David has worked with groups from large corporations to the White House, and has appeared on The Daily Show. He speaks about about how we talk with each other, and how to help people come together. In 4th grade, David had a teacher tell him that “People are more alike than they are different,” and in his critical work, David shows audiences how to use dialogue in order to connect and come together. David tells us about how the world has changed over the last 20 years. When he was in the White House in 1998, black people took on the unpaid job of trying to talk to white people about racism. Now black people are saying, “You do the work -- it’s not up to us.” And 55% of white people think that racism experienced by white people is just as important as the racism experienced against black people. The work isn't helping people to understand the importance of that question, it's to hel the 45% of people who do believe racism is an issue to talk with the 55% who do not -- that's the basis of David’s important work. David encourages conversation, and has been inspired by the growth of the ally movements across all areas. We talked about "race method"and "reach method": in difficult conversations, in order to be productive, you want to do two things up front. First, move from facts and beliefs to experiences; and secondly, ABC: "Agree Before Challenging," meaning establish common ground before inviting people to new thinking. RACE is David's acronym for racial conversations, and REACH is for other conversations. R - Reflect (get centered) and think of stories you want to tell. A - Ask questions (vs attacking).... ask about their experience (vs their beliefs) that inspires their point of view. C - Connect; find something you can agree with in their position and tell a story about that. E - Expand their view... by telling another story where you had a different experience R - Reflect E - Enquire (British spelling) A - Agree C - Confess H - Harmonize David wants people to invite each other to a place of new thinking vs coercing or forcing them to it. David’s methods have people first coming to agreement before they try to teach people to think differently. According to David, people on the Left are “too woke” and treat the people on the Right like they don’t know anything. In David’s book, Compassion Transforms Contempt, he talks about moving the country forward by treating each other with more compassion, which is more persuasive. Compassion is key to personal change. Moving towards something vs fighting something you hate is so much more effective. If you want to be effective, finding common ground is a good thing. These are skills to practice, but you have to want to do it. 2020 has been an eye-opening year in terms of race. We’ve opened our eyes to experiences like George Floyd’s gruesome murder, unconscious bias, and mircoaggressions (or as David says, Inadvertent Dignity Violations), and now it’s up to each of us to do better. David’s tips can be helpful in this. Moving on to our work lives -- the key to building and maintaining diverse teams? We have to support people in a reasonable way so that they can be themselves. We asked about David’s approach to handling unconscious bias and microaggression situations with peers and leaders at work, and how to handle them as a bystander. David’s #1 strategy is to say to either person, not that one person is wrong or even that you're offended. Instead, David recommends: “When [the thing you're bringing up] was said, I felt weird.” This phrase doesn’t make presumptions about how someone should feel, or show malicious intent, but instead invites people to talk. This can work with both peers and leaders, and can be followed with, “I don’t believe you intended that” or “I’m not sure how the other person felt.” How are companies improving diversity hiring? David talked about removing diversity markers from resumes to promote equality. He also talked about the importance of employee resource groups. To make these effective, top level management must say they are important, and must train people to be mentors and allies outside of their own group. Lastly, David believes in high quality unconscious bias training that shows that everyone is subject to biased thinking. We feel more comfortable when we understand that everyone has bias. Employee surveys are are an important too, and are important, but looking at the top level numbers can be misleading; instead, breaking down the data by group can allow up to come to a deeper understanding to create a workplace that works for everyone. For executives to get DE&I sensitive, they may need private coaching, because they can’t be completely honest about their own biases, struggles and concerns in front of employees. Executives also need to support diverse hires in building up their skills in order to help those colleagues feel welcome, Telling people the potential you see in them, and supporting them, can help them reach that potential from a place of empathy. If a manager hires a person to diversify the team, but there is a skills gap that can be learned, it is up to the manager to empower the person to fill that skills gap in order to help them succeed. What about creating roles for diverse candidates with relevant experience? David’s a believer in that strategy, because diverse teams make companies and products better. As long as it’s a quality role for a relevant candidate, be creative to add diversity. As we closed out the podcast, we asked the hard question about healing our nation. David encourages people to find ways to come together, and reach out to people who voted differently and find that common ground. Own up to the transgressions we made to the other side, and admit your part in the polarization. He asks us to reach out to friends with different opinions and ask questions and not put yourself in a position to argue. Learn and understand if you can handle it, and call out different viewpoints. You can start with figuring out something we all want, or where we all want to go, and figure out how we can come together to recognize that shared value of completing this project together. “If a plane is going to fly, it needs a left wing and a right wing.” David Campt's website: davidcampt.com (https://www.davidcampt.com) David on Twitter: @thedialogueguy (https://twitter.com/thedialogueguy) White Ally Toolkit: whiteallytoolkit.com (https://www.whiteallytoolkit.com)

This week we welcome Joep Piscaer, who has grown his career by moving up the ranks in a technical organization, from sys admin to CTO, and now is an independent consultant focused on creating content in the devops space. Throughout his career, Joep has struggled with Imposter Syndrome, and despite numerous indications to the contrary, he has had to work on how to control his impulses to hold himself back. We invited him on for this very open conversation to help listeners understand that imposter syndrome can happen to any and all of us. Joep’s definition of Imposter Syndrome is “the feeling that you’re not as good as the people around you”. He realized that he compares his life with other people’s Instagram lives, and has learned how to use his imposter syndrome to drive success. Imposter Syndrome rears its head when you’re asked to be an authority. Joep knows that when he’s doing something new, he’s going to feel that Imposter voice. When he hears that Imposter message in his head, Joep now leans in to do the thing. So if he’s worried about going to a conference, he goes. And then he writes down all the compliments he gets and reads them to fight off the negativity. His hope is that by reading positivity, it will combat the negativity. Joep teaches about giving compliment; they’re not all created equal! Make compliments specific, timely, and show that you’re paying attention to the person you’re complimenting. We compare Joep’s compliments to the Nurtured Heart parenting approach, both to show people when they are seen., but also, if you don’t mean it, don’t say it. False compliments are the worst! Learning to give compliments helps with receiving them, but sometimes it’s not easy. Joep still struggles. He writes them down to take the emotion out and make it into words, which are easier to absorb. No matter what’s happening in your head when you get a compliment, the best response is always, “thank you”. We all have an internal measuring stick, and people with Imposter Syndrome have unrealistic measuring sticks. Joep talks about shifting it a tiny bit every day, and how that will help you retrain your brain and your measuring stick. Our bodies react to imposter syndrome as well, and Joep recommends physical activity and getting away from the technology or social sites that make you feel like an imposter. Joep fought imposter syndrome with drones; he started flying his drones and learned to get better at it over time. He’s now learning to cook and he’s exploring getting better at things as hobbies, where the stakes are not as big as in his career. When he saw himself pushing himself to be the best at his hobbies, he challenged himself to pull back and just enjoy the learning and process of doing the activity. And in his hobbies, practicing at failing in is one of the keys! When you feel like an imposter, being vulnerable with yourself and others is even more difficult. Joep says that vulnerability is about knowing what you need and when you need it. Joep now works with a coach. and we talk with him aboout learning to practicie vulnerability without destroying trust. Joep also relied on his Board of Advisors to help him explore vulnerability without feeling too vulnerable. Joep Piscaer on Twitter: @jpiscaer (https://twitter.com/jpiscaer) Joep’s NextBuild talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl21zya4i0g

This week we welcome Adam Bertram, aka Adam the Automator. Adam wrote a post called “I told my boss I quit and……” which went viral, so we invited Adam to join us. Our goal for having Adam on RJT is to learn from his personal journey of career discovery. Adam’s a tech pressional/sys admin, blogger, and content creator. We asked Adam to share his journey before he quit. At the beginning of Adam’s career, he hopped jobs for money. He started a side hustle selling used books on Amazon. With the freedom of making extra money, he realized that he could take his side hustle contracts and make them his full time job. Adam started taking contracts writing blog posts, which he loved, and doing projects, which he loved, which led him to realize that he could build a satisfying career around writing and project contracts. We talk through multiple income streams and balancing different roles, family and more. Adam gives his wife a lot of credit for helping him to focus on work by managing their home and family. He is conscious at his different roles: contract/consulting for automation/devops, content creation and community building, and personal brand enhancement. When he looks at them, Adam makes sure he’s consistent and knows what the vision he's heading for in the end. Adam brings his talents into everything he learns. For example, he’s started learning about stock trading and he already started a blog go share his process and help others benefit. Building content helps Adam build his brand as a content developer. Adam has multiple resumes: writing/content creation, consulting and systems administration. He focuses on different roles for each resume so that he can find a variety of work and have more open options. When we know our patterns, we can make choices that work for us. When Adam gets bored, he finds something new and gets obsessed and tries to learn everything about it. Knowing his own patterns allows Adam to know when he needs to pick up something new, and also that he’s going to need lots of time to dive in deeply. Exploring being your own boss with Adam, we learned about his entrepreneurial spirit. Adam looked at his happiness when he had great jobs and still wasn’t happy, and realized he needed to make a big change to working for himself. Knowing this, he realized he needs the freedom of consulting and building his own schedule. Knowing himself and that he’s “unemployable” has helped him tailor his career and consultancy. The move to consultancy happened by dabbling in consulting while working full time. His past as a job hopper helped Adam know that he CAN find a job when he needs to. Having an exit plan helped Adam to navigate the unknown. The boundaries and parameters around the exit plan help to assess. Not everyone has freedom to decide on work without money being the driver, but Adam has worked hard to build his FU account in order to make the best personal choices for his career without the pressue of needing the next paycheck. He chooses work, clients and colleagues based on work and team fit vs paychecks. His happiness is tied to his ability to choose the work he does. Adam advice to others who wanted to get started is to monetize a hobby. He started selling books on Ebay and Amazon, and then started a blog about how to do it, and then wrote an ebook, which became a lucrative side business that had nothing to do with his day job. We discussed using community to power a career. Adam has always been a documenter. He blogged about what he did, and used it to help him manage projects. He ranked on a post in Google and heard that he was helping others, which really motivated him to be a part of the community and make connections. The connections grew at conferences, on Twitter, on Linkedin, and then as he grew as a MSFT MVP and learned from others. He saw his impact grow and learned so much from others that it motivated him to continue to share and learn from his communities. When starting a blog, it’s all about creating content and not overthinking. Over time you can look at things like SEO, but it’s about writing and sharing and engaging other writers to build an audience. Adam also advises writing on all types of different sites to make sure you spread yourself out to get a bigger audience to link to your blog. Adam on Twitter: @abertram (https://twitter.com/adbertram) Adam's blog: adamtheautomator.com (https://adamtheautomator.com)

We have a letter!!! Our writer (Ready to Be Independent) asks about being a consultant: what does it take, what do they need to do, and what is the pros and cons list? We break it down. Some of the things to consider as you're looking at making a leap like this: to consider are: inconsistent revenue as a consultant vs a regular paycheck and salary. What’s your brand and what do you uniquely offer? Are you ok with instability? If you’re a consultant, you’re a small business person and you have to assess your risk tolerance. Are you ready to take on the expenses of running your business? We talk about doing soul searching around risk tolerance and not knowing where the money is coming from. You have to believe in yourself. It’s time for your Board of Advisors to fish around to see what they would hire you for. What’s your pitch? Put together a business plan: sometimes people do side gigs to build cash and a customer base. The costs are there, and you want to be in a place of financial stability so that it’s not financially uncomfortable. Be clear on your mission, vision and values to make sure you can decide who you are so that can communicate that to your customers. Think about marketing and if you’re going to be comfortable with your marketing plan. Are you ready to go into a pitch meeting? If you can’t sell yourself, don’t go into consulting. Rely on your experts. Know what you’re good at and who you will need to hire (attorney, accountant, etc.). Are you organized, consistent and reliable? If it’s not you, you need to have others do it for you, Figure out how to make it work or decide if being independent isn’t for you. Something to think about: as a consultant, you’re an outsider and not actually on the team. Sometimes you’re left out of conversations. Consulting gets lonely. Not everyone’s made for that and it can be stressful. Also, vacations as a consultant usually mean a dip in revenue, and client work still needs to get done. So as a consultant, you don’t have a boss, but you also don’t have co-workers to cover for you, or even to have coffee with and talk about what you're working on. Career growth is possible as a consultant. It’s about relationships you make and the value you deliver. How strategic are you and what value do you bring? You can grow in many areas based off your core competencies. If you’re not want to be where you want to be professionally, it may not work. Kat’s favorite part of being a consultant is working from everywhere, and being able to see if a role will be a right fit for her and her client. Liz likes that she’s had an impact on a number of companies according to her values. Thanks for the question, Ready to be Independent. So listeners, are you ready to make the leap and be a consultant? As always, feel free to reach out to ask your questions or talk through your current situation.

The US election is heating up, and Liz and Kat want to help you navigate politics, voting, and all related topics at work. First of all, know your company’s rules around voting and if you have time off to vote. Make a plan to vote! And do it within your employer’s rules. Know that social media is public, and if you are choosing to be political on social media, our advice is to be as minimalist as your integrity allows and you feel that the situation calls far. Being aware of what you’re putting out there and that your words can get back to your co-workers. If your opinions will make someone uncomfortable around you, it can affect your career. Our goal for discourse at work on all topics is to allow people to be who they are, to not shame anyone, and to feel comfortable participating as you choose to in company events, like company representation at parades and protests. And at the same time not to shame someone for not participating in social activism. If politics come up at work, you should come from a place of inquiry, understanding and conversation -- rather than a place of defensiveness. Try something like this: “I haven’t heard great things about that candidate; can you tell me why you like them?”. As far as your workspace environment, try to keep it neutral at work. And try not to check the news at work, especially if it's something that's likely to rile you up or make you anxious or distracted or otherwise nutty. To create a postitive impact, rather than just adding ot the flames of political fighting, try to focus on how alike we are, and what we have in common -- vs zooming in our differences. People who pick fights unnecessarily yat work can be assholes. Our asshole episode- see RJT Episode 6 for more tips on how to work with assholes (https://realjobtalk.com/6), but don’t be one! Our basic rules around politics at work: * Ask open questions about political and policy topics * Stay away from the biggies like abortion and same sex marriage if that topic is going to make someone uncomfortable * Walk away or change the topic if you feel uncomfortable. * Don't poke the bear. Or ask someone "why do you support xYZ?" * Be honest, but answer with tact and facts. Try "Education is my hot button belief, and I believe that candidate XYZ will do more to support modernizing education than the other candidates, so they have my vote." instead of "Only idiots will vote for candidate ABC, " * Don't try to win a debate... you're most likely not going to change someone's mind in either Slack or the break room at work. If you're in the US, make sure you have a plan to vote!

Both Kat and Liz are BIG fans of Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead. This book is about leadership; we adhere to the belief that we’re all leaders of our own lives and careers, and so we think that this book applies to everyone. Having the ability to "rumble," whether it’s in your personal or work life, will help you authentically connect with people around you to solve hard problems and come together with shared goals. Brene Brown defines rumble like this (https://brenebrown.com/blog/2019/05/01/lets-rumble/): A rumble is a discussion, conversation, or meeting defined by a commitment to lean into vulnerability, to stay curious and generous, to stick with the messy middle of problem identification and solving, to take a break and circle back when necessary, to be fearless in owning our parts, and, as psychologist Harriet Lerner teaches, to listen with the same passion with which we want to be heard. Having an uncomfortable conversation? It takes courage, but to set the stage and then lean into the uncomfortable topic, establishing trust and safety -- that's what builds a stronger team. Setting the stage as kind and respectful helps to alleviate some anxiety, and knowing that everyone’s trying to do the best for the company helps with that. Brene’s rumbling context makes it so much easier. When you’re a leader and you see an issue and you don’t address it because it’s uncomfortable, it just grows. You must address uncomfortable situations. If things get heated, it’s ok to schedule time the next day, step away, think it over, and come back together again tomorrow. Stopping before you do damage is important. Take breaths to calm yourself when you get stressed. Taking a minute before a big meeting for a technique like box breathing will help you stay centered and calm. (Box breathing = inhale for 4 seconds; hold for four, exhale for four, hold for four.) You can use a technique like this to transition between moments and contexts that may be stressful, especially when working at home and potentially multi-tasking. Your family commitments are important. When planning a rumble, it’s important to talk about what you need to talk about. Otherwise the person’s imagination can get carried away, and they can get unnecessarily worked up for no reason. If Liz tells Kat that they need to rumble about RJT marketing, it’s a lot different than saying “we need to rumble about something.” If you’re only listening to the voice in your head, you’re not open, and it’s important to be neutral and quieting the voices in your head, while being open to being wrong. Be both open and solutions-focused. Rumbling isn’t just for careers; it can be personal too. Approaching personal issues as open-minded and solutions-oriented will help build trust and help strengthen any relationship. Brene talks about values and how we bring values into everything we do, and challenges us to pick two core values out of her list of 50. After a lot of thought, Kat picked service to others and integrity and Liz picked authenticity and reliability. Brene also challenges her readers to pick times that they were aligned with and also against their core values. We talk about how being more aligned with values is easier as we get older. Understanding someone’s values helps you understand and appreciate their perspective; diverse values and perspectives at the table help move businesses forward. Understanding those viewpoints make you better. When you show others who you are, it helps you to grow. Trust is earned in all relationships, including atwork. Doing what we say we’re going to do establishes trust. Asking for help is critical to success in Brene Brown’s world; it shows people you’re working on it and you’re focused on doing what’s needed to get things done. Gossip is toxic. If someone gossips about someone else, they’ll gossip about you, and then trust is lost. Failurd happens, and it’s uncomfortable. But through the creative process, failure happens in order create and grow. Growth mindset celebrates failure, and if you communicate about trying something new, and you fall, own it and iterate. Check out any of Brené Brown's books, but if you're interested in how her work applies to your work, we especially recommend Dare to Lead (https://daretolead.brenebrown.com).

On this episode, we welcome to Corliss Jackson, the founder and CEO of Federal Job Results and author of Cracking the Federal Job Code. Corliss is a speaker and panelist, and her company mission it to help people find jobs with the US federal government. Corliss started as a consultant after college; she decided that she wanted to work for the government but didn’t know how. She figured it out, and she learned a lot about what to do -- and what not to do in the process. She also realized that many other people would need help in figuring out the federal government application process. And so she started her firm, which focuses on helping people transfer into the federal sector. Federal jobs are working for the US Department of Something-or-other. 85% of the jobs are outside of Washington DC, and there are regional and state agencies for each department. The most sought after skills are the same as you find in the corporate sector. There are positions in finance, healthcare, IT, project management, librarians…..It’s a great place to look for security, camaraderie, and if you want to be a part of a team. One place to look is usajobs.com; there are 13,000 positions open across the US on a given day. Federal Government has to spend a certain amount on hiring, and now has extra money from Covid needs (healthcare, finance, HR….). The Small Business Admin has hired 6000 people nationwide over the last pandemic to help distribute Covid money. What’s it like to land a Federal job? It’s VERY different from corporate. Corliss helps people understand the process and move their resume from a corporate sector resume (1-2 pages) to a Federal sector resume (5+ pages). She helps people understand what they need to show on their application package to be successful in the process. 90-95% of people who apply to Federal jobs get turned down because they don’t get through the process. Sometimes people don’t know which jobs to apply for, so Corliss helps them to target the right choices and then tailor their resume for the right job. HR people in the Federal sector want to see how you respond to the Self Assessment questionnaire. You have to fill that out by bragging on yourself. Once you get through that filter, HR will scan your resume for the right keywords. It takes 4-8 weeks to get through the resume review process. You then get put into three categories -- no, middle, or yes. Sometimes your resume can get shared within an agency, but often you will need to apply to multiple roles. Sharing only happens within an agency and when you’re the best qualified. We asked if it hurts you to not have Federal experience, and Corliss said that it’s good to bring your transferrable skills to the Federal government. Most roles and skillsets are not only Federal. Once you have assembled a good Federal job seeker package, apply to as many Federal jobs as you can, so you get as many interviews as you can. Have a great package, know what you want to target, and then apply across the board. Who should call Corliss? Someone who is open to coaching will do well. Corliss takes information and helps clients build a Federal resume retrofitting experience into what the agencies need to see. They coach people on what to do, and when and why to do it in order to successfully navigate the HR process. Federal interviews are different, and Corliss helps you to navigate the interview process, answer questions well, and then negotiate salary and vacation time. You have to negotiate in a certain way, and many people leave 10-20k on the table because they don’t ask. Hot skills in the Federal government: IT, security, contractor. Government loves certifications -- even more than degrees. It can take 2-18 months to land a Federal job. Interviewing takes a lot of time, but after you pass that, you go through an extensive background check to make sure you aren’t a threat to the federal government. They give you a tentative offer while they do the background check, and this takes at least 2 months. If you need a clearance, it takes a lot longer. Most of Corliss’ clients land in 4-6 months because she helps them to avoid landmines. Corliss advises you not to leave you current job until you have a start date, and even then you need to be careful. You’re not a Federal employee until you take your oath of office. During an administration shift, all jobs freeze at the beginning of a new President’s term, but there is always hiring going on for when the freeze is over. It’s stable once you get in. Referrals are good in the Federal land, but you need to be on the Most Qualified list. Read Corliss’s book, Cracking the Federal Job Code, and find her online at FederalJobResults.com (http://www.federaljobresults.com/).

Vacation is important for relaxation and connection, even in times of COVID. Our goal is to encourage you to take vacation, especially during this strange and difficult period. It takes trust and confidence to take time away from your desk, but we want you to unplug and take vacation, even if it means you aren’t leaving your house. Plan vacation around times when your job/group aren’t busy so you don’t end up having to log on. For example, if you’re in sales, plan it for the 1st week of the quarter, not the last. If you have a vacation planned before you start a new job, let them know in the offer process. Don’t plan a new vacation in the first 3-6 months in your job. When you’re new, ask your boss or colleague when a good time is to take vacation. Plan what you’re going to do and block your calendar. ESPECIALLY for a staycation. Don’t check email and act as if you’re in a place without internet access. Don’t try to vacation around meetings. Setting boundaries around vacation time is important, but managing calendars are critical. Clear your calendar, declining or rescheduling meetings for when you are gone. Managers- TAKE YOUR VACATION. Your employees are watching, and if they don’t see you take vacation, they’ll think they can’t. Lead by example. Hand off your stuff while you’re out. Ask someone you trust to cover for you. The more thorough you are, the less likelihood you will get called while they’re out. When you run a business, it’s very hard to fully unplug. You can do some things like having a good out of office saying when you’re out and when you’ll check email and respond to urgent emails. Liz checks emails twice a day to block, tackle and delegate, but does not do any projects while on vacation. Checking emails allows her to relax and know that her business is in good shape. Turn off Slack and all communication tools in vacation mode. Our rule: phones are only for camera use and communication with people who you are with. Set expectations for anyone you think may need you. Coming back: keep your vacation mojo by cleaning up your inbox before your first day back or blocking the 1st half day, prioritizing important projects and making your to-do list. Read emails top down to know what’s been handled. Remember that most of the emails will have been handled by the person covering for you, so look at them as an FYI. Have a meeting first thing to talk with the person covering for you to get questions answered about what you missed. When you’re covering for someone, at the end of their vacation time, send a “Here’s What you Missed” email to catch them up quickly. Vacations are important to fill your tank, take care of yourself, set example for others around you, and connect with your loved ones. You’re taking time off for you, and no matter where you go, use the time to rejuvinate and reenergize, even if it’s in la backyard.