Today we are joined by Rhonda Parker

Rhonda has a master’s degree in special education and working towards her doctorate currently in organizational leadership and special education. Rhonda has really focused her whole life on helping and teaching others. She has started the Parker Autism Center and Baking to Impact LLC which is dedicated to hiring and training people with disabilities for jobs and helping their family members. Today’s presentation is focused on writing a successful resume. 

The first thing to do when writing your resume is to sit down and think about your skill sets. Go through each job you have had and think about what skills you’ve learned through each job that you have had. If you have a gap in your resume explain why you’ve been out of the workforce, whether because of taking care of a child or a sick parent, there are skills you learned during that break. Employers are looking at hundreds or thousands of resumes, so what they’re looking for is if you are dependable, have leadership skills, have the ability to adapt, are flexible, and have emotional intelligence where can handle things when under pressure. Important to ask yourself are you looking for a job or career? When looking for a career your mindset will start to change. Important to remember it’s not about what you don’t know it’s about your potential, so join LinkedIn, find a mentor, do some volunteering work. Also, look into college options or training courses. Currently, in Michigan, there’s a new offer where those over the age of twenty-five can go to college for free.

Also please remember that one resume does not fit every job. Need to rework your resume to fit the job description that you’re applying to and really put in keywords that are in the job description. Additionally, do a cover letter. A cover letter is a hello this is me and this is why I’m different from everyone else and why I’m the best fit for the position. The other thing you really need to do is research the companies you are applying to and do some practice interviews with family and friends. It can also be especially helpful to ask friends and family what your skills are as a lot of the time we have such a negative view of ourselves that we miss a lot of the skills we have. 

 

Rhonda Parker Contact Sites:

• Parker Autism Center 

 

We are joined by Jonathon Javier, CEO of Wonsulting whose mission is to help “Individuals from non-traditional backgrounds land their dream jobs” (“Where Underdogs turn into Winners”, n.d.) shares with us the key to utilizing LinkedIn to get dream jobs. In this video, he goes over several key things to know. The first thing that he focuses on is the idea of using LinkedIn to find jobs.

90% of people are passive on LinkedIn, however, the goal is to be as active as possible by posting content, messaging people, and commenting on content. There are four tiers to be in when applying to a job: 

1. Tier four: Applying with maybe a thousand others 
2. Tier Three: Applying with maybe twenty who get it referred for job
3. Tier Two: Applying with maybe 10 who got referred by people on the company team 
4. Tier one: Applying with maybe one or two who got referred by the hiring manager 

Generally, you get hired if you’re in tier one or two. So what do you do with this information? What you do is you search for a job,  look at alumni in this type of job, and look at their hired posts. The people they tag are generally the hiring managers or the people who helped them get the job. From there you send these tagged people invites with a personalized message. Send a follow-up message and try to get on the phone with them. At the end of the phone call say,  “thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me I was interested in this job at x(company) I am interested in how do I get an interview?”.  They’ll either be able to refer you for an interview or they can send you in the direction of someone who can. 

The second thing to do is to develop your digital footprint. What Jonathan means with this is you should always keep your LinkedIn up-to-date. Additionally, your LinkedIn should have a short concise summary about what your roles and passions are in life. Lastly, you should have your current company and previous roles that you’ve been in. 

So now finally, here’s Jonathan‘s challenge to you: create a LinkedIn post responding to the question: what’s your story? Tag Jonathan and his company and then look at who viewed your post and add everyone who you want to potentially get a job from. 

As a final reminder, these are the current  Facebook groups for you to join: 

1. Legit From Home  Advanced Group: A group for individuals looking for 30K+ jobs  
2. Legit From Home Community Group: A group for individuals who want more of a community feel and people who will support them in their search for a job
3. Legit Work from Home public group: Has job links only
4. Legit from Home Discussion Group: A group for work from home questions and job links

 

Jonathon Javier Sources 

Wonsulting Company Main Website: https://wonsulting.com/.