This 5-minute writing tip is an easy way to instantly impress a job interviewer, says HR exec
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Yes, it always helps to send a “thank you” email after a job interview.
But it’s not enough to stand out in today’s competitive job market, says Angela Santone, AT&T’s senior executive vice president of human resources.
To really impress your interviewer, consider sending a handwritten thank-you note instead.
Santone suggests using the following script at the end of your interview: “I’d love to be able to follow up with you with a note and thank you for your time properly. Would you mind sharing your work mailing address with me?”
As for what to include in your thank-you note, keep it short: Santone says three to five sentences suffice. And be specific: Mention at least two details that stood out to you in the conversation, whether about the role’s responsibilities or your interviewer’s experience, and explain why.
“It’s much more powerful to echo back to them what you’ve heard about success in the role, or the company’s culture, and why you can meet those specific expectations, versus a general elevator pitch about why you’re the perfect candidate,” Santone says.
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This 33-year-old brought in $2 million making PowerPoints: Here’s her best career advice
Courtney Allen figured out early on that there’s money to be made in PowerPoints. She studied graphic design in college, and after graduating in 2012, she traveled and did freelance work as a presentation designer for Cisco Systems.
In 2015, she decided to buckle down on building her client portfolio on Upwork, and by 2017, she founded her own presentation design company called 16X9.
Allen's personal contracts and those of her company have now brought in more than $2 million on Upwork.
For anyone keen to pave their own path, here’s her advice.
'Focus on unsexy problems': Look for a niche to offer services in, she says. In graphic design, “there’s a lot of flashier things like advertising and branding,” but it was this day-to-day task of making decks that executives were looking to outsource.
Be 'a strong advocate' for yourself: Make sure you’re getting paid what you deserve. Allen remembers a client who asked her to work outside of normal business hours. She usually charged $60-$70 per hour, but she upped her price to $200, and the client agreed.
Take time off when you need it: After graduating, Allen found herself “really burnt out,” and took a gap year to travel. “I really appreciated having that year of traveling and resetting and getting passionate about my work again,” she says. “I felt a lot more motivated after doing so.”
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Millennial Money: 31-year-old makes $150,000 a year as a voice-over artist
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Alice Everdeen, 31, earns $150,000 a year as a voice-over artist, completing 150 jobs a month. She also lives in a school bus, allowing her to travel all over the country. |
Mark Cuban says successful people share one trait ‘most people’ don’t have |
Between his own business success and his investments in hundreds of startups, Mark Cuban knows what it takes to be highly successful.
There’s one trait you should cultivate above all others if you want to be successful, too, he says: going above and beyond what’s expected.
“The one thing in life you can control is your effort,” Cuban, 64, recently said in a LinkedIn video post published by entrepreneur and VC investor Randall Kaplan. “And being willing to do so is a huge competitive advantage, because most people don’t.”
Putting in extraordinary effort means going beyond what’s required to solve problems — even when you aren’t asked to — on top of your job’s normal responsibilities, Cuban said. You take the initiative and exhaust every possible option to find answers.
This quality is somewhat rare, he added.
“There’s some people, or employees, that if you tell them to do A, B and C, they’ll do A, B and C and not know that D, E and F exists,” he said.
Don’t want to go the extra mile? “Don’t apply for a job with me,” Cuban said.
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