I am a firm believer in the importance of #consistency, and this figure is a testament to this.

My 1.3MM+ words edited over the past year—approximately 1,381,468 words—amounts to 5,000+ pages of content. I am in sheer awe of the volume of content I have written and edited, and how many people I have been able to help.

In making your dreams come true—helping you reach a higher you—you've elevated me more than you'll ever know.

Cheers,
​Jay

Today's advice is simple. Revise.

According to a CareerBuilder poll conducted by Harris Insights and Analytics, 61% of applicants are rejected automatically for resumes with a typo.

Don't forget to revise! 

–Jay

My clients often ask me about thank you note etiquette, i.e., what is de rigueur?

So, here are my Three (3) Ps for Thank You Notes:

(1) Practicality. All other things equal, a Handwritten Note > E-mailed Note > No Note. I've encountered few decision-makers who feel that thank you notes are a waste of time, but they are the exception. My preference is to send a handwritten note, which demonstrates more thoughtfulness, gratitude, and genuine interest, than an e-mail.

(2) Personality. Reference a specific interaction where the firm went out of its way for you during the interview (e.g., thank you for taking the time to show me around the office). Then, remind the interviewer about a specific skill that left an impression on him/her (e.g., I appreciate that you feel my design skills are of value to your operation). Also, reference one of the interviewer's personal interests that you touched upon during the interview (e.g., the fiction novel I mentioned about the unnamed robbers who targeted Bob Marley is called: A Brief History of Seven Killings, and includes a ton of patois). On an aside, the book is magnificent.

(3) Punctuality. Regardless of whether you send a note via snail-mail or e-mail, do so within 24 hours. 

Imagine you are an HR Associate or HR Manager, sitting at a conference table with your team. You are mind-numbingly exhausted, borderline delirious, after having screened 20 candidates, 25 minutes at a time, with a five minute break in between, for the past 10 hours. You even had to inhale a sub, a Jimmy John’s sandwich, between interviews (glad they deliver!). Who do you invite back for a second interview? What do you recall? Which interviewee stood out to you?

Using this lens, here is a key tip to memorably and compellingly answer “what is your greatest strength,” and really any interview question, to improve your likelihood of being hired, brought in for another interview, or both.

Storytelling. Show, don’t tell. Begin by stating your specific strength, tell a story illustrating your use of the strength, and note the outcome. Simple. Why?

(1.) Recall. Jennifer Aaker, Social Psychologist and General Atlantic Professor of Marketing at Stanford, noted that stories are remembered up to 22 times more than facts alone;

(2.) Persuasion. Allows the listener to step into your world and begin imagining him or herself working with you (Future Pacing in Neuro Linguistic Programming);

(3.) Tone. You can more readily infuse your personality into an anecdote than via the rote enumeration of facts.

I could keep going . . .

(4.) Economy. More concise and organized way of transmitting information.

(5) Anthropology. Humanity has been storytelling since before the extinction of the Woolly Mammoth (c. 2000 BCE), the composition of the Rigveda (c. 1500 BCE), and Homer's birth (c. 750 BCE).

Okay, breathe. . . You get the point.

If you noticed my first paragraph, which put you in the shoes of an HR Manager or Associate, is a story. Do you remember what I had for lunch (recall)? Did you feel yourself stepping into the shoes of the decision-maker (persuasion)? Could you feel his or her stress (tone)? 

This is the power of anecdotes.