Yes, the job market is tough and when >100 of candidates apply for one position only about 10-15% of them get shortlisted to the first round of job interviews. How do you get among this small share of people with your job application? How should your CV and cover letter look like to attract enough attention to the recruiter or hiring manager so that he/she really feels a desire to get to know you better? In this episode I am explaining the following steps to you to create a high-quality...

Have you ever dated someone that ended up in a relationship? I hope we all have! – And hey, this means that you know also how to land a job. Because searching for a job is like dating! Many people who are desperately searching work have the feeling that the whole recruitment process is a big mysterious black box full of tricky technical challenges to overcome so that the own job application gets considered. What is often forgotten: the hiring manager who has a position open in his team and...

“All my life I had been chasing success, but here I was – with 38 – and had no idea when I will ever work again.” This episode is the second part of the interview with Tomi Kaukinen, a Finnish start-up entrepreneur who shares in a very open and personal way how he experienced a burn-out in 2017, after his company successfully expanded from Finland over Spain to Asia. In 2018 he started talking about this dark period of his life in public – when burn-out and depression in the working world...

From a cleaner to an elite scholar, from investment banking to the colorful start-up world, from Finland over Spain to Asia. And finally into a burn-out. I had the honor to interview Tomi Kaukinen, who is a successful serial entrepreneur and one of the most-wanted keynote speakers in the Finnish business sector. Graduated from the Stockholm School of Economics, he quit is well-paid job in an investment bank after 6 years to found his own business. He has managed to build up a start-up that...

Networking is not to get 100 business cards on an event. Networking is not to connect with people randomly on LinkedIn. Networking also does not mean to pitch something to potential clients. Networking means knowing yourself well enough so that you can share with the world what you have to offer. It means to share our story in a vulnerable way. And synergies will grow out of that. So how do you achieve that? How do you not just connect with people who share your interests but then also...

Everyone knows that networking is important to find your next job and to build up your career. But most of the people don’t know how networking works in a good way. Why do you want to network? What is your intention to grow your network and connect with certain people? This podcast episode is the first part of me interviewing Joppe Quaedvlieg (or during the first minutes he is more interview me 😊) and we are clarifying What you have to do to create connections that are really beneficial...

It is important to recognize the point in time when you have to let something go. That can be a job position that you were hoping to get but you were rejected last minute, or you were dating someone which did not work out in the end. In both situations, you have invested a lot of time and energy – and now your mind stays busy with thinking about what went wrong or what you could have done better? The problem is: As long as your mind is busy with this old stuff, you don’t have space in your...

Are you afraid that your job application is not considered, because the company you are applying for is using an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)? Do you fear this is a big black box, and finally your application gets rejected by an algorithm based on weird criteria while a human recruiter never took a look at it? After you have shared many concerns like this with me, I have investigated this topic and found a great expert to share insights about ATS, especially combined with AI: In this...

What is your biggest challenge at the moment in your job search? Are you writing hundreds of applications but never make it to a job interview? This podcast episode is the second part of the recording of the webinar ‘Recruiting Insights’ that I have given in June 2024 to share my insights as a hiring manager from a recruitment process I have done myself. There are many common mistakes that people make when applying for a job, that distract me as the hiring manager from shortlisting them. In...

What is your biggest challenge at the moment in your job search? Are you writing hundreds of applications but never make it to a job interview? This podcast episode is the recording of the webinar ‘Recruiting Insights’ that I have given in June 2024 to share my insights as a hiring manager from a recruitment process I have done myself. There are many common mistakes that people make when applying for a job, that distract me as the hiring manager from shortlisting them. Hear in the first...

Have you had high expectations after a job interview – but then were not chosen? Were you sure, you will get the promotion at work – but that went to another colleague? Have you had high expectations when participating in a competition – but it didn’t go as planned? Experiencing these disappointments don’t feel great. But they are part of life and the goal is not to avoid them – but to manage them! First, it is important to understand that being disappointed always means that expectations...

Are you stuck in a phase of feeling unsuccessful? Everything you are trying is not going to work? You are failing all the time? The problem is, “energy flows where attention goes” (Tony Robbins). That means: the more you are focussing on you being unsuccessful, the more unsuccessful moments it will create. To shift that: Regularly create little moments of success in your life. If this is not possible in your job at the moment, search for other possibilities, for example in your free-time...

… the person you are approaching has never worked with you and has nothing to refer to! I have experienced myself, that people reach out on LinkedIn asking me for reference for jobs, although I have never met them before. Even if the job market is tough, it is not a good practice to search for and rely on references from other people, while neglecting putting effort on your own job applications. Basically, a good reference from someone (if that person knows you and has worked with you) is...

How do you make decisions for your professional life and your next career step? Do you always feel quite insecure and rely on the opinion of others? Or do you have this strong inner guidance – because you know clearly what your personal values are that drive your decisions? Are you aware about your own values? Your personal values can be 3-6 out of the following examples: freedom, independence, respect, responsibility, integrity, honesty, loyalty, empathy, wealth, stability, safety,...

Yes, sometimes we are envious of someone, because he/she has something that we do not have. We have grown up hearing that it is bad to be envious and jealous. So, whenever we feel envy and jealousy, we push this feeling aside, or even judge ourselves for it. What makes you envious? Seeing other people who have A happy relationship? A family? Kids? A good job? A higher position? A higher salary? Material things like a bigger house, a car or jewellery? A different lifestyle? What I...

What is a trigger? What is triggering you emotionally – something that somebody says or does that makes you angry, aggressive, sad or even panicking? At your workplace, in your family, in your network of friends or even just by walking around in the city? What can you do when you recognize that you got triggered and you are close to overreact or have done already? First: be proud of yourself that you are already reflecting your own behaviour in such a way! How many people get triggered and...

Are you desperately looking for a job? You write applications, you reach out to companies, you network and try to get in contact with recruiters and hiring managers – without success? I am now a hiring manager myself, and I have observed that many people make at least one out of these three mistakes: They are downgrading their own competences They are not able to keep their energy up in the right moment They are not empathetic enough when handing in their application From the...

What if you do something stupid in front of others? What if that happens while you are on a stage – in the full spotlight? Do you have this limiting belief as well “Don’t do anything stupid – what should the others think?!” In this episode you will realize: We all have that. This episode is the second part of the interview with Lauri Lehmusvirta, my fellow member in the Toastmasters club ‘Stadi Talkers’, where we regularly practice speaking and leadership skills. Lauri is active in public...

Public speaking – does that sound scary to you or like something you always wanted to try out? Going in front of an audience and give a speech or presentation? Have you ever heard about the Toastmasters International organization? Toastmasters International is an organization for public speaking and leadership. Thousands of Toastmasters club exist world-wide where people gather together regularly to practice giving speeches, moderating, evaluating and improvisation. I am myself a member of...

How to prepare for presenting yourself in a job interview? In a meeting at work how to avoid ‘death by PowerPoint’? And what are common struggles of CEOs and leaders when communicating with their employees? Listen to the second part of the inspiring interview with Jacqueline Farrington! She is a TEDx Senior Speaker coach and nowadays also coach for CEOs and senior leaders for big clients such as Amazon and Microsoft to train them in a better authentic communication. She says, giving a...

Listen to an inspiring interview with a true expert in communication and public speaking! Jacqueline Farrington is a TEDx Senior Speaker coach and nowadays also coach for CEOs and senior leaders for big clients such as Amazon and Microsoft to train them in a better authentic communication. Very recently, she has published her book “The non-obvious guide to better presentations – How to present like a pro: virtually or in person” (https://www.nonobviousguides.com/betterpresentations/) In the...

You don’t follow your New Year’s resolutions anymore? Is it now too late for changing something in 2024? – NO!!! It is never too late to define targets for you, no matter if you define them later in February, in spring or in summer! It is the most important that you realize that you have to change something - in your behaviour or in your mindset – so that something in your life can change! Because as Albert Einstein said: “It is the definition of being insane, to do the same things again...

What is empathy? How do you know that you are acting in an empathetic way and what can you do to become more empathetic? In the second part of the interview with Joppe Quaedvlieg, we are linking his concept of Descriptive Communication to the important topic empathy – and both agree that this is what divides bad leaders and good leaders. We are discussing concrete situations at work and what are the worst mistakes that managers can make in their communication and behaviour. Hear in this...

Joppe Quaedvlieg, originally from the Netherlands, has many years experience of supporting foreigners in Finland as a career coach, helping them to find a job. The success of his support is grounded on communicating with his coachees in an empathetic and conscious way – and finding a good answer to the question ‘What do you really want?’. Instead of responding in general, shallow platitudes, Joppe has found a way to make people feeling comfortable to talk about their wishes and career...