The Career Chat Room Erin Sergi

In this episode Tiffany Scheel and I explore a topic that is informed by her family's experience. For many high schoolers, there is a lack of visibility to options for students who would prefer a 1 or 2 year program over a traditional four-year degree. We talk about identifying training resources and career paths that appeal to those who want a lucrative vocation without obtaining a bachelors degree. Tiffany has been supporting her younger daughter through this journey, and I am grateful she brought her insights to share with the Career Chat Room.
Student debt is a rising concern for both students and parents. Alternatives exist for college-aged students who want hands-on practical learning for an in-demand skill that puts them to work faster and with less debt. As Tiffany discovered, getting access to the alternative options can be challenging and are typically not presented as an equal alternative to going to university.
We hope that with research and diligence you can find the right alternative for you (or your student). To accelerate this process for you, Tiffany has shared a few of the links we referenced within the episode.
Tiffany is a talent and transformation professional who spent 25+ years building her career at IBM and 2 years at Chubb. She specializes in talent management, skills strategy, learning & development, and change management projects and is available for consulting engagements.
Mike Rowe Works: https://mikeroweworks.org/about/ 

Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/gen-z-trades-jobs-plumbing-welding-a76b5e43 

North Florida Worlds of Work: https://www.northfloridaworldsofwork.com/ 
 

In this episode, my guest is Brittany Onufrak, a healthcare client operations professional with a passion for helping others. Our conversation focuses on ways to maintain a positive mindset and push through rejection to build resiliency within your job search. Whether you are a student trying to land your first job or a seasoned professional looking for your next opportunity hearing "no" or hearing nothing at all over and over again can be incredibly discouraging. 
Brittany is an advocate for career development and is passionate about helping others reach places where they can thrive. But she has also encountered rejection and experienced feelings of self-doubt along her career path. During our conversation, she shared the practices that she uses to maintain a positive mindset, not take rejection personally, and create opportunities for action. Start with focusing on the things that are within your control. Your mindset has a strong influence on how you feel and also how you show up in the process. Seek and use feedback to reframe how you are interpreting the rejection. Use the challenge to build your resilience. 
If you are feeling defeated by the current job search environment, know that you are not alone. Keep going, keep shining. Thanks for listening. 

This is another installment of what I have come to think of as my Career Launch series of episodes. The need to record and publish this content is usually driven by trending coaching needs. When I find myself offering a particular theme of advice a lot, then I record. This episode addresses preparing to interview.
Actually being ready to interview can sneak up on you and might feel like something that is out of your control. But with some strategic preparation you can be ready for interviews and feel confident about how you will perform.
I recommend practicing answers to these commonly asked general questions:Why are you interested in this position at this company?What is driving your interest in this career path or line of work?What led you to pursue a degree in XX?
Then take an inventory of situations to use as examples to answer behavioral questions and craft the story that sets the context for each situation:Tell me about a time you had to make a decision without having as much information as you would like?Tell me about a time when you had to share difficult news with a stakeholder about a project or deliverable? Tell me about a time when you had to switch directions midway through a project or assignment?
You'll be able to match the situation that best fits the interview question. But also, be prepared to answer follow up questions that are designed to assess your learning agility like:What other approaches did you consider but not take?What did you takeaway or learn from that situation?Tell me about time when you had to apply this learning to another situation?
And finally, practice, practice, and practice until you feel like you can consistently nail the interviews you have so diligently pursued. Ask for help from others to practice your answers and listen to the feedback you get along the way. Tap into your career services center on campus for assistance, that is what they are there for!
I hope this gives you a solid plan for preparing to interview. Good luck!

In this Career Launch series episode I share a check list to set up your Linkedin profile more fully. This episode provides you with insight into where to focus when building your profile. If you simply create a basic Linkedin profile without building out the key pieces then you will leave a lot of opportunity on the table. Linkedin can be a powerful tool working for you in the background while you are off being amazing in real life. Your profile will attract opportunities to you based on the content you load there. In this episode I explain these items on my check list:
1. Profile picture2. Background picture3. Headline4. About summary5. Experiences detail
Once you have these five things covered, you should work to build out your network by both adding connections and doing some active posting. I provide some suggestions regarding posting that will drive traffic and attention to your profile using posts that highlight work you are doing and including others you work or study with. 
I hope this checklist motivates you to use Linkedin as a resource and tool in your job search! Check out the other Career Launch episodes for other foundational tips on 5 actions to get started, resume coaching, frequently asked questions about job search, and coming soon....preparing to interview.

 In this episode, Katie Whittaker, a 2020 college graduate and HR professional, shares insights into how she started her career in HR. Katie's career has moved along at a pretty fast pace despite graduating at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The obvious things that have helped her get established and build momentum were figuring out what she wanted to focus her career on by her sophomore year and completing two professional internships prior to graduating. 
But there are some other not so obvious decisions that I think have significantly influenced the trajectory of her career. The first was transferring schools midway through her freshman year when she realized that she didn't want to major in what had drawn her there. It was a bold move that took a lot of courage. Another was deciding to continue interning during her senior year of college on a part time basis and making a decision to change her approach and timeline for getting a masters degree. Katie shares how she navigated these decisions and how she flexed her plan to make the most of the opportunities she had. 
Katie has been focusing her professional career on supporting learning and development, so sharing her story to help others is totally on brand. We hope Katie's journey inspires you as you write your own career story!

In this episode my guest is Jackie Fitzgerald, an HR professional who has spent almost 20 years of her career dedicated to corporate recruiting. After receiving multiple requests for an episode focused on negotiating salary, I invited Jackie to join me in the Career Chat Room. Salary negotiation is a topic that could probably cover several episodes. We decided to start with clearing up misconceptions about sharing salary expectations, insight into factors that influence the amount of your offer, and how to effectively negotiate an offer of employment. Our hope is that these insights provide a solid foundation for your next salary negotiation.
Key takeaways:- Be as transparent as possible about your salary expectations with the recruiter, yes even the in-house recruiter at the company- Be clear about what compensation and non-compensation components are most important to you - Don't be afraid to negotiate if the offer is not where you need it to be, or if there are additional items that you need - Know the details of how your current compensation package works, what dates are relevant, and what you are potentially leaving on the table
Jackie is an executive recruiter and sourcer, HR business partner, compensation consultant, and university relations leader. Most recently she has been successfully recruiting and placing candidates in management and executive level positions at the Cigna Group. Previous to that role she built out the University Relations function at a global retail Pharmacy company. She is open to connect and is currently exploring recruitment roles offering a flexible and remote first schedule.