From Mailroom to Corner Office Achieving Your Career Goals With Randy Phares

This is the Mojo the Meaning of Life and Business podcast where life and business intersect, hosted by Jennifer Glass, CEO of Business Growth Strategies International and BGSI Coaching. We are dedicated to your success.

Hello and welcome to another episode of Mojo, the Meaning of Life and Business. Do you have your dream job? A lot of people are saying, yes, I love what I do. And some people are saying, you know what, I'm doing what I'm doing right now because I need the money. But I'm not necessarily in my ideal job or my dream job. For me, my dream job is President of the United States. Am I going to get there one day? Yes, I am going to get there. But what is your dream job? I've got a great guest on the show today who's going to really help us know what we can do to crush that interview and land that dream job of ours. But before I bring him on, let me tell you a little bit about him. Randy Farris is a CEO and a former executive recruiter who led a global award winning plant financial turnaround for a multinational business unit for Fortune 1000 Corporation on the Forbes most admired list. Working with the US and Afghan governments to help launch four different industries in Afghanistan. He trained their Ministry of Agriculture. His fearless achiever coaching programs help people get the job that they want, manage time, become more productive and achieve a fruitful and fulfilling work life balance. Randy, welcome to the show.

Hello. Thank you for having me on, Jennifer. I hope to be able to add some value. I know you add tremendous value to your audience with all of the things that you provide in helping them not only excel at their entrepreneurship and their jobs, but to help get that work life balance that they desire.

Absolutely. And thank you so much for the plug and all of that too. So thank you. So Randy, let me ask you, I mentioned in the introduction to this episode that we've got some people who say I'm only doing this job because it's getting me a couple of bucks and others really love what they do. But first of all, let me ask if I'm thinking mindset perspective before we even talk about how to get the dream job, how do I really know how to gauge like, all right, I like what I do, but is it really what I want to do? Is it something that I'm just doing, like I said, for the paycheck, how do we even start figuring that piece out?

Well, I think one of the things is how you wake up in the morning assuming you're working a day shift job. You may not be, but whenever you decide to head out the door to work, what is that feeling that's going on in your body and in your mind? Is it, hey, I'm excited to get to work and have some great accomplishments today and to add value, or is it, boy, I wish I didn't have to go to work? I mean, that's, that's a big indicator right there, right?

So how high should we be setting our dreams then? I mentioned in the introduction again that my dream is President United States. Now, a lot of people are not necessarily thinking that that's the goal that they want, right? I mean, they may just want to be mid level manager, other people may want to be CEO. How do we start setting realistic goals in terms of what we want for that dream job?

Well, there's a few different ways to take a look at it. There is absolutely nothing wrong in having amazing, outlandish goal if that's what you want. The reality is, if you're striving to be the President of the United States and you're actually taking the steps that it takes to prepare yourself to, to be the President of the United States, if you don't become the President of the United States, who you will be by the time several years have passed will certainly make you much closer to that. And even if you fall a little short of your ultimate goal, you will probably end up in a place that you can be very happy in. So I would say that there's nothing wrong in setting a great, lofty, ultimate end goal. But the reality is that gets too daunting because when people set that goal and then they're like, yeah, but now look where I'm at. So what you need to do is you need to set some intermediary goals of what are the steps that it's going to take to get there. What are the jobs that I need to have in that ladder? And like, for myself, I have Tourette syndrome, I have adhd, I don't have a college degree.

And most of the jobs that I've had require a college degree, but I didn't have one. And I would come out of interviews with them saying, we don't want you to leave the building without you accepting our offer. What will it take for us to get you to work for our company? So there are lots of different ways to get to your goal. And if you set a goal and you're serious about it, you're going to pivot along the way. You're going to run into an obstacle, which always happens. And the biggest obstacle is Usually our own mentality, our own beliefs, our own thoughts. But when you run into one, you try to scale the obstacle. If it's clearly not going to be scalable, then you work, figure out a way to go around the obstacle to get where you want to go.

Absolutely. And you're so right just in terms of figuring out how to get around that obstacle. I remember when my son was younger, he wanted to be police chief. And so I introduced him to the chief of police. I took him over and I said, hey, Bob, that was his name. And I said, my son is interested in being police chief. And I asked him, can you please just tell him what it's like being the chief of police? And the advice that he gave was shoot for the stars, because if you miss, at least you're going to hit.

The moon for sure.

And that was amazing. And or as Kimberly Crow says, amazeballs. And it's really, how do we get there so that we are going to, like you said, get around the obstacle, figure out exactly where we need to be, get those jobs that we need in the meantime to get to that big seat. So if we wanted to be a CEO of a major company, we know that we've got to start lower, work our way up to mid level, upper level management, senior management, and eventually can potentially get a C suite role in some companies. But if we look at it from somebody right now, let's just say right now somebody is in a lower level management position and they want to get there, what kind of counseling, coaching would you give them to say, all right, listen, Johnny, right now you are manager of the mailroom, but you want to be vice president of, I don't know, hr. How would you get them to start seeing that kind of opportunity to know that whether it's going internally at the company or is looking outside for other opportunities, Like I remember in the advertising world when I first started in my internship, I worked for a major agency, that one of the major cola companies actually created that internship for me. They said, we want her. And that allowed me to get the opportunity. But the whole idea in that industry was you start at one place at a ridiculously low salary. In three years, you're back at the starting place, but you've already more than five, six times your salary. So how would you recommend somebody look at it from where they are right now? Like I said in the example Mailroom 2, VP of HR.

Okay, the first thing that I would do is I need to get inside their mentality. So we'd have some discussions And I try to help them project where their goals are, why the goals are important to them, what that would give them to try to determine what, whatever goal that they feel is reachable, is it inspiring to them? Because if it's not inspiring to them, they're not going to have the drive to actually do what it takes to get the job. So the first thing is I have to figure out what they're inspired enough about to really do whatever it takes to get there. The second thing is I help them identify, you know, some with some tools and things, how to be able to identify those jobs, determine what, what the value is of those jobs. Because it doesn't matter what you're making. Now, most people are underpaid and overworked for what they do. And a lot of managers that are just exceptional at their job, what happens is sometimes their boss doesn't want to let them go into another opportunity where they lose them and they end up stuck. And other people get promotions when they're the ones that may be more qualified. So once I find that I help them set proper boundaries at work so they can't be over overloaded, I help them work way more efficiently with my programs on using a lot of tools to free up their time and delegate better and things like that. Then once we've identified exactly what the goal is, we'll figure out some action steps. Because the daunting goal you can't go after, it's too scary. So what you do is you divide it down. What's the next step? If I want to get there, what can I do today, what can I do tomorrow? Because what people don't realize is, oh well, that's going to take a thousand years or a thousand hours worth of prep to get there. Well, start with one hour or two hours every single day before you start your day. At the end of the night, if you have a family after the kids are in bed, spend that hour or two working on the next step. Not on the daunting goal, just on the next step to help you make that progress. And then I help hold them accountable and, and make sure that they actually achieve the goals not only in their career, but that they set goals outside of their career so they can be more intentional with their family, their religion, their hobbies, and all of their finances and everything else that's important in their life.

Absolutely. And that's such great advice. Again, how do you start figuring out where all of these pieces are coming from and going from there? So let me ask, now that we have at least more of a mental picture of where we want to be. We understand the drive, we understand the reason for where we're going. What are the next things that we need to be doing? Like you said, you want to be focused on those options. Like, all right, I can do this, I can do that. Where do we start going from there to then get that interview, get the opportunity to be moving up that ladder.

Okay, the first thing is, everything you do every day, you should be trying to get accomplishments. Even if it's finding some problem in the company to solve. Doesn't matter whether it's in your department. But don't point out the problem, Find the solution, figure out the resources needed and go and say, I want to lead this project and this is what it's going to cost, and these are the people I need on my team, and this is the results it's going to deliver to the bottom line. So you start building that resume. You start building your personal brand and things like that. But the reality is the resume gets you the interview. It's the interview that gets you the job. So for a resume, I am a professional, certified resume writer, and I did not write my own resume. Never write your own resume, period. Hire a professional executive resume writer. Always. The next thing is, once you have, if you actually have identified the jobs and you've had your resume and you've filled out your application, you actually get the interview. Here are a few key things that can really help you make a dramatic impact. We don't have a lot of time on the show, so I'm going to make these brief. The first thing is, if you've ever been passed up for a promotion and you felt you were the most qualified, the reality is your boss didn't. So the biggest disconnect isn't whether or not you feel you were qualified. You weren't what they wanted. Why is that? Because you didn't know what your boss wanted. So when you go into an interview, you need to have good body language, eye contact, contact, sit close, but you need to come. Be comfortable and confident. A good firm handshake. But don't break their fingers or anything. But then you need to ask this question to start before they even ask you any questions. You want to ask the first question, if possible. If not, make sure you ask the second one during your answer to the first. And that is, what would in that role, what are the current challenges and what would success look like in that role? And what kind of qualifications and soft skills would be important to succeed in that job. So by asking that, you've already set yourself apart from most of the competition because you're going to know what they want, where most candidates have no idea what they want. And every manager wants something different. So once you have that, you can tailor your stories to that and none of the other resources that you can buy out there. None of the books are really good at telling you how to answer the questions because if they give you a stock answer, it will never fly at the manager and executive level. So you need to use for a lot of the questions what I call my PACE methodology, which is in your stories, you identify how you identified the problem and what the pain was that it was causing the company. You make your assessment of that and what it's going to take to resolve it. Then you do your correction where you actually implemented it and then your evaluation of how it made the company better. And it needs to be quantified in either dollars or a percentage of improvement. And once you have it quantified how that delivered bottom line results to the company, then the next thing is the real important section is when they ask do you have any questions of me? Which they'll usually ask at the end of an interview. And at the end of that, I always ask this one question. What would I have to accomplish in the first year? What three things to be the best person you've ever hired? Because like in a novel where you're showing and not telling, if you tell somebody that's what you want, they're not going to believe you. But if you ask them the question, it demonstrates to them that you want to be the best person they've ever hired. Then take out your leather bound notebook and take notes.

Then in your thank you letter, all the thank you letter books tell you do three things, thank them for the interview, tell them you're interested and you look forward to the next steps. But you don't. The ultimate thank you letter is you add a section in there. In the interview, I asked you what three things I would have to accomplish to be the best person you've ever hired and you said A, B and C. Because I want to provide value to you whether you hire me or not. This is how I would achieve that in the first year. Bullet points of A, B and C in the thank you letter. And it is tremendously powerful.

That is an incredible hack. Randy, thank you. You know, in the thank you letter, put it out there, A, B and C. This is what I would do to accomplish your three things that I would need to do in the first year, whether or not you hire me. That is absolutely incredible. Thank you. I wanted to ask you a different question, and unfortunately we are running short on time. So really quick answer here. You mentioned never write your own resume, but AI right now is doing so much that we're doing. What is the difference between using AI as a. You are a certified resume writer kind of thing to the AI as opposed to using a resume writer. And I am asking because for argument purposes, I've seen people actually use the job description and say, take this job description, take this resume, and now rewrite it for this particular job. Curious to know 30 seconds or less what your take is.

Okay.

Go in, take all of your achievements that you've done. Not, hey, I did this job and this were my duties. That doesn't matter. So what, what have you actually accomplished? What quantifiable accomplishments, what awards have you won? What, you know, things, projects have you delivered that really made a difference in the company? Why is the company better that you're there? Make all that list into your own type of resume. Throw it into a good AI and say, give me your best ideas, but do not use that resume. Then go to your professional executive resume writer and give them all of that information so they have the best information to work with. Because the AI might come up with some things that are beneficial. Now, once you have your resume back, take the AI and your resume like into a cloud or a chatgpt. Load it in there and ask it, how can I tailor this better for my job? You know, that I'm going to interview for for this application based on the job description. Then make those modifications so you can personalize the resume and cover letter to that particular job to make it personal. But I would start with the professional resume writer giving them all of that information first.

Thank you so much, Randy. And that is definitely important advice because you don't want to just use AI because it can give all sorts of wrong information that's out there. So you want somebody to be really the expert checking it. So thank you so much, Randy. Thank you for that. Just because we are running short on time, Randy, people have been listening to our conversation and they're really interested. They need more help. How do they get in touch with you?

All right, Just to make it real simple and easy, my name is Randy farris with a ph like phoenix. Just go to randyferris.com.

And scroll to the bottom and input your information at the bottom to subscribe to my newsletter and I'll give you a free ultimate interview Checklist, Power of Productivity Guide and I'll give you free infographics and things that will help you with your work life balance and to excel at work for free. And I even have a free Crush any interview masterclass to get the job of your dreams. So once you're subscribed, then at some point you'll be on the list to get that free workshop where I can really dig in and help you.

Thank you so much. And again, make sure that you go to randyfers.com p h a r-e s.com and we'll have that information in the description for you as well so that you can connect and get even more opportunities. Because at the end of the day, this isn't just about going in for the interview, it is about getting the job of your dreams no matter what that is. So think about where you want to be. Think about what it is that you're trying to ultimately do. And if, like Randy said, it is that stepping stone, you're taking job A so that you can get to job B, you're taking job B so you can get to job C, there's a lot of these different ways that you can be moving forward here to your ultimate benefit. So Randy, thank you so much for being my guest on the show today.

Thank you so much, Jennifer. It was a pleasure to be on your show.

Absolutely. Thank you. And again, think about where you want to be, what you want to be doing, and what your dreams are with that. This has been another episode of Mojo, the Meaning of Life and Business. Until next time, here is to your success. This has been another episode of Mojo, the Meaning of Life and Business podcast. If you like what you heard, please consider leaving us a review, liking us, or reaching out to us. You can contact us at bg sicoaching.com and let us know what you think. Thanks so much again for listening.