Sarah Johnston's The "Briefs" Job Search Newsletter

October 27, 2021

This issue is jam-packed with job search gold including trends in job search strategy, remote work, board diversity and inclusion, attracting and retaining talent, Women in the Workplace and more...

Dear Reader:

One of my favorite parts about my job is sharing resources, knowledge, and advice with clients, my networks, friends, family, and you! I love learning and sharing what I know, hoping it might inspire, motivate and encourage others.

One thing that I hear consistently from clients is that conducting a modern job search requires skills that many of us were not taught in school. I've seen firsthand those job seekers who embrace learning and who have a growth mindset land (better) jobs faster than their peers at the same career level. According to Carol Dweck, a psychology professor now at Stanford University, "a growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts, your strategies, and help from others." Having a growth career mindset will keep you open to opportunities, help you continue to develop and expand your current capabilities; it's never too late to learn something new.

Even though I have been in the career industry for over 10-years, I still spend 3-5 hours a week reading articles, case studies, and learning about new tech product launches that will impact job searching.

This newsletter contains a diverse compilation of my favorite articles from the previous month. I truly hope that you find value in this newsletter and that it helps you with new ideas and perspectives for your job search.

Rooting for you,

Sarah

Ps. Please take a moment to give a thumbs up or down at the bottom of the newsletter..... or send me a quick note with your feedback. I'd love to learn what you enjoy about this monthly newsletter and what you'd like to see less of in the future.

Job Search Strategy

Is it ever OK to use a resume template? This quick read addresses the pros and cons of resume templates.

To land a product-design job, apply design principles — like research, collaboration, and multiple iterations — to the interview process.

Corporate Board Leadership

Forbes contributor, Nancy Collamer explains the differences between serving on a nonprofit or for-profit board of directors and how to try to get on one in retirement.

For the past 16 years, Egon Zehnder has tracked gender and international diversity on boards around the world. This year, their findings in the 2020 report expand into racial, ethnic, and LGBTQ+ diversity. Fascinating read for those looking to join a board.

Spurred on by stakeholders, boards are trying to include diversity, social impact, and sustainability goals into incentive plans. Korn Ferry explores the question - how?

Writer, Theo Francis, and reporter, Emily Glazer presents two new studies showing that U.S. public companies added more Black nominees and elevated numbers of women and first-time directors over the past year

Remote Work

With more employees choosing to work from home, many companies are rethinking how location factors into salary. But are they thinking fairly? Monica Torres looks to answer this question. This is a hot topic and an excellent article.

Biron Clark of Career Sidekick spent hours searching for the best job boards dedicated to finding fully remote jobs. Here are the absolute best that he found.

Hot Topics

McKinsey + Co's 2021 report shows that while women in corporate America are burned out, women leaders continue to step up. Although their efforts are driving better outcomes for all employees, these women are often undervalued and overlooked.

McKinsey + Co reports a record number of employees are quitting or thinking about doing so. Organizations that take the time to learn why--and act thoughtfully--will have an edge in attracting and retaining talent.

What can you do if you’re a job-seeker struggling with multiple job rejections and starting to lose hope? Sarah Johnston joins top career consultants, Dorie Clark & Herminia Ibarra, to give their best advice on how to bounce back.

Being real looks different for everyone because being real means being authentically yourself. Rachel Beohm says "Don’t be a cheap copy of a masterpiece. Be your own masterpiece."

About six out of ten companies are increasing starting wages, by an average of 9.8%, to try to fill job vacancies, according to a survey of U.S. chief financial officers. Bloomberg breaks down the survey results.

Interview: Using a Job Description to Predict Behavioral Interview Questions

If you have an interview coming up, there is a good chance you have access to the hardest questions / or types of questions that you'll be asked.

The job description is the road map for the opportunity. The hiring team is (or should be!) assessing their candidate pool based on the requirements in the JD.

Take a look at the real job description above that I found on ZipRecruiter. It's an assistant general counsel opportunity with Nu Skin. I went through the requirements and underlined the content that I thought was important to the role (new term: OPP/opportunity pain point)

Look at each line and consider that they could turn it into a behavioral-based interview question. For example, the third line of bullet point #1 states that the role will involve coordinating the use of outside legal counsel.

💡 Knowing this, it's highly likely that a question will come up in the interview about managing outside counsel.

What would *𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭* in regards to outside legal counsel?

- Cost savings?

- Diversity/representation?

- Working with outside counsel

If these are OPPs for this specific requirement, consider the questions that could come from this:

- Tell me about a time that you helped control costs or reduced outside counsel spend? How did you do it and what was the impact on the business?

- Was there a diversity value at your past employer? If so, did you make an impact on this?

-When does it make sense to work with outside legal counsel?

Did you know that you can work with us one-on-one to prepare for your upcoming interview?

Can you do me a favor?

I’m on a mission to help job seekers land amazing jobs. Would you consider doing one of the following:

  • Forward this newsletter to your job searching friends

  • Recommend me as a paid speaker for your company events on networking, job searching or leveraging LinkedIn

  • Recommend my services to high performers wanting to work one-on-one with an executive resume writer / or experienced interview coach

Reply

or to participate.