I can’t believe this is episode #300! In honor, I am offering My Best Career Advice, Academy Award style, in each category I cover.

From time to time on this podcast, I will mention a free resource available to you via my website. Today, I thought I would go over all those resources for you. As a reminder, the URL is exclusivecareercoaching.com.

According to an article from the Wall Street Journal, nearly four million workers left the labor market in the first months of the pandemic — the lowest level of employment since 1983. There were many reasons for this but now, we’re starting to see a post-pandemic resurgence of midcareer workers. There are plenty of statistics and forecasts for how this will continue to develop, but for now, let’s get more personal to job-seekers in this market and discuss what you, as a candidate, can do to make the hiring process more palatable and successful for you.

Today, I am speaking with Ahmed Wasfy, an engineering manager with such giants as Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. In addition to his day job, he provides coaching services to help managers become effective leaders through his company, the Thriving EM. Ahmed explains the purpose of a project manager, the skills and qualities needed to be an effective project manager, and how to break into the field. We also discuss the PMP – Project Management Professional – designation, and whether that credential is necessary to enter into project management work.

Today, we’re talking about how employers are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in job interviews — and what that means for you as a job seeker. AI is being used in the interview process via Natural Language Processing (NLP), chatbots, sentiment analysis, facial expression recognition and visual perception, speech recognition, tone analysis, and decision-making. We’ll talk through some definitions, some categories of tools that companies use, and how to prepare for an AI interview.

Let’s start today’s topic with defining a career pivot, a career reinvention, and a two-step pivot, which achieves the same goal as a Career Reinvention but may allow you to stay at or near your current level. Then we’ll delve into what you need to actually do in your job search if you are pivoting careers.

Today, I want to share some tools on LinkedIn that many people I speak with aren’t aware of. We’ll delve into the advanced search function, cultivating a differentiating, on-brand background, utilizing the featured content section, how to leverage the connections of your connections, and break down the when and how of private mode.

Today, we’re talking about the role that job boards should play in your job search, as well as the most used/best job sites. As I have said repeatedly on this podcast, 1) job boards should NEVER be the only strategy you are using in your job search, and 2) the amount of time you should spend on job boards depends on the of the position you are seeking. As we talk about how to use job boards, keep in mind that there are general boards, niche job boards, and industry-specific job boards. Let’s dive into some of my favorites for each!

Today, I want to talk about behavioral interview questions. Specifically, where do they come from? How can you know what you’re going to be asked so you can prepare appropriate CARL stories? The answer to these questions begins with the job description. We’ll work through how to best prepare yourself for these questions and then stick around to the end for our DIY vs. DFY segment!

This week, I wanted to give you a peek inside my coaching practice…to pull the curtain back, Wizard of Oz-style. Sure, I mention the various things I do with clients throughout episodes, but I’ve never given you the full tour. Here we go.

I’m leaning heavily on an article from cnbc.com by Claire Hughes Johnson entitled “I was VP at Google for 10 years. Here’s the No. 1 skill I looked for at job interviews—very few people had it.” What is this important, yet rare, quality? Self-awareness. Today, we delve into how interviewers check for self-awareness, how to recognize if you’re lacking in self-awareness, and how to build self-awareness.

I found this article from Heidi K. Gardner, Ph.D., who has discovered through more than a decade of teaching and research at Harvard’s business and law schools that people who figured out how to collaborate across teams gained a major competitive edge over those who did not. Dr. Gardner also discovered just how rare collaboration skills are. Today, we’re going to break down exactly what collaboration is, why it’s so important in today’s workforce, and outline the five aspects of being an exceptional collaborator.

This week, I want to talk about how to focus on the right things at work, using Stephen Covey’s Four Quadrants. Let’s think about the Four Quadrants as a tool to manage our ACTIVITIES better — so we are focusing on the right things to get the results we are held accountable for achieving. My challenge for you in this area is this: After listening to this episode, decide to make a small — but significant shift — in one of the quadrants. A shift that will yield substantial results in terms of your productivity.

I talked in episode #268 about leading through a reduction in force — today I want to talk about the signs that your company might be about to do a RIF — and how to be prepared. We’ll discuss ARFO, some signs to look out for, and the red flags that tell you to look somewhere else immediately.

Once again, I am pulling from the book Leading with Emotional Intelligence by Reldan Nadler. In his book, Nadler talks about “The Perfection Loop” — the fact that success-driven people often set unrealistic goals that set them up for failure or frustration. Today, we’ll break down why people set unrealistic goals, the six stages of the Perfection Loop, some indicators that you’re in one, and how to counter it.

Today, we’re talking about leading through a Reduction in Force, or RIF. This episode isn’t just for people who have managerial duties, but also people who lead by influence.

A RIF period at a company is trying for everyone but it also provides a great opportunity to demonstrate leadership and empathy.

Transitioning from managing yourself to managing others — is this the route for you?

For those becoming first-time managers, there is a learning curve, with the biggest change being a shift to begin thinking about others. Let’s talk about the differences when moving from an individual contributor to a manager, issues that can arise and what to do to help, and how to set yourself up for success.

One of my all-time favorite leadership books – certainly the one with the most sticky tabs in it – is Reldan Nadler’s Leading with Emotional Intelligence. I’ve used this resource for other episodes of the podcast, and today I want to talk about tools for building your self-confidence — specifically, Being on Your Side rather than Being on Your Case. Or, as I like to call it, having your own back. While we’re specifically talking about your relationship with yourself in this episode, understand the consequences of that relationship to all the other relationships in your life. If you lead people, you will likely treat them as you treat yourself.

I have been re-reading the book Quiet Leadership: Six Steps to Transforming Performance at Work, by David Rock. One of his concepts jumped out at me, and I wanted to share it with you. Brain science tells us that, when we focus on a behavior we wish to change, we are actually cementing the neural pathway that was created when we began repeating that behavior in the first place. Once a neural pathway is created in our brain, it will always be there. The challenge is not to remove that pathway – we can’t – but rather create a new neural pathway through our thinking and beliefs. Today, we’ll walk through some examples and discuss how we can do this to improve our professional persona.

Today, I want to delve into the three biggest mistakes I see people making in their attempts to brand themselves – as well as the solution. First, we’ll talk about why personal branding is important, then break down the mistakes I see most often, wrapping up with the solution, accompanied by some examples.