Episode 154 - Monica Brante Explains How You Can Unlock Your Potential And Find Your Dream Job

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. This is your host, Stacy Lauren. All right, guys. Well, this is going to be a cool episode. I met my next guest through a group that we're both involved with called Podcasters paradise, and I was immediately drawn to her because I love the way that she's able to present what she does and how she can help people and really get them to find the job that they want. And she happens to be a career strategist, a job search coach, and an author. So I'm so excited to get a chance to talk to her about that, because this is coming from the industry that I was in before when I owned my staffing company. I just saw such a need for this with people, because it's so hard for people to know what to do when they're looking for a job, and then just to get into something that really lights them up and fuels their passion. And not just something that they're going into day in and day out. It's something that they're excited about. So the fact that she does this really gets me excited because this is something that can really help people find something that really matters and means something to them. So I am so excited to welcome Monica Brandt to the show. Hi, Monica.

Hi, Stacy. Thank you for having me. Yeah.

On your show. I'm so glad you're here. And I love that we are able to do this because I think what you do can really help so many people.

Yes. I find that there are so many people that can get through, can really show what they know, and they would be perfect for a lot of jobs, but really, they. They don't know how to get in the door. And that's what I really love to do, especially for people that are mature, really getting them to build a personal brand that can help them.

Yeah, I think this is great. And actually, the timing is really good. I kind of mentioned this right before we started. I'm running a Do the Things Sing community right now, and I thought I'd mention this because the lot of the people in the group have been living their life for other people their whole life. Right. And then they get divorced or they're widowed, and then all of a sudden they're like, wait, is this even what I want to do with my life? And getting that reset. And while this interview will be for everyone, regardless of whether or not you're in that community and you're married or you're under 40 or whatever, I think there's something really special about being able to really Identify what you want from your own passion and from your own value.

That is such a good point. Because work it such a big part of our lives, it's half our day or most of our day. So we should be able to work with something we like and work with people we like and having a good time while making a good living.

Yeah. I mean especially we're spending most of our time doing it. Right. And when you talk to people and they're not happy with what they do, it's just why, why do that? It's time to move on. And I think that's probably what you're able to do. Right. If someone's not happy with their job and they're ready to move on, they can come to you and you can help them almost re identify what they want 100%.

It's like if you don't like what you do, you, you have an awful time at work and when you get home, there's no energy, there's no energy for the rest of your day or for your loved ones to you. You can't get up and do anything. So it really destroys your whole life. And that's really sad. It doesn't have to be that way. Yeah.

And actually it's funny, I wasn't expecting to go here, but this feels alive for me right now. Is what would you say to someone that might be scared? Scared to leave that job that they don't like and to get something new? Is that something you work with people on too?

All the time. All the time. And it's funny that people, they don't, you know, if they're in a job that they don't like, they lose a lot of confidence. So they don't really know what they know and they don't know what they're good at and they don't realize that they can use what they're good at in a different setting. So you have both. There's a reason why people don't like their job. And it can be the tasks in itself or it can be the environment or it can be bad boss. Usually it's like they feel disrespected. Like half, half the population or half the people that want to leave work, they do so because they feel disrespected and do not like coming to work at all. So when, when I get them out of that environment and start working on their self esteem by showing them what they can do, giving that competency and language, they just love it. And you can see that they get their confidence back and that's such a beautiful thing. And then after a while, when they started to realize that, yes, I do a lot of things and I can do a lot of things and I can use these skills in different settings. And maybe I do have leadership skills, even though I haven't been a leader for a hundred people. Maybe I've led several processes, maybe I've led several projects, maybe I've led sales teams. They have leadership skills. They had never been used in different, different capacities.

How do you help someone identify what they're good at? So then they can even just start from building confidence for themselves. What's your strategy for being able to help them see the good parts of what they do?

Well, if we are to build a shot of confidence, I look to start at the skills. So what can they actually do in a position, you might do pricing, you might do customer service, you might do some it different tasks that you do. Just list them and get them all. And the thing is that when people start listing, they kind of need a structure to remember. So I encourage people to start a CV where they list all the jobs that they've had, all the education that they have, all their courses and all the hobbies that they have. That kind of gives the structure for where you can go in. What did I do in this job? What did I do in that job? Did I have any special things that I. That I took up? Did I do any special projects? Did I do events? Did I do anything extraordinary in addition to my regular skills? And then I go into each skill and I say, what do you need to know to do this skill well? And that's where your competencies come in. Anybody can probably do a price, list the price or something, but not everybody will do well because you have to know a lot to make a good price. You might have to know about the market. Do you know about the market? Do you know about the clients? Do you know about the risks involved? There's a lot of things that you need to know to. You just do one skill and that's where you really get your juice. That's the goal, to figure out your competencies. What are people asking you if they have the same job as you do? What kind of questions do you get? What is the last thing you would delegate from that position if you were ever to meet? If you were to train somebody, what is the first things you would give them to do and what is the last thing, the last things you give away is your competency, because that's the hard stuff right now. Your third thing is your network. You may know a lot of people, and that could be really valuable.

Yeah, I love these questions because sometimes people don't realize what they're good at, either naturally or learned. I noticed this the other day. I went to the city to change my name on something, and the people behind the counter were like, oh, you just. So I'm calling these. Oh, you just people where they know exactly what to do. But sometimes it's hard to explain it because it comes so naturally to them. They can't even imagine someone else doesn't know how to do it because they do it all the time. And so I would almost add saying if there's anything that you say, like, oh, you just blank, then you add that to your list too.

That is such a good point. And there's another thing that some people just get annoyed with people that don't know. So if you are irritated about people not knowing what you know, that might be a clue that you actually got something that other people do not. So if you're not great at giving yourself praise, make sure that you give yourself a pat on the back every time you get annoyed that somebody else is not doing something right.

Oh, my gosh, I love that.

Monica. That's so good.

I just did a do the thing, find your voice challenge for people to help them uncover their inner voice. And one of the dares I gave them was to do a venting voice note. And the homework after they did that voice note was then it would help them uncover their values. Right. Because they would see what's the most important to you. And I never thought of it in a way of what annoys you the most, because that's something that you're actually good at. That's actually the things that you're good at. I love that. Oh, my gosh. I have to explore that more. That is so neat.

Yeah. So that's when you get impatient with other people. That's when you probably know something really, really well and can be really effective at something.

And I wanted to also tell for the listeners because I also don't think you realize how lateral your skills can be. And so what Monica's saying right now, you can say this with anything. It could be with a hobby that you do. Like she said, you could be the PTA board member and you could have a bunch of skills that you've learned there, and you could be a volunteer blank. We'll just say, because I can't think of it right now, but. But anyway, it could be anything. And, oh, as a parent, even the things that you have to do as a parent, and these are skills that you have that are part of your arsenal that you could apply to anything.

That is so true. And people think, but I don't know what to say. I don't know how to talk about it. Of course I can do this, but how do I talk about it? And that is the. There are some lessons about that too, that you can design Perfect examples for that. I use something called Defeats, where you can either demo what you know. If you want to show somebody how to paint, you can do that. You can make a video, you can showcase it, or you can. Somebody asks about great communication skills, make sure you communicate well, make sure that your letter is good, well written. So that's how you showcase that you can actually communicate well. The next thing is exhibitions that if you have something that you can kind of show what you've done. If you're like a programmer, a developer, you might have a lot of scripts that you made. They can kind of showcase what you know. Then you have facts. If somebody's asking for discipline and you've been in the Marine Corps or an EV Seal, they kind of understand that you need to have discipline to be there. So. Or you can say that you train every day, or you can showcase something that you've been very regular about and very consistent about for a long time. They can kind of show that you have the discipline. If you want a job in a marketing company and you've been an influencer and you have published content every day, Bachelor's consistency, and that shows discipline. There's a lot of ways of showing things right. And then you have analogies that you can use. Well, you might not have sold before, but you've been a purchaser for a long time, so you've been in that environment and you negotiated, so you know what to look for. Almost the same, different role, but you done something similar. Actually, the American army did something dangerous during the war when they wanted women to start making planes. They made the analogy between cutting cloth for a dress with cloth, cutting steel for a wing. And they had movies going out like that where they saw women cutting the.

Cloth and then cutting the wing, and.

It was kind of the same thing. And that way they got women to join the factory.

Yeah, it's amazing because you think, I've never done this before. But then you actually can think back to a time when you've done something like it goes. Goes back to what you were saying. This is how you build confidence in somebody to be able to do the thing that they want to do is showing a time when you've done something similar. And whether that's showing a thing like consistency or perseverance or an actual thing such as cutting, I think it's so cool. What a great way to do that.

Yes. And also if you've been a leader, if you want a leadership job and you've taught kids how to sing or you begin a teacher in a classroom for eighth grade, you need some leadership skills for that. So, yeah, analogies are great.

What other things do you think you could do to help you get in the door, give you that edge when you're looking for a new career?

Well, one valuable thing is also your network, and that is people you know, people you can call on and just knowledge about people in different positions. So obviously in sales, if you have a network within your industry, that is great, but that could also be used in different ways. Let's say that you are always selling to CFOs and you have a financial product, you might go into totally different industry and sell to the same people, but a totally different product. Because I have some clients that have been selling, you know, I've been selling it, I've been selling consultancy services, I've been selling glassware. Because if you know people, they will always welcome you. And the other thing is true about expert networks, if you know, who knows, that can be really valuable as well. If you're in purchasing or in it, you might know all the experts that if you have a certain problem, you should call on Thor and not Eric, because Thor is the one that uses 15 minutes while Eric will drag it on for like half a day before he gets what's going on. Right. So also, knowing the experts and knowing the industries is really, really good. And that could also give you access to information. So if you have an expert network, you might figure out what are pricing structures, what are going on with certain clients, what is going on with certain technologies, what is going on with whatever cultures.

You're making me think I interviewed someone. Her name is Megan Sneddon. She's the founder of the Kind Effect. And there was a point when she was a journalist and she was trying to get a job and she went and googled people online, contacted them just to meet them for coffee, without even asking for the job, but just kind of getting their opinion on stuff. And I'm sharing this here because I think some people might be listening like it's about your network and going, well, I don't know Anyone like that and thinking that their box is small. But what you don't realize is we have access to everyone. And yes, people might say no when you reach out to them and ask them for advice. But then they also could say yes. Once you kind of understand and then once you meet one person, all of a sudden you're connected to their network too. And so I don't think people realize just by a little bit of hustle or just thought behind it and being able to handle rejection, you might be able to expand your network in this way.

Yes. And that is also a great way. Not them using the network in the job, but actually the job search is what you're touching on. And that is obviously a very, very necessary thing to do. And we all have networks, we all went to school with somebody, we all have been working with some people not asking for a job is a good thing. Sometimes you can hit them off of copy and say, do you know somebody I should talk to? And I love this. If you know HR directors, ask the HR directors what kind of headhunters they like. And then you call the headhunter and you say, this HR director told me to call you. That would give you an edge in if that is an important HR director or if you have any. C level is always good. We don't always have them, but we can also have experts. And not to forget referral bonuses. Certain companies have referral bonuses, which means that if you have a former colleague that really like working with you and they're in a good company, they can actually earn money by referring you. I know companies where the referral bonus can be like 5 or $10,000 just to mention your name. When you come from a network or referral, you have like 40% chance of getting an interview, which is way higher than an application. Application is usually 2 or 3% chance of getting an interview. While if you referred, it's 40. If you referred from a an important client or a director high level, it can be up to 90% chance. Why that interview? That's the way to do it really.

So far for standing out. And as you're looking for the job, you're building your confidence, which is knowing your skills and getting to know what you're good at. So then you're able to figure out where else you can apply those same skills. And then we have really kind of expanding your network and then leaning on it to be able to look as well. What would be another thing that would be important for people?

Another thing is your personal habits. I had this Guy, he was very content with where he was at. He was fired because the downsizing and he was close to 50 and he did the invoicing. That was what he did. He was really good at it, but it was all he did. So that was kind of limiting when we looked at opportunities. But he was active, sporty, and another thing, he hadn't missed a day for 20 years. Wow. Wow. So just knowing that he would show up every day without any sick leave, none of that. That's character, that's integrity. So a lot of companies, they don't hire people for skills always. They will train you in the skills. But they really need good people that they can depend on. Those habits are crucial. And the thing is that habits can be developed, all the skills can be developed, competencies can be developed, network can be developed and habits can be developed. So you can always strengthen your candidacies. If you know what your companies want or your potential companies, where you want to get in, if you know what they want, you can always enhance yourself to get there.

So we have building confidence, the network habits. Was there one more?

That is yes, the last issue. Reputation, your branding. And that is really what people say about you when you leave the room. As Jeff Bezos says, some people have a really good reputation where everybody wants to work with them because they have so much energy. Or it also may be they've been an athlete or they've done something professionally, or they've been an influencer or they have some kind of fame, which is positive. It needs to be positive. That can also be a good factor for getting you into work. But I'm thinking that it's really important to be a fun person to work with. And I'm thinking that if you are happy, you make people so much more productive around you. So we know that happy people produce 30% more and they also easier to work with. You want them to show up in the morning, you want to be around them. And happy people get work. So when people choose between working with the most competent person or the happiest person, they usually say that they want to work with the most competent person, but in reality they don't. So that is really about being good to work with. And that is also something that is within your control.

I was also curious. We talked about what helps someone stand out to be able to get the job. How do you help someone identify what the right job is for them?

That is such a good question. Well, we start with the doing a personality assessment and I like to use the MBTI or they have like 16 personalities online. Several coaches can also give you this. But it's basically how much interaction do you want with people? Do you want to be alone and work from home or do you want to interact with people? That is kind of a. Because that will kind of control your energy. And then the next is, is what kind of tasks do you want? Do you want something that is more strategic or do you like to just get told what you going to do and do that. I ask people to look at their values. If they're very value driven, they need to have like a match with the company that they're going into. And also what kind of management style do they like, how do they want to be led? So if they've got a lot of structure, they need a structured boss and if they really hate being micromanaged, they might need another kind of boss. That's very important in finding out where you're going to thrive.

Yeah, it's so important. I love the way that you're, you're having them really tap in to who they are as a person and what they want. Because when you're getting put into the wrong situation or you're getting set up at the wrong company, it's exhausting. And the energy burn that you're going to have from that is going to deplete you in all the areas of your life. Whereas if you can already, I mean, nothing's for certain, but at least you're certain that you can ask those questions about yourself to try to identify what the right situation is for you.

And I just have to tell a story here because I had this guy, he was in his 50s and we did the MBTI we're starting with, I have a version of it. And he realized that he spent all his working career using his weaknesses and he had thought that he was non smart, incompetent. He had struggled every day and when he saw his results he was just so surprised and he was so happy and the tears were just flowing. And I said, okay, you've done okay using your weaknesses. Now what do you think is going to happen when we start using your strengths? And obviously he had a total change in his satisfaction life. It was just beautiful. You could just see that he was so happy backwards. Wow.

I'd love to also hear, I know we talked about, you've written a book and do you mind sharing a little bit about that?

Yes. This is Chicagoard how to open doors and get the job you want. And this is really a kind of step by step book on how to form your platform. The four things that we. We went through. It's. It's really your platform. How to create that and figure out what you want, and how to. To get a job from A to Z, basically all the way to the six strategies for getting in the door, what to say in your interviews, and also, there's a course on negotiations. So you get what you're worth at the end. And that is really big for me, that people get what they're worth. So you get a very easy method for figuring out your target market salary. And I think that's one of the.

Best things I'd love to also hear. I'm about to start the do the thing, start a book challenge, which is basically encouraging people to write their own book. And I was just wondering if you had any advice for them as they embark on this challenge, since you've done it yourself.

Well, Stacy, I'm not gonna lie. I'm dyslexic. I'm Norwegian. I've written a book in English, and it's one of the best things I've done because I really. All the things I have. All the things I've used During the 10 years, I had to do a double check of everything. So I've done it this way. I think it's this way. Is it really this way? Quality checked everything. And I've learned so much from doing this book, so that's been really a thing that I didn't. I thought I knew it all before I started, but now. Now I know that what I've written is. Is correct or as good as it could be. It's challenging, but it's so worth it because, you know, you can build a business, but when you're gone, you're gone. And my business will be going as well, but my book would still be there. So I thought that that was pretty cool, that you kind of leave a mark that will last forever.

How did you do it? Did you have a.

Daily.

When we talk about habits, did you have a thing where you did every day, or was it just one stream of consciousness that came out?

I made the outline, and I sent it to a friend, and she was like, I don't get this at all. And I was like, okay, this is so bad. I had traumas. And then I made my first chapter and had somebody read it. And I came back, and it was just really, really bad. And then. Then I sent one script to an editor. I did a. Did a freelance editor. I thought, you know, I had no confidence in my writing. Really had no confidence. And then she returned, you know, sent me mail the week, a week later and said, thank you for this beautiful reading experience. And you were just, wow. So, yeah. And then, then I was kind of motivated, so I got it done.

It lit the fire for you where you got validation from it.

Yeah. I started crying. If they got me an assignment writing assignment in school, I would literally start crying. It was the worst thing. But after this, I can write so I have no more trauma. I'm cured.

That's so cool. How did you get over the mindset part? How did you do that?

Well, it was more that I wanted a script for my courses. I wanted to create courses, so I needed a script. And then I figured if I'm going to make a course, I really need to make it well. So it was really a script for a course that turned into a book. I didn't plan to write a book, so it's really cool. Yeah.

I'd love to hear what your number one piece of advice for the listeners are on doing the thing.

Doing the thing is getting the job. Getting a job you love when you're valued because that will make so much difference in your life. You will come home from work excited. You will have the money you need to provide for the ones you love. And you would just feel that you're growing every day. So get a job you love. Don't sit in somebody else's dream job. Earn your own. I like that.

And please share with everyone where they can learn more about you and also get your book as well.

Well, you can pretty much get my book anywhere. Go to the library, have it ordered there. Or you could order it at Amazon or pretty much in any bookstore. My website is monicabrante.com and there will be courses there coming up. And also I will leave a discount for you under do the thing. It will be a link from show notes for people that want a discount code. We can just put it right there. It will be good 12 months after the program or my program launches.

Can you say the name of your book again?

It's KIC Card. How to open doors and get the job you want by Monica K. Bronte.

Perfect. Thank you so much for coming on, Monica. I really appreciate it. It's been really, really wonderful having you.

Well, thank you for having me. You have such a good podcast. I hope that the listeners get what they need, get out of their current jobs. I mean to just love that they do the thing so good.

And thank you to you guys. I appreciate you listening and go after your dreams and create lasting change. Do the thing.