By Young Professionals For Young Professionals | Week 2
The election isn't finished but this week's edition is!
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Agenda
David’s DMs - actual messages & stories I receive from our community of young professionals sharing their experiences
David’s Dictionary - phrases that all young professionals should know and what they really mean
David’s Memes - a personal collection of memes I created based on all of our shared experiences
LinkedIn Lounge - a safe, confidential space for our community to discuss trending topics without worrying about retaliation from employers
Essential Toolkit - an ongoing list of my recommended resources that every young professional needs (e.g. free ATS-friendly resumes, fast food guides, jobs, etc.)
David’s DMs
real YPs, real DMs
Unfortunately, this is becoming more of the norm because of a disconnect from upper management to those on the ground floor. And this is not the rare case. This is the common one.
What companies may not realize is that your employees will remember this and, when the market inevitably rebounds, will flee elsewhere in a hurry!
Again, temporary cost savings now may come at an exponentially greater expense down the road when those who understand the inner workings of your business lose their incentive to stay!
Meanwhile, we have more and more young professionals who are understanding the tradeoff between mental, physical, & emotional well-being versus marginal financial upside.
In other words, those who can sacrifice the extra money will choose to do so in an effort to conserve their well-being for years down the line.
If you have an experience that you’d like to share anonymously, feel free to send them in via the confidential Google Form here! - https://forms.gle/JY2fYCm4XoQbsY5u5
Want to be the first to know when these authentic experiences are being shared? Then sign up for free below!
David’s Dictionary
As always, we need to stay on top of our vocabulary, so here’s what you should know when you see these phrases in emails:
David’s Memes
Don’t even try denying that you haven’t debated this at least once.
I’m already at Trader Joe’s, Jim. Thanks for thinking of me though!
Mood.
Experienced any of these this week? Let us know in the comments below!
LinkedIn Lounge
For those who don’t know, on weekdays I host the “LinkedIn Lounge” where we discuss the trending issues around careers & tactics/strategies to navigate the real world with a focus on young professionals.
Watch our full videos here ➡️ YouTube
We cut these sessions into clips (see below) so you all can catch the highlights when you miss a live stream!
I lay out the most common mistakes that undergraduates, recent grads, and young professionals are making in their job search process as someone who has made them and speaks to hundreds of young professionals about their own experiences.
I also provide actionable ways to avoid these mistakes and the practical impact they have on opening up more opportunities for you in the long run, EVEN if you got rejected from your current application.
Think a family member, friend, or someone you know could benefit from this knowledge? Consider sharing by clicking or tapping the button below!
Essential Toolkit
*not sponsored*
FREE Resume Templates - 2 different styles (ATS friendly) so you can save hours of time on formatting (courtesy of Hayley Gonzales, @UnfoldCareers)
Resume Power Words - list of the resources I use for polishing action words
Zety - explanation of why this is important with examples of specific replacements
The Muse - words categorized by individual situations (e.g. “you led a project” then use X; “you changed or improved something” then use Y)
Indeed - words categorized by specific industries
Jobscan - examples provided to show what is good, better, & best versions of the same description to give an idea of how to structure your own bullets
Novoresume - similar to The Muse’s list above, except additional examples for specific situations
Fast Food Guide - for when you’re on the go, traveling for work, or just need to find out what are the affordable, healthy options
Individual Articles - full articles detailing what to order, which sides & toppings to include/exclude, & specifics on each fast food brand
Quick Guide - excel sheet so you can filter by calories, carbohydrates, protein, fat, etc.
Quick Notes - “cheat sheet” on every major fast food brand in one place
Job Resources - list of all websites with job postings organized by their unique features
Indeed - going to have more job opportunities listed than any other site…job seekers usually report that it’s the fastest and easiest application process among the online job search engines
CareerBuilder - unlike Indeed, CareerBuilder gathers job postings directly from employers…also partners with many local news organizations to be able to list their local job ads from their “classifieds” section
Glassdoor - started as a ratings/review site where employees could leave anonymous reviews for employers…now offer a salary research tool and a job search engine
LinkedIn - around 50% of jobs posted on LinkedIn offer “Easy Apply” where you can submit your information with just a few clicks and without needing a cover letter…focuses on Quantity vs. Quality
Facebook - not many folks know about this, but Facebook does list job postings in your area…LinkedIn is the go-to social network for job postings, but this is another option
Google - some jobs make it onto here that wouldn’t show up on the typical job posting sites due to Google’s focus on SEO
Monster - one of the first job board websites created back in 1999…also has section for career advice
ZipRecruiter - recently came out with a “Get Recruited” where they claim companies will reach out to you…this seems a lot like the “Open for Work” feature from LinkedIn
SimplyHired - can narrow employers to specific traits including eco-friendly, companies that promote diversity, employers that tend to hire veterans, etc.
Snag - separate section for companies with “urgent hiring” needs…can filter by location and keywords
LinkUp - unique feature is that there are verified listings…the site also offers intuitive user experience and solid search features
Craigslist - a bit less organized with fewer filtering options than more modern sites, but still worth checking out for unique opportunities
Robert Half - unlike other sites, Robert Half does include hourly wage/salary range for most postings
Job.com - smaller than most other sites, but worth checking in periodically to find opportunities that won’t show up on the more popular sites listed above
USAjobs.gov - specifically for those looking into jobs with the federal government…think “special agents” with specified backgrounds in a particular field
Jora - rather than getting job postings directly from employers, this site aggregates existing sites’ posts into one place to search across multiple services
Handshake - site specifically for students (need “.edu” email address) and typically used by major universities to aggregate opportunities
Quick Resume Tips - an ongoing list of tips that are essential to a successful resume
Copy keywords directly from the description in the bullets of your resume to ensure you match whatever they input into their Applicant Tracking System (ATS) so you’re not filtered out in the initial review.
Quantity EVERYTHING you possibly can so employers know what impact you had (leave a comment with a specific bullet point of yours if you are struggling with this!).
The most reliable fonts are “Arial” and “Times New Roman”. You may use others, but be aware that there are folks who are set in their ways and will look negatively at other styles.
ALWAYS list your most relevant experience to the actual job you’re applying for before any other experience so employers can see your compatibility.
To ensure there’s no white space, but that your bullets are evenly distributed, you can set the spacing from 1.15 to 1.5".
If you have the choice between active verbs vs. passive verbs, ALWAYS choose the active ones (see #2 “Resume Power Words” above for examples).
Get rid of useless bullets…if you’re filling space, the person reviewing your resume will know it too.
Potentially controversial take. I don’t care. Your objective statement is useless. They know you want the job. Ditch it.
ALWAYS 1-page in length. NEVER anything else.
Include cell phone number and professional email address. Street address is typically irrelevant these days. If they need to know where to send something, they’ll ask you anyway.
Be concise. Wordiness on your resume indicates rambling, which is a bad first impression.
NEVER include soft skills. “Strong leader” is not something the person reviewing your resume believes or wants to read. They’ll believe it when they see it. Focus on hard skills and how you made an impact with them.