Speaker 1: Hey, Hey, ba fam, It's Mandy here with another episode
Speaker 1: of the ba Q and a thank you so much
Speaker 1: for sibmony. Your questions, y'all. I love to read them
Speaker 1: and I love to answer them. If you want to
Speaker 1: submit a question to have read on the show, hit
Speaker 1: us up at Brandnabission podcast dot com or slide into
Speaker 1: our dms. We are at Brandabission Podcast on Instagram and
Speaker 1: we are happy to take them. I keep saying we
Speaker 1: because obviously Tiffany is here in spirit. Continue to send
Speaker 1: her lots and lots of love and virtual hugs, and
Speaker 1: we hope to have you back here soon.
Speaker 2: Tiffany.
Speaker 1: All right, let me jump on in. Today's questions are
Speaker 1: some of my favorite kind of take career questions. Y'all
Speaker 1: know I am the career queen, and I thank y'all
Speaker 1: because these career questions give me life. Oh, we have
Speaker 1: a question from Nick from IG that I cannot wait
Speaker 1: to answer because listen, I have seen a lot of
Speaker 1: people and it's crazy to me how much I've seen
Speaker 1: people spend money on resume writing. So Nix's question is,
Speaker 1: do you think it's worth paying to have your resume
Speaker 1: professionally done?
Speaker 2: Oof?
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, if you follow me on ig or TikTok,
Speaker 1: you know that I have a little bone to pick
Speaker 1: when it comes to resumes in general, not resume writers,
Speaker 1: but the actual document itself. Why are people so obsessed
Speaker 1: with resumes?
Speaker 2: I don't get it, So, I mean, I do understand, obviously.
Speaker 1: It feels like in the worldwide, you know, hunt for
Speaker 1: your dream job, it can feel like the one thing
Speaker 1: that you can control is your resume, and it's kind
Speaker 1: of become like the cornerstone of a whole application now
Speaker 1: is submitting your resume, and we all do it, like
Speaker 1: through the online application tracking system and all of that.
Speaker 1: So it feels really really important. And obviously, when you
Speaker 1: think about it, though, take a step back.
Speaker 2: A resume is a list of previous.
Speaker 1: Professional experience, and the whole purpose of it is to
Speaker 1: tell a future employer like, here's what I got going on,
Speaker 1: Here's where I've worked before and for how long, and
Speaker 1: my titles, and here's what I did while I was there.
Speaker 1: It's very very simple. Can a bad resume cost you
Speaker 1: a job?
Speaker 2: Sure?
Speaker 1: If your resume is really hard to read or it's
Speaker 1: really badly organized, and it's not simple for a hiring
Speaker 1: manager or a recruiter to quickly get those pieces of
Speaker 1: information I just talked about, then yeah, maybe they'll be
Speaker 1: quicker to just like skip past your resume in the pile.
Speaker 1: But it is not the most important thing when it
Speaker 1: comes to getting a good job. And I talked to
Speaker 1: so many people, especially women. I mean, y'all know how
Speaker 1: I've been doing. I started out doing two hundred free
Speaker 1: career coaching sessions earlier this year, and now it's become
Speaker 1: a recurring thing for me. As I do career coaching.
Speaker 1: I have a group coaching cohort called the Mandy money Makers.
Speaker 1: And when I tell you the biggest success stories among
Speaker 1: my coaching mentees and clients and from my Mandy money
Speaker 1: Makers time and time and from my own personal damn experience,
Speaker 1: which I think matters for something right time and time again,
Speaker 1: has nothing to do with the resume that's getting people
Speaker 1: these great jobs and big raises. It's about their people,
Speaker 1: skills and how and who they are able to connect with.
Speaker 1: Now I want to stop you right there, because I
Speaker 1: feel like when I say that, people's responses usually, oh,
Speaker 1: it feels so gross, like is it really who you know?
Speaker 1: And isn't it just like all a boy's club, and
Speaker 1: you know, it's like the gatekeepers are keeping people out
Speaker 1: of it.
Speaker 2: Like it's human nature.
Speaker 1: It's human nature for us to want to connect with
Speaker 1: one another. And when we're thinking of having a human
Speaker 1: being sitting next to us and doing a type of
Speaker 1: work or doing a job, or we're thinking of referring
Speaker 1: someone for an opportunity where they're working with a human
Speaker 1: being that we know, don't you want to refer someone
Speaker 1: who you have like a personal connection with and you've
Speaker 1: actually known them or vetted them, or you remember having
Speaker 1: a great experience with them.
Speaker 2: Like that's just human nature. I mean, the same way.
Speaker 1: That we tell you, guys, the first place to stop
Speaker 1: when you're looking for referral for a financial planner or
Speaker 1: someone to do your plumbing or renovate your house or
Speaker 1: babysit your kids, it's talk to someone who knows someone
Speaker 1: who's great.
Speaker 2: Isn't that the best way to get someone good?
Speaker 1: So that also happens in the job market. And what
Speaker 1: I see for so many job candidates who are feeling
Speaker 1: stalled in their careers and like nothing, like they're applying
Speaker 1: to jobs and nothing is really getting back to them,
Speaker 1: is that that's all they're doing, and they're not focusing
Speaker 1: enough on building those meaningful professional relationships so that when
Speaker 1: opportunities come up down the line, people are thinking of them.
Speaker 1: And so that's why I do so much coaching and
Speaker 1: work with people on their professional brand. And do people
Speaker 1: think of you when opportunities come up? And if they're
Speaker 1: not thinking of you, then how can we make them
Speaker 1: think of you?
Speaker 2: And that's pretty simple.
Speaker 1: Beyond just your resume, it's about being active on LinkedIn,
Speaker 1: for example. And I don't care who says LinkedIn is
Speaker 1: not worth your time and oh, it's just social media.
Speaker 1: Isn't social media icky? Like that's just all bs? Okay,
Speaker 1: it matters. That's where recruiters are hanging out. I was
Speaker 1: a hiring manager for five years. The first place I
Speaker 1: went when I was looking for people to recruit was LinkedIn.
Speaker 1: It's an incredible search engine for people who were looking
Speaker 1: to work with other people. So don't sleep on LinkedIn,
Speaker 1: don't don't try to talk yourself out of it, don't
Speaker 1: play yourself. LinkedIn is where it's at. So being a
Speaker 1: bit more active there, reaching out and staying connected to
Speaker 1: former colleagues, checking in with people, seeing how they're doing.
Speaker 1: You know, writing writing content about what you're passionate about
Speaker 1: so that your colleagues and peers can see it. There's
Speaker 1: so many other things that you can do that you
Speaker 1: actually are in control of besides just that little piece
Speaker 1: of paper your resume. So I know, Nick, your question
Speaker 1: is like, do I think it's worth it for people
Speaker 1: to spend money getting a resume professionally done? It's kind
Speaker 1: of bananas to me how much people are spending like
Speaker 1: hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars, sometimes over one
Speaker 1: thousand dollars, two thousand dollars to get their resume done
Speaker 1: in a cover letter. Do I think that's worth it? No, No,
Speaker 1: I don't. I think it's a lot of money to
Speaker 1: spend on a piece of paper, and I think it's
Speaker 1: a lot of money to spend on a piece of
Speaker 1: paper that really, in my experience, does not get will
Speaker 1: not be the final deciding factor to get you in
Speaker 1: the door for an opportunity. I think it's one of
Speaker 1: the factors. Do I think resumes don't matter? No, Yes,
Speaker 1: a resume matters. Like I said, it's a record of
Speaker 1: your professional history. And I do think that hiring managers
Speaker 1: and recruiters take that into account.
Speaker 2: But is it the only thing? Absolutely freaking not.
Speaker 1: And I, like I said, I've seen it time and
Speaker 1: again to be considered for the juiciest, highest paying opportunities,
Speaker 1: especially at the senior level. So I'm not talking about
Speaker 1: entry level, you know, I'm talking about jobs that are
Speaker 1: not always posted. Do y'all know that seventy percent of jobs,
Speaker 1: into one study, seventy percent are not even ever posted. Like,
Speaker 1: if you're only applying to jobs through job boards, LinkedIn, indeed,
Speaker 1: or whatever, you're missing out on jobs that are not
Speaker 1: even posted because they're being staffed and people are finding
Speaker 1: and recruiting for those jobs behind the scenes. Recruiters are
Speaker 1: finding people on LinkedIn or reaching out to their own
Speaker 1: network to find people as who are a good fit.
Speaker 1: They're going to former colleagues or their peers for referrals.
Speaker 1: It's like happening in the human network behind the scenes.
Speaker 1: And if you're not involved in that human network, then
Speaker 1: you're really shooting yourself in the foot when it comes
Speaker 1: to your career. So don't play yourself. Resume matters, But
Speaker 1: it is not at all the end, all be all
Speaker 1: when it comes to those great career opportunities. And I
Speaker 1: will say it till I'm blue in the face. Don't
Speaker 1: at me, or you know what, do at me, come
Speaker 1: at me. It's fine.
Speaker 2: I know what my personal data shows.
Speaker 1: I know. I was on the phone with two bad
Speaker 1: three badass women last week who each got nearly two
Speaker 1: hundred one thousand dollars salary jobs. And I will tell
Speaker 1: you how many of them actually did it because they
Speaker 1: submitted a resume through an application system. Zero zero out
Speaker 1: of three, three out of three women However, one hundred
Speaker 1: percent of my sample size got those jobs because their
Speaker 1: professional brands were strong, they were referred for those positions,
Speaker 1: people came to them with those opportunities, and then they
Speaker 1: brought their skill set. Then they submit the resume as
Speaker 1: an afterthought because the first thing that they wanted was
Speaker 1: that human connection. And that's where these women, that's where
Speaker 1: they got the leverage, and that's how they positioned themselves
Speaker 1: for those great opportunities. And it wasn't a piece of
Speaker 1: paper neck. It wasn't okay, all right, Oh, I get
Speaker 1: really excited talking about resumes. Obviously, Let's go on to
Speaker 1: second question. Missus C squared from ig C squared wants
Speaker 1: to know, Mandy, have you ever switched careers, and how
Speaker 1: did you convey that you're very well qualified even though
Speaker 1: you're in a different industry.
Speaker 2: Have I ever switched careers? Yes.
Speaker 1: I made a big pivot from being a personal finance
Speaker 1: reporter for Yahoo Finance to being an executive editor basically
Speaker 1: a content director for a startup called Magnify Money back
Speaker 1: in two thousand and sixteen or seventeen, I forget. So
Speaker 1: this was a big career ship for me in a
Speaker 1: couple different ways.
Speaker 2: One, I was.
Speaker 1: Switching from being an individual contributor. I had no one
Speaker 1: reporting to me. I only had to carey about myself.
Speaker 1: And I was going to be leading a team. And
Speaker 1: how did I convey that I was well qualified? Well,
Speaker 1: here's the magic bit for me in this whole career pivot.
Speaker 1: I had formed a professional relationship with the founder of
Speaker 1: that company. We became really like colleagues. He was actually
Speaker 1: someone who I worked with as a reporter at Yahoo
Speaker 1: Finance and talked to him because he had a lot
Speaker 1: of experience in the credit in and he became one
Speaker 1: of my favorite people to talk to when I had
Speaker 1: questions as a reporter about the credit industry. So we
Speaker 1: had a personal connection and when he was looking for
Speaker 1: someone to manage his content team.
Speaker 2: He thought of me, not.
Speaker 1: Because he was like, oh, Mandy, she's been a content
Speaker 1: director for seventeen years, I should hire Mandy. It was
Speaker 1: this is what I'm talking about when I say the
Speaker 1: power of networking. It was Mandy. Really love working with her.
Speaker 1: She's smart, she does great work. I bet she could
Speaker 1: do this, and he took a chance on me, So
Speaker 1: I didn't really have to do a ton of convincing
Speaker 1: because it was like a mutual understanding that this was
Speaker 1: new for me and that I was going to have
Speaker 1: a lot to learn, and he was cool with that.
Speaker 1: So I think when you were trying to pivot into
Speaker 1: a new industry, that is something to consider. Consider going
Speaker 1: for a company that maybe isn't the huge, well known,
Speaker 1: established juggernaut in your industry, but as someone who's a
Speaker 1: company who's just getting their start, maybe they're willing to
Speaker 1: take a little bit of a gamble on someone who's
Speaker 1: been untested in that particular way because they're all kind
Speaker 1: of being tested in on, you know, in new ways,
Speaker 1: and they're all kind of out of their comfort zones.
Speaker 1: That strategy worked for me, and I remember being really
Speaker 1: freaking scared when I made that leap, you know, managing
Speaker 1: a team even though the team didn't exist yet and
Speaker 1: I had to build it from scratch. But doing things
Speaker 1: like hiring and firing and budgeting for different roles and
Speaker 1: learning how to ask for what I needed to succeed
Speaker 1: as a manager and all that magical, fun, stressful stuff
Speaker 1: scared the crap out of me.
Speaker 2: Mm hmm. It shorted.
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, I think why
Speaker 1: it worked in my favor was luck.
Speaker 2: One.
Speaker 1: I was lucky, Lucky that I got that particular opportunity,
Speaker 1: Lucky that we ended up getting acquired that by a
Speaker 1: company that wanted us to do what we did best,
Speaker 1: and you know, just lucky in a couple of different ways,
Speaker 1: but also thoughtful in choosing a place to join where
Speaker 1: I felt and I was told that they were going
Speaker 1: to set me up for success, that I wasn't going
Speaker 1: in there pretending like I had all this experience. That
Speaker 1: we both, like I said, mutually understood that I was
Speaker 1: going to be stretching and growing and that they were
Speaker 1: okay with that.
Speaker 2: And I do.
Speaker 1: Feel like when you're pivoting, it's important to have that
Speaker 1: mutual understanding so that everyone's on the same page, and
Speaker 1: that you're not going in there and having to, like
Speaker 1: I mean, fake it till you make it. It's a
Speaker 1: lot of it's just you know, oh yeah, fake it
Speaker 1: till you make it. It's all going to be fine.
Speaker 1: But sometimes it's not okay to fake it till you
Speaker 1: make it. Sometimes you have to have understanding from your
Speaker 1: peers and your supervisors that you have some things to learn.
Speaker 1: So you need time before you're able to ramp up,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So let's see how else
Speaker 1: can you convey though, if you if you're in an industry,
Speaker 1: I totally get it. There are industries where you can't
Speaker 1: just get in there and learn as you go, Like
Speaker 1: I don't know, being a nurse or a doctor, you
Speaker 1: kind of had to know how those things work. So
Speaker 1: for me, I think it's about how can you find
Speaker 1: and how can you speak to other people in that
Speaker 1: field and ask them for their advice on certain certifications
Speaker 1: or qualifications that actually matter that hiring managers are going
Speaker 1: to be looking for, and then find a way to
Speaker 1: pursue those on your own. I think that that makes
Speaker 1: a lot of sense. And the reason I say talk
Speaker 1: to other people is because what you don't want to
Speaker 1: do is kind of like make up your own story
Speaker 1: in your head about what is required of a certain
Speaker 1: role or a certain company that you're thinking of joining.
Speaker 1: Actually talk to people who work for the company, or
Speaker 1: recruit for the company, or you are familiar with that
Speaker 1: industry who can actually tell you, oh, here's what I'm
Speaker 1: seeing and here's what people really want. And then you
Speaker 1: can make a strategic decision, because you may have to
Speaker 1: finance at yourself whatever kind of certification or course or
Speaker 1: whatnot that you need. Then you can decide, Okay, this
Speaker 1: is going to have a good ROI a good return
Speaker 1: on my investment of time, money, energy, all of it.
Speaker 1: And I just don't want to see people spending money, time, resources,
Speaker 1: energy on something that actually will not move the needle
Speaker 1: for them in that industry. So that's why I think
Speaker 1: it comes back to talking to people.
Speaker 2: That's always the key.
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm not going to be the one to tell
Speaker 1: you can just sit behind a keyboard and do a
Speaker 1: bunch of research on Google and Google your way to
Speaker 1: your dream career. No no, no, no, no no no no
Speaker 1: no no, You're gonna have to actually interact with other
Speaker 1: human beings. We're such rich sources of information and support,
Speaker 1: and it may feel a little uncomfortable for people who
Speaker 1: maybe aren't as used to being, you know, out there
Speaker 1: and communicating with folks. But if you don't push yourself
Speaker 1: in that direction, then how are you ever going to grow?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 1: So things should be uncomfortable, things should feel awkward and new,
Speaker 1: especially if you're someone who networking and getting information from
Speaker 1: other people and asking for help. If that's unfamiliar territory
Speaker 1: to you, practice makes perfect. Maybe just keep doing it, okay,
Speaker 1: and I promise you you will see the needles start
Speaker 1: to move in a positive direction if you just put
Speaker 1: your off out there. And that can be whether you're
Speaker 1: switching careers or you're just trying.
Speaker 2: To pivot and move in your own company, you know.
Speaker 1: All right, miss t squared, thank you so much for
Speaker 1: your question. Let me take a quick break and I'll
Speaker 1: be right back with one more question. Okay, ba fam,
Speaker 1: I am back with a third and final question. This
Speaker 1: one comes from ig ig user Nini says, maybe what
Speaker 1: do you think about making lateral moves in the same company? Okay,
Speaker 1: So when we say lateral, generally, what we mean is
Speaker 1: that you are moving to a similar level at your company.
Speaker 1: So probably your pay isn't going to increase so much.
Speaker 1: But maybe it's a different department. Maybe it's a different team.
Speaker 1: If your company is really huge, there could be a
Speaker 1: bunch of your you know, types of team doing what
Speaker 1: you're doing, but for different departments. Maybe you're moving to
Speaker 1: a different department. I absolutely I don't think people consider
Speaker 1: pivoting in place enough when it comes through their career.
Speaker 1: We talk a lot about my last question, which is
Speaker 1: career pivoting and how do you pivot. I want to
Speaker 1: start a new chapter, I want to do something different.
Speaker 1: How do I pivot out of this? It seems challenging.
Speaker 1: I like to talk about pivoting in place, so actually
Speaker 1: speaking to a supervisor through your company and letting them know, Hey,
Speaker 1: I'm actually wanting to stretch myself or grow in a
Speaker 1: new field or a new department. Is there any way
Speaker 1: that I can start to get experience in that field
Speaker 1: or department at that skill set while I'm here? And
Speaker 1: it's actually really good for if you're a hiring manager
Speaker 1: listening to this, or you're someone at a company and
Speaker 1: you have sort of a position where you can influence
Speaker 1: hiring managers or something like that.
Speaker 2: Remind them what a good retention method this is.
Speaker 1: Okay, remind them that when you when your employees are
Speaker 1: feeling like they have flexibility within the company and that
Speaker 1: they can continue to increase their skill set, try different things,
Speaker 1: and things are staying interesting for them, they're less likely
Speaker 1: to move on, Like because it makes so much sense.
Speaker 1: Someone is no longer interested in doing what they're doing,
Speaker 1: and if they feel like they're just encountering brick walls
Speaker 1: every time they look around the company for a way
Speaker 1: to kind of try something different, then hell, yeah, going
Speaker 1: to want to move on and leave. So I think
Speaker 1: a good retention strategy if you want people to stick around,
Speaker 1: is to constantly be talking to your staff and to
Speaker 1: your employees and making sure that they are feeling good
Speaker 1: about the work that they're doing. And if they're not,
Speaker 1: then help them kind of figure out, Okay, well where
Speaker 1: can I be shifting and where can I be moving?
Speaker 1: That was the way that I approached management. I wish
Speaker 1: more people did that. For some it may seem like, ah,
Speaker 1: what's the point, especially if I'm not going to be
Speaker 1: making more pay But if you are someone who's wanting
Speaker 1: to try a different skill set or you're wanting to
Speaker 1: even get out of like a toxic like your toxic
Speaker 1: work environment may just be isolated to your team. It
Speaker 1: could be a colleague, it could be a manager, and
Speaker 1: if you want to get out of there but still
Speaker 1: stay at your company, hell yeah, I would say look
Speaker 1: for the first opportunity that you can find where you're
Speaker 1: in a similar position but just on someone else's team.
Speaker 1: And you can do that by going to HR. You know,
Speaker 1: it's up to you. You guys, you know your HR
Speaker 1: departments better than I do. But you may go to
Speaker 1: your assigned HR business partner, like they say, and kind
Speaker 1: of expressing to them that you would like to try
Speaker 1: things on a different team, or internally networking with your
Speaker 1: colleagues and making sure that you know first off the
Speaker 1: bat when new openings are happening on other teams, or
Speaker 1: so and so's about to leave, or so and so
Speaker 1: just turned in their notice and then you're like, ooh,
Speaker 1: I want that job, and make sure that you immediately
Speaker 1: kind of go to that hiring manager or you get
Speaker 1: your application in or whatever and make sure that they
Speaker 1: think of you so you can get an interview for
Speaker 1: that opportunity. I'll say it again and again. Managers don't
Speaker 1: always have a plan for you. In fact, a lot
Speaker 1: of times they don't, and I mean like a career
Speaker 1: plan for you. So it's really up to you to decide. Okay,
Speaker 1: once I'm in the door at this company, then it's
Speaker 1: up to me to kind of move my own game
Speaker 1: piece around the board to what suits me and benefits
Speaker 1: me both And for as long as what suits you
Speaker 1: and benefits you also suits and benefits the company, then
Speaker 1: it shouldn't be that difficult to kind of make those
Speaker 1: kinds of strategic moves. And when you're feeling stuck and
Speaker 1: like there's nowhere for you to go in the company
Speaker 1: that makes sense for you, then it could be time
Speaker 1: for you to move on to a new company. But
Speaker 1: I like to at least know that I've explored those
Speaker 1: options where I'm at, And I'll go back to the
Speaker 1: idea of someone wanting to pivot into a new field
Speaker 1: or a new kind of.
Speaker 2: Skill set or new career. It can be really great to.
Speaker 1: Do that within your existing company because you're not just
Speaker 1: another name on a resume with a bunch of like
Speaker 1: professional descriptions next to it. You're a human being who
Speaker 1: colleagues have worked for, and colleagues can potentially vouch for,
Speaker 1: and they may take a chance on you in a
Speaker 1: way that they wouldn't take a chance on you if
Speaker 1: you were just another person with a resume in the
Speaker 1: big pile. They may look at that resume without your
Speaker 1: name attached to it and say, oh, well, they don't
Speaker 1: have any experience in accounting. If they know you and
Speaker 1: your great experience in another department, they may say, oh, well,
Speaker 1: she's amazing, she can learn, you know, give her three
Speaker 1: months and she'll be trained up.
Speaker 2: You see what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: So definitely, don't stop yourself from thinking that you can't
Speaker 1: be entrepreneurial and like pivot in place at your company
Speaker 1: that you're at right now. It's definitely a possibility. I've
Speaker 1: done it before, I've seen other people do it, and
Speaker 1: I think that not enough people are thinking about it.
Speaker 1: All right, Thank you so much for your question.
Speaker 2: That was a good one.
Speaker 1: All right. That conclude Brand Ambission b a QA for
Speaker 1: the week. If y'all want to send it your questions,
Speaker 1: go to Brandimission podcast dot com and click ask us anything.
Speaker 1: You can also dm us at Brand and Mission Podcast
Speaker 1: on the Gram. Thank y'all so much. I'll see y'all
Speaker 1: next week.