Chan with a Plan

How informational interviews help you land your dream job

EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Chan With A Plan, host Max Chan speaks with Sara Seymour, host of the podcast What Do People Do All Day? In this conversation Sara discusses the importance of conducting informational interviews and how to do them the right way to bring value to you and the professional you are speaking with and help move your career in the right direction. 
 
QUOTES
“There are a number of different ways to [reach out to people for an informational interview]. One way is, you know, just through LinkedIn, if you're looking for a specific person or a specific company, or if you're looking for a specific role, you can look through LinkedIn, that can also help you identify people who maybe went to the same university that you went to, and I think that can be helpful for just easing the conversation. But you don't have to, like you don't have to necessarily know the person in any way or have any connection to the person, it's very reasonable to cold reach out” - Sara Seymour
“One thing to keep in mind is you want to make your ask clear [when reaching out to professionals]. And this is true, like generally with communication, you want to make sure that you are upfront. But you also want to give them a little bit of background [of why you’re reaching out].” - Sara Seymour
“[Informational interviews can be better than applying online] because sometimes jobs don't even get posted. And part of the reason that they don't get posted is that they have someone in mind, they hire internally. So if you have spoken with someone, and this role comes up, and they think of you, they reach out to you before they even post the job, you sort of skipped the part where your resume and potentially cover letter are competing with a bunch of other resumes and cover letters [in the online application pool].” - Sara Seymour
 
TIMESTAMPS
[1:01] Meet Sara
[1:58] Introduction to informational interviews and how Sara used them to help move her career in the right direction
[4:46] Common misconceptions about informational interviews
[6:00] Reaching out to the right people for an informational interview
[9:10] Being realistic with response rate when reaching out cold to professionals on LinkedIn
[10:16] Important questions you should ask in an informational interview
[15:17] Why you should never ask for a job at the end of an informational interview
[18:09] How to stay connected with your contact once the initial informational interview is over
[20:53] The benefits of networking / informational interviews over only applying online 
[21:33] How long it takes for networking / informational interviews to start generating job opportunities to move your career forward
[23:46] Additional strategies and tips when it comes to utilizing informational interviews to further your career
[25:02] The biggest career challenge Sara has faced, and what she did to overcome it to get to where she is today
[26:28] Contacting Sara
[27:48] Outro
 
RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS
What Do People Do All Day? Podcast
Chan With A Plan
Chan With A Plan Private Facebook Group

How you’ll always generate a positive ROI when you invest in yourself as long as you don’t do this one thing

EPISODE SUMMARY
Max discusses how you can never lose when it comes to investing in your own personal and professional growth as long as you don't do this one thing that will hinder your success. Based on this past week's episode with Katrina McGhee on how to take a successful career break and come back stronger than ever. 
 
TIMESTAMPS
[1:33] How you'll never lose in investing yourself as long as you don't do this one thing
 
RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS
Chan With A Plan
Chan With A Plan Facebook Group

How to take a successful career break and come back stronger than ever

EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Chan With A Plan, host Max Chan speaks with Katrina McGhee, a Career Break and Sabbatical Coach that helps 9-to-5ers design mind-blowing breaks to create happier, more fulfilling lives. Katrina discusses her own career breaks and how she did not need to take a step back in her career when she was ready to return, but ended up receiving multiple job offers and getting way more salary than when she was working prior to her career break. 
 
QUOTES
“I talked about my break and so many people in the interviews would ask me about my break, and they wanted to know, like, Were you scared? What was the highlight? What was your favorite country and being able to connect, you know, when they go off to discuss all of the candidates, you're the person that took a break, you're the person that traveled around the world, like, everybody else has the same qualifications as you and honestly, like probably similar experiences. And so you get to be all of that, plus, this amazing person that did this very memorable thing.” - Katrina McGhee
“Am I going to jeopardize my career success [by taking a career break]? Right? Is it going to be gone? Am I going to erode all this hard work? Am I going to basically not be on track to get promoted? Here's what I want to say, you know, I personally have supported over 40 career breaks beyond the two, you know, of my own. And so as much as it can feel like it's the end, I want to remind you, all of that experience, all of that education, and your network comes with you. Those all come with you, no one takes that away from you. So when you show up a year later, six months later, you know, 20 months later, you are still that person.” - Katrina McGhee
“We're so afraid to stop running and stop racing. We're just so afraid we're gonna lose our spot. I don't want to lose my spot. If I get off this wheel, can I get back on? The answer is yes, that will always be waiting for you. They will always want you back on the wheel. And it's your choice if you want to get back on or not when your break is over.” - Katrina McGhee
 
TIMESTAMPS
[1:47] Meet Katrina
[7:24] Why Katrina decided to take a career break
[12:00] How Katrina saved up enough money to take an extended career break
[15:54] Katrina’s plan to effectively re-enter the workforce
[20:46] How to position your career break positively so it isn’t considered a red flag
[23:38] Overcoming the naysayers stating that Katrina would need to take a demotion or pay cut to get back into the workforce after her career break
[26:19] Advice for professionals that want to take a career break but are too scared to
[31:14] How Katrina started her business and how she decided after her second career break that it was time to take her business full time 
[34:34] How Katrina paid off her student debt
[36:09] Life lessons Katrina learned during her career breaks
[39:21] Advice for people looking to take a career break within the next few months
[42:59] Discussing whether Katrina ever had the itch to end her career break early to go back to work
[45:21] How far you should plan in order to get back into the workforce effectively during your career break
[46:26] The 1 common lesson her clients and herself have learned by taking a career break
[47:34] The biggest career challenge Katrina has faced, and what she did to overcome it to get to where she is today
[49:00] Contacting Katrina
[50:13] Outro
 
RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS
Katrina McGhee Website
Katrina McGhee on Instagram
Katrina McGhee on LinkedIn
Chan With A Plan
Chan With A Plan Private Facebook Group

How Getting Fired Taught Me These 3 Valuable Lessons

EPISODE SUMMARY
Max discusses 3 valuable lessons he learned from getting fired at his 1st marketing job when he was a recent grad. Based on this past week's episode with Daniel Lantin on how strong work performance doesn't always increase job security. 
 
TIMESTAMPS
[1:45] Why your manager is the main factor in your performance and job satisfaction
[2:33] Being patient and not take opportunities you know aren't a good fit because you're desperate
[3:46] The importance of having a support network during the down times in your career
 
RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS
Chan With A Plan
Chan With A Plan Facebook Group

How strong work performance doesn’t always increase job security

EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Chan With A Plan, host Max Chan speaks with Daniel Lantin, a professional that was originally from the Philippines and moved to Canada as an international student to build a better life. In this conversation he discusses his experience of being laid off for the 1st time in his career that had nothing to do with his performance, the learning lessons he gathered and what he’ll do next time to ensure that he’s ready to tackle career obstacles head on with confidence.  
 
QUOTES
“What I learned [from this experience] was, even if you have a job now you think you're stable, like I would still network with other people. And I would still kind of apply just to keep my resume fresh and everything, just so you're protected, just in case something happens.” - Daniel Lantin
“You should never burn bridges. Like, even if you're super mad at them, just try your best not to burn bridges, because you'll never know, you might end up working for them again, or you might end up working for the same colleagues that you have, or they might recruit you somewhere. Just never burn bridges.” - Daniel Lantin
“[In Canada] I really felt that you're not really 100% secure in your job. Again, like what you said, it doesn't even have to be based on your performance. It's just like, things change here so quickly, that sometimes they have to change direction, right? So that's what I learned.” - Daniel Lantin
 
TIMESTAMPS
[0:35] Meet Daniel
[5:54] Daniel’s plan at his job to increase job security and the sacrifices he made to do it
[8:25] Daniel’s experience in Canada with being laid off, and lessons he learned to effectively move forward
[15:32] What Daniel did after the announcement of his layoff and what he did during his remaining time there
[29:47] Daniel’s strategy on applying for a new job and planning his next career move
[39:13] Biggest career challenge Daniel had to overcome and what steps he took to overcome it
[41:32] Contacting Daniel
[42:19] Outro
 
RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS
Daniel Lantin on LinkedIn
Chan With A Plan
Chan With A Plan Facebook Community

The power of asking for what you want to grow your career

EPISODE SUMMARY
Max discusses the importance of asking for what you want to grow your career. Based on this past week's episode with Mary Guirovich on how to create your plan to get promoted this year.
 
TIMESTAMPS
[0:59] The importance of asking for what you want to move forward in your career
[3:34] The success of your ask is based on the level of the ask and how strong your relationship is with the person you are asking
[5:40] Summary
 
RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS
Chan With A Plan
Chan With A Plan Facebook Group

How to create your plan to get promoted this year

EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Chan With A Plan, host Max Chan speaks with Mary Guirovich, an Award-winning holistic career coach and author. In this conversation she discusses how she followed traditional career advice that only left her with more self-doubt, frustration and work with no end in sight. Trying to figure out how to push through this career wall, she developed her now signature My Promotion Plan system that has helped her scale her career into the C-suite and was named partner, giving her the income, impact and joy that she always dreamed of.
 
QUOTES
“The traditional career advice really just helps us to work hard, and wait to be noticed. That means we get on strategic projects, we try to find mentors and the problem is, it's just not created equal for everybody. And that advice has been passed down because it's worked for people. But the problem is, it only works for a certain category of people really, really well, which is not the majority of the population” - Mary Guirovich
“[When it comes to asking for that promotion] you go to them with value, and it changes everything. But you have to know your value. And you have to be willing to own your accomplishments.” - Mary Guirovich
“Most people that put themselves out there for advancement, they are not 100% ready, there are many things they don't know. But you will figure it out as you go. So I just want to encourage you to really dream. Allow yourself to think and dream big, and then take those actions.” - Mary Guirovich
 
TIMESTAMPS
[1:15] Meet Mary
[2:22] Why the standard promotion advice doesn’t work for a majority of people
[6:19] Overview of crafting your promotional plan to get that guaranteed promotion at your work
[12:05] Identifying problems in the company that you can help solve
[13:28] Balancing doing your assigned work with proactive work that will help get you noticed for a promotion
[16:24] The importance of working yourself out of your current job in order to get promoted
[18:02] The best time to present your promotion plan to your manager and how to do it
[32:23] The importance of asking for that promotion
[33:27] Getting buy in from other teams to put your ideas into motion
[35:59] Why it’s never too late to craft a promotion plan even if you’ve been in the same role for many years
[35:59] Mary’s turning point in regards to no longer listening to traditional promotional career advice and creating her own solution to push past that career wall
[40:06] One piece of advice Mary wants you to take away from this episode if you currently feel stuck in your career
[40:56] Contacting Mary
[41:48] Outro
 
RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS
Mary Guirovich Official Website
Chan With A Plan
Chan With A Plan Private Facebook Group

The importance of small steps to achieve your career goals

Episode Summary
Max discusses the importance of taking small steps in order to achieve your career goals. Based on this past week's episode with Talia Dashow on how to stop feeling overwhelmed in a new job and be the best you can be. 
 
TIMESTAMPS
[0:29] The importance of the one degree shift and taking small steps consistently over time to achieve a large result
[2:33] What Max wants you to do if you want to start something new this year and are serious about it
 
RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS
Chan With A Plan
Chan With A Plan Facebook Group