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On this episode of #AllShineNoFlash we talk with Mac Prichard, owner of Prichard Communication and Mac's List. Mac's List, which started off as a way for Mac to find careers for his colleagues, became a leading job board in Portland and the Pacific Northwest. Meanwhile, Prichard Communications is one of the city's most respected PR firms, and after more than 15 years in business, Mac will officially close the agency's doors at the end of 2022. Listen as we sit down with Mac and discuss how he got his start in communications, why election campaign work is similar to entrepreneurship and how it's going to feel to focus on running just one business moving forward.
We have a special treat for you! Bobbie put together some top tips from some leading experts on career, job seeking & college advice. In this jammed-pack episode, learn from some of our previous guests: √ Dr. Dawn Graham: Former host of the Sirius XM Dr. Dawn on Careers and author of “Switchers: How Smart Professionals Change Careers and Seize Success. Learn from Dr. Dawn some networking strategies, important career action steps to take while in college and interviewing tips. Visit Dr. Dawn's website and buy her book here: Dr. Dawn on Careers √ Austin Belcak: Founder of Cultivated Culture and the host of The Dream Job System Podcast . Learn from Austin some amazing techniques for landing a job without applying online with the “value validation project”. √ Mac Prichard: President of Prichard Communications, Founder and Publisher of Mac's List and host of the Find Your Dream Job podcast. Learn from Mac his tips and advice on the “hidden job market” and informational interviewing √ Rich Feller, PhD: NCDA Past President, Prof & Univ Distinguished Teach Scholar, Keynoter & Author, Entrepreneur, Consultant in all 50 States and six continents. Visit Rich Feller's Website. Learn from Rich the importance of experiential learning and the importance of adopting an “HEROIC G” mindset. √ Justin Nguyen: Host of the Declassified College: Unlock the Cheat Codes podcast. Justin attracts a lot of Gen Z listeners. He helps students navigate into their careers. He is also a creator and international speaker. Learn from Justin his best tips on how college students can land amazing internships. √ Christine Cruzvergara: Chief Education Strategy Officer at Handshake. Learn from Christine how Handshake can help college students to land jobs. Also learn about the future of Handshake and how it will play a role in helping students to identify in demand skills, and where they can acquire those skills…perhaps this will be through micro credentials and creating partnerships between education and industry. √ George McGehrin: Executive Headhunter and Branding Expert: Learn from George three tips for landing a job. √ Michelle R. Weise, PhD: Author of Long Life Learning, on the Thinkers50 Radar List for 2021 and a future of education and workforce strategist. Learn from Michelle s about the future of work. Michelle is a leading expert in this area. Visit Michelle's website and buy her book here: Rise and Design √ Madeline Mann: Career Strategist featured in Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Creator of Self Made Millennial and a Career Coach. Learn from Madeline the importance of a cover letter. Madeline teaches us how to write a job winning cover letter in a 3 step EASY process.√ Robin Mamlet: Senior Partner and Managing Director, WittKieffer and former Dean of Admissions at Stanford University. Learn from Robin what colleges are looking for in the admissions process.
Talent experts tell us what it takes to ace the interview. Inside: resume hacks, behavioral and case interviews, and words not to use in an interview. Meet Eklavya Sinha, a Talent Strategist at Accenture who has custodianship of more than 70,000 professionals, and Mac Prichard, Career Expert and President, Prichard Communications. Mac also hosts a popular podcast, “Find Your Dream Job”. This is Season 5 of Habits Matter. We're going behind the scenes of common work problems and asking questions like: how do you present effectively? Get that job? Or decode feedback? This episode was hosted remotely by Harappa Founder & CEO, Shreyasi Singh. Follow Habits Matter on Instagram.
Mac Prichard is a communications strategist, career expert, and business owner based in Portland, Oregon. His career and businesses are built on his commitment to service, relationships, and community-building. His two businesses are: Prichard Communications, founded in 2007, is a public relations agency that works with social change makers across the country; and, Mac’s List, founded in 2001, has evolved into a one-of-a-kind regional job board and career community.In this episode, Mac discusses:· If a friend of his lost his job, the 3 things he would coach that friend to do are:o Take time for yourself and mourn the losso Invest the time to be clear on what you want to do nexto Determine where you want to go and start to build relationships inside of those companies to help you· On your resume, you need to talk about your accomplishments, don’t just list job responsibilities; companies are looking for problems solvers and result achievement· Invest time in understanding how to network effectively, remember, each contact is like a business meeting and you need to be clear on the steps you need to take for this meeting to go well· Computer boards like Mac List are important, but you need to make sure you are not just using them, referrals and networking are critical as wellThis episode was informational, fun and helpful for anyone looking for a new job now or in the future. For more information on Mac, see these links:Mac's ListMacslist.org Find Your Dream Job podcastmacslist.org/podcasts
The Live for Yourself Revolution Podcast: Living toward greater health, wealth, and happiness
In this episode we interview Mac Prichard, author, podcaster. founder and publisher of Mac's List, a job board and career hub, and President of Prichard Communications. We discuss finding your dream job, how to get promoted into a position when you might not have the experience, and the importance of clarity and goal setting.Find out more and connect at:Book: Land Your Dream Job AnywherePodcast Find Your Dream JobMac's List: https://www.macslist.org/Linkedin: /in/macprichard/
This episode is a rebroadcast from a podcast interview Carol did in 2017 with Mac Prichard, the Founder and Publisher of Mac’s List, where he writes regularly about job hunting, leads classes on job search skills, and hosts the "Find Your Dream Job" podcast. Mac also owns and operates Prichard Communications, a public relations agency that serves non-profits, public agencies, and foundations across the United States. In this episode, Carol discusses the various challenges that relaunchers face when returning to the workplace and strategies to address these challenges. Her interview is followed by a discussion with the Mac’s List team, where they share their thoughts about her conversation with Mac. Get more information about the "Find Your Dream Job" podcast on the macslist.org website, and listen to it on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud, and anywhere else you listen to podcasts!
Meg was a guest on Mac Prichard's Podcast Find Your Dream Job and in today's Monday Mashup we talk about what that experience was like for Meg. She shared some great tips on how to achieve career clarity and what you can do to narrow down your career choices to one that is right for you. Check it out and send her some love!Bobbie's son Christian graduated from Tufts University on May 17th and she talks about their stab at celebrating his graduation amidst Covid...some successes and some failures. Wishing you all the best on this Memorial Day weekend where we honor those who died serving and protecting this Country. We hope you can share time with family and friends (albeit 6 feet apart, with face-masks, in small groups and outside).Join Our Podcast Email List! Follow Our Podcast:Website: Listen To Our Podcast HereYouTube Channel Twitter LinkedIn Facebook InstagramAll Things College and CareerMeg's LinkedIn Bobbie's LinkedInACADEMIC & CAREER ADVISING SERVICES:Visit Website: Academic and Career Advising ServicesSchedule an Appointment with Academic & Career Advising ServicesListen to Meg's Podcast with Mac Prichard on Mac's List: Meg's PodcastListen to Meg's Podcast with Mac Prichard on Apple: "Find Your Dream Job" Mac's List: Mac's List: A Career Hub for the Pacific Northwest
We are excited to introduce you to an amazing guy, Mac Prichard. Mac is the creator of Mac's List, a premier job board and career resource site, author of Land Your Dream Job Anywhere, host of a very successful career podcast Find Your Dream Job, and founder and President of Prichard Communications a communications firm which "helps social changemakers and leading philanthropic organizations do what they do best—identify problems, find solutions and make change happen."He shared with us a ton of great tips that will help anyone looking for a job or considering changing careers. Even if you are not looking for employment, Mac's advice is good to hear no matter where you are along your career path.If you live in the Pacific Northwest, or know anyone that does, this podcast has even more benefits for you!In this episode we discuss:The Hiring ProcessThe Hidden Job MarketNetworkingInformational InterviewsImportance of having clear career goals and making specific requestsHow Mac got into the Harvard Kennedy SchoolMac's List (a premier job board in the Pacific Northwest)Prichard Communications | Public Relations Firm | Portland, OregonWe hope you enjoy this conversation with Mac as much as we did! Join Our Podcast Email List! Follow Our Podcast:Website: Listen To Our Podcast HereYouTube Channel Twitter LinkedIn Facebook InstagramAll Things College and CareerMeg's LinkedIn Bobbie's LinkedIn ACADEMIC & CAREER ADVISING SERVICES:Visit Website: Academic and Career Advising ServicesSchedule an Appointment with Academic & Career Advising ServicesMusic Production by Lena Keller: lena.m.keller@gmail.comTechnical Production: Richard BarnettSHOW NOTES:Find Your Dream Job PodcastLand Your Dream Job AnywhereFollow Mac on LinkedInWork from the Inside Out Podcast with Tammy Gooler LoebIn Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin
Sharing ideas, experiences and stories. Mac Prichard the President of Prichard Communications and Founder of Mac's List joined the podcast to talk about local government communications and job searching. He talked about how communications plans need to be strategic and align with the goals of the organization. Mac also discussed his "Find Your Dream Job" podcast and the skills of job searching. Host: Kirsten Wyatt
PR Talk host Amy Rosenberg sits down with founder and president of the social change communications firm to talk about his companies, running a PR firm and advice for getting into the industry. Read the entire recap at www.veracityagency.com/podcast/mac-prichard/
Today’s episode is a little different than usual, and I loved it. I know that I have a lot of listeners who are not entrepreneurs. You’re in the corporate world, or you’re a student, or you’re an employee, or you’re in a job that you just cannot stand and you’re looking to change jobs or find a job where you can serve on a team that utilizes your gifts. You’re looking for a job with purpose and meaning and you just don’t know where to start. Well, we’ve got you covered today! My guest this week is Mac Prichard, founder and president of Prichard Communications and Mac’s List. Mac is the proud owner of two registered B Corporations and he is so passionate about helping others find their dream job that allows them to make a sustainable living while doing good in the world. Today’s episode has something for literally everyone in it and I know you’re going to love it! B CORPS BROKEN DOWN Benefit Corporations, or B Corps, are huge in the ethical world, but many people don’t know the significance of this type of business. With over 2,500 B Corps across the world, these businesses aren’t just trying to make a profit, they are used to better the community and the environment. Mac breaks down what it takes to become a B Corp and how these businesses manage the triple bottom line. THE HIDDEN JOB MARKET So many people who are unemployed or feel stuck in a job are looking to pursue something that has meaning and purpose. Yet, it can be very difficult to find a job to fulfill these needs just by looking through job boards. Most great positions are never advertised and are found only in the hidden job market through word of mouth. Mac and I discuss why some people struggle to find jobs in the hidden job market and how you can learn to find them. BUILDING CONNECTIONS Creating relationships is key in all aspects of life, but so many dread the thought of networking. However, people’s idea of being successful at networking events is often very different than how to actually be successful at networking events. Mac and I chat about playing up your strengths to make networking more bearable and the importance of authentic conversation, listening, and asking questions when building connections. About Mac Prichard, founder and president of Prichard Communications and Mac’s List: Mac Prichard is the founder and publisher of Mac’s List, an online community for people looking for rewarding, creative, and meaningful work. More than 80,000 people a month visit the site, which includes a job board, a blog, and coursed about the nuts and bolts of job hunting and career management. A leading career expert, Mac helps people who are looking for a job during all of life’s transitions: millennials getting a first job, midlife professionals switching sectors, parents getting back to work after raising a family, or baby boomers who want to change careers. Mac is proud to own two registered B-Corp companies, which use the power of markets to solve social and environmental problems. He is the author of Land Your Dream Job Anywhere and hosts the weekly podcast, Find Your Dream Job. CONNECT WITH MAC Mac’s List Website Prichard Communications Website Instagram: @macs_list Twitter: @mac_prichard | @macs_list Facebook: Mac Prichard | Mac’s List LinkedIn: Mac’s List Special thanks to CAUSEBOX for sponsoring this week’s Business with Purpose podcast. Use coupon code MOLLY for $15 off! Join my Purchase with Purpose Facebook group and let’s continue the conversation! https://www.facebook.com/groups/purchasewithpurpose/ Subscribe to the Business with Purpose podcast (and I’d love it if you left a review** on iTunes!) Subscribe on iTunes** Subscribe on Google Play Subscribe on Radio Public Subscribe via Podcast RSS Feed **Want to know how to leave a review of the Business with Purpose Podcast on iTunes from your iPhone or iPad? Launch Apple’s Podcast app. Tap the Search tab. Enter “Business with Purpose“ Tap the blue Search key at the bottom right. Tap the Blue album art for the podcast. Tap the Reviews tab. Tap Write a Review at the bottom. Enter your iTunes password to login. Tap the Stars to leave a rating. Enter title text and content to leave a review. Tap Send.
Ask Win is a podcast where you are a VIP. Win wants to focus and teach people more and Cerebral Palsy. You’re welcome to ask questions about anything that you want. CP questions but mainly life questions on how to deal with CP or not. Win can ask you base questions if you want. Please let us know or there will be no base questions. If you have any questions for Win please email her at askingwkelly@gmail.com. In 2018 let be open and honest on Ask Win. To learn more about Ask Win visit http://askwin.weebly.com. To buy an Ask Win top go to https://www.bonfire.com/askwin/?utm_source=intercom&utm_campaign=L2C_launch_success&utm_medium=email. Be sure to FOLLOW this program https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wins-women-of-wisdom/id1060801905. To learn how Win walk and about Ekso go to http://www.bridgingbionics.org/, or email Amanda Boxtel at amanda@bridgingbionics.org. On Ask Win today (Thursday, May 10, 2018), Best-Selling Author, Win C welcomes Mac Prichard. Mac is the founder and publisher of Mac’s List, where he writes regularly about job hunting, leads classes on job search skills, and cohosts the Find Your Dream Job podcast. Mac also owns and operates Prichard Communications, a public relations agency that serves non-profits, public agencies, and foundations across the United States. When he’s not hard at work, Mac can be found watching classic movies, snapping photos during his travels, or walking around Ladd’s Addition with his wife Kris and Weimaraner Kai. To learn more about Mac visit https://www.macslist.org. To learn more about Win Kelly Charles visit http://wincharles.weebly.com/ and https://www.redbubble.com/people/wcharles. To talk to Win please call her at (970) 618-8840. To follow Win on Twitter go to @winkellycharles. To follow Win on Instagram go to winkcharles. To follow Win on Snapchat go to Wcharles422. To follow Win on Snapchat go to Wcharles422. To see Win's art go to https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/2-win-charles.html. Interview with Mel Marton: http://traffic.libsyn.com/winwisdom/LAF3494_08172017150526412_1189015.mp3. "Books for Books," you buy Win's books so she can purchase books for school. "Getting through school is a 'win' for her fans and a 'win' for her." Win is a professional writer and in 2018 she is going to get a new MacBook to write her books and do the podcast. With every book she sells and the donations from Ask Win will go to her new MacBook. Please support her in getting her new MacBook. Win Kelly Charles’ book “She is CP” will get to the New York Times somehow and to help her either by voting or send her good vibe. Please vote at https://soopllc.com/blog/book-ideas/cp-win-charles/. Please send feedback to Win by email her at winwwow@gmail.com, or go to http://survey.libsyn.com/winwisdom and http://survey.libsyn.com/thebutterfly. To be on the show please fill out the intake at https://goo.gl/forms/aS4L6FuHyDSUhvrj2. If you would like to support Ask Win go to https://www.patreon.com/wcharles. Ask Win is sponsor by The Teeki Ambassador Program: http://mbsy.co/teeki/35149532. Superwomen Secrets Revealed: Successful Women Talk About Fitting in Fitness and Dare You to Join Them on Amazon http://amzn.to/2gImve5. :) I have a Facebook page for the book http://facebook.com/SuperwomenSecretsRevealed Instagram http://instagram.com/SuperwomenSecretsRevealed and book page on the website: http://FitArmadillo.com/books. If you want to check out what Win’s friend, Dannidoll, is doing (a.k.a. Dannielle) go to https://www.facebook.com/dannidolltheragdollclown/?notif_t=page_invite_accepted¬if_id=1492366163404241. To learn more about Danielle visit http://www.dancanshred.com. For iOS 11 update: https://www.youtube.com/embed/HNupFUYqcRY. To learn about the magic of Siri go to https://www.udemy.com/writing-a-book-using-siri/?utm_campaign=email&utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email. If you want to donate Ask Win, please send a PayPal donation to aspenrosearts@gmail.com or aspenwin@gmail.com. Please donate to the Bridging Bionics Foundation. Please send a check in the mail so 100% goes to Bridging Bionics Foundation. In the Memo section have people write: In honor of Win Charles. Thank you in advance, Win. Send to: Bridging Bionics Foundation PO Box 3767 Basalt, CO 81621 Thank you Win
Mac Prichard is the founder and publisher of Mac’s List, an online community for people looking for rewarding, creative, and meaningful work. More than 80,000 people a month visit the site, which includes a job board, a blog and courses about the nuts and bolts of job hunting and career management. Mac also hosts a weekly podcast, Find Your Dream Job, and is the author of the new book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere. In addition to Mac’s List, Mac runs Prichard Communications, a registered B-Corp creative agency that works with top-tier foundations, non-profits and purpose driven brands across the country.
Mac Prichard is the founder and publisher of Mac’s List, an online community for people looking for rewarding, creative, and meaningful work. More than 80,000 people a month visit the site, which includes a job board, a blog, and courses about the nuts and bolts of job hunting and career management. A leading career expert, Mac helps people who are looking for a job during all of life’s transitions — Millennials getting a first job, midlife professionals switching sectors, parents getting back to work after raising a family, or baby-boomers who want to change careers. Mac is proud to own two registered B-Corp companies, which use the power of the market to solve social and environmental problems. He is the author of Land Your Dream Job Anywhere and hosts the weekly podcast Find Your Dream Job, which I was on earlier this year. Listen in for actionable advice staying relevant to the job market you want to explore. Key Takeaways: [:57] Marc announces his first audience survey on what demographic listens to the podcast, what you like, and what you would like to hear about in the future. Please take the survey at CareerPivot.com/PodcastSurvey. This will redirect you to a SurveyMonkey page. Marc will keep the survey going through 2017 to hear from you. [1:34] Marc has released all the audio files to publisher ACX.com for his audiobook Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, and believes they will be ready for purchase online before the end of the year. Marc will send an email blast to CareerPivots Insights email subscribers once he knows more. [1:57] Marc explains the schedule. This episode is an interview with Mac Prichard of Mac’s List. The next will be an interview with Gary O'Neal with Austin HR, on how he would search for a job. There will be no episode on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day, but Marc’s favorite episode of 2017 will be re-released on Tuesday, January 2nd. [4:47] Marc welcomes Mac to Repurpose Your Career. [4:59] Mac runs Prichard Communications (a social change communications company doing PR for foundations, nonprofits, and purpose-driven brands) and Mac’s List (an online community including a job board and resources about job hunting and career management for people looking for work with purpose and meaning). [5:32] Prichard Communications and Mac’s List each employs about five people. They have one value in common: service. This core value — learned from his parents and his upbringing — has been central to the success of Mac’s companies and his career. [6:08] When you give without any expectation of return, you get so much back and along the way, you can make a difference in the community where you live and work and on issues you care about. [6:25] Marc and Mac discuss Adam Grant’s book, Give and Take. Mac follows many of Adam’s principles in his own career. Adam writes about givers, takers, and matchers. Givers are the ones that win. [7:01] Marc talks about why he invited Mac on the show. Mac encourages listeners over 50 to reflect back on their own careers. You’ve already done some very different things. You had to figure out how to make switches in the past. Next, know what you want to do. Take an assessment. [9:44] Once you know where you want to go, make the case for what you offer to that sector or employer. Spend time understanding what their needs are. Go on some informational interviews. Employers hire people to solve problems. Show employers what you offer to them. [10:45] You won’t make a change on your own. Most of us are going to work into our 70s. You need to start planning that in your 50s. Find the balance between what you want to do and what an employer will pay for you to do. If you want to have a successful career you have to make investments in education or professional development. [15:00] Marc asks about ageism. What can people do to combat it? It affects Boomers significantly. Millennials also worry about the stereotypes people have against them. There are laws against age discrimination, but it happens. Do you want to work for an employer who discriminates against older people? Intentionally overcome stereotypes. [17:06] Marc recalls Episode 53, the interview with Thea Kelly. Thea gave steps people can take to overcome stereotypes of Boomers. One of Marc’s clients lost an opportunity because it looked to the younger interviewers that he couldn’t keep up. Marc tells an example of an older applicant overdressing for the interview. Learn the culture. [18:58] Start with your online presence. Hiring managers will Google your name. Put a current photo and updated skills and professional accomplishments in your LinkedIn profile. Show that you embrace new developments in your field and new technologies. [20:56] Google yourself. If there’s nothing, or something bad, that’s not good. Set up a Google alert on your name. Claim your own name as a domain name. Put a lot of content on the web to feed Google. If you don’t have a good Google presence, including a professional LinkedIn profile, you will not get an interview. [24:32] Before the recession, more people planned on retiring on-time or early. Now people will need to work into their 70s to gather resources. Mac notes that many people have planned for retirement to some degree. Once you know what salary you need, get clear about what you want to do and what opportunities are out there to pursue. [26:51] Having a timeline, 10 or 15 years into the future as a long-term view, is very helpful as you’re having this conversation. Chances are opportunities will change in that time. [27:33] Marc says that the first 10 people in his online community are asking how to broaden their horizons. Career opportunities are endless. People just need to know about them. Educate yourself about them, just as you did coming out of school. [30:39] As a Boomer, Marc was raised to be a career-long employee for one company. Later in his career, they changed the rules. He left IBM and looked for other opportunities. It’s like starting fresh just out of college. [32:15] Don’t make stuff up. Learn the situation about each opportunity. Go talk to people who work in the organization you are targeting, before you make the decision to work there. Someone in your network may know someone there. Or you can find them on LinkedIn. You may discover it’s not what you want to do. Save yourself grief. [34:49] Marc tells people to talk to someone doing what you want to do at a company and get the inside scoop. Your next job will come from a current relationship, an old relationship, or a new relationship. Someone will refer you. Marc was referred to his teaching job by his chiropractor. Whom do you know who might know someone? [37:33] Most jobs get filled by word of mouth. 80% of jobs never get posted on a job board. Employers manage risk by turning to people they know for referrals. Employers also give back to their networks. [38:59] After you serve someone, when you least expect it, you often get something back. Mac’s List was simply a list of job postings that came to his desk that he shared with his network. It grew over the years. After 16 years there are 25,000 names on it. The list carries about 600 job listings a month. Now it is a business with five employees. [40:28] Mac’s List attracts more than 80K people a month. Mac started Mac’s List with no expectation of getting anything in return. The value that drove it is a big part of Mac’s success. Mac talks about how to get his new book. [41:49] Marc invites you to take the Repurpose Your Career audience survey and to pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life. The next episode will be an interview with Gary O’Neal. Mentioned in This Episode: Mac Prichard on LinkedIn Prichard Communications MacsList.org Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success, by Adam Grant “When You’re Working in a Career Disaster Area,” by Marc Miller on Next Avenue StrengthsFinder Myers-Briggs Mark Anthony Dyson’s Voice of Jobseekers podcast Job-hunt.org Ryan Rhoten’s The Brand New You Show podcast LinkedIn Apple Land Your Dream Job Anywhere: The Complete Mac's List Guide to Finding Work You Can Love, by Mac Prichard Please take Marc’s survey at CareerPivot.com/PodcastSurvey. This will redirect you to a SurveyMonkey page. Marc will keep the survey going through 2017 to hear from you. Taking the survey will help Marc to select Repurpose Your Career topics for 2018. Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback and ebook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. Marc expects to have the audiobook available in December 2017. Subscribe, and get a notification when it is available. Marc has a prototype running of the paid membership community of the CareerPivot.com website. Marc has an initial cohort of 10 members helping him. Marc has opened a waitlist. Sign up at CareerPivot.com/Community. Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. Give this podcast an honest review and subscribe! If you’re not sure how to leave a review, please go to CareerPivot.com/review, and read the detailed instructions there. CareerPivot.com/ryc-resources Careerpivot.com Episode 53 with Thea Kelley Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me Marc@CareerPivot.com CareerPivot.com/Episode-57 Show Notes for this episode. You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast. To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android Twitter: @CareerPivot LinkedIn: Marc Miller Facebook: Career Pivot
Mac Prichard is the founder and publisher of Mac's List, an online job board for people looking for rewarding, creative, and meaningful work. He's also the founder of Prichard Communications, a fast-growing PR firm that helps clients in the non-profit industry. Mac has had a long and illustrious career in the public and private sector, but his passion lies in helping people succeed in finding their dream jobs. With over 100,000 visiting Mac's list every month it's easy to see why Mac is highly regarded in the business world. Mac also hosts a weekly podcast called, “Find Your Dream Job” which is listened to by listeners from around the world. He is the author of the new book, “Land Your Dream Job Anywhere.” What you'll learn about in this episode Proven strategies for success in every industry How to decide what to say “yes” and “no” to every day Habits that will shorten your path to success How to tap into the hidden job market and much more How to best connect with Mac: https://www.macslist.org/bulletproof/ Email: mac@prichardcommunications.com Twitter: @mac_prichard Website: www.macslist.org Book and free book chapter: www.macslist.org/onwardnation Website: www.prichardcommunications.com
He helps others find the dream career they've been looking for. He does it all online. Hear about his challenges, triumphs, and what he's up to today. Best Ever Tweet: Value exchange is not only beneficial in business, it's beneficial in life. Mac Prichard Real Estate Background: - President at Prichard Communications, a public relations agency - Founder and publisher of Mac’s List, an online community for people looking for rewarding, meaningful work - Hosts the weekly podcast, Find Your Dream Job - Author of Land Your Dream Job Anywhere - Over 80,000 people a month visit the site - Based in Portland, Oregon - Say hi to him at Click here for a summary of Mac's Best Ever advice: Made Possible Because of Our Best Ever Sponsors: Want an inbox full of online leads? Get a FREE strategy session with Dan Barrett who is the only certified Google partner that exclusively works with real estate investors like us. Go to to schedule the appointment. Subscribe in and so you don’t miss an episode!
You don't have to hate your career…if you play your networking cards right. Today's guest, Mac Prichard, is president of Prichard Communications, and created Mac's List, an online community for people looking to find more fulfilling work. Mac is also the author of “Land Your Dream Job Anywhere,” which walks people through a networking process that can get you further ahead faster. Many men, including a lot of Rusty Lion Academy clients, get to the point where they hate their career so much that they have a hard time working within it. This makes them work even longer hours and deepens the cycle. And without corrective action, the pain only deepens. After graduating from Harvard's Kennedy School of Business with a master's degree, Mac reached out to about 100 businesspeople in Portland, Oregon where he wanted to live and work. Each “infromation interviews” had a direct outcome goal and started to build a network for Mac. There's a big difference between building a network and networking. Networking is casually passing out business cards to everyone you see at a business function, and is rarely effective. Creating a network constructs a two-way street of service, Mac tells me in this episode. Give without any expectation of receiving. When you do, it's amazing what you get back. If you want a career you love and don't know how to tackle the change, Mac's got some great advice for you. If you think your past titles or accomplishments should guarantee your future success but aren't, this episode is for you. And if you want to aim higher in your career than you've ever been, click play in the player above to get started. Listen to this episode to hear me talk with Mac Prichard about effective networking to build a better career and more: Becoming “an accidental entrepreneur.” What electoral politics, writing, and human rights advocacy have in common. The two things that got Mac into Harvard's Master's program despite a 3.0 average in college. Taking risks to grow. Making networking work better. An alternative to filling out job applications. Why service has resulted in the most career growth for Mac. What two long periods of unemployment taught Mac about finding the right career. Career wisdom from Intel's public affairs director. What you should learn from comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Why you can't afford to rest on your accolades. Overcoming procrastination. Get Mac Prichard's book; the first chapter's free for Lion's Den listeners: “Land Your Dream Job Anywhere,” by Mac Prichard and other nationally known career experts Contact Mac Prichard, president of Prichard Communications: Website LinkedIn Twitter
Denise Griffitts interviews the founder and publisher of Mac's List. an online community for people looking for rewarding, creative, and meaningful work. Mac Prichard runs Prichard Communications, a registered B-Corp creative agency that works with top-tier foundations, non-profits and purpose driven brands across the country. More than 80,000 people a month visit Mac's List, which includes a job board, a blog, and courses about the nuts and bolts of job hunting and career management. Mac also hosts a weekly podcast, Find Your Dream Job, and is the author of the new book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere.
Today's guest is Mac Prichard, of Macs List and Prichard Communications. Mac calls himself a late bloomer, as he already had a full career in government, politics, and non-profits. What began as a side hustle in his mid-forties has turned into two 6 figure online businesses. Listen in as Katie and Mac discuss how the energy he felt after helping others find their dream job is what has spurred him on to his own success. Mac has a brand new book out called Land Your Dream Job Anywhere, which is a compilation of 5 years of blog posts on how to find your dream job.
Find Your Dream Job: Insider Tips for Finding Work, Advancing your Career, and Loving Your Job
Do you have what it takes to turn your entrepreneurial spirit into a small business? If you can answer yes to just one of three questions you are probably ready to go out on your own. It doesn’t matter if you come from a family of entrepreneurs or if you have been a full-time employee for your entire career. If you know how to run successful projects and want to make every day meaningful and leave the office with a deep level of satisfaction. You may be ready to branch out and start your own business. Mac Prichard of Prichard Communications and Mac’s List shares his personal story and the resources he used to develop and grow two successful businesses. He had never thought of himself as a small business owner before launching Prichard communications but he was confident about his skill set and the work sounded exciting. Learn how Mac landed his dream job and more with the latest book from Mac's List, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere, available February 1, 2017. Sign up for our email list to be the first to know about the book release and get a copy of the first chapter right away. Find Your Dream Job is sponsored by Land Your Dream Job Anywhere. The book is launching February 1, 2017, sign up and get the first chapter now! If you like this show, please help us by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com.
Public Relations whiz Mac Prichard shares how to grow your network by building lasting relationships and responding with generosity. You'll Learn How to navigate the “hidden” job market The step-by-step of a successful informational interview How to grow your network with generosity About Mac Mac is the founder and president of Prichard Communications, a public relations agency that serves top-tier foundations, nonprofits and purpose driven brands across the country. He provides strategic counsel to Prichard’s clients and leads the agency’s crisis communications, government relations and business development work. He speaks regularly on social change communications to national and local groups across the country. He also publishes Mac's List, an online community where professionals find rewarding, interesting jobs and employers find the best possible candidates. View transcript, show notes, and links at http://AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep83
Public Relations whiz Mac Prichard shares how to grow your network by building lasting relationships and responding with generosity. You'll Learn How to navigate the “hidden” job market The step-by-step of a successful informational interview How to grow your network with generosity About Mac Mac is the founder and president of Prichard Communications, a public relations agency that serves top-tier foundations, nonprofits and purpose driven brands across the country. He provides strategic counsel to Prichard’s clients and leads the agency’s crisis communications, government relations and business development work. He speaks regularly on social change communications to national and local groups across the country. He also publishes M
Finding a Career with Purpose An honest discussion about finding jobs with meaning - both making a difference in the world, and finding personal satisfaction.Simon Love and Amy Pearl speak with Mac Prichard, founder of Prichard Communications and Mac’s List about purpose and potential in work and life. Today, people want to improve the world through their work, as well as achieve personal satisfaction. But how do people get into those careers? In this podcast, both hosts and guest are able to share stories and advice of finding work with meaning. Mac offers insights from his conversations with jobseekers, Simon offers personal stories of finding work in a foreign land, and Amy shares stories of change makers starting their own enterprises. You’ll learn tips and advice on how to send your career on a path towards purpose. This conversation carries on the conversation from the popular ‘Career Pathways to Doing Good in Oregon’ events, held quarterly at HatchLab in Portland, Oregon. Provocateurs Amy Pearl, Hatch Innovation Simon Love, Hatch Innovation Guest Mac Prichard, President, Pritchard Communications Mac Prichard owns and operates Prichard Communications, a public relations agency based in Portland, Oregon that works with top-tier foundations, non-profits and purpose driven brands across the country. He is also the publisher of Mac's List, an online community where professionals find rewarding, interesting jobs and employers find the best possible candidates. Previously, Mac was communications director for Reclaiming Futures, a national initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that improves drug and alcohol treatment for teens in juvenile court. Before joining Reclaiming Futures in 2001, Mac served as a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Human Services, a speechwriter and deputy legislative director for former Oregon governor John Kitzhaber, and a Portland City Hall spokesman for Earl Blumenauer, now a Member of Congress. Prior to moving to Oregon in 1991, Mac lived in Massachusetts where he was legislative and media relations director for the state Office for Refugees and Immigrants, the first public information officer for Boston’s “Big Dig,” and a researcher in former U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy’s first Congressional campaign. Previously in Boston as a staff person with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, Mac helped organize and lead four Congressional fact-finding trips to Central America. Mac was also a senior researcher at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, a non-partisan human rights group in Washington, DC, that monitors US-Latin American policy. In this episode you’ll learn Trends in the workplace - are people moving towards careers with purpose? If so, why? What a ‘Dream Job’ means - people want to make a difference in the world but they also want to find satisfaction and happiness. How Mac’s List grew through word of mouth, and where it extends now. How people are not taught at school how to look for jobs, or to set job-related goals. Why do people work? How generational differences and the blurring of work-life boundaries affect how work is seen. Why jobseekers say they want one type of job but take something else . How you can make opportunities happen by being generous to others and thinking about how you can help others in your industry. How sometimes you won’t end up doing what you thought you’d be doing, but you can take charge of the role you’re in and make a difference there. How individuals can make enormous difference through starting their own social enterprise. The challenges of being an entrepreneur - ‘pushing the noodle up the hill’ and the challenges associated with it. How careers are not a 45 degree trajectory - there will be peaks and valleys. How good things happen when you make your goals known to others. Links to Resources Mentioned Hatch Innovation Mac’s List ‘Find Your Dream Job’ Podcast ‘Find Your Dream Job in Portland’ Book Prichard Communications Career Pathways to Doing Good in Oregon event
In this edition of Making Oregon, we examine how to build a business or a career--driven by purpose. We recently visited the offices of Portland’s own Mac Prichard, founder of Mac’s List, a popular Oregon jobs board, to discuss how find, or create, rewarding and meaningful work. Mac’s List started years ago as an email to keep in touch with Mac's colleagues, and today attracts 80,000 job seekers to the site. We talk about how Mac built his small email list into a thriving business, and with a twist: as Mac’s List was slowly taking shape, he also founded Prichard Communications, a company that helps philanthropic organizations get their message out. We dig into how Mac has managed to pull this off, growing two demanding startups at the same time. He also talks with us about the work-ethic he developed starting at age 9, how being unemployed influenced his purpose as an entrepreneur, and how the desire to be of service to others shaped his career.
Find Your Dream Job: Insider Tips for Finding Work, Advancing your Career, and Loving Your Job
Do you know someone who has the perfect job and is getting well paid, too? It might seem that this happened by stroke of luck. In fact, it has nothing do with chance. People with dream jobs have clear goals and plans to accomplish them. And when you find that job or career, it feels so right, it’s like you were born to do it. But to get there you must first choose among what can seem like an overwhelming menu of career options. This week on “Find Your Dream Job” we’re talking about how to find the work you were meant to do. I talk to Chris Guillebeau, author of the new book, “Born for This: How to Find the Work You Were Meant to Do.” In this 35-minute episode you will learn: How knowing your personality traits can help you find a job that plays to your natural strengths Why it helps people think as an entrepreneur Why making mistakes and taking risks is part of a successful career What “working conditions” are and how they help you find your career path How joy, money, and flow matter when figuring out your career goals Why asking “Did today matter” is an important tool for evaluating your career This week’s guest: Chris Guillebeau (@ChrisGuillebeau)EntrepreneurPortland, Ore. Listener question of the week: My ultimate career goal is to own my own business. I’m not ready to make the jump now, so I’ve been interviewing for positions at established firms. Should I share this goal with prospective employers? Will it make me look like I’m not dedicated to the job? If you have a question you’d like us to answer on a future episode, please contact Jenna Forstrom, Mac’s List Community Manager at jenna@macslist.org. Resources from this week’s show: Ep. 007: Getting Clear about What you Want from Work Free Myers Briggs Personality Test – 16Personalities Chris Guillebeau’s Book Tour “Born for This: How to Find the Work You Were Meant to Do” Chris Guillebeau’s World Domination Summit Chris Guillebeau’s blog “The Art of Non-Conformity” Land Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond) If you have a job-hunting or career development resource resource you’d like to share, please contact Ben Forstag, Mac’s List Managing Director at ben@macslist.org. — Thank you for listening to Find Your Dream Job. If you like this show, please help us by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com. Full Transcript Mac Prichard: This is Find Your Dream Job. A podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want, and make a difference in life. I’m Mac Prichard, your host, and publisher of Mac’s List. Do you know someone who has the perfect job and is getting well paid too? It might seem that this happened by a stroke of luck. In fact, it has nothing to do with chance. People with dream jobs have clear goals and plans to accomplish them. When you find that job or career, it feels so right it’s like you were born to do it. To get there, you must first choose among what can seem like an overwhelming menu of career options. This week on Find Your Dream Job, we’re talking about how to find the work you were meant to do. Ben Forstag has a free online test that can help you get clearer about your goals and your strengths. Jenna Forstrom has a question from a listener who wants to start a business one day but wonders how candid she should be with employers about this. I talk to Christ Guillebeau, author of the new book Born For This: How to Find the Work You Were Meant to Do. Our show is brought to you by our book, Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond. To learn more about the updated edition that we published on February 1st, go to macslist.org/book. We’re excited to have Jenna Forstrom, our new Community Manager, join us here in the Mac’s List studio. Jenna, welcome aboard. Jenna Forstrom: Thanks. I’m excited to be here. Mac Prichard: Yeah, it’s terrific to have you not only on the podcast, but I know listeners who go to the website will be seeing on the blog and people here in Oregon will be seeing you at community events. I got to ask Jenna, because I know our listeners are curious, why did you want to work at Mac’s List? Jenna Forstrom: I started to want to work at Mac’s List a couple years ago when I was looking for a job and my friends recommended it as a resource. I’ve been using it for the last couple years doing freelance work and apply for jobs and it’s just a really great website and resource. I think that it’s amazing because of the people behind it that put in all the love and passion. When you and me were speaking about the opportunity, it just seemed like a natural place for me to show up and I want to help make it great too. Mac Prichard: It’s a pleasure to have you here. You bring to the job so many great skills and experiences but I think you really put your finger on it. It’s the fact that you’re part of the Mac’s List community that I think is a very special asset. Welcome to the studio and welcome to the show, and we look forward to working with you in the months ahead. I also want to say thank you to the four career experts who filled in as our special co-host during the last two months. Those people are Aubrie DeClerk, Dawn Rasmussen, Jenny Voss, and Michelle Hynes. All four are nationally recognized experts and they are very busy people. I’m grateful to each of them for making the time to join us on one or more of the last seven episodes to answer questions from you, our listeners. If you haven’t done so, please check out the websites of these exceptional people. We’ll be sure to include links to their pages in the show notes. Ben Forstag: Hey Mac, Ben here. Mac Prichard: Hey Ben, how are you? Ben Forstag: I’m doing great. One of our most popular episodes on the podcast was Aubrie DeClerk on how listeners can get clear about what they want from work. You know Aubrie has been a frequent guest on the podcast and she was also a contributor to our book. Mac Prichard: Yes, she was. Her podcast actually is our second most popular episode. The topic, you may recall Ben, was how to get clear about what you want. This is a topic that comes up a lot when we talk to listeners. People who do dive into our book will find a couple of key topics that can help. There is information about how you can do the analytical work you need to do to be clear about goal setting. Tools like strength finders and what color’s your parachute. There are also, in the book, tips about how to get to know yourself and your strengths and your challenges. Tips about why you need to pay attention to your emotions and how to build a community. These are all things that can again help you get clear about what you want to do with your career. Jenna, Ben, when in your careers have you two felt like you were doing something that you were born to do? Ben Forstag: I think like a lot of people, there are days or periods in any job I’ve had where I felt like this is perfect. I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m on top of this. I feel in control. The one experience where I felt like that was kind of always the case was way back in the beginning of my career when I worked as an outdoor education facilitator for a YMCA camp. I put so much energy in respecting the traditions of that summer camp. It just felt like a very special place to be and I was really invested in the job. Mac Prichard: I’ve had that experience a number of times. I’m actually having it right now running both Mac’s List and Prichard Communications. Throughout my career, I’ve really felt like I was doing my best work when the things that are expert. This week we’ll talk about joy, work, and flow all lined up. In other words, there were jobs I had where it was just a pleasure to go to work. I had the skills and the experiences that allowed me to thrive in that position and I just was experienced in what the psychologist called flow. That state of mind where you lose yourself in the task that you’re involved in. For me, in addition to the work I’m doing now, it’s happened on political campaigns, it happened when I was working for a human rights organization early in my career. It’s a very pleasant state to be in. How about you Jenna? Jenna Forstrom: When a job feels like it was a great fit and you were born for it, it’s when it plays to your strengths. For me, that comes into play because I feel like my strengths are being on the fly and being creative under pressure. When I volunteer at Night Strike and we have bumps in the road, we can’t find the keys to the trailer, that’s where it’s like I kind of step up and get animated and I’m like, okay we’re going to problem solve this. You guys go find the peanut butter and jelly and we’ll just focus on that while the leadership figures out the solution. How do we get keys or how do we break the lock to get into the trailer. Small problems that come up and hiccups is when I feel like that’s my strength. I think I learned that when I was a lifeguard when I was like 15. You’re managing a pool and something happens, you have to direct people to different locations to take care of an incident. Mac Prichard: Jenna, do you want to talk a little bit about Night Strike and your work there? Jenna Forstrom: Sure, on top of being a community manager here at Mac’s List, I volunteer every Thursday night with a program called Night Strike. Which is an urban humanitarian group here in Portland, for those of you who don’t know but hopefully you are interested in moving to Portland or you live here. We have a huge homeless crisis so we do immediate felt needs. Mac Prichard: Thanks for sharing that. Jenna Forstrom: Yeah. Mac Prichard: Let’s move onto Ben who every week brings us a resource that you all can use. Ben, I know you’ve been looking diligently around the internet for the last seven days. What have you found? Ben Forstag: In the past, we’ve talked about different ways to help people get clear about what they want. You mentioned Aubrie’s episode earlier, and I believe in that episode, my resource was the strengths finder test. Which is a book you can buy. One of the other well-known tests out there to help you find out what your natural strengths are or what your personality type is, is the Myers Briggs Personality Test, also called the Myers Briggs Type Indicator or MBTI. My resource this week is actually a free version of this test that you can do online and it’s available at www.16personalities.com and that’s 16 with one-six, not written out like a word. The name of this site actually comes from the MBTI itself, which speculates that there are 16 basic personality types out there. The science behind the MBTI is actually pretty old. It originally comes from the work of Karl Jung who is a psychoanalyst back at the turn of the century. It stipulates basically that there are four general preferences that determine your personality type. Those are mind, how you interact with your environment. That’s whether you’re an introvert or extrovert. Energy, which is where you direct you mental energy. That basically is are you guided by intuition or observation. Nature, how you make decisions and cope with emotions. In layman’s terms that’s are you a thinking person or are you a feeling person? Then tactics, how you approach work, planning, and decision making. Are you a prospector or a judger? This test is about 30 different questions and it presents a bunch of questions and you answer across a continuum of strongly agree to strongly disagree about whether the question pertains to you. It’s a lot of interesting questions. Questions that you might not ask yourself on a regular basis. I wrote down a few of the ones that I really like such as, for you is being right more important than being cooperative when it comes to teamwork? Or, do your dreams tend to focus on real world and its events? Or, as a parent would you rather see your child grow up kind or grow up smart? You have to pick one or the other here on a spectrum. I took the test. It takes about twelve minutes. The result I got was that I am an INFP, which means I’m an introverted intuition feeling perceiving person. What the MBTI says is a mediator. I’ll be honest, this doesn’t feel like me. I don’t think that I’m introverted, or a super feeling person. What do you think, Mac? Mac Prichard: That sounds right to me. Ben, I know we’ve only worked together for seven months now but I see you, as somebody who smooth’s the waters. Ben Forstag: Okay, far be it from me to question an online personality test. Mac Prichard: Yeah. Jenna Forstrom: I took the test as well and got ENFP which is extroverted intuition feeling and then perceiving. I think that was a pretty good summary of me because I’m extremely outgoing. Ben Forstag: Yeah, I think the extroverted piece really speaks to you. Jenna Forstrom: I think it does great for our roles because we balance each other out. Ben Forstag: Yeah, and I think that brings up an interesting point here. There’s no normative stance on whether a personality type is good or bad. I think most people who look at these things would say for any organization, you need people who compliment one another. Right? Jenna Forstrom: Yeah. Ben Forstag: My introverted nature compliments your extroverted nature and vice versa. I think what this test really gets at is there are going to be certain types of roles or responsibilities or jobs that your personality type is going to fit into. You might do better at an organization that’s more hierarchical or one that has less organization around it. You want to find a job that fits that type of personality. The one real cool thing about this site is not only is it free but it produces a really comprehensive write up about each personality type and how that personality type might impact your life from relationships to parenthood to your career. It provides situations and strategies for specific roles that fit your personality type. Definitely worth taking a look at. Probably spend an hour doing this, or you can spend just twelve minutes and get the baseline information. Real good site, real great resource. The website is www.16personalities.com. That’s 1-6 personalities dot com. Mac Prichard: Thank you, Ben. If you have an idea for Ben, we’d love to hear from you. You can email him. His address is ben@macslist.org. Now it’s time to hear from you, our listeners. Our community manager Jenna Forstrom joins us to answer one of your questions. Jenna, what do you hear from the community this week? Jenna Forstrom: This week our question is, “My ultimate career goal is to own my own business. I’m not ready to make that jump now so I’ve been interview positions at established firms. Should I share this goal with perspective employers or will this make me look like I’m not dedicated to the job?” I think that’s a great question. I think it also depends a lot on what kind of work you’re looking for. We know that the typical job length is four and half years for any person. Companies know when they hire people that they’re probably not going to stay forever. Also, they want to hire people that will last a little while. Like a year or two. If you’re looking to start a job within the next six months to a year and you just want a job to pay your bills, pay rent, maybe not share that information. I think if you’re looking to really gain a lot of information and grow into an organization, then maybe take that as a springboard platform, sharing that with hiring manager. Or maybe once you’ve gotten the role, find a mentor who’s maybe doing something on the side or something similar. I think that’s super acceptable. Ben Forstag: Most organizations I think when they make a hire know that they’re not hiring you for life and that you have bigger aspirations at some point. I think it’s fair to say, well like down the road in five years I was thinking maybe I’d like to start my own business, to an employer. I think that actually could speak well to you as a candidate, saying that you have an entrepreneurial attitude, that you can take calculated risks, that you want to take responsibility on for things. I think it’s all about timing. Are you looking to cover rent for the next year or are you going into this opportunity at hand with really an intent to see through your commitments and honor those commitments and your bigger picture of creating your own business is down the road some place? Mac Prichard: Good advice. Thank you Jenna and if you have a question for Jenna, you can email her. Her address is jenna@macslist.org. These segments are sponsored by the 2016 edition of Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond. We made our book even better. We added new content and now we’re offering it in the format you told us you wanted. For the first time ever, you can find our book in a paperback edition or download it on your Kindle, Nook, or iPad. Our goal is the same, whatever the format. To give you the tools and tips you need to get meaningful work that makes a difference. For more information visit macslist.org/book. Now let’s turn to this week’s guest expert, Chris Guillebeau. Chris Guillebeau is the New York Times best selling author of the Happiness of Pursuit. The $100 start up in other books. During a lifetime of self-employment, he visited every country in the world. 193 in total before his 35th birthday. Every summer in Portland, Oregon he hosts the world domination summit, a gathering of creative remarkable people. Chris, thanks for joining us. Chris Guillebeau: Hey Mac. Thanks so much for having me. Mac Prichard: Yeah, it’s a real pleasure. Chris, you’ve written a book about start ups. You put together an annual event called the world domination summit. I’ve attended and people come out of that event inspired. Many of them to quit their jobs and work for themselves. Now you’ve written a book about job hunting and careers. Tell us about that. Why this topic? Chris Guillebeau: The goal of the book is essentially to help people think entrepreneurially, whether they want to be entrepreneurs or not. Obviously, from my background I’ve always been an entrepreneur. I was a terrible employee. My bias is to help people essentially forge their own destiny, forge their own path. Maybe I’ve learned a little bit along the way that a lot of people can find the work they were meant to do, their dream job in a company or an organization. For example, I talked to a lot of people for this book like I do for all my books and one person in particular … I talked to a woman who 20 years ago became the first female fire fighter in Mississauga, Ontario. I told the story of all the challenges she had to overcome and she’s actually been in that job for more than 20 years now. She believes it’s the work she was meant to do. This is a good example of someone who if you want to be a fire fighter, which is a very noble profession. Saves lives. Does lots of good work. You can’t just be an entrepreneurial fire fighter. You have to go through the structure. You have to be a part of a team. I’m looking at people, helping people find the work they were meant to do, and whatever capacity that is. It may even change over time. It maybe you’re working for yourself. You’re working in a company. You’re doing a little bit of both. It’s all that. Mac Prichard: Now with reading the book, one of the points you made that struck me early on was that we’re all asked what we do for a living. You say the better question we should ask someone is what lead you to do what you do? Why do you think that’s the better question, Chris? Chris Guillebeau: I look at a lot of people who have been successful and they talk about this dream job concept, which I know you’ve done a lot of work with as well. They use phrases like I’ve won the career lottery. I love my job. I would go to work even if I didn’t get paid for it, but fortunately I do get paid for it. What I saw in tracing back their history is most successful people, and again success can be however you define it, but most successful people in careers actually haven’t followed a very linear path. They actually didn’t know necessarily when they were six years old this is what they want to do with their life. They’re going to go to college along this trajectory. Then their first job and their second job is all leading to something. They’ve actually gone down a bunch of different paths. They’ve usually even made some mistakes. They’ve made mistakes because they were willing to take risks and some things don’t work out so they go back and they turn around and eventually they find this thing. The reason I look at the whole process is because it’s not as simple as just saying okay here’s what I want to do. I know what that is. Now I’m going to make that happen. I think there’s always a process of discovery. There’s always this process of exploration along the way. Mac Prichard: I think that’s an important point to make because so many people that I chat with and my colleagues as well about careers, they think that if they try something and it’s not quite what they expected that that was a failure or a dead end. The point you’re making is that, it’s an experience you can learn from and it helps you get closer to where you want to be. Let’s talk about career success. In your book you say that we’re taught these conventions, you actually call them scripts, about what conventional career success looks like. These scripts are just plain wrong. What are these myths, Chris, and why should people ignore them? Chris Guillebeau: I looked at a lot of wisdom that’s traditionally accepted and handed down. You might have touched on something just a moment ago, when you said lots of people who are successful have actually turned back and been willing to do like a 180 and try something different. This is contrary to the traditional Western manifest destiny, never give up, perseverance is the most important quality. A lot of successful people actually are willing to give up. They’re willing to give up, not on their dreams, not on their life vision, but on any particular strategy or expression or job or attempt at starting a business. I talked to this one guy for example who had started eight successful businesses in his life. I asked him … it said eight successful business in his bio, so I said, were there any other businesses? It turned out he had a ninth business, which was actually the very first one. The first one was apparently unsuccessful. He had tried it for three years and it just wasn’t working. If you had gone to that guy in the beginning of his entrepreneurial career and said never give up. Keep going. You must make this a success. That would have been the wrong advice for him. The best advice was to give up, turn around, and start over. All these other things came later. I looked at that. I looked at a lot of different things and tried to test them in a real world model to say okay this is like the so-called wisdom of the ages, but does it actually work? How does that actually apply and what can we do to increase the odds in our favor? Mac Prichard: One of your points in the book is that there is one script that we should consider following. There’s more than one way to work. You don’t have to [niche 00:19:55] down or be a CEO or you only have one chance at a job for example. If you say no to this opportunity you’ll never have as good one again. Talk to us, Chris, about that script that you encourage people to follow. That there’s more than one way to work. Chris Guillebeau: I think we put so much pressure on people. Especially young people, but even people of all ages. We have so much pressure that you’re supposed to know what your life purpose is at age 20, or when you choose what to study, or when you go into your first job, or even later. It’s like you’re supposed to have this crystal ball. You have to make all these decisions with limited information. One of the things I saw was when people think about work, when they think about making a change or a career, they always think in terms of profession. They think about being a web developer or a doctor or a designer or whatever it is. What I saw was actually just as important as the work itself was what I called working conditions. Working conditions are things like how you like to spend your time. How much you like to work with other people versus work on your own. How you’re incentivized. How you’re motivated. How you like to be rewarded. You can start to understand this about yourself. You can actually make decisions a lot better. You may not have all the information but we’ll help you as you go forward. There’s more than one path. There may be one thing that you’re born to do but I think there’s more than one way to get there. Mac Prichard: Three things that you identified that you say we all want in our work are joy, money, and flow. Tell us about each of those and why they matter in not only picking your next job but in finding that work overall in a career that we feel like we’re born to do. Chris Guillebeau: I saw that, regardless of what profession people went into and regardless of what working conditions were most optimal for them, most people are happiest when they can create this intersection or convergence between these three qualities that you just named. The first two are pretty self-explanatory. Joy essentially is happiness. It’s something that you take joy in doing. You like your work. I think that’s an important goal. Money also self-explanatory. I’m not talking to people about a hobby. I’m talking to them about their career and your career has to be financially viable. Your work has to be something that you love to do, or at least it should be, that’s the goal. It should be sustainable. It should be viable. Then the third quality was something that I had to learn a little bit more about myself and that’s this quality of flow, which I essentially think of as using your unique skills. Doing something that you’re really good at. It may be something that comes naturally to you but it’s actually really challenging for other people. It’s the kind of work where you can get lost in it. You can have hours go by and you don’t realize because you’re so emerged in this particular work. When you find all three of these qualities … Of course it’s a journey. It’s a process. I think that is the goal. I think that is what we’re essentially working toward in finding the work that we were born to do. Of course, at different times in our life we have to make compromises. We might have to settle in some way. When I was 16, I delivered pizza. That was fine. It was a job. I don’t think it was the work I was born to do. It was something that I did at the time to accomplish a goal and we have to do that at different times in life. If we’re working towards something that if we are interested in self-development, if we do want to advance not just our career but our life, we’re going to make decisions with that model in mind of joy, money, and flow. Mac Prichard: Let’s talk about career development. You identify sub-skills that whatever occupation someone wants to pursue, we all need to have to get the work we want. What are those skills, Chris, and why do they matter? Chris Guillebeau: When people think about skills, most of the time they think about what I call hard skills. Hard skills are technical skills. They’re the skills that you learned in your specific training in your job or your degree. If you’re an engineer, it’s those engineering skills or those programming languages or whatever that is. What I saw was that in career advancement, whether you’re trying to get promoted, whether you’re trying to find your dream job, create your dream job in an organization, or go out on your own, what I call soft skills are actually just as important if not more important. Soft skills are basically areas related to communication essentially. Communication. Being able to facilitate a conversation or a meeting well. Follow up and follow through. Being that person in the room or in the meeting where there’s lots of good ideas being discussed but sometimes you can discuss good ideas and nothing happens … If you become that person who makes things happen and everyone starts to look to you and everyone’s like oh Mac should do this because he’s going to follow up on it. That’s a very very valuable skill regardless of your profession. This is not something that’s really taught. You don’t really take a class on this in college. It’s something that’s very valuable and I think it’s something that anyone can learn to improve and it’ll help them regardless of their specific career. Mac Prichard: Our listeners and I imagine a lot of your readers struggle with getting clear about what they’re good at. What they offer an employer. How do you recommend people do that? Chris Guillebeau: Very good, it’s always a process. The example we just gave a moment ago. We were talking about you’re working in a group and sometimes the members of the group, sometimes other people around you are actually better at identifying your strength or your skills than you are yourself. If you’re ever in one of these situations where tasks are being divvied up and everyone looks to you and says oh so-and-so should do this task. It’s almost like the group is affirming this skill. They’re recognizing it for you. That’s one way. Another way is simply just trial and error and experimentation. We put a lot of pressure on people to know at a young age, this is what I want to do. This is how I’m going to develop myself and advance myself. Very often the initial decisions that we make are incorrect because we don’t have all the information. Again, a key point is if it’s not working, try something else. Over time you are going to figure out, okay this is actually what I enjoy. You can ask yourself at the end of the day, looking back okay what did I do today that gave me energy? What did I do that drained my energy? Just focusing on that day-to-day. How can I do more of those things that I actually enjoy? The things that we enjoy tend to be the things that we’re also good at. Mac Prichard: Many people are reluctant to chase a dream job or career because of risk. What are your suggestions, Chris, about how people can manage career risk? Chris Guillebeau: Risk is a big thing. What do we mean by risk? I feel like risk is a topic like fear. People are like how do you overcome your fear? What sort of fear are we talking about? How does it affect our lives? What are the strategies that we can navigate to help us with that? I think maybe the first thing is a question of defining risk and saying if I’m thinking of making a career change, is this really risky? Maybe it’s actually more risky for me to remain in my current position because the current position isn’t good for me. Even if it’s good for me, I need to somehow create more opportunities for myself because in this day and age I have to create my own security. I wrote about this concept of being a self-employed employee where essentially you’re working in a job but the way you view it is I’m leasing out my talents to this company or organization. I’m going to do a great job for them, of course. I’m also going to continue to develop myself. I’m going to improve myself. That will allow me to go somewhere else or to be more valuable in my current position. When I think of risk, that’s the very first thing I think of. Let’s count the cost. Let’s see what really is risky. Then maybe also as you make changes, your confidence tends to increase. I think this is true with any goal in life. It’s not just a career thing. I had this project of going to every country in the world. I didn’t have that project when I hadn’t traveled anywhere. I went to maybe 30 different countries. I lived in Africa for a while and then I started thinking what could I do with this? Then I had a goal of going to 100 countries. As I got closer to that, I was like let’s raise the stakes. Let’s go to every country in the world. As you get better in making these kinds of decisions and taking what you might call risks, then I think you become much more comfortable in taking more of them and raising the stakes even further. Mac Prichard: We’re kind of the close the interview. Chris, what else would you like to add for the listeners? Chris Guillebeau: We talked about joy, money, flow. I just gave that example of at the end of the day maybe ask yourself where did I get energy? Where is my energy drained? This isn’t meant to be like a woo-woo thing. This is meant to be very practical. This is meant to give you data that you can then base decisions on in the future. Here’s a really simple thing that you can also do. At the end of the day, you get out a little notebook and you answer this question: did today matter? You know the answer to that question. If you think back, you’re going to be able to say okay I actually … Yeah, today was good. I made some progress toward a goal or an objective that I believe in. I invested in the relationships that I value. Whatever those matrix or those goals are. Or you’ll be able to say, actually today wasn’t that great because I got stuck in something. I got sucked in. I spent my whole day responding to things instead of creating things. I want to do a better job. The whole goal is essentially in life, let’s get closer to more and more days that matter. If we have days that aren’t mattering, that we look back and say that wasn’t good, what can we change? Small and big ways. Mac Prichard: Well, terrific. Tell us, Chris, what’s coming up next for you? Obviously, you have the book and I believe you’re starting … Tell us about the launch date and your book tour. Chris Guillebeau: I’m really excited about the tour. The book comes out April 5th. You may be listening to this later, in which case the book is out. I’m doing a 30 city tour across North America. People can find out about that at bornforthisbook.com. Of course, we’ve got world domination summit coming up in the summer but at the moment it’s all book all the time. Mac Prichard: Terrific. To learn more about Chris, visit his Twitter account and his blog as well as the website about his book. We’ll be sure to include links to all of those sites in the show notes. Chris, thanks for joining us. Chris Guillebeau: Awesome, thank you so much Mac. Mac Prichard: We’re back with Ben and Jenna. What do you two think? What were some of the most important points you heard Chris make? Jenna Forstrom: The biggest take away for me is that successful people don’t have linear paths. It’s just a good reminder for people who are thinking about changing their career or are unhappy in their current career and think they are locked into this path in this American dream and how really big successful people all over the world have done 180s in pivots and made really awesome successful life stories out of that. To think about that and meditate on it and make your own changes. Ben Forstag: As Chris pointed out, that runs so counter to this narrative that exists out there. Think of all the kids in college who, you have to go study X so that you can get out of college and get job Y and then you can progress up the ladder to point Z at the end. It really doesn’t work that way. I think about all the stress I put on myself or that all the young people put on themselves to figure out what they want at the age of 18 or at the age of 16 when you first meet with that college counselor who is trying to get you into the right school. It’s a little bit crazy because people’s careers don’t play out in that linear way. The point I liked was near the end. That very simple question of did today matter? There are days with any job, even with this job Mac where some days I walk out of the office and I don’t feel good about things. The day didn’t matter and I wasn’t happy. It’s sometimes things that I had control over. Some things I didn’t. The goal is to get more aware of the things that you can control and try doing things that do make you feel like today mattered. Fortunately, I think at this job, most days do feel like that. Mac Prichard: Well, good. Ben Forstag: That’s good. I think that’s just like an easy check to ask yourself every day to make sure whether you’re on the right path or not. Mac Prichard: I agree with both of you. Something that stood out for me was acknowledging that you can learn from failure. For me, I think I’ve talked about this before. I’ve worked on … I’ve lost count of how many losing political campaigns over the years but from each of them I’d learned something and I got something from the experience. I benefited from it and so did my employers down the line. Thank you both and thank you, our listeners. If you like what you hear on the show, you can help us by leaving a review and rating at iTunes. This helps others discover the show and helps us serve you all better. We’re also celebrating a big milestone this week. Over the weekend, we reached 50,000 downloads since we launched the show on October 17th. That’s more than 10,000 downloads a month. We continue to rank in the top 40 in the iTunes career chart. Thank you all, our listeners, and thank you for letting your friends and colleagues know about the show. We know we’ve grown largely by word of mouth. I also want to share a review we’ve received on iTunes. It’s from Nathan Cole Howard who writes, “Find Your Dream Job is the go-to podcast for millennials in search of their first job or their next job. I’ve recommended it to entire departments at colleges in Oregon and to at least a dozen friends. Definitely subscribe if you’re on the look.” Thank you Nathan, and thanks to the scores of other listeners who’ve left a review. Take a moment and leave your own comments and rating. Just go to www.macslist.org/itunes. Thanks for listening and we’ll be back next Wednesday with more tools and tips you can use to find your dream job.
Interviews and documentaries about Nonprofit Organizations in Portland Oregon
In this episode we'll hear from the February 28th live show where Phil Busse interviewed current city council candidate and founder of Reading Frenzy on Mississippi Avenue, Chloe Eudaly. They spoke about her background in activism, the reasons why she is currently running for a seat on Portland's council and the ways in which nonprofits and government interact to strive to make our city a better place to live for all. In the second half of the show Phil speaks with Mac Prichard of Prichard Communications, a Portland company that provides communications to social changemakers across the country to help make the world a better place. They have supported numerous nonprofits over the years and Mac Pritchard explains to us why, especially for nonprofits it is vital to have a strategic plan for communications and marketing to reach their organizational goals.
Find Your Dream Job: Insider Tips for Finding Work, Advancing your Career, and Loving Your Job
You may want a gig with a cool corporation like Nike, Google, or Apple. Perhaps you’ve targeted a big government agency or a nonprofit. Or maybe your goal is to land a job with small employer. Wherever you’re going, one day you will send your resume to a human resources (HR) department. For many job seekers the human resources department can seem like a black hole–a place where applications disappear without a trace. But there is a science to working with HR; and, when you know how the process works, a human resources department can be your gateway to a great job. This week on Find Your Dream Job Mac gets the inside scoop from long-time HR professional, Melissa Anzman. After 13 years in corporate human resources, Melissa started a new career as a career advisor, author, and business coach. Melissa shares her tips on how to navigate the HR hiring process and make it work to your advantage. In this 38-minute episode you will learn: How to get your foot in the door with an HR department What HR is looking for in candidates, resumes, and cover letters How your interview with HR is different from your interview with the hiring manager How to make HR representatives your advocate in a job search Why you shouldn’t try to work around the proscribed HR hiring process This week’s guest: Melissa Anzman (@melissaanzman)Principal, Launch YourselfAuthor of How to Land a Job: Secrets from an HR InsiderCopper Mountain, Colo. Listener question of the week: How should I prepare to negotiate my salary? Do you have a question you’d like us to answer on a future episode? Please send your questions to Cecilia Bianco, Mac’s List Community Manager at cecilia@macslist.org. Resources referenced on this week’s show: GlassDoor.com Salary.com Launch Yourself Tips for Writing Post-Interview Thank You Notes How to Interview For your Audience STAR Interviewing Response Techniques How to Land a Job: Secrets from an HR Insider Land Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond) - 2016 Edition If you have a job-hunting or career development resource resource you’d like to share, please contact Ben Forstag, Mac’s List Managing Director at ben@macslist.org. -- Thank you for listening to Find Your Dream Job. If you like this show, please help us by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support!Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com. -- FULL TRANSCRIPT Mac Prichard: This is "Find Your Dream Job", a podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want, and make a difference in life. I'm Mac Prichard, your host and publisher of Mac's List. Our show is brought to you by Mac's List and our book "Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond". To learn more about the book and the updated edition that we're publishing in February, visit macslist.org/ebook. Thanks for joining us today. This week on "Find Your Dream Job", we're talking about how to work with an employer's human resources department. You may want a gig with a cool corporation like Nike, Google, or Apple. Perhaps, you've targeted a big government agency or a nonprofit or maybe your goal is to land a job with a small employer. Wherever you're going, one day you will send your resume to a human resources, or HR, department. Many employers rely on human resources staff to advertise, accept, and screen all job applications. Before you get to see a hiring manager, you may have an interview with someone in human resources. Should you try to go around the human resources office and talk to a hiring manager directly? What do you do if the HR people never call you back? This week, we'll talk about these and other questions with longtime human resources insider, Melissa Anzman. She'll share her secrets for what you need to do when working with an HR department, but first, let's start as we do every week by checking in with the Mac's List team, Ben Forstag and Cecilia Bianco. How are you two doing this week? Ben Forstag: I'm doing good, Mac. Cecilia Bianco: Doing really good. Mac Prichard: All right. It's good to see you both. Now, in your careers, have you two applied for jobs through human resources departments? What happened next if you did? Ben Forstag: I remember back before email when sometimes on job listings they would say, "Hand deliver your resume and cover letter to the human resources department." I remember a really cold winter afternoon in Cleveland, Ohio where I went downtown, went into a big office building to drop off a resume, and I got to the human resources department. No one was there. The door was open. There was a counter, the lights were on, but no one would respond when I was asking like, "Hello? Anyone here?" I ended up just leaving my resume on the counter and walking out. Mac Prichard: You didn't write at the top, "One we must interview"? Ben Forstag: That would have probably gotten me better results than I got. Mac Prichard: Okay. Ben Forstag: The results I did get were ... No one ever called me back. Mac Prichard: Oh. Well, that sounds like a pretty lonely place. Ben Forstag: Yeah. Maybe it was good that I missed that opportunity. Mac Prichard: Yeah. How about you, Cecilia? Cecilia Bianco: Yeah. I've done some online applications to HR departments, but I've never really heard back from them and I never get contact back until I've tracked down a hiring manager on LinkedIn or however you can find 'em. Mac Prichard: Yeah. I've had the most success with hiring managers. As Ben was telling his story, a memory that came to mind was going Downtown before a deadline on a Friday afternoon and dropping off my application. It was at the reception desk. The receptionist had two large boxes and they were filled with dozens of resumes and packets. I never heard back from them, either. Ben Forstag: Was one box labeled "Yes" and the other one labeled "No"? Mac Prichard: No, they were kind enough to wait until the doors were closed to do the sorting. We'll talk about human resources departments because there are ways you can work with them effectively. Melissa knows how to do that and she's going to be sharing that with us. First, let's turn to you, Ben. Every week, you're sharing with us different resources you've found. What have you located this week on the internet? Ben Forstag: Today, we're going to be talking about the website Glassdoor.com. Now, I know we've mentioned this in passing last week, but I think this resource deserves a little bit more attention. We're going to spend a few minutes just chatting about it. Mac and Cecilia, have you guys ever used Glassdoor.com in your own job search or for some other research purpose? Cecilia Bianco: Yeah. I actually look at it all the time. Sometimes to see what employers are posting on Mac's List and making sure they're legitimate. It's just a great resource overall to find out about your local job market. Mac Prichard: I've looked at it too as part of my research to figure out what are good salary ranges for the Portland market. As you know ... In addition to Mac's List, I run a public relations company and I want to make sure that I'm offering the best and most competitive salaries I can. Glassdoor is a great way of helping to determine that. Ben Forstag: Sure. Like many things, Glassdoor has its pros and its cons. I want to sort my conversation today around the good, the bad, and the ugly. The good thing about Glassdoor.com is this is an opportunity to get a sneak peek inside the culture, the salaries, the benefit plans, and the general office environment in lots of different companies. You can go onto the site, you type in a company name, you type in a city, and it spits out a lot of information about what people are getting paid at the organization in general terms, whether they like their office environment, whether they would recommend the job to a friend or a colleague and so forth. You can see the salary ranges for different job titles both nationally and specific to your city. As we know, the same job title could have vastly different salaries in New York City versus Portland, for example. You can learn about the hiring procedures through people who have been interviewed, find out what the interview process look like in terms of ... Was it a phone interview? Was it in person? Were they grilling you with real hard questions or was it a "get to know you" kind of process? You can find out how candidates were recruited, whether it was through sending in an application online or they were recruited by a recruiter or at a job fair and so forth. That last piece is really important because if you want to work for an organization like Nike, for example, you might find that sending in an application through their HR system is really not the best way to get a job there. The best way is through a job fair or to talk to a recruiter. Even if you're not looking for a job, you can use the salary tool to see what other people with your job title are getting paid. As we just mentioned, this is really valuable if you're looking to negotiate for a starting salary or for a pay raise. You can show what your comparables are and say, "This is what the market rate is." Mac, you just mentioned using those comparables to set salary ranges, so it sounds like this is something that you're familiar with job seekers doing. Mac Prichard: It is. Employers, as I mentioned earlier, look at it too because ... When you're hiring staff and you want to keep people onboard, the old role is true: You get what you pay for. You want to make sure that you're offering the most competitive wages and salaries you can and doing this kind of research will help you do that. Ben Forstag: That was the good part. Now, we're going to be talking about the bad part. Mac Prichard: Okay. Ben Forstag: Glassdoor.com ... It really works best for larger organizations. It's not much help if you're applying to a small organization with just a handful of employees. I took the liberty of looking up Mac's List. We're not on there. I looked up Prichard Communications, your other firm, Mac. They're not on there. Mac Prichard: Okay. Ben Forstag: Nike's on there, Intel's on there ... A lot of big Portland firms and firms all around the country and the world are there. The reason for this is because all the data they have is submitted by actual employees or former employees. The larger your workforce, the more likely you're going to have people submitting information about you online. Also, Glassdoor is not great for nonprofit organizations. I looked up several nonprofits that I've worked with and only one of them was listed there. If you're looking for nonprofit backgrounds, probably a better place to start would be on the 990 forms that you can find on places like Charity Navigator. That's how you would find out what the executive director is being paid, what other high level executives are being paid within organizations. Mac Prichard: Why do you think that's so, Ben? Is it a reflection of the size of many nonprofits? Is that why we're not seeing them pop up on this site? Ben Forstag: I'm guessing so. A vast majority of nonprofit organizations are pretty small. We're talking less than five employees. The same rule that applied to the for-profits: The more employees you have, the more likely you're going to have reviews online? It applies for nonprofits as well. Much of the data, as I mentioned, is provided by current and former employees, so the data tends to be a little bit skewed either very positive or very negative. Not a whole lot right in the middle. You ready for the ugly? Mac Prichard: Sure. Ben Forstag: Okay. The ugly is, if you spend too much time on Glassdoor, you start finding that some of the reviews are very, very negative. People really slamming their former boss or the former organization. They had a bad experience at a company and so, they just want to take revenge. All the reviews are anonymous, so people feel that they can go out and just write whatever they want. Now, one organization that I worked with in the past was listed there. It was a small organization and there was a very negative review of that organization. There was enough data in this anonymous review that I knew who wrote it. I would suggest if you have something negative to say, think twice before you write anything on Glassdoor.com, especially if you work in a real small organization. You don't want to burn bridges if you don't need to. If someone can identify you through any information you leave on that site, that really destroys any kind of professional credibility you have moving forward. Certainly you can't use that organization as a reference anymore. That's the good, the bad, and the ugly of Glassdoor.com. Mac Prichard: Thank you, Ben. Do you have a suggestion for Ben? Write him and we may share your idea on the show. His email address is ben@macslist.org. Now, it's time to hear from Cecilia Bianco, our community manager. Cecilia is in touch with you, our listeners, throughout the week and she joins us to answer one of your questions. Cecilia, what do you have for us this week? What's the question of the week? Cecilia Bianco: Oh thanks, Mac. Our question is, "How should I prepare to negotiate my salary?" The main piece of advice I have for this is to do your research and go into a negotiation extremely prepared and knowledgeable. Ben's resource this week is actually a great place to start. Glassdoor, Salary.com, and other websites like these allow you to see what other people in your role are making. You can compare your offer to the local market and see how it matches up. As Ben mentioned, you can search nationally and locally, so always try to narrow it down to salary specific to your city. Sometimes they don't have enough information to provide an average, but it's still a good practice to always check. Then, an easy to get good local information is to ask your peers, family, friends, really anyone you're comfortable discussing this with in your professional network. That can help confirm or support your online research, too. Ben and Mac, I'm curious if you've used research like this when you've negotiated in past jobs. Mac Prichard: Well, I have to say ... As the two of you speak, I'm just reflecting on the fact that you both have anniversaries coming up after the holidays. Ben Forstag: Speaking of which, Mac ... Cecilia Bianco: Yeah. Mac Prichard: As your employer, I better check out these sites and get ready for those meetings after the Christmas holidays, but seriously ... I am serious on that. I have used research like this in negotiating with employees or when I've had jobs myself and have approached employers. It's good to have the facts in your corner when you're making the case for either a higher salary for starting a position or for an annual adjustment. How about you, Ben? Ben Forstag: I haven't. I wish I had this data like three or four years ago. When I moved from Washington DC to Portland, I really struggled because I got a job offer, but because the cost of living is so different between those two cities, it was really hard for me to evaluate what my value was. I was making one amount in DC and for the comparable job in Portland, the job offer said the value was significantly less than what I was making in DC. I just didn't have the data behind me to justify whether that was a good offer or a bad offer. Cecilia Bianco: Yeah, definitely. It's really important to know the local market. Then beyond that, I think it's important to think about the job you're negotiating for specifically. Reflect on how competitive the applicant pool was and if the employer's been hiring for the position for a long time. Basically, the harder it was for the employer to find you and hire you for the job, the more negotiating power you're going to have. I know negotiating can feel really uncomfortable, but it's important to get paid what you believe you deserve. Just prepare yourself to really make it easier because the more prepared you are, the more confident and ease you're going to feel when you start negotiations. Mac, from your point of view as an employer, what types of research or negotiation tactics do you feel are effective? Mac Prichard: I always find it persuasive when someone shows me data for salaries for comparable positions in the local market. It could come from the websites that you cited. I also hear from readers all the time that they often look at Mac's List not because they're looking for work, but they're curious to know what jobs like theirs are paying. Visit websites and job boards to pull those kinds of figures and I think you'll be much more effective in making your case. Something else I want to say about negotiating salaries ... There's research out there that shows that men are more likely to ask for higher salaries when they are negotiating for a job for the first time or for raises than women. I think the employers expect to hear those requests, so I encourage you whatever your gender. Do your homework. Take some time to study negotiating techniques. It'll pay off because once you're in a job, you're setting a base, a foundation, that will likely be that, a base, for several years upon which annual increases will be made. Don't be afraid to be assertive. Cecilia Bianco: Yeah. That makes sense. I think that one thing we commonly see is that people undervalue what they bring to the table, especially after a long job search or they're just afraid to miss out on an opportunity because of what they want to be paid. Really, as Mac just said, it's better to talk it through in negotiations with an employer rather than accept the job at a salary that's going to make you feel undervalued through each raise because you're not going to get a twenty percent raise ever, likely. It's better to do it when you're just starting. The worst that can happen is that they say no and you have to compromise. Don't forget that you can also negotiate for better benefits if the salary you want is really just out of reach. Mac and Ben, anything to add? Any last tips? Mac Prichard: I think ... Any candidate is at their most attractive to an employer when there's an offer on the table. That's the time to ... As you say, don't be afraid to ask. The worst thing you're going to hear is no. If you don't ask, you won't get it. Cecilia Bianco: Yeah. That's true. If you're interested in more tips on figuring out how to talk about your value to an employer, you'll find several blog posts on Mac's List if you search for "salary negotiation". Mac Prichard: Well, thanks, Cecilia. If you have a question for Cecilia, you can email her. Her email address is cecilia@macslist.org. The segments by Ben and Cecilia are sponsored by the 2016 edition of "Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond". We're making the complete Mac's List guide even better by adding new content and making the book available on multiple e-reader platforms. When we launch the revised version in February, you'll be able to access "Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond" on your Kindle, Nook, iPad, and other digital devices. You'll also be able to order a paperback edition. Whatever the format, our goal is the same. To give you the tools and tips you need to get meaningful work. For more information, visit macslist.org/ebook and sign up for our e-book newsletter. We'll send you publication updates, share exclusive book content, and provide you with special pre-sale prices. Now, let's turn to our expert guest, Melissa Anzman. Melissa is a certified executive coach who helps people get on the right career track and enjoy success in the workplace. She's worked with hundreds of people to grow their careers to the next level. Before starting LaunchYourJob.com, Melissa spent thirteen years in the corporate world as a human resource leader. She's also the author of "How to Land a Job: Secrets of an HR Insider". Well, Melissa, thanks for joining us today. Melissa Anzman: Thanks so much for having me, Mac. It's always fun chatting with you and your team. Mac Prichard: Yeah. It's a pleasure to have you here. Well, let's turn to our topic today "human resources departments". I have to say, Melissa. When I was doing my homework, I was looking online on this subject and words like "guards", "gatekeepers", and "black hole" kept popping up when I was searching under "human resources" and job hunter-ing. Why do you think human resources departments have that reputation? Melissa Anzman: Yeah. It's definitely one that's unfortunately common and not very flattering of a distinction. Human resources departments get a bad rap because they really are sort of the face of a lot of behind the scenes work. When you're applying to a job, there's one person in HR that you'll talk to usually when you need help with the application, another person in HR takes care of it and then, there's that comp, compensation person, who does sort of the ... What your offer'll be and so on and so forth. A lot of times, HR gets a bad rap when it comes to the hiring process because they are the gatekeeper in that they're the first line of defense to get your foot in the door at a company. As you've learned in a previous podcast with Jenny, with Job Jenny I should say, Jenny Foss, the first step is usually the online application system. A lot of times we blame HR, who are people, for things that something a system may have kicked in or kicked out. Mac Prichard: I'm glad you brought that up because HR departments aren't going away, so we have to work with them whether we're hiring managers or applicants. Let's talk about how you do that and some effective strategies. Let's start. How do you recommend listeners approach an HR department? What's a good way of getting started? Melissa Anzman: Absolutely. There is a science to working with HR. Unfortunately, the science is going to be tweaked a little bit depending on the company and the size and all of that fun stuff. There's sort of three ways that you can work really well with them in order to get your foot in the door, in order to move along in the hiring process, and so on. The most important one is understanding and realizing your own personal value proposition. HR ... If you sort of put your feet in their shoes, HR gets a ton of resumes. Lots of qualified candidates particularly for super cool awesome jobs, right? They're also getting those resumes and applications from people who are cream of the crop. Top tier, high potential, great talent. It's up to you to market yourself and really showcase for them. Make it easy for them to say yes to you. Know what value you bring to the table and tell them that early and often and repeatedly during the process. Mac Prichard: What are some practical ways that people can do that? I'm an applicant, I'm not afraid to bang my own drum, or toot my own horn, rather. How can I do that? I've got to fill out a form, I may not be able to get somebody on the phone. What have you as being on the other side of that door inside an HR department seen work well? Melissa Anzman: Your resume is your first tool if you're going to go blind. I would say the thing on your resume is I don't want to read a bullet point list of skill sets you have. That doesn't help me as an HR person. What I want to understand ... I want to see results driven, metric driven information on your resume of what you've done. That whole "show, don't tell me" is so important when you're applying. Another way you can do that is how you follow up. That's sort of the second thing of networking and outreaching. How you follow up, you have to consistently reinforce your value proposition. This is why you have to meet me before you move any further in the process. If you can convince an HR person to do that, you'll go far along because they are sort of that gatekeeper. To do that, you just have to showcase who you uniquely are. It's your approach, it's leveraging all the tools in your toolbox. If you're online, making sure that you're positioning yourself as a subject matter expert in that field. If you're using just a resume, it's super detail oriented, data driven, metric driven information, so that the HR person is not guessing your capabilities. You also have a great platform on LinkedIn. LinkedIn allows them to research you whether it's for a first time or they're just looking or they're a sourcer or maybe they're following up on a resume. You really want that to be a good calling card for you as well. Mac Prichard: Know your value, document it with metrics, facts, and figures, and put that in your application, but don't stop there. Look at the other opportunities you have online to make your case through your LinkedIn profile as well as demonstrating your expertise, your leadership, in the field through blogging or participating in forums. Tactics like that. Is that step number one? Melissa Anzman: Absolutely. That is step number one. I would just like to say one more thing on that. When you're writing anything that goes towards your value proposition, make sure each sentence answers the question, "So what?" Why would the resume reader or the HR person care about that sentence or bullet point or metric or whatever that is? Get really tight on your messaging because you don't have a hundred times to make an impression. You really have one. Be super clear and concise and efficient with your words and answer "So what?" every time. Mac Prichard: Great advice, Melissa. Now, what's the next step? The application's in, the online platforms are in good shape. What should an applicant be doing next to connect with HR and get beyond them and in front of the hiring manager? Melissa Anzman: Yeah. The second step is one that I personally dreaded for a long time myself. It's kind of the tried and true step, but it's about networking and outreach. I think the word "networking" in this instance is a terrible fit because what you have to do is you kind of have to pursue or make some outreach or try and get on a first date essentially, right? You're trying to get this HR person interested enough in you that they want to date you, that they'll ask you out. To do that, you don't just send an email to someone. Although now, you probably do less than that with all the apps out there, but when you're talking about work, you have to follow up. I don't mean you send an email to the careers@entercompanyname.com website. You spend ... It takes ten minutes or so on LinkedIn and Google to find the email address of a hiring manager or find the email address of the recruiter. You send them a note and you express your interest. You think about your value proposition and you show it to them in your email super short and sweet. Let them have their contact information. You've sort of opened the door for a first date. Mac Prichard: Melissa, I just want to pause there because I can imagine some listeners saying, "Okay. All I have is careers@mydreamcompany.com. How do I find the name of the recruiter or the hiring manager? I can figure out how to get their email address once I know the name, but what's the secret to getting that name?" Melissa Anzman: Yeah. I mean, getting the name is hard and I have some suggestions on a post that you can definitely include in the show notes, Mac. Essentially, you have to think like a researcher here. This is kind of a skill that went to the way ... I'm going to sound really old now ... Went to the wayside with the internet and Google. You need to do your research. That's about searching for the company ... Here's how I'd do it on LinkedIn. I'll search for the company and I'll put sort of the company and the department that I'm interested in, or the department and recruiter. Then, you'll see a list of names that pop up that fit that thing and you want to filter it down to "current", etc, etc. When you start looking at profiles, LinkedIn gives you some suggestions on the right-hand side. I tend to find the suggestions to be super helpful because good recruiters in particular usually have their "I focus on this area at this company." You can usually find pretty easily the recruiter's name by just narrowing it down on LinkedIn in that regard. Mac Prichard: Good. That's step number two. You've found the person you want to connect with, you've thought about ways to network with them and reach out to them directly, and make that case. What do you do next, Melissa? Melissa Anzman: The next thing is something that people forget. Just completely forget. That's really understanding and knowing your audience. Not all people on the hiring process timeline or the candidate experience are created equal. When you're dealing with a front line, so the first point of contact recruiter, they don't know details about the job you're trying to do. What I mean by that is they don't know the nitty gritty details of the technical aspects of your role. They have fifty, sixty ... I don't know, hundreds sometimes, at some companies of requisitions open across their table. Their expertise is to recruit, not to know your department. When you talk to them, they are looking for culture fit, your personality ... They're trying to understand if you have the basic skills for the role, so you're using the right jargon and words that describe the position as someone else has described it to them. They are not at all interested in knowing about the super nitty gritty details that make no sense to anybody outside your industry or your position much less, during that process. As soon as you start talking to that person around things that make no sense to them, you've lost them. They're already tuning out. Mac Prichard: Okay. Technical skills matter, but save that for your conversation with the hiring manager. I just want to clarify, Melissa. When we're talking about recruiters, we're talking about people within an HR department who are tasked ... Whose job it is to recruit people for that company. We're not talking about headhunters who might be under contract working outside the company. Melissa Anzman: Absolutely. Sorry for that. Yeah. When I say recruiter, it's always that internal resource within HR that's responsible for getting people in the door for the role. Mac Prichard: Okay. Now, I'm often asked, what about just bypassing HR altogether? I think sometimes people think, "If I could just go around the HR department and get in front of the hiring manager, all my problems would be solved." What's your reaction to that? Melissa Anzman: Well, it's hard. There isn't a one size fits all there. I would say be very careful if you do that, right? You're not going to be creating any friends or anything of that regard to do that. Also, at most companies particularly in different states and just sort of what state laws are and all of that fun stuff, you do have to go through the official hiring process to get an offer. I am all for you making that first connection, that first introduction, that first outreach, whatever it is with the hiring manager directly, but you should also instantly get on the right train. What I mean by that is get onto the process that the company wants you to go through. If you're a great candidate and you're sort of someone that that person, the hiring manager, loves anyway, it's going to make no difference other than the fact that you're going to actually walk into a company with friends instead of having HR as an enemy. Mac Prichard: Okay. I also hear from people who ask me, "What can I do after I've applied for a job and I get a rejection letter from HR? Should I call the human resources department? Should I still try to reach out to the hiring manager?" What options do people have at that point in the process? Melissa Anzman: Well, I think it depends on how far along in the process you got. If you just applied and got an auto-generated email or even a personal email saying, "Thank you for your application. We're going in a different direction", that's where the conversation should end. There's nothing you can glean from it. Maybe it was an internal candidate that they hired, maybe you were too late in the process. I mean, there's just so many things and they're not going to tell you. That would be that case. If you're further along ... Let's say you've been interviewing with them. You've seen somebody in person or you've talked to someone in person. I don't really recommend that you continue the conversation unless something odd happened. Maybe you're just sort of not feeling like you got closure or an answer or something like that, that would be the only case where I would say continue. Usually, they are restricted by some laws to tell you what went wrong in the interview process, right? They are going to be very careful if you ask them that question. They're not really apt to helping you improve your interviewing skills going forward unless you created a good rapport with that recruiter. Mac Prichard: Okay. Now if you are invited in for an interview, often you start with the human resources department and then, advance on to a conversation with the hiring manager. Are those two different conversations and should people prepare for them in different ways? Melissa Anzman: Absolutely. They are night and day different conversations, or they should be. If they're not ... Take a step back and level set yourself going forward. When you're interviewing with HR ... You need to talk about you and yourself and your personality and your strengths. That kind of focus. Really high level, "I'm a fit for this organization." When you move to a conversation with the hiring manager, they're thinking about different things. They want to know ... Can you do the job? They're going to ask themselves what a pain or not pain you will be to manage. I know I'm not supposed to say that, but it's true, right? When we're trying to hire someone, we're like, "How much work is this going to be for me?" You want to make sure your conversations are geared in that regard. They also want to understand more about you as a person. What makes you tick, what motivates you, if you would fit on the team that's already there, as well as those technical skills. It's a very different conversation with the hiring manager than it should be with HR. Mac Prichard: What's the best way to follow up on those separate conversations? Melissa Anzman: I always believed in a thank you note. I have a little template on my site which, again, feel free to include, of when to send an email thank you versus when to send an actual thank you note and when in the process. Any time you talk to or meet with somebody, you absolutely need to follow up. Email is a little bit more instantaneous, so that's great for a lot of different situations, but there are definitely some levels and some roles that you want to write an actual handwritten thank you note. Mac Prichard: We'll be sure to include a link to that page in the show notes. We're coming to close of our interview, Melissa. What are some other things that our listeners should think about? Melissa Anzman: Yeah. I would just say when you're interviewing, we have a tendency as we're very nervous in an interview to ramble on. It's a skill you can absolutely learn and get better at. I always recommend that you practice what I call "STARS". That's a pretty typical term, but it means everything that you answer, every single answer in a interview conversation can be framed around a specific situation or task, the action that you took, and the result to the company for it. That's only three sentences if you want to be super efficient to get your point across. By doing so, not only are you adding a lot of value to the conversation and making that HR person or the hiring manager love you because they know you know what you're doing, but you're also keeping them engaged in the conversation, which has a lot longer of a tale for your winning, I guess, through the process ... Through your success through the process, I should say. Mac Prichard: That's terrific, Melissa. I know that we've been talking about human resource departments, but ... Would you have different advice if an agency doesn't have an HR department, particularly, the smaller employers? Are there things that would be appropriate to do that you haven't described here? Melissa Anzman: Yeah. I mean, I think when an organization is smaller and don't have the HR resources, usually the hiring manager or someone else is managing the process. You're almost cutting out a middleman a lot of the time, which is great, which is in the favor of the candidate every single time. Instead of following up with HR, go directly to the person that you should be working with or outreach directly to the hiring manager because you have that opportunity. I would still say make sure you know your audience in the interview process. It may not be an HR person, but maybe you're meeting with a finance person who's going to care a lot about a lot of different things than your hiring manager. Just keep that in mind, but it will play out a little differently by cutting out a middleman. Mac Prichard: Great. Well, thank you, Melissa. You can find Melissa online at LaunchYourJob.com. You can also buy her book "How to Land a Job: Secrets of an HR Insider" at her website and on Amazon.com. We'll be sure to include links to your website and your book in the show notes. Thank you again, Melissa, for joining us. Melissa Anzman: Thanks so much for having me, Mac. Mac Prichard: We're back with Ben and Cecilia. What did you two think? What were some of the most important points you heard Melissa make? Cecilia Bianco: I got a lot out of that. I think she has ... An inside view that we don't hear a lot, particularly about not going around HR. Sometimes we hear it's a lot easier if you can get straight to the hiring manager, but clearly that will do more harm than good in the end if you get the job. I thought that was a really important tip. Ben Forstag: I liked that she outlined the process to work with them because I think, in my perspective, it's always been if you send your job application to "careers@", it is the black hole. Nothing's going to happen to it. I've just stopped doing that in my own job searches, but it does sound like there is a process and that if you follow the right steps, you can get some traction going through HR. Mac Prichard: Yeah. I think that's an important point and to know the process. There's a leadership talk I attended once at a conference. The one thing I remember ... It was delivered by a retired US Naval Officer. He said, "Learn the system and make the system work for you." Having that insider perspective, Cecilia, I agree is really important. Knowing that process and doing the homework to uncover it and understand it can pay benefits for you down the line. Good. Well, thank you all for listening. We'll be back next week with more tools and tips you can use to find your dream job. In the meantime, visit us at macslist.org. You can sign up for our free newsletter there and you'll find more than a hundred new jobs every week. If you like what you hear on our show, please help us by leaving a review and rating at iTunes. This will help others discover our show and help us reach more job seekers. Thank you for listening.
Find Your Dream Job: Insider Tips for Finding Work, Advancing your Career, and Loving Your Job
Local radio station KINK 101.9 recently interviewed our very own Mac Prichard, founder of Mac's List! Host Sheila Hamilton spoke with Mac about how Mac's List started, what we offer today, and key job-hunting tips in today's local market. The broadcast originally aired Sunday, November 15, 2015. We want to share this interview with you, our podcast listeners, as the material covered in the broadcast is broadly applicable to all job seekers--whether you are based in Portland or anywhere else. In this 14-minute episode you will learn: The story of Mac's List from its early start to today Do's and dont's of the modern job search The 80/20 rule to follow as you look for work Resources to aid your search in Portland Thank you for listening to Find Your Dream Job. If you like the show, please help us by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! FULL TRANSCRIPT John Sepulvado: This is “Find Your Dream Job,” the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want, and make a difference in life. I’m John Sepulvado, producer of the podcast. I’ve temporarily taken over hosting duties for this special bonus edition of Find Your Dream Job. You see, our usual host, Mac Prichard, has turned into a radio star! On Sunday, November 15, Mac was interviewed on a local Portland radio station, KINK 101.9. He chatted with the host, Sheila Hamilton, about the local job scene and shared several job-hunting tips. We want to share this interview with you, our podcast listeners, as we think the material covered in the broadcast is broadly applicable to all job seekers--whether you are based in Portland or anywhere else. So sit back and enjoy this bonus episode of Find Your Dream Job. Sheila Hamilton: It is such a pleasure to welcome into my studio, Mac Prichard, who is a long-time friend, the author of "How to Find Your Dream Job in Portland", the author of the Mac's List, the CEO of Mac's List I suppose you call yourself- Mac Prichard: I'm the publisher, yes. Sheila Hamilton: And a person who really is so important, so key in knowing if you want to work in Portland because you seem to have tentacles all throughout our community. It's so good to see you again. Mac Prichard: It's terrific to see you again, Sheila. Sheila Hamilton: Why did you ... I knew you back in City Government, we were both covering City Government a long long time ago, why did you decide to move into employment and helping people secure their dream jobs? Mac Prichard: Well, I went down to Salem after City Hall when you and I worked together, and I after working for the governor and as a spokesman for different state agencies, I took a position with Portland State and I wanted to stay in touch with my colleagues in Salem. We all get job postings, they all cross our desks occasionally, so in order to remain connected with people I just started forwarding the postings I got to a few dozen people in Salem. As the years went by, and Mac's List is a 14 year overnight success, I started hearing from employers I didn't know and people I didn't know who said, "Add me to your list". It grew slowly, at the end of eight years we had less than a thousand names but right now we have more than twenty thousand, and we have about eighty thousand people who take advantage, visit Mac's List, the website, the social media accounts, and the newsletter, and the podcasts. Sheila Hamilton: Now, I noticed your strength seems to be in non-profit and government work, but you're also doing private business now it appears, right? Mac Prichard: We are and I think you know, Sheila, I run two small businesses. One is macslist.org, which is the online community for people looking for rewarding creative work in Oregon and beyond, and the other is Prichard Communications, it's a public relations company that works with foundations, non-profits, and other social change organizations, and my career- I'm in my fifties now, has always been about making a difference on issues I care about or in the community where I live and work, ideally both, and I have used my communication skills to do that and what also connects both companies is we're really good at connecting people because we find when we connect folks, whether it's through our public relations work at Prichard Communications or at Mac's List, great things happen. Sheila Hamilton: If a person's coming to Portland and they want to know what the variety of jobs that are available, do they need to sign up for your list? Mac Prichard: Yes, we have a free newsletter. It goes out every Tuesday at 2PM Pacific Time, and they're typically about a hundred new jobs there every week, and you'll find three or four hundred on the website which is also free at macslist.org, but the newsletter comes out every Tuesday. Sheila Hamilton: And then are you actually connecting people with jobs that you think that you're like, "Your profile looks to me like you'd be really good over there", or are you leaving that up to them to do? Mac Prichard: We're leaving it up to the job-seeker. As we've done this work, we've learned an old lesson which is ... And I had this experience too. Most people, including me at the start of my career, we don't know how to look for work, and so it's not a skill that's taught in schools or universities, and we learn it by trial and error. That's certainly what I did, and so in addition to the job listings, we have a blog, a book, and a podcast that shares the tips and tricks people need to not only find their next job, but have a great career. Sheila Hamilton: What I loved, and I just listened to the podcast a couple of weeks ago, is you're providing content on that podcast that isn't just applicable to Portland, you're providing job-seeking tips and tricks of the trade that's applicable to anyone seeking a job in any part of the country. Mac Prichard: And that's by design because we do hear from people across the United States and the information that we're sharing can be used by anywhere. Sheila Hamilton: On your podcast you have structured it in a really interesting way. You kind of do the state of the job thing, you divide it into little specific tips, what people do wrong. What have you found to be the most popular segments on the podcast? Mac Prichard: Right now we're hearing great things about the expert interviews, people are hungry for that knowledge. Connecting people with those experts has been popular. We've also had good feedback about the information that my colleagues share, Ben Forstag every week shares blogs or books or websites that people can use in managing their career, and Cecilia Bianca, our community manager, she hears from listeners and readers all the time and she every week answers one of their questions. Sheila Hamilton: I want to get in to some of the do's and don'ts of the modern job search. It's so interesting because I haven't had to look for a job in almost ten years, but I'm constantly reading blogs and journal articles about job searching. I don't know why, it's just an area of interest to me. It seems to me that the old adage of being personally connected is still very true. Mac Prichard: It is and we strongly encourage people to follow an 80/20 rule. There's an estimate out there, nobody knows for certain, but up to 80% of all jobs may never be advertised, and it's not because there's some giant conspiracy, it's because it's human nature. People hire people they know, or they hire people who are recommended to them by others who they know and trust. Your challenge as a job-seeker is to crack that hidden job market, and the best way to do it is to spend up to 80% of your time networking, volunteering, doing informational interviews, so that you're building relationships and people are connecting with you. Sheila Hamilton: And the other 20% of the time? Mac Prichard: Look at job boards and there are many boards out there. Mac's List is one, lots of niche boards, whatever your professional, there's undoubtedly a niche board connected to it. There's also don't ignore traditional newspapers and whether online or in print because positions do get posted there, but most people because they don't know otherwise, they spend 100% of their time responding to job boards and newspaper ads. They really should only be spending about 20 to 30%. Sheila Hamilton: Wow. I want to talk about the generation of kids that just came out of college, 2008 to 2012, I just heard dismal statistics about their ability to actually find meaningful jobs. Have those improved at all in the last two years for that section of graduates who came out of college with a lot of debt and not a lot of hope in terms of the economy? Mac Prichard: There's research out there Sheila, which you probably seen that says whatever your generation, if you graduate during a recession, that's going to have a long-term affect on your earnings, and so that timing can be unfortunate. Your challenge if you're in that generation or graduating during the middle of a recession is to get really good about your job hunting and career management skills to make an extra effort because the market is always competitive, but it's especially competitive when the unemployment rate is as high as it was several years ago. Sheila Hamilton: There's another segment of job-seekers that I'm really concerned about and that's people in their fifties who end up getting laid off from a job and then they're highly skilled and yet seen as perhaps too expensive, perhaps getting into an age when they might use up medical resources, is there any advice you could give to that segment of job-seekers? Mac Prichard: I'm in that demographic group myself, I'm in my mid-fifties, and again mastering job hunting and career management skills is going to serve you very well, and it is challenging. Again, there's research that shows it's harder for people at that stage of life to find a next opportunity and that means you need not only to work harder, but you need to work as smart as possible. Sheila Hamilton: When most people are thinking about job searching, it's when they lose a job. Mac Prichard: Right. Sheila Hamilton: Do you advise people to be searching for your next job while you still have a job? Mac Prichard: I do and again, I speak from personal experience. Twice I've collected unemployment at different points in my career. Once I exhausted my benefits and it wasn't because I was sitting on a beach in Thailand. I was out there looking hard, and so I know how scary it is when you cash that last check and you're not sure what might happen next. From that experience and they both happened once in my twenties and once in my early thirties, it reinforced for me personally how important it is to think about career management and it's just from my father's generation, somebody who graduated from college in 1952, you really would go to a company and stay there most of your life, but for my generation and young adults now it's not true. Making career management part of your professional life is just essential. Sheila Hamilton: Is there an advisor that you can hire. I know that you can join your list, that you can read a lot of books, but should you have a professional in your corner? Mac Prichard: It can help a lot and you have a lot of options, so for those who went to college, connecting with your university career service office while you're both a student and an alumni can be very helpful. The first time after I cashed my last unemployment check in my twenties, my wife was working at Northeastern University in Boston and someone in the career services office agreed to meet with me. It was so helpful, Sheila. She took me through a goal-setting process, taught me the basics of networking and informational interviewing, and with that coaching I landed a job in about two months. Sheila Hamilton: That's fantastic. Mac Prichard: There are professionals out there who do this as a living, resume writers, career coaches, and as with any vendor you should shop around and be clear about what your needs are and interview people and get references, but they can be very helpful. Sheila Hamilton: Lastly, I just want to talk about Portland as I'm seeing it and I kind of try to pay attention to what's happening here. We are still really strong in the cultural creative realm where young people are coming and starting their own very small businesses. We're not that strong in terms of big companies coming here and developing a Fortune 500 and hiring hundreds of people. Is that model gone? Do you think that model is not really going to be the thing that drives Portland jobs anymore? Mac Prichard: Well, who knows if there's a Jeff Bezos or another CEO in Portland today who's going to create that company, so a lot of it depends on the community and the people within it, but I think small business have always been the largest employers overall. That's not a change and I think that is one of Portland's strengths actually compared to other regions. It's a place where I hear from employers and I experience this as an employer myself where you can start things and when I moved here from the East Coast in 1991, I was impressed by how open the political system was. People would make time to talk to me and I hear from other people in other fields that keep having that experience, and I think that's one of our biggest assets both economically and culturally. Sheila Hamilton: Mac Prichard is our guest today. I want to take the time to allow people to find the podcast, find the list, find all the resources, so why don't you talk about those spots now. Mac Prichard: Visit macslist.org/KINK, we've set up a special landing page, Sheila, for listeners who and if you visit that you can download a free chapter of our book. You'll also find links to the podcast. Every Wednesday morning we post a new episode. The list, the podcast, the blog, which is at macslist.org, they're all free and we would love to hear from people. Sheila Hamilton: You also have it available on iTunes as well, right? Mac Prichard: We do. Sheila Hamilton: Called? Mac Prichard: "Find Your Dream Job". Sheila Hamilton: "Find Your Dream Job". Mac Prichard, it's been so good to see you again. Congratulations on the new endeavor. Mac Prichard: Great. Thank you, Sheila.
Jessica Williams from Prichard Communications and Mac's List, shares her experience of her professional life launching with her personal life. Leaping into the unknown because she just knew she was in the right place, working through new work tasks, and successfully growing her client's reach by over 50% - several years running. She shares what she learned on her journey and how great it was for her professional launch to create and ignite a personal launch, at the same time.
Jessica Williams from Prichard Communications and Mac's List shares her experience of her professional life launching with her personal life. Leaping into the unknown because she just knew she was in the right place, working through new work tasks, and successfully growing her client's reach by over 50% - several years running. She shares what she learned on her journey and how great it was for her professional launch to create and ignite a personal launch, at the same time. Get full show notes and more information here: LaunchYourself.co/session14
Mac Prichard from Prichard Communications is featured in this episode, all about rebranding his business. Mac shares the process he and his team went through to take their business to the next level. Mac shares the approach they took, having to let go of some of the activities that weren't paying off as big as they could, and how their new brand and direction was successful in providing more value to their clients.
Mac Prichard from Prichard Communications is featured in this episode, all about rebranding his business. Mac shares the process he and his team went through to take their business to the next level. Mac shares their rebranding approach, having to let go of some of the activities that weren't paying off as big as they could, and how their new brand and direction was successful in providing even more value to their clients. Get full show notes and more information here: LaunchYourself.co/session10