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Awkward as hell, only one person is fully engaged, and if you do not phrase your words properly you will NEVER see one another again! Interviewing is sometimes more nerve wrecking than taking the risk on a new date. In this article, take some action steps from this consulting expert. 

 2018 I left an amazing position in San Francisco and went back to my hometown of Fairfield where I found a Career Coaching position-which is my bread and butter. I worked FULL-TIME and got my first check for $864 for 40+ hours (I will NEVER forget this number), I was shocked. My rent was $900 alone and I was short.  

What do you do? How long have you done it? How did you get started? 

I have the honor of empowering mid-executive level professionals in snatching a seat at the table or breaking the table. I coach professionals through various strategies such ass interview pro, job searching, resume readiness, and LinkedIn optimization. I’ve built my experience over 13 years and am working on my 3rd year of full entrepreneurship. I got started in 2018 after experiencing some of the worst corporate 

Are your customers raving about you on social media? Share their great stories to help turn potential customers into loyal ones. 

This past year hasn’t been easy for anyone, but it’s been especially rough for the overwhelming number of women facing job loss and financial instability.

According to a recent workforce analysis by McKinsey & Company, unemployment rates for women peaked in April 2020 at 15.8% (2 percentage points higher than men) and in September when schools reopened, 80% of the 1.1 million people leaving the workforce were women. These trends only continued to get worse, when in December preliminary numbers indicated that women accounted for 100% of the 140,000 reported job losses. (Official federal labor statistics released later listed job losses for women from November to December at 248,000 and 58,000 jobs lost for men.)

As a small business owner, it's important to have daily hype sessions! I wake up giving kudos to my team members and myself. It's a struggle to stay encouraged during this time, so the more you recognize your team for their commitment, the better service they are prepared to give

Running a holiday sale or weekly special? Definitely promote it here to get customers excited about getting a sweet deal.

“Write out what you are nervous about on a piece of paper then crumble it up and throw it out. The idea is to throw the nerves out with the paper,” says Jessica Williams, CEO of JMW Career Consulting. In addition, “Write three to five career affirmations for the outcome of the event on a sticky note.” 

If working from home, put the sticky note on your desk or computer. The goal is to eliminate your fears and focus on the positives. Remind yourself why you deserve the interview, why you were chosen to present, why your work is valuable, and what you aim to achieve. Having a goal in mind, no matter how minor, helps.

“You have to do your due diligence in regards to researching (salary) figures,” said Jessica Williams, career consultant. “Take the opportunity to research salaries in your industry that match your position on LinkedIn.”

Darrell Rosenstein, founder of The Rosenstein Group, adds that if you don’t know how much you’re worth, you’re not going to have the confidence to best sell yourself. “A well-researched salary range will also be easier to sell since you’ll be able to back up your ask with data,” he said. 

It could signal trouble ahead; but that’s not always the case, according to career experts I posed my questions to.

Jessica Marie Williams, a career consultant, believes it usually is “a huge red flag,” and says job seekers can assume one of two things: “Either the company isn’t training the candidate for that role properly and the candidate removes themselves due to failure/fatigue or is enforcing unrealistic expectations on the candidate early on and the pressure becomes too much for the individual.”

Finding the right career does NOT have to be a complex journey. It’s more about trusting your gut and recognizing who you are as a professional. A majority of the time, your right career is one click away, hidden right by your fears and doubts. Stuck behind those infamous what-if’s, “What if my qualifications aren’t good enough?” and the dreaded “What if I’m not educated enough?” Click the image for the full article

 "The sooner the better. It is never too soon to apply for a new role," says Jessica Williams, of Jessica Marie Williams Career Consulting, who notes that having the option to apply for new positions while still gainfully employed is a big plus for several reasons.