Chan with a Plan
Providing career advice in easy actionable steps, for frustrated professionals, helping you overcome career challenges so you can stop feeling confused and defeated and start feeling focused and confident in order to excel in your career.
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Episodes
Episodes
Friday Jun 30, 2023
Friday Jun 30, 2023
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Chan with a Plan, Max discusses 8 secrets recruiters won't tell you about the hiring process. He will help you understand what recruiters look for, how to better navigate the hiring process, and dive into each of the 8 secrets from recruiters.
TIMESTAMPS
[00:00] Intro summary
[00:40] Navigating the hiring process
[01:08] You’re not the only priority
[01:28] Salary is negotiable
[01:55] Social media matters
[02:28] Recruiters might not understand the job
[03:08] You are Googled
[03:35] Presentation can trump experience
[04:08] Unemployed bias
[04:53] Recruiters might not have the final say
[05:23] Summary
RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS
Chan With A Plan
Max Chan on Social Media
Tuesday Jun 27, 2023
Tuesday Jun 27, 2023
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Chan with a Plan, Max Speaks with Bill Birchard, Author of Writing for Impact and consultant/coach to professionals who want to become an effective writer. During this conversation Bill discusses writing and becoming an author, copywriting, and competing with AI.
QUOTES FROM BILL
“The core algorithm that drives ChatGPT is the statistical probability of one word following another. I asked it to view some improbable wording to write an ad for hair coloring, and what happens is if it gets outside the statistical probabilities, it starts generating nonsense essentially.”
“I'm not a fan of opening a blank screen and starting to write. I'm a fan of trying to get your ideas together and then writing.”
“We can see what happens when you use a metaphor versus literal language. We can see that in the brain. We can see that the amygdala lights up because there's some emotion involved. We can see that the motor and sensory circuits light up because there's probably some action and some sensations involved and so forth.”
TIMESTAMPS
[02:23] Advancements in AI
[05:20] Lessons in improving writing
[10:43] Challenges for copywriters
[16:28] How has writing and copywriting evolved
[23:30] Getting motivated to write content
[29:00] Write for impact is science backed
[35:43] Biggest takeaway from all the research
[38:20] One big career challenge for Bill
RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS
Bill Birchard on Social Media:LinkedIn
Chan With A Plan
Max Chan on Social Media
Friday Jun 23, 2023
Friday Jun 23, 2023
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Chan with a Plan, Max discusses how you can be better than 99% of job seekers out there. He will dive into how to set yourself apart, how to play the job hunting game better, and how to know what employers are actually looking for.
TIMESTAMPS
[00:35] Intro summary
[00:52] Knowing the rules of the game
[01:18] Stop making excuses
[02:25] Relying too much on a career coach or hunting service to do all the work
[02:58] No shortcuts to success
[03:02] Work smarter not harder
[03:20] Networking is powerful
[03:38] Filter out the noise
[04:10] Being consistent is the key to success
[05:52] Summary
RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS
Chan With A Plan
Max Chan on Social Media
Tuesday Jun 20, 2023
Tuesday Jun 20, 2023
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Chan with a Plan, Max Speaks with Cindy Chan, career coach.During this conversation Cindy discusses layoffs, balancing emotions but taking action, and AI with the job search process.
QUOTES FROM CINDY
“You can't expect me to respond to your direct message if you send it to me at around like 8:00 PM and the job people is like, oh, okay. I, I hadn't thought about that. I thought they're on there all day every day. Yes, but they have to give themself a break.”
“We're human beings. We all grieve. When something is lost, it's very normal. And I want to take this moment to encourage our friends here if you did recently experience layoff. I want to let you guys know that it's completely okay to feel how you feel.”
“This is really interesting, honestly. The companies that I've seen who still ask for traditional cover letters are not for profit organization and maybe the government, but I haven't quite seen other organization ask for cover letters.”
TIMESTAMPS
[01:50] Summer time hiring lull
[05:00] Making layoffs less impactful
[10:15] Cindy gets personal – her layoff story
[14:37] Pause or start searching – dealing with layoffs
[21:00] Resume format
[26:25] LinkedIn – A recruiter’s tool
[31:30] Cover letters yes or no?
[36:25] Keyword strategies
[37:40] ChatGPT
[39:20] What to do after a layoff?
[44:25] Cindy becomes a career coach
[49:05] Cindy’s one big career challenge she overcame
RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS
Cindy Chan on Social Media:LinkedIn
Chan With A Plan
Max Chan on Social Media
Friday Jun 16, 2023
Friday Jun 16, 2023
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Chan with a Plan, Max dives into the hotly debated topic of the MBA degree. Max will discuss the pros and cons of an MBA degree, quality of MBA programs, and how an MBA can improve your skills.
TIMESTAMPS
[00:39] MBA degrees
[01:45] Pay increase?
[02:40] Gaining relative experience
[03:33] Improving skills and abilities
[04:05] Benefits of MBAs
[04:18] Career advancement
[04:35] Career changes
[04:47] Networking
[05:06] Personal Development
[05:38] Summary
RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS
Chan With A Plan
Max Chan on Social Media
Tuesday Jun 13, 2023
Tuesday Jun 13, 2023
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Chan with a Plan, Max Speaks with Chris Burns, author, consultant, and podcaster.During this conversation Chris discusses his journey into marketing, how to build your personal brand, and content creation tips.
QUOTES FROM CHRIS
“Cultivate relationships. Put the social back in social media. But unfortunately, so many people are doing it the opposite way is they're just shooting arrows at their prospect and they're going to end up killing them.”
“If you could open the door and you can humanize your brand or humanize yourself as a leader, You can cultivate relationships and a lot of good things can happen from that.”
“In a perfect world, you would mix it up, you would have maybe 20-30% variation from platform to platform.”
TIMESTAMPS
[01:35] Chris’s journey
[02:59] What is a personal brand?
[08:29] Using personal brand to advance your career
[12:04] Use of social media for the older population
[18:32] Businesses’ social proof
[20:45] Having good authenticity
[25:10] Improve the first impression
[28:14] Building your brand, which social media platform?
[35:23] Managing content topics
[40:45] Finding a niche
[48:24] The turning point in Chris’s personal brand
RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS
Chris Burns on Social Media:LinkedIn
Chan With A Plan
Max Chan on Social Media
Friday Jun 09, 2023
Friday Jun 09, 2023
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Chan with a Plan, Max teaches you how to overcome interview anxiety with 8 powerful tips and techniques. Discover proven strategies that will help you conquer your nerves and perform at your best during job interviews.
From effective preparation methods to mindset shifts, this episode offers practical advice and actionable steps to help you crush interview anxiety and increase your chances of landing your dream job.
Don't let nerves hold you back any longer, listen to this episode and unlock your full interview potential.
TIMESTAMPS
[00:38] Job interview anxiety
[01:25] Uncertainty in the interview
[01:45] You might feel judgement
[01:55] The novelty of the job interview
[02:27] Be prepared
[02:50] Mindfulness
[03:05] Adopt positive affirmations
[03:19] Visualize success
[03:43] Stay active and healthy
[04:08] Good sleep hygiene
[04:26] Dress for success
[04:45] Be early
[05:20] Summary
RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS
Chan With A Plan
Max Chan on Social Media
Tuesday Jun 06, 2023
Tuesday Jun 06, 2023
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Chan with a Plan, Max Speaks with Carol Parker Walsh, Strategic Advisor, Master Certified Executive & Leadership Coach, and Certified Personal Brand Strategist.During this conversation Carol shares how to make career pivots, about personal branding, and the differences between a midlife crisis and just changing careers midlife.
QUOTES FROM CAROL
“I was a lawyer and I decided to move into organizational consulting work, so the industries do not pay the same. Let's just be honest. What I was making at $500 an hour as an attorney, I was not going to get that in a corporate job.”
“You shouldn't go all in your careers because what happens is as you get older your professional identity becomes more powerful than your own individual identity.”
“There's so much stigma around mental health, at least among sort of my generation older folks, but around Gen Z, there really isn't as much, and I think that's a really healthy thing.”
TIMESTAMPS
[01:49] Carol’s journey
[06:45] Career change considered a failure?
[11:00] Become well-rounded
[12:28] Build long lasting relationships
[13:40] Midlife crisis
[18:01] Career pivoting advice
[23:06] Fear of taking a pay cut
[26:18] Blocking out what others think
[29:37] Midlife crisis vs just wanting change
[33:48] Time management
[40:18] Changing your environment
[42:19] Carol’s main takeaways
[47:39] One big obstacle
RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS
Carol Parker Walsh on Social Media:LinkedIn
Chan With A Plan
Max Chan on Social Media