Today we welcome to the show Lea McLeod the founder of DegreesofTransition.com Lea is an accomplished Author, blogger, and speaker. She has been featured on many major career sites such as Forbes, ABC news, Lifehacker, fox business, and the u.s news and world report.
Her work has received numerous accolades including being named one of the 18 best career blogs of 2014 and The Guardian named her as one Top 10 People to Follow on Twitter.
Lea spent nearly 30 years in corporate America leading and managing global teams on large projects including a $1.3B program while working for Hewlett-Packard.
Today, she coaches people to create a positive shift in their work life by helping employees develop skills and overcome the obstacles in their jobs.
She is the creator of the Job Success Lab and author of The Resume Coloring Book.
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Pick one and why
Personal website or LinkedIn – LinkedIn for most job seekers but a website is great for those who are creative, or design and graphics oriented professionals.
LinkedIn or a resume – Both. Most company’s recruiting processes are still paper-based due to Applicant Tracking Systems. Recruiters, however, will typically use LinkedIn after they have received your resume.
An objective statement or professional summary – Professional summary without question, however, there are occasions when an objective statement makes sense. Find out when.
Main Questions – The Resume Coloring Book
All of the questions in this interview revolve around Lea’s book:
While the name implies resumes only, the book isn’t just about resumes. Lea walks the reader through an entire suite of documents that are used during the job search process.
All the documents are unique and compliment each other very well. So well in fact, that 90% of Lea’s clients who follow the process end up getting an interview.
Each document is color coded and broken into sections just like you would find in a coloring book. The documents included in the book are:
- The Resume
- The Cover Letter
- Professional References
- The Leave Behind
The Resume
With every job opening receiving on average 250 resumes, what makes a resume stand out? For starters, Lea tells us that we need to break the visual pattern. We go into detail on this question and Lea provides some great tips to help get your resume noticed.
Other key questions covered:
Should you tailor a resume for each specific position and employer?
What is one of the most frequently searched keywords on the internet
What is the most important part of a resume?
What should you include on your resume?
How should you handle volunteer experience resume? The answer to this question might just surprise you. I know it surprised me.
The Cover Letter
For starters, the cover letter is not dead. They are still important and read. Lea gives us some great advice on why that it is and covers some of the biggest mistakes people make with the cover letter.
Other key questions covered:
The purpose of a cover letter.
How a well-written cover letter and help your standout.
How to start a cover letter. Find out Lea’s biggest pet peeve with cover letters.
The Leave Behind
In the Resume Coloring book one of the complimentary documents that Lea details is called The Interview Leave Behind. I love the idea behind this and I think it is brilliant. After listening to Lea talks about it, I think you will agree as well.
Other key questions covered:
How the leave behind helps you ask for the job.
Who the first candidates are to get “tossed out” of the overall process.
What the Leave Behind includes and why it is such an empowering document.
How does the Leave Behind help you close the interview?
The Job Search
Lea and I discuss where the job search starts today. The answer isn’t job boards or company postings, it actually starts from the inside out. Lea discusses how using the Strengths Finder 2.0 assessment can help you build your resume.
For those who have been in your role for an extended period of time, Lea explains why job boards are not what they used to be. They have really become a place to “post and pray” or in my opinion, they are the lazy way out.
A job search takes time and effort which is why you should start your search in different places before you need to really start one.
Other key questions covered:
Why it’s important to align who you are with what you do.
How to you use social media as a part of the job search.
Which social media tool might just be best for the job search because it has no gatekeepers.
The importance of conducting company research.
How the principles behind Gary Vaynerchuk’s book, Jab Jab Jab Right Hook aligns with the job search.
The Interview
As we moved through the Resume Coloring Book, Lea and I eventually arrived at the actual interview. As I mentioned earlier, 90% of her clients who follow the advice in the Resume Coloring Book get an interview.
With that high of a likelihood, I asked Lea how would someone prepare for an interview if they only received 3 hours notice. Her answer starts with “Don’t Panic”. Here are some hour-by-hour highlights.
Hour One: Make sure you have all info and research about the company ready to go.
Hour Two: Think through the problem you are going to help the employer solve and how to align your answers to solving that problem. Oh and practice, practice, practice.
Hour Three: Get physically ready. Think through the clothes to wear and what compelling evidence you can take with you to show how you have solved problems in the past.
Other key questions covered:
The only reason for a company to hire you.
What feedback will you get after you leave the room?
Degrees of transition
While Lea’s specialty is helping new grads, I think you’ll agree that her advice is evergreen and can be applied to any job seeker regardless of generation.
If you are interested in working with Lea or you want to pick up a copy of the resume coloring book check out her sites at:
Lea will stay with you through the entire job search program which includes helping you write your resume and LinkedIn profiles.
Lea helps people in a job who want to improve or are dealing with fear based situations such as dealing with a difficult manager.
If you would like to get in touch with Lea directly you can reach her at:
eMail: lea@leamcleod.com
Final Thoughts
Lea’s final advice to us echoes the theme of the BRAND New You show.
Self knowledge and self awareness are the keys to life and job success. If you want to be successful start on the inside.
Knowing who you are and where you add value really is the first step to becoming a BRAND New You.
Lea, once again it was my pleasure to speak with you.
