Homme/Zomp: Bender Consulting Services Sponsors Webinar on Resume Building /Marketing Yourself in Today's Changing Job Search Environment

At Highmark Health, we believe what makes us unique makes us better. Our differences broaden our perspectives and foster a variety of skills to complement each other, creating a stronger and more vibrant workforce. It's this belief that earned us recognition as the Best Place to Work for the 10th year for individuals with disabilities in a survey by the American Association of People with Disabilities and Disability:IN. We'll continue to celebrate and benefit from the inclusion of all people. To find out more, visit highmarkhealth.org. Welcome to Disability Matters with your host Joyce Bender. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guest, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

Hi everyone, welcome to the show today. This is Joyce Bender with Disability Matters. And thank you, thank you, thank you for everything you're doing to support this show. And to all the countries around the world listening to the show, thank you, it means so much. Hello to Richard Roberts in Brazil and Gang Young in South Korea and all my other friends in Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Panama. I'll tell you, we are all one, and no matter what we're going through, when you're people with disabilities, you are people with disabilities no matter where you live in the world. Hey, shout out to you, Yoshiko. You know how I love you, Yoshiko Dart. And thank you, a big thank you to Highmark, our lead sponsor. And this is the 22nd year I've been on the air. And yay, it's the 30th anniversary of Bender Consulting Services. And my whole life has been about finding employment, specifically employment for people with disabilities. I even began my career in executive search. So, you know, I am I am all about freedom through employment. And I know that many of you have lost your jobs and you're currently unemployed, and we at Bender are always here to help you. And we're going to help you today by my employees, the two who will introduce themselves in a minute, who are giants in the area of the employment of people with disabilities. I'm going to tell you right now, I don't know of anyone like these two that care so much and do such a great job, but they really have a wealth of knowledge. And I thought, you know what, we at Bender Consulting Services, we want to do the right thing. We want to help you. So please know You can share this podcast, and we'll talk about that later, to anyone that you want to hear the show. But let's start. Enough of me, moving on to our two dynamos. Gerald Helmi, we'll start with you. Gerald, why don't you introduce yourself?

Hi, Joyce Bender. Thank you so much for having me on the show today. It's always an honor and a privilege to be featured On Disability Matters with Joyce Bender. I am Gerald Homi. I'm the manager of the talent acquisition team here at Bender Consulting Services. I get that privilege of leading the team that does our work placing people with disabilities into jobs all over the U.S. every single day. And as a person with disabilities myself— dysgraphia, dyslexia, PTSD, anxiety disorder, migraine disorder. It is great to be able to give that opportunity to other people and have an amazing team to help support that. I've known Joyce for my entire life. My father is blind. He was the first person with a disability that Joyce ever placed into a job. And next month will mark my 18th year working for Bender Consulting Services. When I first started here as an intern in high school, taking the bus out here, helping to help in the office in any way I can, and I'm still looking to help in any way I can this company and this mission. So, privilege to be on the show, Joyce.

Wow. And it is just wonderful to have you as part of Bender. Um, you know, both of you are a blessing to me. So, Jill Zomp, why don't you introduce yourself?

Hi Joyce, thank you so much for having me today. I am Jill Zomp. I am the Talent Acquisition Coordinator at Bender Consulting Services. I been here for almost half as long as Gerald, because this is going on my 9th year. I still consider myself the newbie to the team, because when somebody comes to Joyce Bender's team, they, they never leave, because it's just such a wonderful place to be. Getting to help find amazing opportunities and connecting it with amazing individuals that are willing to identify as having a disability has been one of the greatest things that I could do. I've been doing this for, like I said, 9 years. Before that, I was in higher education helping people with disabilities try to to find employment after they finish their degrees was very, very challenging. And then I found personally in my own life, my husband actually lost his vision, went back to school, got a degree in IT. Not going to talk about how long ago. Let's just say the field was very different than it is now. And even after he finished his bachelor's degree, he was unable to find employment for almost 4 years. And so it was one of my coworkers at the college that I was working at that told me that you guys should try Bender. And I'm from Pittsburgh. I don't know if you guys know much about Joyce Bender, but Pittsburgh is her home base and obviously her home teams for the baseball team. And so being from this area, I was like, oh my goodness, this is such a great organization. They talked to my husband, found him employment within very short amount of time. And I tell everyone, it didn't just change his life, it changed our entire family's life. I was working 3 jobs to support it with 2 little kids. At the time, and it just made such a huge impact on us that as much as I love the education, I said, this is where I need to be. And I got to be blessed enough to come over and join this team. And I started out doing federal hiring here, so I know a lot about what's going on with all the federal hiring. And then I've gotten to work more in the private industry now and get to work more closely with, with Ms. Bender herself. So it has been an absolute privilege doing this, and I am so excited to be here today.

Wow, it's so exciting to have you. And I want to mention to all of you, and as I said, this is for everyone, able-bodied or people with a disability, but to people with disabilities, you know, we all have disabilities. I do, Gerald does, Jill does. You all know I live with epilepsy and I'm hard of hearing.. But I have something I want to say to you. Do not give up. Do not. Part of being successful— every bit of advice you're going to hear, part of it is believing in you. So, you know, every day when you get up, attitude's a choice, and your attitude is going to be a new day, a good day. I can do it. So, Gerald, what I want to talk, if you don't mind sharing with people, your advice and tips, because there's so many people out there eagerly wanting help. So, how about if we start with you? What did you want to talk about first, Gerald?

Well, first, I want to actually highlight Jill a little bit here, because as excited as I am to be on this show, I'm even more excited to see Jill. Joyce Bender. Joyce Bender. Get some time on this show. Jill is just an incredible superstar on my team, on the recruitment team here at Bender. I've seen a lot of people work for the recruitment team over my 18 years here, and I've never seen anybody hold a candle to Jill with her passion for helping people with disabilities find competitive employment. I've never seen somebody work so hard with each candidate that comes through our doors to give them all the tools that they need to land that job, to help them craft their resume, to get the best chance to get— land the interview, to prepare to walk through that door and end up with an offer. At the end of the day. And I'm so excited that she gets to be here on this show today to talk about this. And just coming off the heels of an incredible webinar that she just hosted with you, Joyce, last week on the 10th, on Monday, all about these great tips to help people looking for work today Find those great opportunities. Jill lives every day with that passion for this mission of this company, of your crusade, Joyce, to help people with disabilities land into work. And she has taken so much of what you've built and those tips that we have and that we give people and just continues to roll with it. Um, so I just wanted to start with that, with shining that light on her a little bit there. And say that there's so much—

I'm so glad you mentioned something. First of all, agreed, agreed, agreed, agreed about Jill. I wanted to, and maybe Jill, you can talk about this, about that webinar that we had. And Gerald, ever so, and you let everyone know how they can go hear that webinar. And why we did that and why we're doing this is to help you. So, Jill, with that huge introduction you had, how about if we start with you? I know people are eagerly waiting to hear, so I'll start with you, Jill.

Well, thank you guys so much. That was very kind of you. Um, it's It's easy to be passionate about something like this when you're doing such great work and getting to meet so many amazing individuals in your life. So the webinar that we had on Monday the 10th was amazing. What we were trying to do there was really try to dig in and give people tips on how to improve their chances of finding new employment. I know that there's been so many upheavals and in so many industries lately, and people have been looking, how do I take what I've already done in my professional career and be able to transfer it if these types of jobs are no longer available or if the industry is flooded? So we talked a lot about how to improve your resume, highlight your transferable skills, and really dig into how you are a fit for roles outside of the traditional injury industry that you've been in for a long time, um, embracing lots of tools on the internet, integrating AI into your search as well, and really trying to do everything you can to promote yourself. Because the number one best person to promote you is yourself, because you know everything that you've done and you know how to articulate it. And now's the time to start using that to finding ways and new positions out there for you to continue to grow in your career. So sometimes we got to pivot, but it's always going to be in a, in a direction forward. So it was an amazing opportunity to be able to do that. I'm very grateful. I know that people can still go and access that. Gerald, you want to tell them how?

Yeah, just go to the Bender Consulting Services YouTube page. And you can watch Jill and Joyce in action. I talk a little bit there too, but it's mostly Jill and Joyce taking the reins of this amazing conversation about how to improve your chances to find a job in today's career search world. And Jill just really knocks it out of the park with the great tips that she offers during this great webinar. Once again, just go to the YouTube uh, go to the Bender channel on YouTube. Just search Bender Consulting Services on YouTube and you'll find it. Or go to our website, the link's there on our website, benderconsult.com, as well, and check it out.

Um, and share it with others.

No, yeah, definitely share it with others. Get that out on your social platforms. Make sure those tips go far and wide to help people that are in need of a job today get a leg up.

Yeah, you know, I mean, it's— I just read today about a young man that got his PhD and only worked for a very short time period and, you know, was part of, as Jill said, this upheaval and lost his job and is now working at a fast food restaurant and, and, and said he is so given up. Okay, that's a mistake right there. Don't give up. Don't give up. Do not give up because you, as Jill said, are your best salesperson. So Jill, back to you.

Yes, absolutely. It can be a lot. I tell everybody, looking for a job is your job. Remember that you are the person that is going to get you that job. Other people can help you along the way, but in the end, you have to have that drive. Make sure that whenever you're looking for an opportunity that you're considering, you know, is this something I want and is this something I'll be able to do? Be strategic about it. I know we talked a lot about tailoring your resume in the webinar, but it's a big one too. And everyone's like, oh, do I Do I really need to? I tell them, well, it depends. How much do you want people to know that you've put the effort into it? So promoting yourself, my one thing I love to tell everybody is your resume is your print ad when you're promoting yourself. And then when you get the interview, that's like your commercial. So they get to actually see you in action and meet you a little bit more. And you've got to be able to be prepared for both because you never know which opportunity is going to be it. If you apply to 100 jobs, that's 100 chances. Yeah, it's a lot of work. But that's 100 chances for success, and you never know which one will be it. So make sure that your attitude is there every single time of, yes, I want this job. Every single time, attitude matters so much. I interview people, Joyce interviews people, Gerald, we all have the same thing. We are definitely, you know, considering a lot of different aspects about qualifications, but attitude matters too. So present yourself in the way you would want people to remember you.

Yeah, and, um, Jill, I'm glad you said that because really your resume is the first impression of you. You know, that's what they see first, whatever you're presenting. So a few little basics, I guess it would probably be a good idea to not have spelling errors on that resume. And you don't need your photograph on the resume or other personal information on the resume. So what do you tell people first? What are like some of the key things they need to put on that resume?

There are trends in the industry, right? So everybody says right now you've got to have a picture on your resume or you've got to have a rating of what you know and rate yourself on these specific skills. That's one person's opinion. Every recruiter that you will ever talk to will have a different opinion about what should and should not be on the resume. Those are the bells and whistles. Oh, you should have it colorful with, you know, fireworks, or, you know, what you need to have is you need to have the content. You need to make sure it is professional, it is clear, and it is concise, because on average, a recruiter looks at a resume for under 30 seconds. That is after it gets through that first level AI. And every company's different. Uh, I know that we do a bit more hands-on approach here at Bender, but a lot of companies first are getting scanned through those different services, making sure that, hey, we had 1,000 people apply to this, this person has no keywords of what we're looking for, they're not really going to be somebody that our recruiter needs to review. So if you have 1,000 people, it's a lot, but they may cut it down to 500 or so. And then 500, still a lot of resumes for a recruiter to go through. So how can you make an impression that quickly with a piece of paper? The real estate that you have on a single piece of paper, do you want to sacrifice a large portion of it to have a picture of yourself? Do you want to sacrifice a large portion of it to have 3 out of 5 stars on a skill. Think about what you want to represent and how you want to represent yourself. So if it's a very prestigious company, they want to see that you have a prestigious aura about you, or, or about you. So you want to make sure that you are presenting yourself that way. If they're more modern or new, maybe then pick up some of those additional trends. But in the end, it is the content And it is the way that you present it in the easy to, to see way. If you bury it in there, no one's going to be able to find that tiny little bit that shows you're qualified. Put it out there. Put it right front and center. Everyone knows that you are that person that they've been looking for for that job. 30 seconds. Can they find that you are that person? If not, it's time to reconsider on how you can better represent yourself.

Joe, one of the things I hear you saying in that statement that I know a lot of candidates don't want to take the time to do is customize your resume for the job you're applying to. Remember, Joe said applying to a job is your job right now, so you got to do a good job at it. When you see that role All those tips Jill just gave you, that's how can you change your resume to make it the best fit for that job you're applying for right now. Not using the same resume over and over again for every job always. How do you tweak the way you sell who you are as a candidate to that company, to that job role, to that hiring manager? To get a chance for that opportunity.

Yes, because I also know sometimes people will have a specific objective. And okay, if it's customized for a certain job, it's definite, that's one thing. But I had more than one company say to me, yeah, so-and-so sent their resume and said they wanted to be a technical writer. Well, we didn't have any jobs for a technical writer. Too bad, because, you know, he had other skills that would have made him applicable for this communications job. But because the person said no, they want to be this, they eliminated them for jobs, other jobs they could have done. So, Jill, how do you feel about that?

That objectives is actually another trend. It was a big trend a couple of years ago. A lot of people coming out of school that's what they were told by their, their school counselors. We recommend actually to forego having objective. Once again, you only have so much real estate on that resume. Use it for a profile. It's a different way of representing yourself. So if you are doing an objective, you're telling them what you want. If you're trying to represent yourself, shouldn't you be telling them this is what I have to give you? So this is where you can highlight those soft skills. Whenever you're thinking about any type of job, everybody has soft skills too. Communication skills, organizing skills, um, customer service skills. All of these different skills are great to put right there when you're like, how do I tell this employer that I am an amazing communicator, that I am experienced with technical writing? And it's just a additional asset they'll have with me. That's a great place to put it in the profile. Once again, you don't want to overdo it. Remember, 30 seconds or less. If you give them a giant long paragraph, it's going to take over 30 seconds. They may go first sentence and moving down. So you want to put it right there, easy to read, easy to digest, highlighting key skills, using that same area instead of an objective and using it for a profile of yourself. Instead of saying, this is what I want from you, it's now saying, this is what you'll get from me.

Well, Jill, so if I'm putting together a resume, um, you know, what are the things that are important? I mean, should I be looking at what I think are personal skills I have, or should I focus on the, uh, content, you know, of what I've done? I mean, what How do you know what to put in the resume, I guess, is what I'm—

Understanding the job. And you can do that through so many different means. I know I went into this really deep dive about AI, but AI is an amazing tool that people can be using nowadays to help prepare themselves. Not just— and please, please, please don't just copy and paste. Please never copy and paste from AI. Use it as a tool. I can see a resume in, like, 2 seconds or less, say, ah, AI-generated, they put no effort in for me. But use it as a tool to help you tailor your resume. Put the job description in AI and say, what are some of the key skills that I would need to have on my resume? And it will tell you, well, based on what this is asking for, I would highlight this or that or the other. And you would just put that in your profile. You'd put that right at the top. Obviously, when people are looking at your work history, they're going to look at what your job title was, what the employer was, before they go into the details. So the profile section is a really great tool that I consider— I tell everyone to use because you can highlight not just have a little bit about your soft skills, but also your technical skills. So if you're doing a tech job where, um, you're working in a certain language, coding in a language, you can put that right there. If you have certifications Great place to put it. You know, everybody's been different ages, everybody's looking for jobs now. It doesn't— not just people coming out of college. You don't necessarily have to put your degree that you earned 20 years ago in a field that you haven't worked in, unless of course that's now something you're looking for. But those trainings and certifications that are relevant, keep it up at the top. Um, you talk about different jour— I talk a lot about different journalism, um, roles. One of which is you do not bury the lead. So relevant information at the top, draw them in, and they'll want to read more. 30 seconds is that initial view. I'm not saying that's all anybody will ever look at your resume for. Please don't think that. We do read further, but we're able to make a determination fairly quickly on whether or not this is somebody we need to further consider, and then from that be able to have those discussions with them. So really making sure that you are putting that information, that relevant information, at the top is going to be very helpful.

And Gerald, please, if you want to jump in at any point, I, you know, want to hear what you have to say. But what I was going to ask Jill is, for someone that's sitting there listening and they're petrified because they have never done this— name, address, Where do they put the email? Where does that go? In the resume or in a letter or both?

I put contact information at the top, name and how to get a hold of you. Why? Because if they like you, they don't want to look in 18 different places. Oh my goodness, this is the candidate for me. Oh, I can't find their contact information. Oh, I got a call coming in and they may never— you want to have it right there and easy to find. You don't need to have your full address. Please don't. Put personal identifying information like your birth date or your Social Security number on there. I recommend if you are doing a resume, the 3 places that they can definitely find you through your phone, through your email, in your LinkedIn profile. Those are the 3 pieces of identifying information. If you are looking for jobs in your area, definitely you could put your city and state. If you're open to relocation and you put your city and state, just like Joyce Bender said with the objective, Sometimes people go, "Oh gosh, they live that far away? I don't know if they're gonna be interested." And they may make assumptions. I can't control every single recruiter out there. They may make assumptions based on that. So either note on your resume that you are willing to relocate or consider that that might be something you wanna tailor and that can be part of the conversation later. Sometimes it's easier during that interview process when they first give you a call just to learn a little bit more about you. They will probably find out where you live, and you're like, but I am willing to relocate for this job. Remember, enthusiasm is key in these types of situations too.

Well, with that resume, where would you suggest if they state willing to relocate, where, where would you suggest they put profile?

Another, another great thing to put in that profile. So top section, very— I know we talk about putting a lot in there, but in reality you need to decide how you want to market yourself and what's most important for people to learn about yourself quickly. So this is where that tailoring comes into, you know, you're, you're living in Pittsburgh and you're applying.

Just in case they don't know, what is the profile and where are you— meaning you put that, what, what is it?

So if you think of a resume in sections, you have your section with all of your contact information right there at the top, right? Because that's my name and how to get a hold of me if you like me. After that, you have your sections of education, your sections of work history, additional accomplishments. Those are all, you know, fairly standard. Everybody kind of has— and yes, everybody varies slightly, but same information. Usually it goes chronologically from newest to oldest, depending on what's more relevant is where you'll put it. It's a section just like all the rest. I can consider putting a profile section at the top. It's right where people would normally put the objective. So as soon as you get my contact information, very next thing you see is basically my sales pitch of myself for this job. So you want to put it right there. So anything that would be relevant for this job for them to know— soft skills, specific technical skills that might be relevant, um, if it's for a higher level or a management job, showing you have some of that, you know, uh, different type of background in management, you want to put that right there. Number of years, quantify if you can. Um, and then also, if it's like I said, if you live in Pittsburgh and this job is in, you know, uh, New York City, you have to say willing to relocate, you know, just so that they know. And they're not going to say, oh, that's really far for them to commute. You don't want to make— you don't want them to assume. You want to give them enough information that there is no assumption there. And then, like I said, having that discussion with them and reiterating that and making sure that they understand that, because all you're trying to do is make sure that they're not focusing on the wrong things. Like Joyce Bender said, sometimes people were putting objectives in. It doesn't mean that the person wasn't necessarily open to those other opportunities, but a recruiter says, okay, I have to find the perfect person for this job. With what I'm given, with the information I'm given, I do not believe this is the person for it. So you have the responsibility of making sure that you present yourself as the best person for the job, and that's resumes, but then that's also interviews. Don't forget how important it is to represent yourself well in an interview, because if they see the stuff, the information on your resume, and maybe you overrepresented, um, and you're not able to back it up, that could really be detrimental. So you don't want to in any way misconstrue. And also make sure that you're very prepared for the interview. So if you put something on your resume, you better be able to articulate how you used it. If you were in school when you learned something and you just graduated a year or two ago and you did it during school, that's, it's fine. You know, within 5 years of getting your degree, it still counts as experience. You still are educated in it. You just need to make sure that you're able to articulate it correctly. If you watched a 10-minute YouTube video about it, that, that's where things get a little bit harder to really understand. But maybe supplement those skills, go out and learn more about it, do one of those LinkedIn trainings about it to be able to show that you know it. But in the end, make sure that you're able to articulate everything anything that you put on your resume during an interview.

I want to—

I was just going to say, make sure it's authentic and honest. Don't do that thing Jill talked about. Don't go to AI, get something, you know, printed out that is a copy of that, because guess what? They'll know. Okay, go ahead, Gerald.

Yeah, along the same lines, one of the mistakes I see people make is in an attempt to customize their resume, they will change what their job titles are. They will say, oh, I was basically a project manager, when that was not their job title or role. So they'll list that as their job title for a job, and that's not really what your title was. And guess what? On an employment verification process, That's lying, and it could cost you an opportunity. Or a smart recruiter can ask you a question, "Well, what was your official title?" And you explain what you did, will immediately go, "Wow, this person's dishonest," and rule you out. So, you don't want to change official titles on your resume. You don't want to fudge dates to cover up gaps in employment history. You want to be honest with what you're representing about yourself. But maybe change the wording to focus on the skills that are most important to the job that you're applying for. Highlight the most important things in that profile. Highlight that because, you know, the job you're working for is a hybrid schedule instead of remote, that you're willing to go on-site as much as needed for the role. You know, whatever you see when reading that job you think will make you stand out as a candidate that's honest and true.

And I know we're listening to this with people around the world. If you are, uh, or in North America, if you, you know, you understand English, uh, and another language, let's say it's Spanish, but you have friends that have lost their jobs, uh, and they do not take this information Get it translated and pass it on. I mean this show, pass it on, the information. But anyway, with that, now I only wanted to add one thing. If you do volunteer work, make sure you add that to your resume, any volunteer work. But now comes the next step. Oh my goodness, I got an interview coming next week. I have an interview, Jill, what should I do?

Well, first you better know the ins and outs of not only the job description but also the company. I cannot tell you, and I'm pretty sure Gerald will back me up here, how much it determines how, how much I think of a good candidate based on what they've done to prepare. If somebody comes in saying, yeah, I don't really remember applying to this, what's this company again? Versus, oh my goodness, I'm so excited because I've been wanting to interview for this role. This company is amazing. I've looked into them. I could tell you about their mission, their values. All of these things. Do your homework to prepare.

You need an interview game plan. Everyone on the internet gives tips. To people on how to interview well. I've been obsessed my whole career here about giving people tips on how to prepare for that interview instead. Because if you haven't prepared leading up to that, let's face it, you're going to walk in that door for that interview or get on that video call and you have no clue what that interviewer is going to do. There's no way for you to predict it. You have to prepare yourself so that the default you fall back on is a really great default to fall back on too. That you know who you are as a candidate. You've studied your own resume. You can talk about every single job you've done, the projects that are most relevant for the job description for the role you're interviewing for, because you've compared the two of them. If you're interviewing in person, not only do you know where you're going for the interview, the day or two before you drove down there yourself to make sure you knew where to park, to make sure you knew how long it's going to take to get there. You get there— I tell people an hour early and go in just a little bit before to make sure there's no chance you're late. If it's a video interview, you know you're going to have stable internet. You know the room you're interviewing is going to be quiet, distraction-free, so you can focus on that job interview. And it's going to be clean and put together, and you have your clothes pressed. Your shoes shined, everything ready to go. So when you walk out of that interview, they are impressed with you. Because I'll tell you what, if you are a candidate that impresses, even if you don't have the skills for the job and they don't pick you for that job because they decide someone else is more qualified, You will leave such a positive impression with those interviewers. Instead of saying goodbye, no, they will be saying, "But they're so good. What else do we have for them? What other jobs could we hire this person for instead of this role?" You want to leave a positive impact. In that interview. Joyce, I know you give tons of— you created the Bender Leadership Academy to give these tips, these classes to high school students with disabilities coming out of school. And a lot of the tips we now give to all of the people we place come from— came from your brain, you teaching all of the recruitment team how to prepare people to interview us from your experience in executive search, Joyce Bender, MBA, MSBA, CFP®. What would you share with people looking for work today, these tips that are evergreen, that never change, that help you knock this out of the park?

Well, you know, thank you, Gerald, and everything, you know, so many great points that they are making, and they are, by the way, right on target. So, you know, as you're listening, this preparation as Gerald and Jill said, is key to your success on an interview. You know what that includes? The location. Where are they located? Do you have the correct address? Do you have the phone number? Do you have the email of the person you're supposed to ask for? Do you have your ID? I know any of you living in Washington, D.C., I already know you know that the majority of places you go for an interview, you better have that ID. But it's like that today in the private sector too, when you check in and they say, "Let's see your identification." Don't go through all this and not have your wallet or purse and not have that ID. Again, know where you're going. And if you are in an area, once again, I'll use Washington, D.C., some of these buildings are older, So, make sure you know where the accessible entrance is. See, the worst thing that can happen ever, ever, ever is to be late for an interview. Late for an interview means you've lost the job. And late— and on time, as I know you've heard the saying, but on time is definitely early when it comes to interviewing. You know why? Remember what I just told you about going with your ID to check in at security. How do you know how many people will be there? It would be your day that there's all these young people maybe going on a tour or, or just a lot of people there for other meetings or interviews, and there you are waiting. There you are waiting, waiting, and then you're late. You better be there at a minimum of 20 minutes early. And you know what? If you're there 30 minutes early, that's okay too. If you don't want to just stand in there, of course you can go to a coffee shop or, or, you know, if you're not at a place where you have to use a bus or some other form of transportation, such let's say you're right in Pittsburgh and you go to some location, some park, business park. You can park your car and wait, but whatever you do, do not be late. Do not be late. That will be the end of the interview for you. And the, you know, I tell people, be early, look right, be dressed. You get one. Remember, there are people old school like me. See, people forget that people that are executives at companies They're older. Yeah, then they're now the CEO or COO or CFO or even a senior director. Go on that interview. You better be dressed appropriately, professionally, clean, well-groomed. I always tell people, well-groomed doesn't mean expensive clothing. It just means clean, well-groomed, shoes polished, and, and And listen, if you're in a wheelchair, that chair is part of you. It has to be clean. If you have a service dog, has to be clean. That's part of you. That's part of who you are. So make sure you have— just the smallest thing like that can turn someone off, and there you are. So make sure you have Clothes ready the night before. Know where you're going. Don't take that phone in the interview. If you do take it, it has to be totally off because vibrating is noticeable. Be prepared. Be prepared. Research that company the way Jill said. Know everything about the company because both Jill and Gerald call me When they say, "Oh, Joyce, they knew everything about you. The person I interviewed knew who you were, that you had epilepsy, that why you started the company, that we focus on the employment of people with disabilities, that you have a radio show. They know everything about you." Right away, we're all impressed. But if you say to someone, "Do you know what we do at Bender Consulting Services?" and they would say, "No, I'm not sure." No initiative, you're out. Do you understand what I'm telling you all? Jill, I know we have at least 8 minutes left in the show. What do you want to add about the preparation?

As I was telling everyone before, AI can help you with not just preparing yourself in your resume— I'm sorry, preparing your resume— it can actually help give you generated interview questions, but also consider some of the behavioral questions. So make sure you're on target by, like Gerald said, knowing your resume, knowing what they may ask, and then thinking also about some of those behavioral questions as well and a good method to answer them. I know we're going back to college for everybody, but the STAR method— so you want to go situation, task, action, result— so that it comes full circle for them to understand And like Joyce Bender said, you only get one chance to make a first impression, so you want to come in looking as respectable as you can. Remember that dressing up is a sign of respect to the people that you're going in to see. So this is the position, this is the company, and these are the interviewers. If you come in wearing a hoodie saying, "I don't want to be here," they may take that very seriously. So be respectful. Be cool, be educated, represent yourself well, because if you are already past the first point of having your resume go through the recruiters and they say, oh, look at this person's skill set on paper, this is somebody that I want to talk to, that's half the battle. And then there are so many other things that you could do to not get it. So make sure that those are not the things, because in the end We want to make sure that people out there looking for employment are able to find it, and you are the person that's going to be getting you through that finish line. So if you do everything you can to prepare, you are already halfway there. The rest of it is just letting it come out and finding that connection and finding that perfect area. Um, also have references ready. I know that's another old school thing, but you never know when they may want somebody to have a reference. So come to interviews ready with references in hand helps a lot too. Somebody that they can talk to, a letter of recommendation of people who have worked with you that can attest to your overall, you know, capabilities and work ethic can also go a long way. You don't want to make them wait for anything, so be as prepared as you can. Make sure if it's in person that you are, you know, prepared to travel. If it's online Please look around you. Make sure that everything's work appropriate. Make sure that people in your household know that you're interviewing and it's not the right time to ask where the remote is. Um, make sure that your Wi-Fi is strong and steady, and if not, that you have a contingency plan. Log on to those early as well, because the best way to find out if there's a new update for Zoom is usually by going into it. So making sure that that you've done that enough time. Preparation, preparation, preparation is the best thing that you can do, and that's the stuff that you have control over. Once you get in there, positive attitude goes a long way.

Thank you. Thank you, Note. First of all, the interviewer— say to the interviewer, uh, thank you so much for the opportunity, and I want you to know I really would love to work for the company. If you give me a chance, you won't regret it. You may interview people with more experience than I have, but you won't interview anyone that will be as dependable and a hard worker and here every day on time as I am. Sell yourself, be positive. And I just want to stress again, I know it's terrible right now when anyone loses a job. Especially when they find out by email late at night. I know the world seems bleak, but it's time for a new you. It's time for reinventing you. It's time for a new opportunity. And that's how you have to look at it. As a matter of fact, just as Jill said, such good advice, your job is now finding a job. Every day, get up, have a plan, get up as if you're going to work because you are. You're working to find a job. Do we have— I want to say we're— we want to continue helping you, so stay tuned over the next month or two for a show dedicated to the interview. We are going to stick with you. And what if you say, hey, wait a minute, I have skills I want them to know about. Gerald, where do they apply?

BenderConsult.com/jobs. That's where you can go to apply for Bender.

And remember, we are not an employment agency. It's not that we meet people and just start marketing them out. Companies come to us looking for people, and then we market them. But if we know of something else, even if we're not, you know, going to be placing you ourselves, we will let you know. Gerald, do you have any last words in the last 2 minutes?

If you're sitting here listening to all these tips and you're thinking, I know all this already, I know how to interview. I know how to do this. As recruiters, those are the people we worry about the most. So rethink that thought. You're not all that. None of us are all that. We all need to do these things. If I was looking for a job, I'd do these things. So get out there, do the work. And like Joyce said, never give up.

Jill, how about you? What are your final words?

Um, stay positive. Like I said, whether it's the first or the hundredth, make sure every one of them you're giving your full and total, uh, 100% for so that they know what they're getting. When I see a resume, when I have an interview, I am looking for that person that can do this job. Let them know the dedication you show or the lack of is really, really telling. And even if you're not working right now, continue to improve yourself. There are so many outlets out there where you could get additional training that may help you market yourself to continue to improve and continue to be dedicated, and you will eventually find something.

Yes, you will. I'll tell you in closing, I interviewed a young man once that had been looking for over a year and he said to me, I sent my resume out to 107 places. I said, well, guess what? 108 is your lucky day because I am going to bring you on board. So always remember, don't give up, don't give up. Our quote for today is, it's— it always seems impossible "Until it's done," said Nelson Mandela. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters, at voiceamerica.com. And remember, in the words of Mary Brooker, when you go out tomorrow, choose joy.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific time and 2 PM Eastern time for another installment of Disability Matters right here on the Voice America Variety Channel. We are the leader in live internet talk radio. VoiceAmerica.com.