You Don’t Have To Be An Extrovert To Be An Entrepreneur

This is a guest post written by Karen from Makinthebacon.com.

Back in the day, I always assumed in order to be an entrepreneur, a successful one for that matter, you had to be the extroverted type. You were that guy/gal who could strike up a conversation with anyone. You lit up the room every time you walked into it. You had the charisma and everyone wanted to connect with you.

Me?

I’m that person who doesn’t like attention.  I often try to avoid it at all costs.

At large social functions, I often try to hide in the corner or by the food and usually won’t speak unless spoken to. I find small talk extremely uncomfortable.  Large groups of people make me nervous and I do much better one on one.  I know it’s all in my head, but often I feel like everyone seems to know someone. I’m the only one who doesn’t know anybody and am left standing awkwardly by myself.

I’m pretty shy in general and for as long as I can remember, I’ve dealt with social anxiety to a certain degree.

I was the kid who needed coaxing to join the other kids who were playing together. I never had that lemonade stand as a kid. I hated having to sell those chocolate covered almonds for the school fundraisers. This was before nut allergies were common.  Instead I made my poor mom and dad sell the chocolates at their respective workplaces. Come to think of it, they sold a lot of things for me.

I worked in retail for almost a year when I was between jobs. I absolutely dreaded it because unless I was doing inventory, I was interacting with strangers constantly.  This terrified me constantly and I found it extremely difficult to create a genuine conversation through a couple of minutes of superficial interaction.

For the majority of my life, I was pretty convinced that because of my personality, I was just not meant to have a business. I could not sell anything. The mere thought of trying to promote myself and my business constantly just made my stomach turn.

Even with my blog, I remained anonymous for the first few years and only started telling friends and family about it until last year. While sharing on social media seemed so easy because everyone does it, I initially found it hard to constantly share on social media. I had the fear of self-promotion.  I wanted to share with everyone what I wrote, but at the same time I was afraid of what people would think, what they would say. It wasn’t until recently, when I changed my blog’s focus that I started to get over the fear of self-promotion.

While starting any type of business is no walk in the park, (doing it full-time or doing it on the side while you work full-time), regardless of your personality type, I believe the emergence of online businesses and online communication has empowered the introvert.  Through mediums such as live chat and social media, e-commerce has opened the doors of social interaction. While offline networking still has value, online networking just makes things easier overall.

I feel more at ease interacting with people I follow and my followers this way.  And e-mail. Even in real life, I message and e-mail a lot of people and barely call anyone.  People often think something is wrong if I call. Just because I’m not so much a phone person.

I am able to be more open and honest with my thoughts and experiences through my writing. Constant social interaction in person is often overwhelming for me.  I’m that type of person who thrives on alone time and doesn’t really feel lonely. Being alone and loneliness are two different things.

Introverts like their alone time and often thrive in that type of environment. I believe that makes us to be ideal remote workers.  When I found out many online entrepreneurs considered themselves to be quite introverted, I was pleasantly surprised. It has made me finally realize that you don’t have to be an extrovert to run your own business.

Do you find yourself being more extroverted when you are networking and socializing online?

About the Author: Karen is an offline introvert, but an online extrovert. She gives blogging advice and shares her journey on growing her blog as a business at Makinthebacon. By day, she works remotely as an analyst at an ad tech start-up. On evenings and weekends, she can be found at the gym teaching group fitness classes. You can follow her on Twitter/Instagram/Pinterest/Facebook.

5 Tips to Rock Your Next Interview

Guest post written by Julie, founder of MillennialBoss.com.

When I first graduated college, I went to interview after interview but I didn’t get any offers. I had no idea what I was doing wrong.

Three years later, I became a manager and started interviewing candidates for my own team. By interviewing others, I could see exactly what I was doing wrong before. I've now created an interview blueprint that works for me.

I recently applied for jobs and received offers at all four of the companies I interviewed with! All four offers included a substantial raise and bonus. I now want to share what I’ve learned about interviewing to help other young professionals get ahead.

1. Prepare Stories

Stories are powerful interview tools. They allow candidates to share their knowledge and values. Compelling stories also produce important chemical changes in the brain that could improve chances of hire.

The best candidates understand the powerful impact of storytelling and come prepared with a short list of stories. The five stories you need to prepare for any interview are as follows:

• The "tell me about yourself" story
• The "why do you want this job" story
• The "conflict" story
• The "greatest weakness" story
• The "why should we hire you" story

Most candidates expect these five interview questions but they don't spend any time preparing short stories that support their answers. Stories are more effective than standard interview responses because 1) they're easier for interviewers to remember after the interview ends and 2) they're much more engaging for the interviewer.

Keeping the interviewer engaged is an underrated interview skill since candidates tend to ramble on when they're nervous or falsely assume that the more details they pack into their response, the better.

A short but engaging response beats a long-winded, detailed tangent any day.

The best stories typically start with an explanation of the situation or task at hand, the action that the candidate took, and then the result of their action, preferably a quantitative result. This method is referred to as the STAR approach.

The STAR Approach:

Situation/Task (S/T): My company recently migrated over to a new content platform and I was charged with leading the migration team.

Action (A): We had thousands of pages of content to migrate over and not enough time to move everything over before the new website launched so I analyzed which pages were more frequently visited and we migrated those first. 

Result (R): We didn't lose any search traffic, eliminated 404 errors due to the migration, and actually increased our page views 10% because the new platform had more sharing functionality.

The STAR approach to storytelling is short, shows what the interviewer personally did to improve the situation, and includes the quantitative results.

The best candidates go into the interview with a few prepared success stories and then think on their feet to determine which story would best answer the question.

2. Keep nerves at bay

A nervous candidate (and all of the physical reactions that come along with nervousness including shaking hands, wavering voice, and fidgeting) can be distracting for an interviewer. The interviewer may lose focus, start feeling bad for the candidate, or even start to comfort them.

Nervousness can completely kill an interview. Candidates want to present themselves as a desirable addition to the team and not a nervous wreck.

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"Keeping the interviewer engaged is an underrated interview skill since candidates tend to ramble on when they're nervous or falsely assume that the more details they pack into their response, the better."

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I remember I interviewed a woman who was running late to the interview and it completely threw her off. She was nervous, her hands were shaking, and she was having trouble answering my questions. She even stopped the interview at one point to apologize for her nervousness. It was distracting for me.

The best way to keep the nerves at bay is to practice calming down and getting into interview mode before the interview. Take a walk, exercise, or even watch funny YouTube videos prior to an interview to relax.

Or, if you want to get pumped up, listen to music. I listened to Alicia Keyes “Girl on Fire” before an interview a few years ago and I swear it got me in the right mindset. Do whatever it takes to get yourself into interview mode and ready to make a confident first impression.

3. Convey passion

Always convey how excited and grateful you are about the opportunity, even if the job is not sexy at all. Interviewers want to hire candidates who seem genuinely interested in the position and excited to work there.

Second, make sure your prepared stories give you a chance to showcase your passion or pride in your work. When you're talking about something that excites you or you're passionate about, your eyes light up. Your emotional expression can have a positive impression on your interviewer.

Third, you might find that you and your interviewer have a hobby in common that you are both passionate about. Take advantage of that commonality. Conveying passion for a discovered shared interest can only benefit you in an interview.

4. Set the mood

The best candidates know that creating a positive atmosphere is the key to nailing any interview.

Give off positive vibes at all times by avoiding negative stories or comments that can make the interviewer feel uncomfortable. Downer topics that are off-limits for interviews include:

• Criticism of your current boss or coworkers
• Frustrating work experiences with no resolution
• Tough mental and emotional struggles you may be going through

You want the interviewer leaving the room feeling great about the interview and about you, not thinking about how much your current boss stinks, your emotional struggles, or worse wondering if you're a risky hire.

In addition, don't ask your interviewer any questions that may make them feel uneasy.

I’ve had a few candidates end an interview by asking me if I had any reservations about hiring them. It made me feel super uncomfortable and like I was about to get sued if I said the wrong thing. That killed the mood and I left the room feeling weird.

Set the mood and make your interviewer feel at ease and comfortable.

5. Ask real questions

So many candidates ask the same questions at the end of the interview. It can be so boring for the interviewer to answer “so tell me about a typical day in the job” or some other standard question over and over.

Candidate questions are usually the last part of an interview and the last chance to make a good impression. Don't waste it by asking boring questions!

Ask something meaningful, well-thought out, and something that you really want to know.

Unfortunately, this is something that you cannot prepare ahead of time. Think on your feet and ask a thoughtful question based upon your discussion earlier in the interview. You can always have the standard questions in your back pocket if you need them but don’t reach for them right away.

Candidates who ask thoughtful questions are more memorable and greatly improve their chances of hire.

Julie is the founder of MillennialBoss.com, a personal finance and lifestyle blog that helps young professionals build wealth and boost their careers. She recently paid off $89,000 of debt and launched her free ebook, Debt Boss, which takes readers step-by-step through the process of paying off their student loans, car loans, and credit card debt.

Meeting Planner & Event Manager

Kali A. "As an in-house meeting planner for a trade association, I am responsible for the three member meetings held annually in April, August, and December at various locations across the US. I manage all aspects of the meetings from pre-planning to on-site execution including: development of event budget, RFP creation and disbursement, site visit, venue selection, contract negotiation, marketing strategy and implementation, registration, shipping, food and beverage needs, audio/visual needs, auxiliary events, staffing coordination, and on-site logistics."

Education

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Required License(s) None required, but I have my CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) and it certainly helped me get the job I have now.

Required Degree(s) Usually requires a college degree

Importance of GPA somewhat important

What do you need to do to maintain your license(s)?

You need to earn a certain amount of CEU (Continuing Education Credits) every 5 years to renew the CMP.

Kali's Highest Degree: Bachelor's degree
Kali's College Major: Business Administration - Marketing
Kali's College GPA Range: 3.6 - 3.9

Salary

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The most recent salary survey said the average was around $75,000.

It varies greatly depending on location, amount of experience, management level, etc.

Getting the Job

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How did you get your job?

I interned for the American Volleyball Coaches Association in college where I was assigned to the events. I fell in love with planning, so I decided that's what I wanted to do. The AVCA hired me full time after college. After 3 years there, I got my current job with AI. Employers are very focused on experience in this field. Skip the extra degree and do an internship where you get real event experience.

How important was networking to landing your position?

Somewhat important. Lexington is a smaller city so people are bound to have someone in common.

Life on the Job

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What is a typical day (or week) for you like?

If I'm in the office, it's working at my desk answering emails, planning out event details, or on the phone with hotels or vendors. If it's an event week, we are on-site running everything. It's long hours but so much fun. If it's a site visit, I'm in a city alone touring hotels, restaurants, etc. Those are the most exciting since the local representatives show you the best the location has to offer!

How closely does your typical day (or week) match up to the general "job description" for your position?

Very close

Does being a woman affect any aspect of your career?

In my current position and at my specific company, no.

What is the best thing about your job?

Traveling around the country and touring locations I would not be able to visit personally. Also, getting to execute experiences for other people and seeing their reactions—it's very rewarding to see it all come together.

What is the worst thing about your job?

A lot of planners complain about long hours. My current position is very fair about hours. Actual event days are long, but those are only 3 weeks a year. This job does tend to put you in high-stress environments and forces you to make quick decisions on your feet.

How demanding is your job?

My specific job is good with managing time. They know we work hard when we have to, so they are flexible at other times (not all companies are like that). If time is a big issue for you (maybe you have a family), I would suggest trying to find a small company that really cares about their employees and values what's important. Again, there is some stress with this job, mostly on-site. But if you have a good team around you and can be decisive in stressful moments, it's not bad.

Do you have any advancement opportunities?

It depends on the company, I would say. I'm a single planner here, but some companies have teams of planners. In that case, you could move up to manage a team. Otherwise, you may have to move companies to achieve a higher title or better pay.

Advice for You

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What are the skills, characteristics, or talents that are most important to be effective in your position?

Thinking on your feet Excellent customer service Being able to hide your emotions/stresses to look put together in front of attendees—it can be a mess behind the scenes but the attendees need to think everything is running smoothly. Aggressiveness in negotiating Attention to detail Organization Excellent communication skills

What advice would you give to someone thinking about pursuing a career like yours?

If you want to do something that is unique and challenging, this is a great field. The benefits and perks FAR outweigh the stresses.

If you could do it over again, would you still pursue the same career?

Yes

Follow Up

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Want to learn more? Check out Kali's site here. Want to read later? Pin me -->

Here's How to Network If You Actually Want to Get a Job

Networking—it is to job hunting what kale is to health fanatics. It's the be-all and end-all of the industry, the magic potion you sort of wish everyone would stop talking about.

But like kale, even if networking does seem a bit "overdone," the hype around it is well-earned. I mean, networking has helped me land jobs and has introduced me to one of my most valued mentors (and a good friend).

So yes, while networking won't take the place of a good education (and kale smoothies won't do much if you chase them with vodka), having a solid professional network and a kale salad is better than not having them.

But the question is, where in the world do you get a professional network?

Well, the answer is simple: anywhere and everywhere. Seriously—you can meet valuable contacts anywhere, from a networking event to Thursday happy hour. Because here's the secret: professional contacts are real people who, like you, do real people things. (Mind blowing, right?)

So the best thing you can do to grow your network is simply be open and genuine.

That being said, the reality is that sometimes, you need to actively seek out your professional contacts. (There are a lot of happy hour bars, after all; you might not always be at the same one as your potential mentor.)

So today, I'm sharing three of my favorite places to look for professional connections. (P.S. They're my favorite because they're the ones that have actually worked for me.)

1. LinkedIn

If we're going to start somewhere, let's start with the basics: ol' trusty LinkedIn.

Now, I know what you're thinking: Really? I'm introducing you to LinkedIn? What is this, 2002? I mean, that's pre-Britney head shave—not exactly new info.

And this is true.

But what may be new info is that LinkedIn is more than just a less-fun form of Facebook. For example, you may not know about LinkedIn's "advanced" search option, where you can narrow your search down to things like title, company, school, location, and even relationship (2nd connections, group members, etc.).

Basically, LinkedIn allows you to narrow your search to find exactly the person you're looking for. So instead of going through, say, 57,000 Google employees, you can narrow your search down to find the friend of a friend who went to your Alma mater. Mischief managed, indeed!

2. CareerShift

Speaking of Alma maters, fellow alumni are always solid people to include in your professional network; they're more likely to respect you right off the bat, and if all else fails, you two can at least lament your school's flailing football team together.

This is why I like using CareerShift: like LinkedIn, it allows you to search for contacts using school as a criterion. It's one of my secret weapons for finding alumni in my field.

The downside to CareerShift is they charge you for a membership (about $50/month if you pay monthly, which is no small potatoes). That being said, some universities (like mine) offer free memberships you can access using your school email address. If CareerShift is something you're interested in, it's worth contacting your university to inquire about!

3. Your school's alumni directory

Last but not least, another place you can find solid professional contacts is your school's alumni directory. (I'm sure by now you can tell how valuable I think alumni connections can be!) Although this method may take a bit more work (depending on how your Alma mater's directory is set up), being able to start an email with, "Dear Mr. Longbottom, I found your contact information through Hogwart's alumni network..." can be invaluable.

Of course, this list is just a small handful of places you can find potential professional contacts. And once you find those potential contacts, this is only the beginning of building your network. (This post goes into more detail on networking mistakes you can make when you want to get a job.)

But even if this list is only a small portion of the first small steps to networking, like a Brian Tracy once said, "The act of taking the first step is what separates the winners from the losers." So take a page from ol' Brian's book, and let's hear it for winning.

What is your go-to for networking? Have you used any of the sites on this list before?

Business Analyst

Tina P. "Business Analyst is a relatively new career path, and the scope of the job varies widely across different industries. As a Business Analyst in the technology sector, I help our tech team (developers and test analysts) build the right product. I'm essentially the 'middle man' between the tech team and the rest of the business. I often consult our product manager, sales team, and other business stakeholders to gather requirements, and then share them with the tech team. If any technical issues come up, I translate that to the business stakeholders in a way that they can easily understand."

Education

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Required License(s) None

Required Degree(s) None, but it would significantly help if you had a university degree (e.g., Bachelor of Arts) related to IT, business, or finance.

Importance of GPA somewhat important

Tina's Highest Degree: Bachelor's Degree (Bachelor of Arts)
Tina's College Major: Psychology and Criminology.
Tina's College GPA: We don't have GPA in New Zealand.

Salary

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NZD $50,000 - $100,000+ (about $36,000 - $73,000+).
Salary varies depending on your experience and which sector you're working in.

Getting the Job

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How did you get your job?

After graduating from university, I started my career as a Data Analyst. I didn't realize that a job like Business Analyst actually existed until I started full-time working and was researching for career development options. In my second job as a data/reporting analyst, I asked my manager for more work experience related to business analysis and was fortunate that he was supportive of this. I also started getting mentored by a Senior Business Analyst in our company. All that experience helped me land my first official role as a Business Analyst.

How important was networking to landing your position?

I didn't need any external network to land my first Business Analyst job. But I definitely couldn't have received the work experience I needed without my manager and mentor's support. If you're interested in working as a Business Analyst, I highly recommend that you approach your manager to ask for more work experience related to business analysis. Business Analyst skills are transferable, and you could gain experiences in so many different ways. If this isn't possible, then at least seek out an experienced Business Analyst, either within your company or outside, and ask them if they could mentor you. Many Business Analysts would be more than happy to help!

Life on the Job

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What is a typical day (or week) for you like?

The beauty of working as Business Analyst is that your work varies a lot so you'll hardly ever be bored! A typical day for me is to start the day with a 'stand-up' meeting where each person from the tech team quickly shares what they've achieved yesterday, what they plan to work on today, and any impediment that's blocking their work. After then, my tasks vary. I might: Follow up with my product manager to clarify some requirements, Hassle our web designer for design mock-ups we need for upcoming work, Brainstorm with the tech team for solutions, Help the UX team to test our latest designs with external users, Tidy up business documentations, Facilitate a workshop to kick-off a new project, and the list goes on!

How closely does your typical day (or week) match up to the general "job description" for your position?

It's relatively close. You'll find that most Business Analyst job descriptions ask for you to elicit, analyze, and document requirements. And this is exactly what you do. But, HOW you do that can differ greatly between industries and companies.

Does being a woman affect any aspect of your career?

Aside from the usual gender inequality that happens everywhere else, being a woman hasn't affected me much as a Business Analyst. There's usually a good mixture of women and men among the Business Analysts, and I've always found great support from all my Business Analyst peers. The only thing I'd note is that as a Business Analyst, I'm often in meetings full of men and no other women. This could be because of the industries I've been in (i.e., technology, banking, energy), and the fact that I'm often in meetings with the management team that's usually dominated by males. In situations like that, I'm assertive and try to contribute as much as I can. I often forget about the gender ratio when I'm just being myself and my coworkers react to my personality and not my gender.

What is the best thing about your job?

Being able to connect and establish relationships with lots of different people across the business. And not having to do the same type of work every day.

What is the worst thing about your job?

My workload as a Business Analyst is usually not consistent. It's dependent on how many projects I'm involved in, and which stage the projects are at. Some days I have a million different tasks to do and close to having a meltdown. Other days I'm going insane with boredom and begging my manager for more work.

How demanding is your job?

The job can be mentally draining when I'm receiving conflicting requirements from different people; I try to manage relationships to keep everyone happy but nail down the final decision without wasting too much time. Fortunately, these don't happen too often!

Do you have any advancement opportunities?

Yes, since being a Business Analyst gives you so many transferable skills, there are so many career opportunities from here. But that's a problem in itself; there are too many options and many Business Analysts are not sure what they should move onto. The most common progression I've seen in Business Analysts I know are to either: Stay as a Business Analyst, and lead and mentor other Business Analysts, Become a project/product/delivery manager, or Become a Scrum Master or Agile coach. Those are only some examples of what a Business Analyst could move onto. For me, I flipped between wanting to move into project manager or business consultant roles. But now, I'm looking into product manager roles. I'd like to get involved in more strategic work. Outside of work, I love to blog and am planning to start my own business in web content consultancy soon.

Advice for You

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What are the skills, characteristics, or talents that are most important to be effective in your position?

The most important thing you need as a successful Business Analyst is good communication skills. Once, I heard in a Business Analysts seminar that 80% of failed projects are due to misunderstood or missed requirements. Without good communication skills, it's impossible to nail down requirements effectively.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about pursuing a career like yours?

Try to gain any work experience in: Interviewing stakeholders (i.e., anyone who cares about or will use the final product/solution) and eliciting requirements from them; Documenting and managing the requirements; Using the documents to either build the product/solution yourself, or share it with someone else who will build it (preferable); and Facilitating meetings and workshops. All of the above tasks will provide you with work experience for your future Business Analyst job. It'll also serve as a taster to see whether you'd even want to get into a Business Analyst career.

If you could do it over again, would you still pursue the same career?

Yes, definitely! I love my job as a Business Analyst, and I wouldn't change anything.

Follow Up

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Want to learn more? Check out Tina's site here. Want to read later? Pin me -->

How to Handle Work Stress Like a Boss

I'm getting married in less than three weeks.

I'm not saying this because I plan on acting like a nutcase for the foreseeable future. (Although last weekend, I did have an emotional meltdown over table numbers. So there's that.)

No, I'm saying this so you know I'm not lying when I also say I'm at a busy point in my life. It turns out that wedding planning quickly can turn into a full-time job if you're not careful, and that two full-time jobs can quickly turn into a frenzied panic over table numbers.

(I've also learned that high-pressure crafts are best left to, you know, crafty people.)

That being said, I've had to pull out all the stops lately when it comes to managing my actual career. (You know, the one that pays me instead of the other way around.)

Luckily, I've done this before—not getting married, of course, but navigating my career during particularly busy times. (When you work in law, these things are par for the course, after all.)

So today, I'm going to share the top three things I've learned about managing your career (and yourself) during particularly stressful times of your life. (And as a spoiler: Martha Stewart-ing reception table decorations isn't one of them.)

1. Microsoft Excel is your to-do list's new best friend.

Like I mentioned in this post about productivity, my biggest weapon against worktime stress is my Outlook calendar; I create new "events" for each task's due date a week ahead of time so I know exactly what I need to accomplish every day.

But when I get really busy, even the act of deciding where on my calendar each task fits is a struggle. So this is where prioritization comes in—I keep a running list (in my case, using Microsoft Excel) of, literally, every single thing I need to do. And I'm talking everything, even things like "check in with Judy about project X" and "email Donna about project Y." (Because when you have a lot going on, it's usually the small things that end up slipping through the cracks.)

I like using Excel for this list because it's easy to move things around, which is helpful for keeping the list ordered based on importance. In other words, if an urgent project comes in, I can easily move my 20-item long list around so "Urgent Project Z" is right up top.

While there are other more sophisticated apps and programs for this out there, I like using Excel because it's so simple. It's pretty much the same as a hand-written list on my desk—but with much better handwriting.

2. Give yourself permission to not be perfect in other areas of your life.

The most important thing I've ever done for my sanity when it comes to hectic times is giving myself permission to let other parts of my life take a back seat.

For example, maybe this is a "me" problem, but I used to feel like keeping my apartment clean and tidy was a reflection of my worthiness as an adult. So when work got busy (and I was trying to fit longer hours in with exercise and a social life), I'd take a look around my unswept floors and dirty laundry in a panic and think, "Oh no. I'm failing adulthood."

In other words, I'd expect myself to be able to add in extra hours at work while still keeping up with every other area in my life. And when I couldn't (i.e., when I was a human), I would get even more stressed out.

But I finally realized that a lot of the pressure I was feeling was totally self-inflicted—and totally unnecessary. My unswept floors were not an indicator of, well, anything, and the only thing that prioritizing work and my health over housework meant was that I'd have to sweep next weekend instead.

It sounds like such a simple revelation, but it is one that made such a difference.

3. Raise the white flag if you need to.

Obviously, this point won't apply to everyone, but it also might apply to more people than you'd think.

The thing is, most employers are human and don't want their employees to drown in overtime and anxiety. So if you're feeling in over your head, sometimes it's best to just let your employer know what's going on.

Of course, you don't want to be the one who never takes on an extra project or who only does the bare minimum. But if your workload is leaving you panicked and burnt out for long periods of time, it might be time to have an honest discussion with your employer. Chances are, your employer doesn't even realize that you are feeling overwhelmed.

This kind of conversation can be difficult and may take a reasonable amount of finesse (this is a great post about how to approach it), but it can also be a game-changer when it comes to keeping your sanity.

How do you handle stressful and/or hectic times in life? What would you add to this list?

Middle School Counselor

Kylie L. "A middle school counselor is someone who has completely lost their mind and chosen to spend their days in the company of 1000 teenagers. (Just kidding.) But in all honesty, I do a little of everything. My previous co-counselor and I used to joke that people thought all we did was make macaroni necklaces with sad kids,but it's so much more."

Education

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Required License(s) For my position, I need an Educators Certificate in Guidance and Counseling K-12. I am also a Registered Mental Health Intern, working my way towards taking the state board exam.

Required Degree(s) Master's degree (generally in school counseling), but some states allow other counseling related majors if your internship fits the right requirements.

Importance of GPA not very important

What do you need to do to maintain your license(s)?

The school district requires professional development often. Once I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, I will have to participate in continuing education as well to maintain my license.

Kylie's Highest Degree: Bachelor's degree (Bachelor of Arts) and Master's degree
Kylie's College Major: Bachelor's in Psychology and Criminal Justice; Master's in Mental Health Counseling
Kylie's College GPA Range: 3.6 for Bachelor's; 4.0 for Master's

Salary

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Counselor salaries vary in every state.
(But I will tell you that we do not get paid enough.)

Getting the Job

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How did you get your job?

I have a mental health background, as well as experience providing therapy and other services in schools.

How important was networking to landing your position?

Not at all. I randomly applied from out of state.

Life on the Job

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What is a typical day (or week) for you like?

There are no typical days in a middle school counselor's life.

How closely does your typical day (or week) match up to the general "job description" for your position?

... And even if I did have a typical day or week, it wouldn't match up to any job description.

Does being a woman affect any aspect of your career?

Actually, no. I'm pretty fortunate in that my administration supports me above and beyond.

What is the best thing about your job?

Getting to hang out with kids all day. It's never dull. Every single day something happens that makes me laugh. I work with some amazing people. My kids need me.

What is the worst thing about your job?

Sometimes it's heavy (if that makes sense). I see and hear a lot.

How demanding is your job?

Very. I work over my contracted hours often. I definitely earn my summer vacation for all of the hours I put in and don't get paid for. Physical toughness isn't necessarily required, but mentally, you better be a ninja.

Do you have any advancement opportunities?

Once I become a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, there will be a lot of opportunities to grow. Not so much as a middle school counselor, but I truly love my position regardless.

Advice for You

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What are the skills, characteristics, or talents that are most important to be effective in your position?

Being able to connect with kids, truly hearing them, taking the time to build relationships, compassion, and patience.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about pursuing a career like yours?

It is one of the most worthwhile careers there is.

If you could do it over again, would you still pursue the same career?

I do love being a counselor, but my bank account would want me to pursue another career.

Follow Up

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Four Unexpected Things You Can Do to Instantly Increase Your Productivity

I've got the most distracting co-worker who's always trying to bring me down. His name is Netflix, and he sits right across the hall.

You see, I work from home—from my bedroom, specifically—which not only means that I have distractions galore, but also no one around to witness if I cave. There are no co-workers or supervisors who would notice if I took a three hour lunch break, and there's no one to glare at me if I watch three episodes of Friends at my desk.

Basically, it's up to me to make sure that I have a plan to stay productive, and that I stick to it.

At first, I thought my productivity would be nosediving at home. But since I've left the office for my bedroom, I've actually become the most focused I've ever been. I've learned a lot about productivity since setting my own hours, most of which wasn't obvious to me before I acquired such aggravatingly amusing co-workers.

Below are a few of the things I've learned—unexpected tricks I've accumulated that help me keep Netflix in his place during the day.

1. Don't work Monday morning.

The first thing I do every Monday morning is go through all of the deadlines I have coming up in the next two weeks. For me, this means going through my docket and checking the status of every case with an upcoming due date. As I go through my docket, I put notes on my calendar so that when I'm finished, I can visualize (literally, on my calendar) exactly what I need to get finished that week.

It takes about an hour for me to do this every week, but it's definitely not an hour wasted; once I can see everything that needs to happen, it's a lot easier to prioritize. I can set goals for each day so that I don't have to think about it again during the week, saving me time, headaches, and panic in the long run.

2. Schedule a time to worry.

My boss actually taught me this when I first started working in a law firm, when I was thoroughly overwhelmed with the idea of a docket. He told me what he does to manage the stress of his (even larger) docket: he makes a list of daily tasks (like I mentioned above) and then doesn't think about those tasks until they're scheduled. By scheduling a time to think about each task, he is able to keep today from being overwhelming.

Because today is the day he worries about Tuesday's worries, not the day he looks ahead to the ever-growing mountain of things he has to get finished this week. He's scheduled time to worry about that, so he's able to keep cool now.

3. When you get an email, ignore it.

When I first started working, I treated every email I received like a ticking time bomb—if I didn't stop, read, and reply that second, it would blow me up to unresponsive smithereens. And so every time I received an email, I stopped what I was doing so I could send a reply.

And you know what? I would waste half my day re-starting projects where I had lost my focus. But in reality, instead of losing my steam with whatever I was doing, I could have easily responded to the email after I was finished—turns out, none of them were actually going to explode.

Now, when I get an email, I briefly skim it to see if it's critical. And if it's not, I make a note to myself to reply later, and then I ignore it. It's amazing how much more quickly I can finish something when it's not punctured with less-than-urgent interruptions, and much to my relief, I've yet to encounter an explosive email.

4. Don't work too hard.

Forget everything I just said about interruptions—sort of.

You see, while I've found that a report is ten times harder to write when you're answering Linda from down the hall every ten minutes, it can be just as hard to write if you stare at your screen for hours at a time. After about an hour and a half, my mind starts to wander, and I realize I've been reading the same line three times while thinking about what I'm having for lunch.

One of the biggest things that helps me stay productive is hourly (at least every two hours) breaks to take a walk, get a drink, or sometimes even jump rope in my living room. The breaks aren't long (maybe five or ten minutes), but they're enough to give my brain a second to cool off and start fresh.

Plus, my hourly movement is like quitting smoking—talk about a win-win.

tl;dr - How I Increased My Productivity Every Monday, I put that week's deadlines on a calendar so I can visualize how my week needs to go. I schedule a time to worry about something, and then forget about it. I don't interrupt what I'm doing to respond to non-urgent emails. I take a physical and mental break every hour or two.

What's your biggest weapon for staying productive?

How to Apply for a Job Without Work Experience

I know you've been there: that moment you get to the end of the perfect job listing, the listing for your dream job, only to find you don't have all of the required qualifications—you're missing that infuriatingly elusive "2-5 years of work experience" that every employer seems to need.

So what do you do? You slam your head into your keyboard knowing that you're not qualified, so you will never get this dream opportunity. The experience is required, after all.

Now, what if I told you that all the head slamming wasn't necessary?

It's true—having the "right" qualifications, particularly work experience, is important (and will likely make your job hunt a lot easier).

But experience isn't everything. It is possible to get a job without it.

I feel confident saying this because I've seen it myself: I've landed at least two jobs where my experience didn't quite match up with the job listing. (And in one case, I had no relevant work experience whatsoever.)

In other words, don't be one of the women who will only apply for a job if she meets 100% of the "required" qualifications. Seriously, ladies, back your forehead away from the keyboard. Instead, here are three things you can do.

But first...

Do a quick reality check.

This blog is all about confidence, but there's a thin line between confidence and naiveté that's easy to cross.

So before you do anything, do a quick reality check: are you a seasoned floral designer hoping to land a job as a spaceship technician? If so, you might want to take your dream job's requirements a little more seriously.

Basically, while the "required qualifications" can usually be thought of as an employer's "wish list" rather than actual requirements, be reasonable. If you're applying for an extremely specific or technical job and your qualifications aren't even in the same ballpark, it may be wise to gain at least some qualifications—a certification, internship experience, etc.—before you start sending out your resume.

Now, once you've passed your reality check, it's time to get to work. 

1. List the experience you do have.

The first step for getting a job without the "right" experience is to make a list of all the experience you do have. While this experience may not be what is "required" by the job listing, you will be able to use your unique experience to prove you are a qualified applicant.

Now, when I talk about your experience, I'm not only talking about conventional "9-5 with benefits" experience. For example, did you help organize a charity 5K in your neighborhood? Were you chapter president for your sorority? Do you have a blog? In addition to your "conventional" work experience, you should also add these to your list. (They'll be useful, I promise!)

2. Lay out your skill set.

One you've listed the experiences you've had, it's time to figure out how these experiences translate into your specific skill set.

For example, if you helped organize a charity run in your neighborhood, you might have experience managing a large group of people to meet hard deadlines. If you have a blog, you might have experience using and managing multiple social media platforms.

Your goal is to add to your list three or four skills that each experience helped you learn or develop. When you're finished, you will have a list that's extremely valuable: not only does it contain your unique skill set, but also concrete examples of how you put each of those skills to work.

3. Look for overlapping skills.

This should hopefully be the easy part: using the list you created, look for any skills that overlap with your dream job listing.

For example, if you're applying for a social media coordinator position, the job listing may require you to "manage digital advertising campaigns on a number of different social platforms" and "collaborates with the creative team."

While you don't technically have any experience as a social media coordinator, you do have experience managing a large group of people, and using and managing multiple social media platforms. And not only that—you have specific examples to back your skill set up.

tl;dr - How to apply for a job without the "right" work experience Make sure your dream job is somewhat realistic Make a list of all your experience, even if it isn't "conventional" work experience Determine what skills you learned or developed from your unique experience Compare those skills with the skills "required" for your new job

Of course, these steps are just the first three steps for applying for your dream job; you still have to write your cover letter and nail the interview. But these first three steps will be the foundation for everything that comes next. By focusing on your skill set and how these skills are what your employer needs, you've transformed yourself from some rando with a resume to an A+ applicant.

And best of all, there's no keyboard forehead slamming required.

PS - I found this topic so dang interesting that I talked about it on Laura Yamin's NSFW Podcast. Check it out, and let me know if you love the show as much as I do!