Hello, my friend. I'm excited to be sharing with you a new series I have created for you all about careers. The first few episodes starting at the beginning. Okay, maybe not that far back for some of us.
However, I wanted to start at the beginning of getting you to think about your future career and ultimately where you see yourself heading. I will be covering a number of episodes getting you to think about mapping out your career. The second part to the career series is where the fun really begins. We will be exploring various topics central to you navigating your career.
There will be times when you may think you have royally screwed up any chance of promotion or advancement. However, don't worry, I will be your guide right there beside you holding your hand along the way. I got your back. I really do believe true growth and advancement in anyone's life and career comes by embracing the difficulties that crop up by understanding the lesson that has presented itself in front of you.
Do you ever feel like you're in a vicious cycle or a virtual loop that you just can't get out of? And you think, why am I always attracting this type of person or this type of difficulty? I'll label it that way. It's more of the difficulty.
It's not the people because the people will change over the years. It's the situation that you find yourself in that you just cannot break free from. That is a true signal and sign giving you another opportunity to learn that lesson that you need to learn or improve or develop. Ultimately, we are then going to wrap up the series by looking at your next steps to get you closer to that vision you have for your life and career.
And that's it. Easy? Well, I'll let you be the judge over the next several weeks. So if you are ready, let's begin the journey to your career success.
Hi, and welcome. I hear you have finished your interview and you're on a complete high because your gut is telling you that it went really well. Then, hmm, no one contacts you at all. Two weeks go by, three weeks go by, and still no response.
I say this with love, my friend. It is more than likely you have not been chosen for the job, and you'll probably not hear from them if you ask for feedback. However, there are some important things you can do to increase your chances of giving you a competitive advantage over the other candidates. Hello, my friend.
This is Perceptive Peggy, your intuitive career coach and advisor. In today's episode, I'm going to be your very own clairvoyant and read your tea leaves as to why you probably were not selected for that job you pinned all your hopes on, what you can do to increase your chances of being selected, and most importantly, how to successfully move forward, which will give you that competitive advantage. So if you like this and you're ready for a bit of fun today as well, then let's get started. Thank you for inviting me into your world and also reading your tea leaves.
If you're wondering, yes, reading tea leaves is a real thing, and today I want to take a look at your tea leaves to see what they reveal and see how we can help unlock that door to your career success. So if you're ready to hand over your teacup, let's get going. First off, I'm going to take a look at the rim of the teacup that you have given to me. This is the present, the present day.
I'm looking into your teacup, and your tea leaves are telling me you haven't been selected for a job you really wanted recently. What I see is this is the job that was not meant for you. If there is any sage advice I can pass on to you, it is this. What is for you will not go past you.
Let me say that again. What is for you will not go past you. The universe works in mysterious ways, and I know that this was not the job for you. I know, I know, you really wanted this job, and you could not understand why they did not select you, as the interview was going so well.
I get it. It really hurts when you think you're building rapport with the panel. You've answered all their questions. As a matter of fact, you gave excellent answers to their questions.
Why did they not select me? Why didn't they respond to my email asking for feedback? I hear you ask. Your tea leaves are telling me this.
It is not the job for you, and to be patient. I would like to share with you an insider secret when it comes to feedback about your interview, or any interview for that matter. It is rarely provided. Sadly, far too many organizations do not want to give any time or energy in helping people who want to better themselves, whether they got the job or not.
Also, some managers and employers are afraid of being sued, so they just ignore the request. I know that may sound extreme, but organizations are very cautious about responding to people. The best way to receive feedback about your performance is to recruit a friend or family member. However, the best thing you can do for yourself and your career is to invest in a career coach who does not know you and can give you direct and honest feedback that will help you move forward towards your future self, and ultimately the best version of you that you can be.
After practicing with a coach on your interview technique, you will become more aware of your own performance and be able to critique yourself after an interview. This is really key. As soon as you finish with any interview, take at least minimum 15 minutes and write down everything that went well, but more importantly, what didn't go so well? What answers may have tripped you up?
And finally, think of ways you could improve the answers you just gave. I know from experience that when you give an answer to a question that really threw you for a loop, you will never forget it. Even though you told anyone and everyone you wanted to avoid that company, that person, and certainly those types of questions like the plague and future. Well, my friend, that's just your resistance to fail your talking.
Take that difficult interview as an opportunity to learn, develop, and craft your future answers. That is the gift that you can give to yourself. Okay, now let's go a little further into this teacup. Let's check out the side of your teacup.
This is the medium term of your life. I see in your teacup that your tea leaves are sending me a message to share with you how you can create an unfair advantage over everyone else at interview by sending a thank you note. Traditionally, this was a must after an interview as part of the whole process of looking for work and a job and a career. Sadly, nowadays, it is rarely received from candidates.
I say sadly because manners and common courtesy seem to have fallen by the wayside. Now, I know that sounds a bit extreme. However, applying for jobs digitally, job searching happens so fast that sending a thank you note is the easiest thing you can do but is often overlooked. It gives the interviewer another chance to think about you and key points you want to emphasize to them.
Nine times out of ten, the interviewer has already made up their mind, but there might be that one time when they are on the fence about choosing you over another person. Wouldn't you want to increase your chances of being selected by sending something so easy and effortless as a thank you email? So the next time you attend your interview, put sending a thank you email on your list of things to do as the final part of the job search process. Here's a rule of thumb.
Reply with a thank you email no more than 24 hours after the interview. If you're finding it difficult to who to write to, whoever wrote to you in the first instance via email, reply back. But if that is a one-way type of email where they say no responses to this email will be answered or something along those lines, then just go onto their website and click contact. And then in your address or subject headline, put in for the attention of and the person's name that put you through the interview process.
And then that will eventually reach that individual. I know this to be true when it comes to selecting people after interview. There are a number of employers. I've been involved with these employers myself in the past, whereby they'll wait, say maybe a week or so, because they're that busy with other work that they have to get cleared or done, that you have a window of opportunity there to look for somebody.
So that's why it's really important to put that email reply on your list of things to do at the very end, the last part of that process of the interviews, because you are giving them another chance to think about you and maybe think a little bit further than yes or no. You don't need to write war and peace, by the way, when you are replying to them via email. Here's some suggestions of what you could say. Dear, and then put their name.
So dear Sally, for example, thank you for the opportunity to meet you. And also if there are other people in the panel, put them as well. And about the job position. So thank you for the opportunity to meet with you about the managerial position.
For example, I enjoyed meeting you. And this is where you put the panel members names. If you cannot remember them, just put meeting you and your colleagues. That's a good kind of blanket way to cover up that you couldn't remember or even had time to write down all of their names.
I enjoyed hearing about your position. If chosen for the position, what I would be involved in as well. And then insert any info shared with you about the position and why you would be a good fit. I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience, kind regards or best wishes, however you like to sign it off.
But don't put love and kisses. That's a little too familiar. And then your name. You get the idea.
You basically want to thank them for their time, mention the position, as they might have several positions that they are hiring for and might not realize that you're helping them to fit the pieces of their puzzle together. So when you put in the position that you are going for, that then immediately connects them to that pile of interview candidates that they have already seen. And then finally emphasize why you think you would be a good fit. And that's it.
That's all you need to do to give yourself that unfair advantage over the other candidates. So be sure to put that email reply on your list of things to do immediately following the interview. Okay, now we're going to take a deep dive into the bottom of your teacup. This is the future, your future.
Oh, wait, I see something else in the teacup that the leaves are telling me to mention to you. Keep your spirits up. You have talents that are going to be discovered by the right employer. Your tea leaves are telling me this is just around the corner, but don't lose heart.
How do I move forward? I hear you say. Keep applying for positions, practicing your interview skills, and incorporating sending thank you emails out to your interviewers. Think of it this way.
Each and every interview, treat it like an audition or another way of looking at it. Very few people get to be invited onto stage in front of a TV audience at Britain's Got Talent or American Ninja Warriors for that matter. They get there with a great deal of practice and working at their craft or fitness. Practice really does make permanent.
Just make sure what you are practicing and the way you are practicing are correct. This is where a career coach can really help guide you with tips, pointers, and suggestions to help you polish your answers to interview questions. There is no point in practicing, practicing, practicing if you're not improving and you'll know deep down inside your gut will tell you whether you are making improvements. But equally, the biggest acknowledgement of improvements made is when you do get that.
You're accepted. You're hired type of email, phone call, or letter from your future employer. You'll know you're on the right track at that point. But until then, there's no point in practicing something that is just going to keep you at that base level.
You really do need to invest in yourself and your future career by practicing with someone like a career coach that really can help guide you and lift you up and to your next career development step. Your new job is just around the corner, my friend, and will be far better than you could ever imagine. Here's to your future success and your future wonderful career. Until next time, my friend.
Bye for now.