Talent Tips - Talent Market

Talent Tip #165: A Bartender’s Guide to Professional Branding

September 24, 2024

Stephanie Keaveney

One of the most delightful parts of working at Talent Market is discovering that nearly every career topic can be explored with either a dating or cocktail-related analogy. And living with a former bartender means much of my time outside of work is spent as a taste tester for new concoctions. So it’s no big surprise that a recent discussion on building your professional brand got me thinking about the overlap with crafting a great cocktail.

Whether you’re growing your network or applying for jobs, a strong professional brand is essential to making lasting connections and standing out in the working world. So grab your shakers and mini umbrellas and let’s explore what we can learn about professional branding from your bar favorites.

Base Spirits – Your Values

Your values are the key ingredient behind your professional brand. They’re what ground you and guide every professional move you make. Just like a cocktail’s base spirits set the flavor, your core values set the tone for everything else. Without knowing your values, your brand will be about as convincing as a lukewarm bottle of O’Doul’s.

Embrace your base: Think about what matters most to you as a professional, what issues you’re most passionate about, and what type of organizational culture you want. When applying for jobs, make sure you’re only applying for jobs that promote the ideals you care about. And be sure to clearly articulate your values-alignment in your cover letter. Finally, don’t forget to dig into organizational culture in your interview. Just like you choose your favorite bar based on the attitude and the atmosphere, you want to find an organization that serves up the right culture.

Signature Ingredient – Your Unique Selling Point
Every amazing cocktail has a signature ingredient. So, ask yourself: what is the special skill or trait that makes you unforgettable? It could be your unmatched creativity with Adobe InDesign, expert-level knowledge of excise tax policy, or extensive experience with civil rights litigation and 1983 claims. Like the Cointreau in a Cosmo, your unique skills are what people will remember you for and what will make them want to hire you.

Highlight your signature splash: Hiring managers won’t know unless you tell them, right? If you are applying for an entry-level writing position and you were the editor of your university’s liberty-leaning newspaper, MENTION THAT! Or, if you’re applying for a data job and you once built an entire Salesforce database from scratch for your favorite cat rescue organization, serve that up with a cherry on top! Include these types of things in your resume/cover letter and you’ll absolutely stand out in a crowded bar!

Garnish – Your Style
Style isn’t just about dressing sharply or having perfectly coiffed hair (though it doesn’t hurt!). It’s how you carry yourself, how you communicate, and the energy you bring to the room. Just like a cocktail’s garnish ties everything together, your style enhances your professional brand. But remember, even the highest-quality Traverse City cocktail cherries can’t cover up the taste of a terrible Old Fashioned – it’s about substance, not just the shine!

Add Your Lime and Sprig of Mint: Dress appropriately for the occasion and be aware that your body language and non-verbal cues have a big impact on first impressions. If you get anxious during interviews or struggle with things like small talk, practice! And don’t forget about your digital presentation – make sure your LinkedIn and public profiles are a good reflection of yourself. Remember: your style should reflect the job you aspire to have, not necessarily the job you have now. (E.g. if you’re an intern and your style screams, “I’m an intern”, then you might be an intern for a long time! And nobody wants to be drinking Natty Light for longer than they have to.)

Mixing it All Together – Your Consistency
Circling back to my role as a cocktail taste tester, I remember one particularly terrible concoction that, in theory, I should have loved because I like all the ingredients individually. But the flavors just didn’t blend together and it fell flat. That’s what happens when your professional brand lacks consistency. You may have strong values, unique skills, and a polished style, but if they don’t work together, your message can come across as muddled.

Balance Your Flavors: Hiring managers are drawn to candidates whose professional journey makes sense. Incoherent choices like frequently changing jobs, applying for roles well outside of your experience level, and claiming expertise in your cover letter with no evidence of that skill on your resume all raise red flags. Make sure your goals and skills are clear to a potential employer and take advantage of your cover letter to explain anything that may leave a hiring manager bleary-eyed.

Barware – Your Audience
Whisky aficionados everywhere will be the first to tell you that even the best single malt scotch can underwhelm if served in a Brandy snifter instead of an appropriate tumbler. Your professional brand is no different. Your audience matters! Whether you’re interviewing for your dream job or networking at an event, it’s all about tailoring your message. Understanding your audience, and what will resonate with them, ensures you’re always serving the right mix in the right glass.

Choose Your Barware: When applying for jobs, tailor your application — especially the cover letter. During the interview, be ready to talk about their work and why it matters to you. And when it comes to networking, read the room. I once knew of a guy who stopped getting invited to allies’ events because he used them as fundraising opportunities for his own organization. No one will toast to that behavior!

Cocktail Price Point – Your Salary Requirements
One of the consequences of having access to my own personal mixologist is that I’m much less willing to pay a fortune for a mid-tier cocktail. If you’re going to charge me $24 for a drink, it better include 16th-century spirits imported from Madagascar and tiny chunks of gold bullion at the bottom of the glass. Similarly, having unrealistic salary expectations for your level of experience and the specific jobs you’re applying for can get you cut off more quickly than the stumbling college kid using his older brother’s ID.

Find Your Price Point: Research what’s typical for the type of role, your experience, and similarly-sized organizations. Take advantage of things like an organization’s Form 990 to make sure you’re not submitting a salary range that’s double what the CEO is currently making.

We hope these tips have helped in both leveling up your professional brand and your home bartending skills. While we don’t recommend pre-gaming your next interview, maybe the next time you’re sipping a cocktail at a networking event, you’ll remember how much it can teach you about building an excellent professional brand.

Talent Tip #164: Dating and Side Hustles: It’s Complicated – Part II

August 27, 2024

Last month’s newsletter article broached the hot topic of side hustles. Among other things, we talked about how not everyone is okay with sharing and that transparency is critical from the start. We also discussed how the substance and timing of the side hustle can make or break a situation.

But there is more to discuss! So here we are with Part II!

You can’t be two places at once. Picture this: you are single and a cute co-worker asks you out. Naturally, you say yes. But what if the smokeshow from your dodgeball league (whom you’ve had your eye on for weeks) also asks you out for the same day? Now what?
Now you have a problem, my friend.

Ditto for side hustles. What if your side hustle boss wants you to be in Poughkeepsie for a big event on Thursday? And then what if your full-time boss needs you to be in Seattle that same day for an important conference?

You can’t be in two places at once, and one of your jobs has to take priority.

Understanding which role will get priority is a must for any hiring manager who is considering hiring someone with a side hustle. (Hint: most hiring managers aren’t going to want to play second fiddle if they are hiring you for a full-time role.)
Everyone wants more of your time, but unless you’re a vampire, you also need sleep. I remember talking to one of my single guy friends back when he was on Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, and Match. His dating schedule sounded more convoluted than managing a carpool for a herd of tweens. I truly don’t know how he had enough time in the day.
Now let’s consider side hustles. Regular jobs require about 40 hours a week, right? But many of them will have busy seasons that necessitate more. And, of course, some jobs regularly require more than 40 hours…50, 60+ hours is not uncommon.

Imagine putting a 20-hour-a-week side hustle on top of that. Or what if it’s more? A candidate recently explained that his side hustle job takes up at least 20-30 hours per week! I’m no math major (art major, if you’re curious), but 40 + 30 = 70. That’s a lot of hours. And during busy times, it’s going to be more like 60 + 30 = 90. I hope the candidate is a vampire because there won’t be much time to sleep.

Job seekers with side hustles and hiring managers need to have very honest and open conversations about the hours required for both roles and how those hours might ebb and flow over time.

(Pro tip for hiring managers who encounter job seekers with side hustles that require more than 30 hours/week: wear a garlic necklace and keep a crucifix in your desk drawer. Just trust me.)
Conflicts of interest can ruin a good thing. On one of our first dates, I learned my now-husband didn’t like dogs. I almost pulled the plug right there. How can someone not like dogs? Maybe not all of his neurons are firing? It’s almost worse than being a progressive!
But it turns out that he didn’t actually dislike dogs; he just never had one growing up. So, he didn’t understand what he had been missing out on. I introduced him to my beloved beast and the rest is history. Thankfully, our canine conflict of interest was short-lived.

But it’s a good reminder for hiring managers to explore potential conflicts of interest with job seekers (and for that matter, current employees!), especially as it relates to side hustles. What if your potential marketing director’s side hustle is to create marketing materials for similar organizations? Or what if your future event planner’s side gig is to plan events for other organizations in the liberty space? And what if your soon-to-be development writer’s side job is writing Shakespearean copy for similar organizations competing for the same donor dollars?

Pro tip: organizations might want to consider conflict of interest policies as well as non-disclosure agreements to mitigate risks.

We hope these thoughts on side hustles (and dating!) prove useful as you navigate the job/hiring market.

And if you do run across any liberty-oriented vampires who require no sleep and can work 90 hours a week, please have them send us their information here!

Talent Tip #163: Dating and Side Hustles: It’s Complicated Part I

July 23, 2024

Not sure if you’ve noticed, but side hustles are having a moment.

An increasing number of jobseekers these days have or are considering side hustles in addition to full-time jobs. The proliferation of virtual work has provided fertile ground for budding entrepreneurs to take on more than one opportunity.

And we’re noticing that both job seekers and hiring managers aren’t entirely sure how to navigate these uncharted waters.

If you’ll indulge me for a moment, I think there are some pretty interesting parallels between side hustles and my favorite topic: dating. Perhaps considering these similarities will be helpful to job seekers and hiring managers in this brave new world.

In fact, there is so much good stuff here we decided to make this a two-part series. So pop some popcorn, sit back, relax, and enjoy the first installment of Dating and Side Hustles: It’s Complicated.

Sharing isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. At some point in a dating relationship, the conversation about exclusivity comes up. In Millennial speak, it’s called DTR (Define the Relationship).
For some people, the DTR occurs pretty quickly because they are only interested in an exclusive relationship. Meanwhile, others are happy to play the field indefinitely.

And so it goes with side hustles. Some hiring managers are simply not going to be open-minded about sharing a potential employee’s time with another employer (especially if there are other promising candidates available who don’t have side hustles!). Meanwhile, other employers are willing to consider the concept as long as the side gig doesn’t interfere with the full-time job.
Transparency is essential from the start. Imagine you go on a date with a lovely girl who purports to be single with zero baggage. But what if, after several dates, you discover from another source that she is actually thrice divorced and has more baggage than Southwest and Delta combined? If the thought of being Lucky #4 isn’t enough of a buzzkill, the realization that she wasn’t forthcoming from the start ought to be.
Side hustles are no different. If a potential employer finds out multiple interviews into the process that you have a significant side hustle, that might be cause for them to stop pursuing you. (We’ve seen it happen!) And Heaven forbid the employer finds out AFTER an offer has been made! Eeek.

The best course of action is to be straightforward from the start.
The substance of the job matters. In theory, you would be happy to date a wildly successful business owner, right? But what if I told you the business was a puppy mill or a pyramid scheme? Rather than date the person, you’d probably prefer to kick him in the shin and report him to the authorities.
Understanding the substance of the side hustle is just as critical. Is the side job completely unrelated to the full-time work? If so, that’s going to eliminate a lot of concern on the hiring manager’s part.

As one nonprofit executive said, “No one cares if your side hustle is dog-sitting, wedding photography, or mowing lawns…unless you’re doing it in the middle of the business day.” And that caveat brings us to the next parallel.

When the work happens matters. One of my girlfriends married a cop who frequently works the night shift. They are hopelessly in love, but she will be the first to tell you that conflicting work hours presented major challenges for their relationship. When she’s at work, he’s at home. And when she’s at home, he’s at work. Date night is a struggle.
Likewise, it’s going to be a tremendous hurdle if the hours of the side hustle conflict with the full-time job. Case in point, I spoke to three different candidates recently who indicated that their side hustles require them to work (at least occasionally) during regular business hours. And it won’t surprise anyone to hear that all three candidates believe this has likely cost them job offers.

On the flip side, I recently interviewed a candidate with a side job that was relegated exclusively to the weekends. She wasn’t having any problems getting interviews and offers.

Ok, there’s so much more to say on this topic, but we’ll save it for next month’s newsletter. Meanwhile, if you have any suggestions or questions about the topic, drop me a note and maybe I can address them in Part II.

Talent Tip #162: Dating Advice from My Parents…for Hiring Managers

May 21, 2024

Claire Kittle Dixon

Back in the day, my parents gave me a ton of dating advice.

And trust me when I tell you that I needed it. (Next time you see me at a social function, preferably one that serves copious amounts of alcohol, ask me to tell you about “Mean Dean” or “Mr. Insaneholtz”.)

We were just reminiscing the other day about all of the gems of relationship wisdom they shared. And as we talked about each one, it struck me how perfectly those bits of advice also apply to the hiring process.

And as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow, I never miss an opportunity to offer dating and hiring advice in one article! So, here are a few tidbits of my parents’ dating guidance adapted for hiring managers:

Make sure you share the same values.
My parents wanted me to find a man who was grounded, had a functioning moral compass, and valued family. Perhaps most of all, my dad just didn’t want me to bring home a vegan progressive who might ruin every holiday gathering by droning on about colonialism. And isn’t this so true for hiring?

You want someone who is mission-aligned with your organization.
I remember hearing about a liberty-oriented nonprofit that hired a VP of Human Resources who was, shall we say, more into Marxism than markets. The President who hired the VP didn’t seem to think it was a big deal at the time (after all, the VP had all of the skills and experience for the role). But within 18 months, the VP had brought in more than a half-dozen new employees who were also not aligned. Not surprisingly, that led to a watering down of the mission, a frustrated staff, and record-setting turnover. Thankfully, the President finally cleaned house, but not without learning a painful lesson: values alignment matters.
Life and marriage are hard: marry someone you like being with day in and day out.
In a lot of ways, my parents are complete opposites. My mom is the Southern, prim and proper English teacher and my dad is the Midwestern, dirty-joke-telling engineer. But they just fit together. Mom laughs at dad’s jokes and dad tries really hard not to make grammatical errors. Even after decades of marriage and life’s curveballs, they still like hanging out with one another. That’s why it works.
And so it goes with staff! Finding someone who fits your organization’s culture is a non-negotiable.

Case in point: a nonprofit executive recently lamented hiring a senior scholar who was values-aligned, brilliant…and a complete culture clash. While the scholar produced great work, he was constantly undermining the culture of respect and collaboration that the organization had spent years cultivating. The morale of those around him plummeted and they finally had to cut the scholar loose. As the executive told me, “It was the first time I hired someone I knew wasn’t a culture fit and I was just hoping it would work. But it turns out no amount of skill can overcome the culture disconnect.”
Ask about the longevity of past relationships and why they didn’t work.
Is he thrice divorced? A commitment-phobe? A philanderer? Is he primarily the dumper or the dumpee? My father wanted me to ask all of these questions to a potential mate on our first date. But rest assured, if I didn’t, Dad would cover the topics over three fingers of Basil Haden with any poor guy I brought home.

And these are not only great questions to ask on a date, but also during an interview. A candidate’s job history, tenures, and trajectory all matter!

Has the candidate jumped around from job to job with the frequency of a cheap ham radio? Are there long gaps in between gigs? Is there a logical career progression? Has the candidate taken on more (or less) responsibility with each role? Ask the candidate about job moves and don’t take surface-level answers. Dig in, especially where things don’t add up.
Talk to his ex-girlfriends.
Why spend 5 years trying to figure out for yourself what you can learn in 30 minutes from someone who knows first-hand? Of course, you can’t easily ask your boyfriend for a list of his ex-girlfriends. And unless you’re a boil-the-bunny type, you probably don’t want to go snooping around on his phone for them. So, this bit of advice was never easy for me to follow.

But you know what is easy? Asking a potential employee for a list of references!
Don’t just call references and ask throwaway questions. Drill down and try to get insight that will help you make the best decision. One of my favorite reference questions goes like this: “I am not expecting Bob to be perfect. But I do want to know where he might struggle or need help so that I can be prepared.” Believe it or not, this question is like a truth serum for references. I’ve gotten some of the best (and juiciest!) information with this one inquiry. And dang do I wish I had asked this of my exes’ exes.
If you don’t like something about him now, you’re really going to dislike it 20 years into your marriage.
Of all of the advice I got from my parents, I think this is my favorite bit. Is he self-centered? Does he talk over you? Is he disrespectful?
And so it goes for hiring. If you see a potential problem in the interview process, don’t ignore it.

Was the candidate slow to respond to communication during the interview process? Was the candidate cagey or evasive? Was he rude to your receptionist? As one client just told us, “We should have put more weight into the red flags we saw during the interview process. Those things came back to bite us in the keister.”

As always, Talent Market is here to discuss anything hiring-related with liberty-oriented nonprofits. Please let us know how we can help! And my parents are also available for an in-kind donation of bourbon.

Talent Tip #161: Advice for Creating a Buzz-worthy Resume (Part 2)

April 23, 2024

Welcome back to the grand finale of our two-part series on crafting a buzz-worthy resume.

By now, you likely know that Oppenheimer was the big winner at this year’s Oscars, taking home 7 statues, including the coveted award for Best Picture.

So what does it take to create not just an Oscar-worthy, but a Best Picture-worthy resume? As the orchestra cues up for the thrilling conclusion, let’s dive into our remaining tips.

Editing Precision: In the world of cinema, editors arrange scenes for maximum impact and clarity – cutting unnecessary dialogue and focusing on the most critical plot points. When editing your resume, bullet points are your greatest editing tool. Each bullet should start with a strong action verb, painting a vivid picture of your accomplishments. Remember, in this scene, clarity is key!
Box Office Numbers: Just as most blockbuster hits boast impressive box office numbers, your resume should quantify your achievements. Whether you’ve managed 20 events or increased donations by 30%, these numbers are your ticket to telling a clear story of the work you’ve accomplished in your previous roles and, therefore, what you’re likely to be capable of in the future.
Dialogue: Even in a film about quantum physics and nuclear technology, the dialogue can’t be too technical for its audience (who are probably not nuclear scientists). Similarly, your resume should avoid confusing acronyms and overly technical jargon that leave the audience scratching their heads. You want your experience to be clear to the hiring manager so your transferrable skills are easily identified.
Casting Choices: Casting directors know that not every actor fits every role. Likewise, not every hobby or past experience belongs on your resume. Keep it relevant to the role you’re seeking, and save the personal anecdotes for the post-award show interviews (water cooler conversations).
Set Design: Just as a movie set’s location sets the stage for the action, your resume must clearly indicate your location. Imagine the director’s surprise if they cast you for a role, only to find out you’re an ocean away! Tip: If you’re open to relocation, make that clear to avoid any plot twists.
Directing: A great director ensures that every element of the film is cohesive and clear. Your resume should follow suit, reading like a well-crafted script rather than a mystery novel. A bit of intrigue and unexpected plot twists are normal throughout your career, and can often fill out an otherwise formulaic plot. But failing to relate these storylines back to the main plot (or in this case, your overall skills and goals) is a sure way to find a rejection email in your inbox. Test it out on a friend—if they’re left with more questions than answers, it’s time for a rewrite.

As the credits roll on our resume advice series, remember that while we can’t guarantee you’ll land the starring role at your dream job, following these tips will certainly help you avoid the dreaded Razzie nomination.

Break a leg, and may your resume be the blockbuster hit of the hiring season!

Talent Tip #160: Advice for Creating a Buzz-worthy Resume (Part I)

February 20, 2024

If you pay attention to entertainment news, you’re well aware that Hollywood is gearing up for another thrilling television and film awards season. But if you’re anything like us, you’ve only seen a fraction of nominated films up for the big, buzz-worthy, awards and also much prefer the good-natured fun of the Golden Raspberry (aka Razzie) awards, which are given out to the worst movies/actors of the year.

So while we’re not qualified to comment on who should end up taking home Best Actor (obviously Cillian Murphy), the time we spend reviewing thousands of job applications every year does make us a good source for judging the best from the worst on the resume front.

With that in mind, we’ve gathered our top tips to create an Oscar-worthy resume and the mistakes that are more likely to end you up on the shortlist for a Razzie.

(This is the first of a two-part series.)

Oscar-worthy editing: Great films present their plots concisely and compellingly. Similarly, your résumé should be one page, maybe 2, with very few exceptions. Unlike diehard Zack Snyder fans, hiring managers aren’t likely to stick around for the Director’s Cut version of your career and you don’t want your critical skills buried on a third page! Tip: if you’re having trouble trimming down your resume, ask yourself, “What is most relevant to the specific job I’m applying for?” If it isn’t going to help you land that job, cut it.
Razzie-worthy trailer: We’ve all seen eye-roll-worthy bad movie trailers. The type full of cheesy lines and poorly executed special effects. Even for a great movie, a terrible trailer can convince an audience to skip the main event. A summary/objective section is the resume equivalent to a bad trailer. Surely your objective is getting the job that you’ve applied for? And, a résumé itself is already a summary of your experience! Without hesitation, we can tell you this is our least favorite section of the résumé. It’s the area where otherwise sane people are drawn to use jargon, B.S., wild hyperbole, and annoying buzzwords like “synergy.” Whatever it is you want to say here, invest in including it in an Oscar-worthy cover letter instead.
Oscar-worthy screenplay: In scriptwriting, structure is everything. A story that jumps around can easily lose its audience, just like a resume that doesn’t follow a logical order. To gain that clarity in your resume, you must use clear, uniform dates. Include your start and end dates, preferably with months, to delineate exactly how much time you spent at each role. This information is extremely important for hiring managers to understand your experience. Further, leaving out dates is conspicuous and does far more harm than good. And while we’re at it, please make it chronological!
Razzie-worthy plot holes: We’ve all seen movies where the plot twist feels forced or unclear, leaving the audience more confused than impressed (looking at you, M. Night Shyamalan). The same goes for resumes with overlapping or ambiguous roles. If you’ve juggled multiple jobs simultaneously, be upfront about the nature of each position—whether it’s a contract, consulting gig, or part-time work. Clarity is critical; you don’t want hiring managers guessing about your storyline or suspecting you of embellishing your role. Transparency turns what could be a plot hole into a compelling part of your narrative.
Oscar-worthy lead actress: It’s a good thing Oscar-bait movies usually feature the lead cast’s names prominently in both the opening and closing credits – how else would The Academy know where to send their invites? Similarly, your resume must include your (accurate) contact information. This should seem Captain Obvious, but just recently we had a candidate apply with a résumé that lacked contact information. Worse, this person also mistyped their email on the application form. This means we quite literally can’t contact the candidate! And we hate to imagine that she’ll miss out on her opportunity to deliver a memorable (job) acceptance speech because of it.

Speaking of speeches, we can hear the opening notes of the house band playing us off the stage, so we’ll end here for this month. We encourage you to use these points to brush up your résumé and then come back next month for the rest of our tips.

While we can’t promise you’ll end up taking home a golden statue (or in this case, a job) at the end of the night, these tips should help you avoid ending up with an invitation to the Razzies.