Merryn Roberts-Huntley 01:34 
Okay, so what is the biggest mistake that job seekers make? Well, it is that when they’re applying for a job, all that they do is they submit their application online. So when I’m working with job seekers as their career coach, often people will come to me after they have been looking for a job for quite some time and they’ll say, Merryn, I am so frustrated. I have submitted 17 applications in the past month and I haven’t gotten any calls, I haven’t gotten any emails, I’m not getting any bites and I’m feeling awful. And I always say to them, I’m here for you. And I understand that’s super frustrating, but tell me what else you’ve done. And usually it’s silent because they haven’t done anything else. They’ve really been working the beat on looking at job postings and applying online, and it’s just not enough. If you want to get your next job, you need to stand out.

Merryn Roberts-Huntley 02:34
So what I want to talk to you about is what I call my five steps to land your dream job. And certainly applying online is one of those steps, but for me that’s step number four. And there are four other steps to make up those five steps. So that’s what I want to talk you through. I’m going to go in a little bit of detail, but not too much because we’re trying to keep this episode relatively concise so you guys can kind of come in and out with some great information here today. Okay, so step one to landing your dream job is you need to build your brand. And I’m not talking about some company that you’re running. I’m talking about the brand that is you, the brand that is your name. And there are three big things that are part of your brand. Number one is your resume, and I hope that you have worked with or are working with the team at Let’s Eat, Grandma on really leveling up with your resume.

Merryn Roberts-Huntley 03:30
Number two is your LinkedIn profile and making sure that you’re putting that digital version of yourself forward as best as possible because we know that hiring managers and recruiters are looking at LinkedIn, so let’s make sure that your profile looks great. That’s also a service that the team at Let’s Eat, Grandma can help you with. And then the third thing in terms of building your brand is really thinking about how you tell your own story, whether it’s a networking conversation or an actual interview, you have to win with how you tell your own story. And that’s something that I work with clients on and it’s a total game changer, you guys. Okay, so step one, build your brand. Step two, leverage your network. I want to talk about two things here. The first thing is I always ask my clients this. I say, if you had to give me a list of the five people who you think are the most likely to lead to your next job, who’s on that list?

Merryn Roberts-Huntley 04:33
And then I ask them to talk to me about how are they managing those relationships? Do those people know that you’re looking for a job? Do they know what you’re looking for? Are they keeping their eyes and ears open for you? So I’m going to ask you those same questions. So who are the five people most likely to lead to your next job? And then the other thing to consider with step two and leveraging your network is when you see a job posted, are you asking people who are connected to that company or that hiring manager? Are you asking them for a referral to the hiring manager? Are you asking them to write a recommendation, a quick email for perhaps on your behalf? I’m telling you that the people who are getting called for interviews are doing much more than just applying online, and that’s an example of what they’re doing.

Merryn Roberts-Huntley 05:23
They’re really leveraging their network to get into the right pile and to be viewed as a very strong candidate. So step three for how to land your dream job is something you probably haven’t done yet. This is something that my clients love and it really, really works. Step three is to create your portfolio. I don’t mean some kind of design portfolio. If you’re a graphic designer and you’re showing all your artwork, no, what I mean is an interview portfolio. This is if you send it electronically, it’s a PDF or if you’re handing it over in person, it’s a printed set of documents that are going to support your application and or your interview. This is a pretty detailed guidebook on your background. I’m going to suggest that if this is something that interests you, grab a copy of my book Made To Hire, how to Get the Job you really want.

Merryn Roberts-Huntley 06:21 
It’s on Amazon, it’s not even 20 bucks. I’ve got a whole chapter on how to create your interview portfolio. I don’t have time in the podcast today to take you through it all, but it is a total game changer to help you stand out and land that job that you want. Step four, this one’s easy, right? Submit your application online job seekers get really good at that, but you can see how there are all these other things that you can be doing to get yourself into that job faster and with way less pain. Okay, step five, the final step. This is Ace the interview. So I want you to think about two things in terms of how to ace your next interview. Number one, and I alluded to this earlier, you need to win with how you tell your story in the interview. We know that every interview starts the same way they say to you, so tell me about yourself, right?

Merryn Roberts-Huntley 07:18 
And for some reason, as humans, we dread this question because we’re so good at talking about other people or the company that we work for or worked for. But when we have to talk about ourselves, it makes most of us really uncomfortable. I need you to win when you tell your own story. That’s going to happen in those first couple minutes. And I’m telling you that the interview is essentially over after you tell your story. Because if you do a great job at telling your story, the rest of the interview is a confirmation of the interviewer checking those boxes in their head around this is the person if that’s something that you want my help with, I offer a one hour session where we overhaul your story and we give you a framework for how to win at telling your story. So I’m happy to help you with that.

Merryn Roberts-Huntley 08:09
The second thing in terms of how to ace your interview, and this is going to flip interviewing on its head for you, it is I want you to think about before the interview while you’re prepping, I want you to think about the five to seven stories that if you tell about your background, about your experience, if you tell those stories, those stories are going to line you up with what they’re looking for for that role, right? So most people when they’re going into an interview, they get asked a question and they reactively answer just they say what comes to mind. And often they’ll use the same example a couple times because they think it’s a great example. I want you to think about your next interview strategically, not reactively. And I want you to pre-plan and think about what are the stories that I know I have in my arsenal?

Merryn Roberts-Huntley 08:59
I’m going to use those stories against the questions that they ask me. I’m going to fit those stories in and I encourage people to have, especially if it’s a virtual interview, a stick, a post-it note on the corner of your screen and write word that’s going to cue you, each of those five to seven stories and fit those stories in that is going to give you the best chance of moving on to the next round and or getting the offer. So again, the biggest mistake that job seekers make is they just apply online. And I want you to think about the five steps to landing your dream job. Step one, build your brand. Step two, leverage your network. Step three, create your portfolio. Step four, submit your application. Step five, ace your interview. So make sure in doing all of this that your resume’s up to date, your LinkedIn is up to date, you feel great about how you’re presenting yourself. And if I can help you at all, please feel free to reach out to me. You can go to my website madetohire.com that’s M-A-D-E-T-O-H-I-R E.com. I have blog on there that has lots of advice similar to this, or you’re also welcome to reach out to me if I can help you with career coaching. You’ve got this. Best of luck to you