4 Ways To Land The Job You Want This Year - Meet 4 People Who Did It & How

Hello and welcome everybody to our panel discussion. So as promised, we've got 4 panelists today, and I'm going to get them each to do a little bit of an intro, introduce themselves. Then I have some questions that I'll ask them, and then any questions that you have for them, please go ahead and put them in the chat, and we will go through and do as many as we have time for. And if you have a question for a specific person, make sure that you specify that in the chat as well. We will go in a row. We'll get everybody to introduce themselves. Michael, you're up on my screen, so why don't you go first?

Yeah, thank you. I'm glad to be here and sharing with everybody. I, uh, you know, obviously am a, a student of Natalie's. You know, when I first— I can remember when I first started interviewing, you know, I had some luck, but the one that stood out was when it took me 18 months to get my next role, and I had a lot of interviews, and it just It just wasn't clicking. So fast forward, I got laid off a couple of times, and it was just this absolute fear. And I knew that something needed to change, and I couldn't rely on what was, you know, what I had always done. And I had been following Natalie for quite some time. So I made the jump, and it was the best thing that I ever did. And, you know, we—

Awesome. Thank you so much for that. Tell us a little bit about what you do, your— the type of work that you do, and a little bit about you. Yeah. You can, and that goes for everyone else on the panel too. You don't have to tell about how you found me, but tell about yourself.

Oh, okay. Yeah. Thanks for the direction. I like specifics. Yeah. So I, I work in the SaaS, in the SaaS industry and software as a service as a customer success manager. I have been a director. So, you know, mainly working with, in some cases, technical folks, but also strategic folks in managing, you know, change management and behavior management within Enterprise organizations and have been doing that. Yeah. And I thought I would be so great. Yeah. I'd been doing it for so long. I thought I'd be so great at interviews, but I needed, I needed a little coaching.

Well, you are great at what you do. And I've known Michael for a long time and he's gone through the process several times and he's become somewhat of a pro at getting a job. Awesome. Thank you very much. Okay. Ninon, you're next on the list. So why don't you go ahead next and introduce yourself?

Yes, hi, I'm Ninon. I'm a, uh, currently I'm a product operations manager. I also work for software as a service company in the business-to-business space, and I've been in product management for a long time, and I love it. I absolutely love what I do. And, um, I mean, Natalie, do you want me to say a bit more about

Yeah, go ahead and say how you found me and anything else you want to say, but about yourself first. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, myself, that's it. I don't really want to say much more other than I'm, I'm really happy to meet you all and I'm here to provide any, any help and assistance. But the way I found Natalie was just through her posts and going to the free session and just, I was connecting with what she was saying. It was just You know, you know, you know, when you meet somebody and it just clicks, it just clicked. And her coaching has been invaluable. Actually, the first role I found after starting the program didn't even— didn't work. So I landed a great offer, a great role, but it just didn't work. And so went back to the task and then I found my other job. So it was 6 months before I found Natalie and found my first job. And then— Only two three months for my second job, so yeah, with some improvement, I guess.

Yeah, absolutely. And I have more questions for you later, so we'll get into those. But thank you very much. That was a great introduction. Laura, you're next, and then Yi, if you could unmute yourself, you'll be after Laura. Yi, do you want to go first?

Okay, yeah, I could go first.

Okay, yeah, we'll give you a second, Laura.

Okay, yeah, my name's Yi, and I was. Before, I was a civil engineer, so I was working as construction as a project engineer.

Mm-hmm.

So that I switched to like IT, to software engineering and get my different career path. And how I found Natalie is at the beginning, actually it's a finance show advice. He advised me actually go with a career coach. That is a really good investment. So I, because that the money you pay you will salary your job search and get in the job quickly. So I did that and I found Natalie through LinkedIn and then I put the money, get the investment, and then I, I think I get a job like 7, 6, 6 months, 7 months after that. It's really Fast compared before, because before on my own when I job search, it take me like 2 years. So really worth it.

Amazing. Okay, great. And you did a switch too, so what are you doing now?

Yeah, now it's like software engineering.

Software engineering. Yeah, amazing. Okay, thank you, Yi. Uh, Laura, let's see if we can hear you now.

Hi everyone, I'm very excited to be here and, uh, and welcome to everyone, and I'm excited to see my peers in the group because it's been a little bit. But I essentially am currently an executive director of a small not-for-profit organization that serves newcomers and immigrants coming into our community to help provide referrals and assistance to them in terms of integrating and settle into the community. I've, throughout my career, I've always landed in roles that put me in a position of working with partners, establishing new partners, relationships, and relationship building, and community building. So, although this was kind of a turn in the type of organization that I worked in previously, it landed, kind of landed in a similar type of role or using my similar skill sets. How I found Natalie. I think I just came across really your podcasts, Natalie, and some of your posts and things on LinkedIn. I have to say I was very resistant at the very beginning. Nothing to do with your posts, but I was just, I had lost my job and I had decided to take a very long personal sabbatical. And during that time, just because I had been, I had gone through an extreme period of burnout and all of these different things. So, I had convinced myself I was not going to do any job searching, job hunting whatsoever. And so, all of Natalie's podcasts were all about finding those roles and building up your profile and things like that. So, I resisted it at first, but I kept here, I kept listening here and there, and I would hear little nuggets and little nuggets, I should say, and pieces that kept calling to me. Mm-hmm. And I think much

Okay. We'll give you a second to see if you can sort something out on that side. We really need to hear what you have to say, so we'll give you a second. Okay. All right. So we'll start with some questions. Can someone put in the chat if they can use the chat effectively? I've got it set on meeting group chat, so just put in yes if you can put in. Okay, great. Thank you, Sybil. Yes. Awesome. Okay. So I'm like, I'm not seeing any questions come up yet. So, so this is for you. If you're here, this is for you for questions. So please don't hesitate to ask your questions. Okay. Okay, so the first question that I'm gonna pose to the panel, and, uh, we'll take some from the audience afterwards. The first question that I'm gonna pose is, what is your attitude now towards finding a new job? And if you were, say, to be laid off again, say you were in a position where you needed to go do this again, what would your first response be, and how is it different to how you previously would have responded. So anyone want to go first? Nino, go ahead.

Well, I would say I'm a lot clearer on like my values. And I'm okay with not pleasing others. I think before when I was going through interviews, I was just trying to be right and trying to please. So I'm okay with not pleasing now. Like I'm myself. I want to be genuine and I know what my value is and I focus on that and matching that to their needs, like listening to their needs and matching that to their needs and not forcing anything. I think that's my attitude has changed a lot. So if I was to look again, I would just go, yeah, I would just go with that attitude. Yeah.

That mindset is huge, right? Yeah. And would you say you had a, like that anything stands out, like as far as breakthroughs go that helped you to kind of Relax into that feeling of like, yeah, I know my value and I am coming as myself and any breakthroughs because that got the getting to that point was a journey of little breakthroughs.

Yeah, it was. I think a lot of what I learned in the coaching, a lot of what I learned in the material has a lot to do with just mindset.

Yeah.

At the end of the day, it's just working on my belief system on where my brain wants to take me. Sometimes it's not the best way and just kind of like Reframe things, reposition. I think our brains try to protect us sometimes.

Yeah.

And it's just really being, being like rewiring, rewiring our brains is the biggest breakthrough.

Yeah, exactly. I love it. Yeah, that's great. And I remember in one of our very first sessions that you were like, I'm doing all the things. And I remember saying to you, it's not about what you're doing. It's about what you're thinking. And I remember you were like, Okay. And then you took that, you changed it, and here you are.

And it's, it's interesting because now I don't just use— I wouldn't— I don't— everything I learned is also I use in my personal life as well. And so I approach life differently, I think, now with believing that things are possible. Like, what if it was possible? It's the same, something I say to myself a lot.

Yeah, beautiful. Thank you. All right, Mike, do you want to go next?

Sure. There's a couple of things that I could, I could talk about. The first thing that, that stands out is based on what Ninon said, that, that's really the foundation. And I think that it offers— when you wrap yourself around that type of mindset, you suddenly have clarity. And, you know, an example is, you know, when you go into interviews, You might be thrown a question, and maybe it goes through your mind that, hey, this question is really broad. But what do you— you know, instead of getting clarification, right, you just go in, you just answer it, right? Maybe you answer it the way you think they want it. And, and I have found that in many cases that, that doesn't work. So even just small, you know, connection to clarity and confidence enables you to go in and realize this is a one-on-one discussion. What do you mean by that? Or that's a broad question. Can you tell me specifically what it is that you're looking for? Having the confidence to just have that one-on-one conversation and turn that around, it's a huge change to how you approach interviews. The other thing, and I think you kind of asked Nina on this, is the breakthrough. And we had it during one of our sessions. And I shared it on one of the podcasts. is when I had a particular belief and you asked me, well, what if that wasn't true? And I don't know, it was probably our 2nd or 3rd session. We were really early in, and you said, what if it wasn't true? And I, and I remember going, what if it isn't true? And I just remembered the— my entire body. I think I might have shared that with you. It's like I can feel this physical change. Yeah. And suddenly I went, wait a minute, I can actually control everything that I'm feeling. If I just shift my thought, and once, you know, once I began just practicing that and really embracing that, it just seems so liberating where I was much more aware of things without getting in my own way.

Yeah. And it's such a good way to put it too. Because the thing that happens is we don't know, like, you didn't know that that was a thought that you could choose to believe wasn't true. Like, you didn't know that at the time. It's like, we think like, oh, we're just telling— like, people come to me, they'll tell me their story, like, oh, I'm telling you that the sun is coming up. And that's just true, right? And so So much of what we do is questioning, like, what is really true though?

Right. That's exactly right.

Yeah. So thanks for sharing. That's a really good example. Yeah. Yi, what's your answer?

Yes. For my attitude difference before and now, probably like the doubt.

Yeah.

When I come in the program, I always like, what if this, uh, the person interviewing me don't like me? What? How? thing, and I was thinking way too much. And then in the program, like Natalie pointed out, like, just ask everybody. Everybody's just like a human being.

Yeah.

Not gonna think too much. So I was the one on the other side thinking too much. So that actually laid a really good foundation of a mindset of applying different jobs if later I laid off. Like, I already have really strong foundation, which is mindset, really important throughout the interview because that you get rejected a lot of time and you doubt it again, again, and then you have the confidence to come back up, you know. Also, when you're in the program, they have a lot of different like sections, like interview, resume, and then also what you do after it, after the interview. So, you know, because you already go through the interview, you know what part is working for me. So I know what I need to work on. So maybe my weakness, like interview, because I know I get job when I put the job application, I get a lot of response. So that's not my problem. So, but the interview, I thinking too much. So like maybe I should work on those. So if I, I lost my job again, it's not going to take me like longer time than before because I have the system. in place. I know this mindset I need to go, what I need to work on. So I will go through quickly than before. Yeah.

Yeah. So, and for those overthinkers on the call, you know, you're overthinking like, what are they going to think of me? How is this going to be perceived? And yeah, so very relatable. Definitely. You're not, not alone on that stuff because everybody has those thoughts before they kind of learn to challenge them. So thank you. That's a good one. Thank you. That's a good example. Thanks for sharing, Yi. All right, Laura, we're going to bring the floor back to you.

It kept creeping up in my, in my feed here and there. And, uh, you, everything you were saying or talking about, or if you were interviewing people, other clients on your podcast or whatnot, it just kept speaking to me. And, and, uh, it just, uh, you know, I finally, everything was really resonating. And when I was really ready to actually take the dive and go for it, I joined, um, you were offering like a 2-week challenge or a 1-week challenge or something like that. I thought I would test out the waters and try it out that way. And I fell in love with the program immediately. We had a really great group of peers on those calls that we did. And so that's what really convinced me to move forward with going through with the program. And really, I mean, I think one of the biggest things that changed for me— Yi spoke to it quite a bit— overthinkers. I am definitely part of that group, overthinking, perfectionist. Yeah. Um, so many different things that, uh, you know, and I still lean towards that. That's just my natural personality and characteristics. But I can definitely say now, I really, I've changed a lot of that in a lot of ways. Or at least I'm much more aware of it and I can stop it. I can kind of take a step back when I feel myself. Manage it. Yeah, I can really manage it. I can feel myself. starting to go down that road and I, I can immediately be aware of it and, and stop and, and just, you know, turn direction and keep going that way. So that's one of the things that was most valuable for me.

Fantastic. Thank you.

Definitely. And just, yeah.

Awesome. Okay. Well, I'm glad we got you with the microphone working amazing. And yes, the overthinking, that's definitely something that's very common for everyone. So thanks for bringing that one up. Okay, so we got— I want to get through some questions here because we're already almost halfway through. So next question is for each one of you. What would you say you struggled with the most that you had to overcome to get to where you are now? And we'll just go from— we'll start with Yi this time. How about?

Probably like confidence, don't know what I'm doing. Yeah.

And now what's your new perspective now?

Now, like, I will try. It doesn't matter. Like, I'm not sure it's working or not, but I could try different way. It

gonna work. Yeah. I love it. Listen to that, everyone. Amazing. Okay. Who wants to go next? Nino?

So yeah, what I was struggling with was that I was getting a lot of interviews and not any offers. So that was my biggest struggle, figuring out. Why? What am I doing wrong that I'm not getting any offers? And, uh, yeah, I mean, it took me a long time to figure that out, I have to say.

Yeah. And now what would you say the answer to that is? Or because you figured that out now twice.

I guess it's a realization that, you know, I have to— there's going to be a lot of companies out there that will be interested in my skill set, but doesn't mean I'm a match, right? It doesn't mean I'm a match when it comes down to what they're really looking for. And so I was trying to kind of please them and sort of like massage my experience and how I was answering questions so that they would sort of like me, so that I would get that offer rather than just knowing and be sure of my value and just, you know, listen to their needs, speak to my values. And I think if I had done that more from the beginning, I think some of those that didn't make me an offer would have made me an offer, just because when you come across as in interviews as trying to fit their mold, I think they can smell that. And that's not what they want. They don't want somebody to come in to try to fit their mold. I don't think so. I think they want somebody to come in to understand their problems and can demonstrate their value and how they've solved similar problems in the past, which I wasn't doing truthfully because I was just trying too much to please them.

Yeah. Okay, good. Love it. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, Mike, and then Laura.

Yeah, yeah, everything that everybody said, right? All about, you know, value or confidence. What is my value? Am I worthy? You know, all of those things. And as you know, because I shared the picture with you, the way I would interview, I could see over my computer and I had a closet door. And then I would— I took, let's see if there were 4, 1, 2, 3, maybe 16 8.5 by 11 pieces of paper with big magic marker, and I had my answers. I mean, I, I cringe now when I think about it, you know, but they were up on my— on this closet door. And we could laugh about that and, and all that, but what that really illustrates is the inability to be able to connect to your own value, but more specifically to your own stories, because you're so lost in this noise. that, you know, and, and I had read a lot of books about interviewing, right? Mm-hmm. And it says, be sure and start the answer this way. And then, you know, do a reason why and what you learned from it. So I was always very structured and all that. It was terrible. And now coming out of all that, when somebody asks me something and needs an illustration, you know, it's sort of that silence in my mind and not getting tripping over myself. I'm able to pull out a story and go, I can absolutely tell you a story and here's what happened and here's, Here's what the customers did, and here's what my manager thought, and here's what I learned. What else do you need to know? You know, so it was a complete 180.

Yeah, night and day difference for sure. When you can pull that confidence from yourself instead of thinking it's somewhere that you wrote it down.

On a closet door.

Yeah. Yeah. You were one of my over-preparers for sure. Awesome. Thank you. Okay, Laura.

So yeah, I think, I mean, there were so many, so many lessons I came out of this with and so many aha moments. One of them though that always comes back to me is I too am a real over-preparer and I had— it was in fact for this role I ended up getting, but I was called in for an interview. It was very short notice, last minute, and I didn't have a lot of time, I thought, to prepare for it. And I remember putting out a message to you, Natalie, in our group on LinkedIn saying, okay, what's like the— what are like the quickest things I can, I can go through our program and, and to help me prepare for this. And even though I had already gone through a lot of the content and, and everything else, and, you know, something you had said to me is you already have the answers. And I think the way I might have asked the question, a lot of the information was already there, but, um, but it was really about trusting, trusting what I already know and, you know, being able to use that and show up To the interview with that, with just exactly who I am, not needing to over-prepare. And it really made the biggest difference when I showed up for this interview because it really just calmed my nerves completely. I am high anxiety when I get into these situations. I have a— I'm always told I look very calm, but on the inside, I'm just scrambling. And I'm trying to come up with all the right answers and what exactly— studying for it, essentially, and making sure that I'm hitting every point. And that just made all the difference in thinking of it in that way. Uh, and it's just really—

Yeah. And that's—

Taking— so I try to carry that with me now when, when I'm going through something, it's like, do I really need to do that? Or what do I already know about it? And I can come out much more naturally with it too in my conversations or meetings or interviews or whatever it is that I'm doing.

Yeah. Amazing. Thank you. All right, let's move to the next question then. So the next question I have for all of you is, what would you say the biggest, like, limiting story that you had to let go of to see success was? And we'll just go, if it's cool, we'll mix it up. Start with, uh, Mike. We'll take turns putting you guys on the spot.

Yeah,

so I don't want to give it the same person.

That my voice is— how did you put it? And I'm not saying this the right way, but that we all, just because we are here, right? We all, uh, I forget how you said it, but we all are worthy. Are all are worthy and equally valuable as human beings. And, and I, and I don't know that I thought, well, I'm not, you know, I wasn't like in a totally depressed state, right? Oh no, I'm not worthy. But maybe that some sort of subconscious limiting belief that for sure that other person. has a louder voice or is more worthy to be heard. And once I arrived knowing that, hey, we're on equal footing here, everything changed.

Yeah, that one's so good. And we all struggle with those worthiness beliefs, like from childhood, from something one of our parents said, from someone we respected at one point said to us. And it wasn't maybe even intentional, but it's very normal to get that unworthy. And it's— it is subconscious. You nailed it. Like, you don't even know that it's there, right? So thank you for that one, Mike. We'll go to Laura. Let's see, let's go to you next because we've been waiting for you to be last because of the microphone. So now you're good. Oh

no, I'm on the spot now. Limiting beliefs. I think the value piece is definitely, uh, something that, uh, that I think was a limiting belief all along. And it was that I already have the value that I need without needing to go through additional Certifications or all this other prep work to be prepared for a particular role. That's certainly one of them. I think the other piece of that is that bringing all of that together and just knowing that value, being able to speak to it. And I'm losing my train of thought now, of course.

Oh, I see where you're going with it. Yeah. And I remember like working with you, I remember that you did struggle with that because of You know, previous experiences that it kind of,

yeah,

maybe eroded down your confidence more than it needed, like more than it should have been like.

Yeah.

So just being able to build that back up, I guess what you're saying is like that you've had the value to be able to offer to, would that be right? Would that be?

That's yes, exactly. You hit the nail on the head. And I just remembered the other part of what I wanted to say was that the higher level positions, one that, that working in a not-for-profit, you wouldn't be able to make the kind of money or get into that 6 figure realm because it's, it's not-for-profits generally have no money. That was something that I had a limiting belief around. But again, just that the higher level positions always equate high levels of stress. It doesn't matter what position you're in when you get to that executive level, that it's going to be stressful. So I was even avoiding looking at that at that point, even though I knew my skillset matched. Uh, what I could do in terms of that. And I was never happy if I took on a role that was less than that or less than my capabilities.

Yeah.

And, uh, that it's, you know, I just had this belief that it has to be stressful no matter what. It's going to mean like countless hours and all of this extra work and, and never having the time during the week to do anything else or have a life. Right.

And if you believe that, you're not going to be very motivated to go do that because you're going to keep putting that off because that doesn't sound very fun.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Yeah, awesome. Okay, thank you very much. Uh, Ninon?

At times, you know, you think there are not enough jobs out there or the economy is bad.

Yeah,

um, so those are very common. They just don't serve you. People get jobs even in bad economy. So yeah, so those were things that I had sometimes to like retrain my brain on Just feeling secure that, you know, it's even in bad times, bad economic times, there are always jobs. There's always— there's somebody, there's a company out there who needs my skill sets and my values. And I can't let the economy sort of drive my thinking.

Yeah, because otherwise, then what? Yeah, exactly. It's like, and that's a big mistake that a lot of people are making right now. So I'm glad you brought that up. That's That's a really, really powerful one. And yeah, and you need to have that shift. Otherwise, it's not your efforts, you're not going to see the results from your efforts. And you've seen that now twice in the same economy, being able to overcome that. So kudos, amazing. And that's, that's from that belief, the belief that you switched. So in action, ladies and gentlemen, we get to see it happen. Okay, you haven't answered this one yet, have you? What would you say the biggest limiting story that you had to overcome?

Yeah, mine kind of similar to Nino because now I was switching from construction to software and I saw the news, like a lot of layoff.

Yeah.

Now I was like really scared, like I have to compete in my mind, like I have to compete with so many people have experience and then I'm brand new to this career. I haven't been in that. I tried to apply New position, kind of like, really bad. Yeah, yeah, still hap— yeah, but even though like all the layoffs still happening, to find a job that I never do that before, and I still find an intern job for me. Yeah.

And it's so great to hear from your perspective because you're in a different stage of your career than, you know, and it just goes to show it's all about the belief. It's not about how much experience you have. It's not about how many like Things like educational things or the years of experience or, or the amount of layoffs. It's really about your belief. So thank you very much for that. That's a great example there too. All right, uh, we're gonna take an audience question now. Uh, Francesca, um, asked a very nice question. She says, I'm curious, what's your favorite module from Natalie's course? Any favorites for someone who's in the camp of not getting many interviews? So that's a really good one. Laura, do you want to start?

Sure. Yeah, that one I can answer. It's at the top of my mind on that one. The opportunity stacking certainly is, was my favorite one. And, uh, in terms of, uh, you know, you're looking at not getting very many interviews or things like that, I think opportunity stacking is the way to go. Absolutely connecting with people. And it doesn't have to be specifically a hiring manager or, you know, right off the bat, it can be leading You can be talking to somebody that will lead you to that point somewhere along the line. And Natalie has— you've got really great tips and ways of doing that. But it was something that was a strong suit for me where I had already a bit of a network. But I wasn't at the beginning even thinking about using that network. I was also concerned about putting myself out there with it just because there was a lot of that network was tied up into my previous role. Mm-hmm. And there was a lot of things that, uh, I was just really afraid of putting myself out there in that particular community or audience. Um, so until once I finally got past that point, uh, through some coaching to, to realize I didn't need to worry about that so much, uh, that was really the most beneficial part of it for me.

Amazing. And I wanted to ask just one more question for you. Would you consider yourself more of an introvert? Did my question shock you?

Sorry, is that my question?

Yeah, it was specifically for you because I feel like different energy types, different personality types, right? Like, would you consider yourself to be more of an introvert? Because I know you were a little bit like, you approached it a little bit differently.

Yeah, I'm on the fence on that one. I've always, uh, people deem me to be an introvert, but I call myself an extroverted introvert, um, where I, I do love to talk to people and, uh, and just Be able to connect in that way, but there has to be a reason for me to do so. Or, you know, I need to feel that there's a vibe in order for me to do so. Because the opportunity stacking, it wasn't always easy to do. It wasn't always successful. There were, you know, I had some really great conversations. At the same time, I had really awkward ones. I know for anyone that is nervous about doing that or, you know, feel like they don't have a network, I can totally understand that and feel that. But there are— once you start connecting with people that are in alignment with you, I think that's when it's really important and where you can really use that. And I think part of this really helped me realize that, is going through that program and just being able to come out of my shell in that way.

Yeah, good answer. Yeah, and I think you're right. And also making the experience enjoyable. While also being willing to do things that are uncomfortable and maybe awkward sometimes, because you have to get out of your comfort zone to be able to, to move forward. So thank you. Okay, who else wants to answer that question next? Ninon, you're the— you're next to Laura on my screen. So why don't you go?

Yeah, I mean, for me, like, because I was getting lots of interviews, like, I'm good at networking already. Really, really good. Even people I don't know, I don't— I network a lot. And I have a lot of I've generated a lot of interviews myself from networking, actually. So for me, the part that was more useful for me in the course was, I would say, the VCVC method.

Yeah.

Like, and also everything having to do with thinking, like changing your belief or your thought, like the circumstance,

the model

menu.

Yeah.

Yeah. And also the whole module on like genuine curiosity helped me really interviews being more curious, rather than defensive or pushy. Just so that really helped me. So those were the things that helped me the most. VCVC, you know, how to rewire my brain, and genuine curiosity.

Awesome. Thank you, Ninon. Mike, and then Yi.

I'm not sure. I'm not sure if I was a student, your student before everyone. I went through the 8-week.

Yeah. Yeah, you can just share your, your experience because I know, yeah, we work together for a long time. We worked one-on-one together, and now you're part of the program too. So you might have had a bit of a different— you might not have gone through all the content that's there now. So—

No, no, because I, I probably went through all of your YouTube content and podcasts, like, you know, all day. So I feel like I was, uh, sort of engrossed in all that. And I, I have gone into the, the new one, the, you know, the new course. But I think, you know, Hit, hit it on, hit the nail on the head. I think it was, I think it was that, that whole shift for me. That's really what was important for me because everything else grew out from that and evolved from, from that shift because I was, I was just getting in my own way.

Yeah, a lot of the mindset stuff.

Absolutely. And I, and I will say, I, I, I can't recall specifically the The opportunity stacking, I do, do remember seeing it when you released the new, uh, you know, the new course. And, and I will just say is that to get my last role, I got to a point where I stopped applying to jobs because in customer success, I have seen where, according to LinkedIn, there are— one of the highest ones I saw, there were 3,000 applicants.

Mm-hmm.

I'm like, this is just untenable. Like, it's just, there's no way that this is going to be a good use of my time applying to jobs. So I did the networking. I just sent out little notes, hey, let's chat for 15 minutes. I found something to connect with, and I kept networking. I was doing 2 or 3 a day. And, uh, one of those kind of fell in place. So, you know, a week or two later, someone says, hey, I talked to you, a friend is hiring. And I went through the interview process and then And that's how I got my job.

So amazing. Okay, great. Uh, Yi, your favorite thing about the program?

Favorite about the program? Uh, definitely for the mindset at the beginning, but also me also like for the second question, uh, not getting interviewed, but that specific, definitely for the connection, that module, because when I start, I just put out resume everywhere and I don't get any interview. And then also For me, I'm totally in a new career path, so I don't really have any connection. All my connections doing construction not really helping me that much. And then I have to start brand new to join a lot of groups. And also, when I first— when I go to the coaching group, Natalie did mention that, like, why don't you go connect with people? Because I was only do the ladder rope.

Yeah. So I think what everyone's basically echoing is like, it's about, it's getting into that position where you're speaking to humans and the how in which you can do that is unlimited. The ways that you can do that is unlimited. It doesn't matter where you are, whether you're just starting out switching into a different path or whether you're experienced. That's basically, I think that what everybody's saying, which is which is the premise of what the program is based on, is it's based on that. It's not like I'm going to say, oh, you got to go and apply to all these jobs on the job board. That's like the opposite of what, of what I teach. So thanks. Okay, we have a couple other questions and then I had one last one I wanted to ask before we wrap up. So Becky, I think, is it Becky? Says, I'm curious if any of you were able to identify any blind spots that were keeping you from getting an offer. So I think Ninon mentioned one already. I think they have already mentioned some but not answered it. in that specific form, but we could, uh, see if they have any more thoughts on that. And then I have one other question. What do you think would have happened— so this is for all of you panelists— what do you think would have happened if you had stopped at the free training or the free YouTube videos or whatever that I offer and you hadn't have decided to come in for the full experience? What do you think would have happened in your mind? Who would like to go first? I'll put somebody on the spot. Uh, no, no, I don't think I've I'd selected you first yet.

Yeah. First, to go back to the question about the blind spot.

Yeah,

about the blind spot. The one thing I would like to say about that is it's not about being beat out by another candidate. It's about the value that you bring and your connection with the company, its values, the interviewer, and somebody just did that. Somebody just had that connection. That's all. It's all— it's nothing. It doesn't say anything bad about you. I mean, I've been rejected so many times, and the rejection is just an opportunity to learn. Same. It's an opportunity to be curious. And, um, it's good in a way. It's good that to be going to second and third, it means that you really have a really good skill set that people are interested in, or else they would never take you to So many interviews. So there are a lot of good things about going through a lot of interviews. And you'll seal the deal when you made that connection. And it's just like dating, right, Natalie? It's like dating.

We use that analogy a lot, don't we?

Yeah, yeah. And then what was the other question again, Natalie?

What do you think would have happened if you had stopped at the free training or stopped at the free stuff that I offer?

Yeah, I think you need the support. A job search is— sometimes you feel alone in that process. So having the support, we have weekly calls with the group where we can ask questions and get support, and that's very important. But also it's like practice, practice, practice. It's to be told and retold and retold because our brains don't change that Quickly.

And they don't do it on their own.

Yeah. And to continuously get, find new ways to, to retrain your brain, like seeing the problem from different angles. And so I don't think one session, two sessions, I think it's like a process that you have to go through that we need to go through to change. And, um, you can't do that with just like a freebie session of one day. It's, it's over multiple days that this change happens.

Well said. Yeah, thank you. All right, who wants to go next? Laura?

Yeah, I can. Same question?

Yeah, so same question, and then if you want to speak on any of your blind spots as well for Becky.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think in terms of why not stop at the free training and all of those items, I mean, I agree completely with Ninon. I think it's going through repeating the process over and over is important. It's like exercising a muscle that Using one of your analogies, Natalie, as part of that. But, and I think that, you know, for me, I would often get stuck at points too, is, you know, I'd say, okay, I've done all these things that were part of the exercises, but now I'm stuck. I don't know what to do next, even though I did have some of that information in the back of my mind. But showing up at the coaching calls every week, coming on, asking the questions, The coaching that Natalie provides in the group, it's basically showing a mirror, holding up a mirror to your face, and you're really getting to see the feedback and you're really getting to see yourself from a different perspective. And I felt I really needed that all the way throughout the process. Even if at times I felt like I knew what to do and what was next, I couldn't move on to the next point without having her holding up that mirror to me each time. Certainly, the community from the coaching group was incredibly beneficial to me. And I, you know, I would also often see others, all of my peers, on those groups and calls. And it's still an ongoing community. And so we connect, we reply to each other, we cheer each other on, and that's really vital to keep us going. And to keep us, you know, moving forward with it. I still day to day use all of the things that I've learned now in my role now. It's not something that I've, you know, okay, I got my job, I'm done. I can pack away the course or, you know, the coaching or anything else like that. So it's just something that I'm continuing to use throughout my career and also in personal life. There's so many. things that you can apply to that. So I think that's really valuable to go ahead and move forward with the full coaching program. And speaking to a blind spot, I mean, I think really it was just— I'd go back to the value piece, communicating, being able to communicate that, realizing that I have that. Probably also just realizing— I know at the beginning, I had, you know, I talked about this before, where I have a really good morning routine. I do all kinds of healthy things and habits to get myself started for the day and get myself in a good mindset. So I thought I can just skip over all of that as part of the early, early parts of the program and quickly realized that I had a lot more work to do. It wasn't a long period of time that it took me to get through that, but I had to go back And do that initial work to make sure that I'm in the right mindset and space to be able to actually do the rest of the program and be able to— I couldn't just jump around or jump ahead to the things that I wanted to do with it. So—

Yeah. And I feel like you kept yourself accountable really well. You showed up and I remember you, even on the days you didn't want to, you were like, I know I had to do it. I had to push myself to do it. So— I think getting the most out of it really shows up when you're speaking to someone like Laura because she's definitely someone who came and made the most out of it. And that is what you sign up for anything, you're going to get what you put in. So awesome. Thank you. That was a great answer. So we'll just go to Mike and then Yi on what do you think would happen if you stopped at the free stuff and then any blind spots? And then we'll see if we have time for one more.

Well, I'd like to just combine both of those because the, you know, I think everybody comes into the coaching with a blind spot because you can come into it no other way, right? That it's a, it's a paradox, right? Coaching compresses time, meaning it's going to fast-track your success.

Mm-hmm.

The paradox is, you know, I absorbed all the YouTube stuff, all of the, the podcast stuff in the car, in the shower, It didn't matter, right? I was playing it. And, and therein lies the paradox, right? Because I'm, I'm going into it with the same mind that needs improvement, yet I want to improve myself.

Mm-hmm.

But if I can't see it— and Laura said it, you know, you helped her see herself. And I think coaching helps us see us, see ourselves in a way that there is no way we could see ourselves in the bubble that we exist in. So without it—

well said. Yeah, that's perfectly well said. And that reminds me of an Einstein quote. It's like, you can't solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created the problem in the first place. So yeah, awesome. Okay, great. Yi, what are your thoughts on that?

Yes, uh, for the free trial, like after the free trial, I think it's really good to have a mentor like always have your back and Natalie really doing really good. And then the program is really consistent. Every live call, every week you have a live call. And then you could, so you don't have to wait like super long time, even though you also can have a group chat, uh, like the LinkedIn group, you could post questions if you want a really fast response. So she always answers it. So it's really good to join the program because with Natalie, the knowledge, you have the knowledge with a mentor to support you throughout all the different challenges, through the interview. After interview, how to connect. Also, the program is always there for you. It's not that many programs do that for you, so it's really worth it. Yeah, and then for the blind—

Yeah, did you have any blind spots that were keeping you from getting an offer before that you can think of?

My blind spot, actually, I didn't know that until I joined the program because I just—

because of course you didn't know it's a blind spot. That's why it's called that. Yeah. So now you're discovered by the blind spot. What was it?

Like the overthinking and then the— I just keep doing something I thought, uh, I, I keep thinking it's my resume not working, but at the end I come to the program because with your knowledge, you know, like you analyze, like I submit this thing, I get response like They want to interview, but, uh, uh, no. Yeah, so, so the problem is not my resume, it's my connection.

Yeah, awesome. Okay, great. Okay, we have 2 minutes left, and Francesca was just wondering about the 8-week challenge. So if any of you panelists have words about the 8-week challenge, if you did it, go ahead and speak up. Just do any of you— I know, I don't think Mike did. Mike, you said you did it? Um, but yeah, just quickly, any thoughts on the 8-week challenge? It's basically just the program, just divided up into daily Bite-sized things.

Yeah, I would just say it just, it just keeps you, keeps you doing something. It just keeps you moving along. Yeah, it's just fun because it just, you got something to do, something to talk about, something that makes you think about something new. And, uh, yeah, it's just the program keeps you going.

Awesome. Thanks, Ninon.

I would add to that if, if you have a—

Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, go ahead.

Yeah, I agree. Uh, same thing with Ninon. I, I agree. You know, it keeps you going from one week to the next. It's always It, for me, it kept me on track. It kept me doing things every single day and every week. Otherwise I would get kind of lost in the shuffle and procrastinate or push things aside or things like that. And we, you know, there was, there were some of us in the group that would always be reaching out to each other or messaging each other and going, okay, did you do this part yet? Or how is, how is it going? So we always, we, you know, we would show up in the live calls, but we also just internally sometimes would connect and, uh, and support each other that way. Yeah. So it was really great on that part. The one last thing I would say is that, you know, there's all kinds of material and things out there and there's all the steps and the processes, but with the coaching, I found, Natalie, that you definitely provide— it's customized for everybody. It's not a one-size-fits-all. It depends on where we're at with our mindset. It's how you approach things. So it's always different. So even if you have some of that material, from those free sessions or different things like that. The coaching really helps you apply it to yourself because everybody's in a different spot.

Awesome. Thank you. Yeah, I tried to get people from different, different places here on the call today so that they could speak to that. Mike, any thoughts on the 8-week challenge?

That was part of the new program?

Yeah, yeah. If you didn't do it, that's okay.

Yeah, well, I did. You know, since we had 8 weeks one-on-one, you know, I kind of got I guess special, special handholding, right?

But yeah, you're at the very, like, very beginning.

Yeah. Yeah. I, uh, did register for it and saw the information coming in. And I remember I've, I like, I organized all of those emails and I thought how comprehensive that was. If I wasn't, if I hadn't had the one-on-one, I mean, that information was fantastic. I did look at it. So. You know,

it's basically the same principles that I've been using over and over, right? Again, and it's like even when things change, the principles are timeless. So what you're saying makes sense to me. Okay, cool. Yi, did you do the 8-week challenge? Did you sign up during one of those times?

I don't think so. That's how I think I did.

Okay, okay, okay. Yeah, no problem. It's basically— it's the same program. Like, I, I've just, just make it more user-friendly, more able for you to focus, more easy for you to implement. That's my goal, right? I'm not changing a whole bunch of stuff. Amazing. Okay, well, thank you. We were able to get through quite a few questions. I didn't want to take more than an hour. Thank you very much to the panelists. Thank you for being here. Thank you for all your great contributions. The replay will be sent out afterwards if you want to replay, watch this again, and we'll have it transcribed as some of you had requested. And, uh, yeah, I look forward to Helping the ones who join. And I'm gonna put the link here in the chat, and we will see you all inside the program if you're coming. Okay. Thank you, everybody. Have a great rest of your afternoon. Thanks for your time.

Bye.

Bye.