Dana Manciagli has spent the majority of her life working on the hiring side of business; she’s become quite an expert on job search and recruiting processes. She had a plethora of amazing tips to share during her presentation with our scholars.
Dana began her professional career working at IBM in sales. She later worked with a number of global companies that gave her the opportunity to travel internationally and experience the business world in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. After coming back to the United States to work at Kodak and Microsoft, Dana decided it was time to branch out on her own and begin life as an entrepreneur. She started her own business as an executive and job search coach, author, and speaker.
Dana poured a great deal of her expertise into her book, Cut the Crap™, Get a Job! A New Job Search Process for a New Era, which she accompanied with an in-depth digital guide to job search. During her event with the YMA, Dana walked our scholars through her program and gave them advice on how to optimize their job search processes. “On a scale of one to ten,” Dana asked, “how do you all feel about the idea of looking for a job?” Many scholars admitted that they were rather apprehensive about the procedure, and weren’t quite sure where to begin. “It is okay to be nervous. By the end of this session, we’re going to raise your confidence and your ability to look for a job,” Manciagli encouraged.
“When job searching, I believe there are two kinds of ‘crap,’” Dana explained. “The first is excuses. Don’t let the idea that you are not qualified enough or too inexperienced prevent you from applying for jobs,” she said. “The second is mistakes. There are a number of popular mistakes that hold people back from getting the job of their choice. With a few simple changes, you can avoid making those.”
Dana went on to explain that because the job process has changed in the past few years, there are many more people applying to the same jobs. This means that recruiters don’t have time for errors like typos on résumés or candidates arriving late to interviews. Avoiding mistakes such as these can go a long way toward helping you further your career.
“There are five struggles that job seekers commonly face,” Dana stated. “First, many people apply to a number of jobs through online job boards without doing any research beforehand.” Dana told our scholars that when looking for jobs, they need to first figure out what they want from their careers, and then research the job roles available that fit their desired goals. To validate how realistic their dream job is, Dana encouraged our scholars to try to find ten jobs online that fit the description they created. “If you can’t find ten jobs that match you desired description, you’re looking for a unicorn,” she shared. Armed with this knowledge about your career path options, you can then make your way to the job search preparation phase.
“Often people don’t take the process of looking for jobs as seriously as they take their current job projects or their school work,” Manciagli went on. “Why are most job-seekers very organized when it comes to school or work, but use yellow sticky notes to track their job applications? You need to stay organized and focused when it comes to planning for your future career, and take it as seriously as you would take any other professional engagement.”
“Additionally,” Dana went on, “You need to tailor your approach to the company you’re applying to. They are the buyer and you are the product. You have to fit their needs if you want to work there. The last two most common mistakes are ones that are easily avoidable – being unprepared for interviews, and being a poor networker. Do your research ahead of time and arrive prepared.”
Dana then led the scholars through the three major phases of searching for a job – setting your goal, doing your research, and applying and interviewing. When setting your goal, she stressed having specific details in mind. “You need to figure out what you’re looking for. Don’t be vague – define the functional area, industry, company type, company size, and location you are interested in,” she said. “Hiring managers want to hire people who are passionate about their jobs. When searching for positions to apply to, it’s okay to keep your options open. However, when approached by a recruiter for a specific company position, you need to show your relevance and passion for that exact position. You can present two paths you are interested in if needed, but it’s important to show confidence in the direction in which you want to head.”
Dana then delivered some tips about résumé formatting, going over the standard resume layouts our scholars should be using, and optimum organization of the content. We then moved into LinkedIn etiquette. “When you connect with others on LinkedIn, be sure to do so on your computer, not on your phone. This way you are able to send a personalized message to each person you connect with,” she urged. “Doing so significantly raises the chances of your connection request being accepted.”
Equipped with Dana’s advice, our scholars left feeling a lot better about the job search process than they did before the workshop. When it comes to looking for a job, you need to do your research, and properly prepare. If you give the job search process the attention and dedication it requires, you’re bound to see results.
Dana’s Words of Wisdom:
You need to take the job search process as seriously as you take your current employment or schoolwork. There are no shortcuts.
Don’t let inexperience stop you from going after jobs.
Hiring managers want to hire people who are passionate about their jobs.