Adam Posner: Land The Job | E131

Adam Posner: Land The Job | E131

Adam Posner: Land The Job | E131

Stand out amongst a sea of resumes by playing into your strengths!

This week on YAP,  we are chatting with Adam Posner, expert recruiter, podcast host, and Founder of NHP Talent: A Talent Access Consultancy, specializing in recruitment strategy, talent process, and operations. Adam is also the host of the popular podcast, #ThePOZcast – which showcases experts from the world of Talent and  HR to help listeners harness their inner tenacity to drive their careers forward.

Prior to pivoting into the world of recruiting, Adam spent 15 years working within the advertising and marketing industry. He led account management and digital strategy at American Express, SIRIUS XM, and VaynerMedia. Adam is truly a power connector – identifying opportunities, synergies, and connecting the dots.

In this episode, we talk about Adam’s career journey, his experience at Vaynermedia, and the advice Gary Vaynerchuk gave him on the day he got fired. We’ll also discuss Adam’s transition to recruiting, what recruiters look for in a resume, the best advice for interviews, and why you should never say “no.”

If you’re looking to land a job or contemplating a major career transition, this episode will be right up your alley! 

Sponsored by – 

The Jordan Harbinger Show. Listen to the show here jordanharbinger.com/start

Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll at gusto.com/YAP

Social Media: 

Follow YAP on IG: www.instagram.com/youngandprofiting

Reach out to Hala directly at [email protected]

Follow Hala on Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/htaha/

Follow Hala on Instagram: www.instagram.com/yapwithhala

Follow Hala on Clubhouse: @halataha

Check out our website to meet the team, view show notes and transcripts: www.youngandprofiting.com

Timestamps:

03:28 – Collaboration Versus Competition

04:32 – How New York Has Shaped Adam

07:07 – Adam’s Experience at Vaynermedia

09:15 – Advice to Those Struggling in Their Job

13:09 – Gary Vaynerchuk’s Advice to Adam 

15:58 – Difference Between Recruiting and HR

16:46 – How Adam Transitioned to Recruiting

20:41 – What Recruiters Look For

22:29 – How to Leverage LinkedIn In Your Job Search

24:49 – Skillstacking

27:29 – The Importance of Being Honest About Your Failures 

29:36 – Good Resume Versus Bad Resume

33:14 – Best Advice for Interviews

34:12 – The Salary Conversation

39:06 – When Adam Realized He Was Supposed to be an Entrepreneur

41:36 – The PozCourse and Making Connections

46:38 – Why You Should Never Say ‘No’

48:38 – Adam’s Secret to Profiting in Life

Mentioned In The Episode:

Adam’s Website: https://www.nhptalentgroup.com/

Adam’s Podcast, The Pozcast: https://thepozcast.com/

#131: Land The Job with Adam Posner

[00:00:00] Hala Taha: You're listening to YAP Young And Profiting Podcast, a place where you can listen, learn, and profit. Welcome to the show. I'm your host Hala Taha and on Young And Profiting Podcast, we investigate a new topic each week and interview some of the brightest minds in the world. My goal is to turn their wisdom into actionable advice that you can use in your everyday life.

[00:00:25] No matter your age, profession, or industry, there's no fluff on this podcast and that's on purpose. I'm here to uncover value from my guests by doing the proper research and asking the right questions. If you're new to the show, we've chatted with the likes of ex FBI agents, real estate moguls. Made billionaires CEOs and best-selling authors our subject matter ranges from enhancing productivity, how to gain, influence the art of entrepreneurship and more, if you're smart and like to continually improve yourself, hit the subscribe button because you'll love [00:01:00] it here at Young And Profiting Podcast.

[00:01:02] This week on YAP, we're chatting with Adam Posner expert recruiter, podcast host, and the Founder of NHP Talent, A Talent Access Consultancy, specializing in recruitment strategy, talent process, and operations. Adam is also the host of the popular pod. The POZcast, which showcases experts from the talent and HR industries to help listeners harness their inner tenacity to drive their career forward.

[00:01:27] Prior to pivoting into the world of recruiting. Adam spent 15 years working within the advertising and marketing industry. He led account management and digital strategy at American Express, SIRIUS XM and VaynerMedia. In this episode, we talked. Adam's career journey, his experience at VaynerMedia the advice Gary V gave him on the day he got fired.

[00:01:48] We'll also discuss Adam's transition to recruiting what recruiters look for in a resume and why you should never say no. If you're looking to land a job or contemplating a major career transition, [00:02:00] this episode will be right up your alley.

[00:02:03] So Adam, welcome to Young And Profiting Podcasts. This is one of my second or third in-person interviews that I've ever done for this actual podcast. So congratulations that you're one of my first live interviews.

[00:02:15] Adam Posner: I am honored and thank you so much for having me on, how much I appreciate you and our relationship as we've, growing through the ranks of this wonderful world of podcasting.

[00:02:25] Hala Taha: I know, I, I am excited because I consider you to be one of my closest friends in the industry, like an actual, real friend that I've made along the way, somebody that I can turn to for advice or to co-host things with me. And I really do consider you a true friend.

[00:02:41] Adam Posner: I appreciate that. And I really truly feel the same way.

[00:02:43] And it's funny because this is the first time we're actually meeting in person, but it goes to show you in this world, how you really can build relationships without actually meeting somebody. But now we're here.

[00:02:52] Hala Taha: I know. And I feel like you're an old friend that I've met a million times because I've had so many conversations with you.

[00:02:57] So since we're on this topic, let's [00:03:00] talk about collaboration over competition because me and you are in the same space. We're both active on LinkedIn. We both have podcasts. We could easily be competitors and feel. Either envious of one another, or not willing to help each other, which along the way we've helped each other so much.

[00:03:16] So talk to me about your opinion of collaboration over competition.

[00:03:20] Adam Posner: Yeah. A thousand percent, there's just so much abundance out there. There's so many ears. There's so many eyeballs. I don't own those eyeballs or attention. You don't own them. There's enough of that to go around. And when you have the mindset of helping and collaborating over compete. That sets the tone for everything really that's about who you are, that's karma. And it goes back to what I talk about all the time. It's the how, and we'll talk about the why in a little bit, but it's how you go about living your life, helping other people, because it comes back to you.

[00:03:48] Hala Taha: 100%. I totally agree. So something else that we have in common aside from podcasting and LinkedIn is living in the tri-state. So how has New York shaped who you are as a person? [00:04:00]

[00:04:00] Adam Posner: It's a pride thing. I think a lot of people who live in, where they live in the world and cities take a lot of pride, but there's something about being in New York, right?

[00:04:06] How. It's a vibe, it's a grit, but it's also an instinct. And today, when I was walking from the train, it was my first time taking the train into the city in two years. And at first I was not going to use the word intimidated, but I was a little bit off my game. 'cause it's been a long time, but a couple of steps on the city streets.

[00:04:27] It felt back like home. And I think something about being a native New Yorker, there's a lot of pride in it that translates to everything that we do, the way we interact with people, the way we build the relationships, the way we cultivate culture and incorporate that into our creative outlet, which is our podcasts.

[00:04:43] And I think it goes a long way.

[00:04:46] Hala Taha: Yeah, I totally agree. I feel like being from New York, I have a certain advantage cause I just feel like, I think quicker and just that saying, if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. I really feel that's true. Cause it's so competitive and you just learn how [00:05:00] to survive. I think a lot better.

[00:05:02] Adam Posner: Survival piece too. There's a flip side of it too. When New York will show you the best and shine, the brightest light on you. But when you fail on your down on your dumps, it could also be the gutter from hell. And I think that there's a grit to it. I think that you and I have seen even going back to a social sense, like there's everything in this world that you could want in New York city, anytime a day, pre COVID, anytime a night, you could get into anything.

[00:05:27] You could do anything. You could find yourself anywhere. And I love that experience that I had here growing up in New York, living in New York, post-college living in New York for almost 10 years. You get to experience the city and see things that other people don't. And it's also, I think that you have to be able to integrate with different cultures and different types of people that you wouldn't do anywhere else in the world.

[00:05:49] And I think that's a skill that really. Helps you in life and in business.

[00:05:53] Hala Taha: I think that's a great point. So I want to take it back to your career journey because now, you own a successful recruiting [00:06:00] agency. We're going to get into like how to stand out as a, an applicant, how to do well as a recruiter, we'll get into all that.

[00:06:07] But I want to talk about your career journey and congratulations. I know you had Gary V on your show. That is one of my bucket list items. He actually rejected me like two weeks ago. Oh, yeah, he's just, okay. Tell me about your experience at VaynerMedia, because I know you had a dream job there that you landed early in your career, and then I think they fired you within the year.

[00:06:28] Adam Posner: So it's crazy. Everyone has these aspirations of their dream jobs of where they want to be. And for me at the time, we're talking 2014 guy was out of house. But for those of us in this industry and media, social media marketing, and advertising, Gary was the golden boy at the time.

[00:06:46] And luckily for me, I had two very close connections that were close with Gary, and it didn't get me the job, but it enabled me to get the opportunity to interview. I still had to earn my job there and [00:07:00] that's exactly what I did. And I'll tell you straight up, I thought that was going to be my forever job.

[00:07:06] Hala Taha: And were you doing recruiting for them?

[00:07:07] Adam Posner: No. I was working in marketing and advertising before I went into recruiting. So I was in a group account director over there, managing pieces of business and digital marketing, social. I've been involved in digital social media since day one, like internet 1.0.

[00:07:17] And I thought when I landed the job, it was my forever job. The holy grail working for Gary V and in the beginning it was awesome. I was literally doing new business pitches with Gary and I spent a lot of time with him and his team and I learned a lot. But unfortunately things went south pretty quickly and it's a combination of me taking responsibility for not doing exactly what they hired me for.

[00:07:37] I wasn't the same person I am now than it was back then. And the other piece that I was not set up for success, and you take those two elements and me not handling it. It was a recipe for disaster and I lost my job. I got fired and it was to this point, knock on wood, the lowest point in my life.

[00:07:57] Hala Taha: Wow. So basically [00:08:00] you feel like you underperformed and I know that Gary told you something and according to your interview, you were his top 15, most difficult fires, which, that's a pretty good notch on your belt there, that you were really hard for him to fire up.

[00:08:15] So talk to us about what you wish you had done differently and advice to people who may be struggling in their current job before they actually get the hook.

[00:08:24] Adam Posner: Anyone who gets fired, if you don't know it's coming and you don't feel it, then you don't have that. Self-awareness and you're lying to yourself.

[00:08:31] I knew there was conversations, there was touchpoints beforehand. So I knew it was coming. It was just more of a matter of when. And I was running out the clock at a certain point. But they went through the due diligence there. I think that the second, listen, not every job has been to work out for everybody, but let's just be very mindful of that.

[00:08:45] Sometimes it can be performance-based sometimes it can be cultural based, but it's about having that self-awareness to say, Hey, listen, maybe this isn't right. Maybe I'm not doing something. The first thing you should do is raise your hand and say, Hey. Do your boss or wherever you're reporting to let's have this conversation.

[00:08:58] If you could had that [00:09:00] conversation often have at first, that's going to be a huge, competitive advantage to you to try to course correct. Now, listen, sometimes things just don't work out and it's not the right place. And Gary even said that to me, he's listen, it's not because people don't like you and it wasn't because I'm terrible at social media or it just wasn't the right place at the right time in that environment.

[00:09:20] I'm thankful for that happening because it changed the trajectory my entire life.

[00:09:25] Hala Taha: Yeah, it was a wake-up call. Probably you probably realized like, wow, like I am not operating at my 100% potential. I just lost a huge opportunity because I'm not operating at a hundred percent. And I understand, like I've been in those times where I'll tell you a quick story and I never tell stories about myself on my podcast, but you're my friend.

[00:09:44] So I feel like telling a story. So take advantage of that. I was. Working at Hot 97 at the time or shortly left Hot 97 actually. And I landed an interview with sway in the morning and I was going to be his cohost [00:10:00] and they basically, I had the job in the can, like it was yours. It was mine. I was co-hosting with him all week, but at the time I was really vain.

[00:10:12] And I remember I was so worried about what I look like all the time that I don't think that I made a good impression on him. And so I basically got fired after that week. And I think he just wasn't into me. He was just, and it's sad because I was so smart and so talented, but I was just so nervous about making good impression that I was just so much more worried about what I look like.

[00:10:36] Went to many times to the bathroom to fix my makeup and my hair and all that kind of stuff, instead of just focusing on my job and then he gave it to some other girl who's probably still with him, but, looking back, it's all a blessing in disguise, but I could have been swaying the mornings co-hosts when I was 25.

[00:10:51] Adam Posner: I put everything happens for a reason. And, I call that moment. My self-awareness epiphany because it was that moment when I really had to look in the mirror. [00:11:00] What am I doing? What am I good at? What do I want to be doing? And the hardest pill for me to swallow was saying, all right, I've been doing advertising and marketing account management and digital strategy for 15 years.

[00:11:10] It's what I know. And now at the age of 35, I'm going to take a completely different direction. I'm going to change directions. And I went into recruiting and I started a new job. To do that at 35 and literally go from making a very good, six figure salary to literally making a $40,000 draw commission.

[00:11:28] And having to learn. I remember my first day in recruiting, I had to learn a new job, like low man on the totem pole. There was kids working there, a 22, 23 of them and doing this for three years, like crushing it. And now I'm this like middle-aged dude with kids coming in like starting, I'm like, Hey guys, they used to beat you, like a little backpack.

[00:11:44] Going to school for the first day.

[00:11:45] Hala Taha: So you transitioned into recruitment before we get into that, I know that Gary gave you a very strong bias. I want to talk about I think he told you to focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses. What did he tell you? Exactly.

[00:11:57] Adam Posner: He said, stop focusing on the things that you suck at and [00:12:00] double down in your strengths.

[00:12:01] And I thought about it for a second. Cause your entire life you're taught to work on things and get better at it. And it's a real game changer. When you say all right, what am I good at? I'm good at. I'm good at relationships. I'm good at connecting. So why don't I focus on that and stop focusing on making sure that I understand the full social media strategy part that you know, I'm working on XYZ, a financial P and L's for clients and budgeting and things that I absolutely hate.

[00:12:27] And once you put your energy towards the things that you're good at, the benefits are so incremental. The X factor is out of control and you know this better than anyone. When you put your mind to the things that you're good at, that's when you could really scale. And you don't know that when you're 22, very few 20 year olds know that, and it takes years of experience and also the ability to listen to somebody with wisdom and experience like Gary V and take those words, and execute on them.

[00:12:54] Hala Taha: Yeah. I think that is such great advice. So he said, stop focusing on the things that you suck at. So everybody listening [00:13:00] right now, it's just focused on your strengths because it's that 80, 20% rule. And also so many things can be outsourced now and you can have business partners and you can have colleagues and employees and scale your team for Young And Profiting Podcasts.

[00:13:14] I feel like the reason why this endeavor has been successful for them. Compared to other endeavors that I've had is that from episode two, I had a business partner and he does all the finances and he does all the legal stuff, but all the stuff that I hate, I literally can't even pay attention in my finance calls, because that's not me, I'm creative, I'm innovative.
[00:13:36] I need to be working on that.

[00:13:38] Adam Posner: There was also some other piece of Gary that I really don't talk about a lot, not for any particular reason, but it's really important. There's a big difference between shifting from a salaried paycheck W2 job to either a commission-based job where you're in a sales function, which recruiting is, and you have unlimited earning potential.

[00:13:57] That's going to change your motivator. [00:14:00] That's going to bring out certain elements of someone's character and skillset. They may have been dormant. Otherwise, when you tell someone who has the ability to Excel in a sales role, that they have unlimited. Earning potential that lights something. And that lit a fire in me that said, shit, I could go out.

[00:14:16] And I could, I was capped at this amount, same paycheck every week. Now I could go out. Whenever I can. And that was a huge motivator. Hala.

[00:14:24] Hala Taha: Yeah. Okay. So you transitioned from being in a marketing role to then HR.

[00:14:29] Adam Posner: Recruiting and HR. Very different.

[00:14:30] Hala Taha: Okay. Recruiting and HR, very different. So what's the difference?

[00:14:32] Let's start there. Cause I'm not in that space. What's the difference between recruiting and HR and then talk to us about how you transitioned into a new role and how you ended up going out on your own to talk to us about.

[00:14:44] Adam Posner: It just, it's just by nature that people sometimes confuse HR and recruiting because they're in a similar world.

[00:14:49] Sometimes they're interchangeable because in the past, HR would handle recruiting, but they're really two different functions. HR is the management of internal employees, benefits process. If there's any [00:15:00] internal conflicts dealing with anything inside of the company, sometimes they're dealing. Once somebody is hired, they're dealing with the onboarding, but recruitment is purely talent, acquisition, talent access.

[00:15:11] My job I'm hired by companies to go out and find the best possible talent for their openings, for their roles.

[00:15:17] Hala Taha: Got it. And so how did you successfully transition and upskill yourself so that you actually could be a good recruiter? When you had no experiences previously and how the hell did you even get your foot in the door if you had no previous experience.

[00:15:31] Adam Posner: It's a great question. So once, and this is really interesting too, that there was this period between the time I got let go. And the time that I said, I'm going all in on recruiting, I had a lot of thoughts. I had thoughts about maybe I should go. I like building and fixing things. Maybe I should go work at Home Depot.

[00:15:47] And I'm just real serious. Like I never even talk about this. Like maybe I should go work at Home Depot and maybe I'll go run a home Depot and build a career. Doing that, or maybe there's some other calling in life. Like I always had the travel bug. Maybe I should be like a, not a travel agent, but something [00:16:00] in that kind of world there too.

[00:16:01] And I always went back to, what am I good at? What do I want to be doing? Where do I have the potential to make, honestly, make a lot of money? Let's call it what it is. House expenses, cars, life, kids, insurance, real life stuff. And all right. So I said, okay, I'm going to go all in on recruiting.

[00:16:15] So before I even got the job, which I'll get to in a second, I said, I'm going to do my due diligence. And I reached out to every recruiter that I've ever met. And I said, can we talk? You tell me about the business. They told me the ups, the downs, what a draw means from a sales perspective, anybody who's not in sales, you have a base salary and then you get commission and the commission goes against the draw until you get over.

[00:16:34] And I never understood that I was, no, I got a paycheck. And what does that mean? How long does it take to get paid? Cause if you think about recruiting people like, oh man, everyone's killing it. You're making these huge fees. How long does it take to get paid, understanding the technical elements of the business?

[00:16:48] So before I even spent one day in the seat as a paid recruiter, I learned everything I could about it. And I was lucky to interview with a great company called Onward Search. And they are different because a lot of recruiting [00:17:00] companies are literally smile and dial all day. Cold calling all day. And this gave me a place where they valued my core asset, which are relationships.

[00:17:09] I was coming to the table to any recruitment firm, with a Rolodex of advertising and marketing contacts. So day one, when I hit the ground, I was able to call on them and get business pretty quickly.

[00:17:19] Hala Taha: That's great.

[00:17:20] Adam Posner: And that's one piece, but you still have to fill it and fill the role. So I hit the ground running.

[00:17:25] And luckily for me, I had a great mentor by the name of Tom Hall and he taught me the art and science of recruiting. And he said the most valuable thing to me. And I talk about it all the time. And I repeat this mantra hall every single day before my computer turns on. Before I make a phone call before I do anything, plan your work and work your plan, plan your work and work your plan.

[00:17:45] Go into every single day with a list of things I'm going to accomplish. And I know, listen, life comes, you have curve balls and things come and you have to handle them. But if I get hit 75, 80% of the things that I meant to go out for the day, I know I have a successful [00:18:00] day and I'm on planet and I'm on target.

[00:18:03] Hala Taha: I love this because I feel like it's really relevant for a lot of people who are in an industry where they have specific context for that industry.

[00:18:11] But they may not be thriving in that role, but they have all relationships. If you're good at sales, you could potentially pivot to recruiting and leverage all those contexts and start a new career. So it's really relevant, especially in the pandemic. When lots of people are trying to figure out new career paths.

[00:18:27] Adam Posner: It's interesting that the pandemic has been a blessing and a curse for many, in many different ways. Lots of folks who were affected, but if we're going to really talk about it from a career perspective here, it's given people the ability, if they've lost jobs to take a moment and say, what do I want to be doing in what makes me happy.

[00:18:45] So I really like being an accountant for the last 17 years, what I really like doing is X, Y, and Z. And it's given people that opportunity to go about and try it and have access and have the ability to be home and have the bandwidth within our commuting four hours a day.

[00:18:59] Hala Taha: So let's, [00:19:00] since we're on the topic of the pandemic and lots of people looking to change their jobs and getting a new job as recruiter, what do you look for in a candidate?

[00:19:09] How can somebody stand out in the sea of resumes? What are the top things that somebody should do? Who's looking for a job.

[00:19:15] Adam Posner: This is black and white as possible. Be relevant to the opportunity that you're applying for my job as a recruiter is to find the best possible person for that role from a skills perspective first and foremost.

[00:19:26] You have to be able to do the job. Like people talk about character over skill. I agree with that character. After the minimum skills needed for that position are checked off the box. Let's call it what it is. Now, after that point, you want to have the best possible person who has the fire, the tenacity.

[00:19:41] So one is be qualified for the role. That's not to undermine folks that say, listen, no, don't go out there and go for your goals and everything, but let's call it what it is. It's a highly competitive market out there. And we're looking for specific people who could come in and jump into a role pretty quickly, unfortunately, because of the pandemic.

[00:19:57] A lot of folks don't have the bandwidth to train [00:20:00] people as best as they could. They're not in the office. It's called what it is. If you're reporting to somebody, they're not going to have the bandwidth to train you, they want someone who could jump in and do the job. So be qualified for the role that's first and foremost, when I'm interviewing somebody, I want somebody who is naturally inquisitive.

[00:20:13] They're going to ask the right questions. They're going to want to know why that is an indicator. That they're a natural problem solver because their mindset is going in direction. How am I going to solve something that I don't have the answer to? How working potentially remote, do I not have access to the information, the right people where I'm going to find the right path and not need handled?

[00:20:31] Hala Taha: Those are some great tips. So I know we're both really active on LinkedIn. We're pretty much influencers on that channel and you've got a great network on there. I'm sure you have amazing guidance when it comes to how to actually leverage LinkedIn to get a job. So talk to us about that.

[00:20:50] Adam Posner: Yeah. It's interesting too. And we talk about relevance a lot and I think relevance is important and yeah. I say there's a lot of responsibility of a job seeker. If you're going to reach out to a recruiter, make sure it's the right recruiter for

[00:21:00] your industry. I can't even tell you how many people a day reach out to me from industries outside industries, not related to marketing and advertising.

[00:21:07] Our time is finite Hala.

[00:21:08] Hala Taha: Can I ask you a question? So recruiters typically focus on one industry. I didn't know that.

[00:21:14] Adam Posner: There are generalists, but you have to think about it. The inch wide mile deep. Like I focus on marketing media and advertising. That's my specialty. Those are my clients. Those are my candidates.

[00:21:23] That's the universe that I live in. I'm not doing finance, I'm not recruiting doctors, lawyers back office admin. That's not my world. There are a few generalists recruiters out there, but really highly successful recruiters are very our niche and the most successful recruiters I know are hyper niche. For example, I have friends that do it recruiting, but they're very specific for a certain platform or program.

[00:21:44] So they know all the players in there, they know who all the candidates are and they're extremely successful. So make sure if you're a candidate reaching out that you're relevant because you're not wasting people's time.

[00:21:54] Hala Taha: Yeah. And I can imagine that since you've been in marketing and advertising, you can really fish out the

[00:22:00] phony.

[00:22:01] And that probably is to your advantage as well, because you have the actual industry experience to ask the right questions and really understand. These people know what they're doing or not.

[00:22:10] Adam Posner: That's why I decided to focus on recruiting in marketing media and advertising, because I didn't want to learn. It was logical.

[00:22:15] There wasn't even a moment when I was like, you know what? I'm going to focus on finance jobs. It was, that was never even a. It was never even a question of what roles I was going to recruit for. So now I have conversations with folks who are in account management, digital strategy, out of home, social, whatever the niche is.

[00:22:31] And I have a conversation with them and they're like, wow, this guy knows what he's talking about. And then in turn, I could go to my clients that I'm either working with and say, here's why I think Hala is great for this role. With a good foundation behind it. And on the flip side of it pitching business, having worked in that industry and being able to talk shop, and now how it works is a complete game changer.

[00:22:50] Like I always say I was meant to be doing what I'm doing now. I couldn't be doing this at 23, 24.

[00:22:55] Hala Taha: Yeah. You had to go through that journey in order to be ready. So [00:23:00] everything always turns out to work full circle. I talk about skill stacking all the time. You have such a perfect skill stacking story.

[00:23:07] You got all that marketing and ad experience to then use it in a different way later on. That was really fruitful and successful for you. So even though those things didn't pan out, Got the knowledge and experience that you needed to succeed later. And that's all what we talk about on this podcast is that every experience matters because you've just layer on those skills layer on that knowledge.

[00:23:28] And then you'll be really powerful one day with that unique set of knowledge and skills.

[00:23:32] Adam Posner: And I'm really glad that you said that because I think a lot of people. Are either looking for instant gratification or they don't realize in the moment how important that skill set is now that they're going to need later on in life.

[00:23:41] And anyone listening, if you're listening to Hala and I, and you're listening to our journeys, I promise you all those skills are going to pay off later on. You just have to have faith in the process. Trust yourself and trust that you're going down the right path and everything is meant to be for a reason.

[00:23:55] And the other side of that too, I don't think that would be a good podcast or having a podcast [00:24:00] if it wasn't for being a recruiter, because the skill set of being a recruiter is interviewing and asking people questions and being inquisitive.

[00:24:05] Hala Taha: That prepared you for your next phase as a podcaster, or even it's so funny how that works.

[00:24:11] It's and the other thing is you need to have an open mind. To realize that there's not one path to success. If you had just been like, no, I'm a marketer, I'm a marketer. That's all I am. That's all I'll ever be. You'd be stuck in the same place, and now you have your own company it's growing your huge podcast.

[00:24:28] It's if you were stuck on being closed minded, you would have never been as successful. So I think that's the other lesson in there.

[00:24:36] Adam Posner: I had to transform big time myself and it was humbled. It was a huge piece of humble pie and the other parts who was really being okay, like how do I tell that story to people that I failed?

[00:24:47] And that took me a good year. It took me a good year to tell people that I was fired versus I left. And I came up with stories that came up with BS and it was all optics, right? It's what do I want other people to think of me? And once I broke down the wall and I forgot it was on [00:25:00] somebody's podcast and it was like an aha moment for me, it was the first time I said, publicly that I got fired and that opened up everything Hala.

[00:25:05] And it was like this weight that was lifted off my chest. And I'm like, finally, Then I'm able to say that. And then people like, you know what, I've been fired too. It's okay to talk about it. So many people have been fired, but there's a stigma behind it. And once I opened that up, it was like a waterfall of attracting audience and attracting people that said, you know what.

[00:25:27] I aligned me I'm with you, Adam.

[00:25:29] Hala Taha: So it helped your personal brand then to be honest about your story. Yeah. So what's the importance of being open and honest about your failures as well as your wins?

[00:25:41] Adam Posner: I think it comes down to the word and the concept of being vulnerable and being open to share and breaking down walls.

[00:25:48] And I think if you're more open than closed, you're going to attract that. And you're going to be able to have those types of conversations and be authentic and be genuine and not just say it to be [00:26:00] buzzwords, but really, truly be, your true self. It takes so much effort to lie and put up a facade and put up these optics and these smoke screens versus just being truthful and being who you are.

[00:26:11] It's just easy and let's stressful. And that comes with life. That takes time. It takes maturity and it takes experience.

[00:26:18] Hala Taha: Yeah, I agree. I feel like people connect with me when I tell the full truth. When you try to sugar coat what's going on or not tell the full story, first of all, you're lying to everyone and you're setting a bad example that people can never achieve.

[00:26:32] And then second of all, you're closing off those genuine conversations because. I feel connected when they hear the struggle. And if you're trying to grow a brand online, you've got to show the ups and the downs, if you want to be successful.

[00:26:45] Adam Posner: And I think the problem that with social media, from an optics perspective, so many people are just showing the wins or what they think are wins.

[00:26:51] And they're showing these fake optics out there. That's great. But the real goal. It's in the journey, the real gold or in the struggles here. Cause we've [00:27:00] all had them and everyone that's UC successful. They've all had their stumbling blocks. When I, Gary in the show we were talking about that even Gary V has had his failures.

[00:27:07] Of course. And any successful person has a, had a lot more failures and success.

[00:27:11] Hala Taha: 100%, probably the more successful you are, the more failures you've had.

[00:27:17] This episode of YAP is brought to you by Gusto. If you're a small business owner, you got to listen up, running a business is super hard. We all know that there's endless to do list.

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[00:30:28] So back to actionable advice because. Of my listeners are college students, recent grads or people in their professional careers, looking at transition, even people looking to be entrepreneurs.

[00:30:40] So we'll talk about that since I know you took that leap, but I want to go back to resumes interview. Let's start at the resume piece. What is a good resume versus a bad resumes?

[00:30:51] Adam Posner: Yeah, there's two things here. We're going to assume that everyone's resume from an optics perspective is clean, clear, and concise.

[00:30:57] Again, it comes back to the word relevance is everything [00:31:00] in recruiting. If you're applying for a job, make sure that your title is clear, but make sure that you're the three bullet points underneath are actionable things that you've done that are relevant to the role that you're applying to and make sure it's action.

[00:31:12] That you took, you owned and the result a quantifiable result. I own this piece of the process resulting in X number of sales, X, number of conversions. Let people see that you don't want to just regurgitate in your resume with the job description is a lot of people fail on that. Clean, clear, concise, and I'll tell you something straight up.

[00:31:31] I could scan a resume in five to six weeks. As a recruiter, because I know what I'm looking for. I know the relevant companies, but I also know if somebody's not relevant, there might be a buzzword that might be a keyword here or there. I might see a thread in their career that I'll give me a pause to go back and look a little bit deeper.

[00:31:49] So it always comes down to relevance and being clear and concise on your resume. I'm not a professional resume writer. I'm not gonna talk about format. I'm not going to talk about how you structure your sentences.

[00:31:59] Hala Taha: Let me ask you [00:32:00] two things, cover letter. And should you put a picture on your resume?

[00:32:03] Adam Posner: I never put a picture on your resume that triggers unconscious bias.

[00:32:05] Every one of us has an unconscious bias. Whether we like it or not, the sooner you recognize what your unconscious biases are, the better you're able to be more conscious of them. Okay.

[00:32:15] Hala Taha: So I disagree on that for people who have a weird name. So I found that with my name. If I sent out in the past, when I sent out resumes without my picture, I would never get called back because people might think I'm weird.

[00:32:30] They might think I don't speak English. I look, I sound foreign. They see my picture and they're like, oh yeah, Let's give her a call. She looks nice.

[00:32:40] Adam Posner: That is interesting. But if we're going to make a general statement out there, I always err on the side of not including it, because if you include a photo to, it could also cause bias many more biases too.

[00:32:50] So it could go either way on that cover letters. Here's my advice on cover letters. I've seen more people hurt by cover letters than not having them. My advice is the only time to [00:33:00] use a cover letter is if you need to explain a gap in your career or a career pivot or something very specific, because the problem that a lot of people do is twofold.

[00:33:08] They use a cover letter and they just regurgitate their resume. You're wasting my time. I have also seen how a lot of people make mistakes and they will leave. The wrong information, a cover letter, they'll leave in the information of the company. They just applied to like just wrong stuff that shows me you're not paying attention to detail and you're not caring.

[00:33:25] I will exclude somebody based on that. And honestly, I don't really enjoy reading cover letters.

[00:33:30] Hala Taha: Anybody likes to write them wrote, okay, we're scrapping the cover letter. That's outdated. I feel like your social media is your cover letter. What you're Googled, what it says for you on Google is I think that's spent time.

[00:33:45] I look at every candidate's LinkedIn profile, but I also don't hold it against them if it's not robust and they're not active on LinkedIn, I don't hold that against them. But if they do have a good LinkedIn profile and a great about section, it's a plus.

[00:33:56] Interesting.

[00:33:57] Adam Posner: I don't hold that against them because you can't. Maybe [00:34:00] they're just not active on LinkedIn. It's not a requirement.

[00:34:02] Hala Taha: Yeah. So let's talk about interviews. You said that you have a lot of experience asking questions. I know usually the recruiter is the first interview. And then if you pass that you go onto the hiring managers and there might be a few rounds there.

[00:34:14] What's your, yeah. What's your best. First of all, I guess you have to be nice to the recruiter, right? Tell us what you think that your best tips are when it comes to getting interviewed for a job.

[00:34:23] Adam Posner: Absolutely. Have your elevator pitch. Have your story down. Cause the first question, most recruiters, not so much me, you're going to ask, tell me about yourself.

[00:34:30] Tell me about your background. I'm a good recruiter and I've spent time to look at your background beforehand. So we don't have to spend 25 of our 30 minutes talking about your background. So be prepared to have that elevator pitch where I could tell you my whole career story, who I am, what I do and what I want to be doing in 90 seconds to two minutes, write it down, flush it out.

[00:34:49] Practice. Stand in front of a mirror, tell it to your friends and family and be able to adjust that elevator pitch as you go through your career. And I learned that skill in 2011 when I was leaving American [00:35:00] Express. And it's an exercise that not only I do all the time. Where I could tell my story. If you're interviewing me, tell me your career story, but also you could take from the interview day in and day out, have that elevator pitch nailed down.

[00:35:13] Hala Taha: That's great. Now question for you. I know that the recruiter is usually the one who goes and tells you your salary or your approximate salary. So how much wiggle room is there typically when you're telling somebody a number or do you wait for somebody to tell you their number? How do you play that typically?

[00:35:32] Adam Posner: Yeah, that's a good question too. So there's a lot of different opinions out there when you're talking about compensation. I don't think compensation should be put in job descriptions. I think it, what it does is it's a say the job is a hundred thousand dollars. If I'm making $50,000, I'm always going to ask for that top limit of a hundred thousand.

[00:35:47] Why wouldn't you? And it also excludes people who might be a little bit over and the company might have wiggle room to your point there. So what I do on every initial conversation that I'm having with somebody towards the end, I say, all right, let's have the compensation conversation. [00:36:00] I'm not looking to hold you to anything.

[00:36:01] I'm not looking to lock you into anything. All I want to do is get an understanding of where you're looking to be at in your next role to make sure that we're in the same ballpark. That's all I want to know if the budget for that role. I do this 10 times a day.

[00:36:15] Hala Taha: And selling a deal too.

[00:36:16] Adam Posner: I do this all day and I do use it for business transactions because here's, what's going to happen.

[00:36:22] You're going to tell me, Adam, I'm really looking for, anywhere from one to one 20. And if that's the range that I know that the client has, I'd be like, we're good for now. But what I don't want to do is you tell me, Hey, Adam, I don't want to talk about this to the end of the process. And then the team interviews, you, they love you.

[00:36:38] We spent four weeks going back and forth and interviewing. Now it comes time from the salary negotiation and we're 50 grand apart. What good does that do for anybody? Now I have people that come to me and they'll flip it on me and they'll say, I ask them, what's a budget for the role and I'll give them a range, but I'll also tell you.

[00:36:54] The top of the range doesn't mean you're going to get it. I am very transparent with people. I tell it how [00:37:00] it is that what you're managing their expectations from the onset and not at the end of the process.

[00:37:05] Hala Taha: If you were a job applicant, let's say you're coaching one of your kids and they were about to get a job they're talking to a recruiter. Would you say, wait for them to tell you the range.

[00:37:17] Adam Posner: This is a great question. I would probably coach them to flip the question around. That's a great question, because now I'm on the other side of it. I would probably coach them to se what's a budget of this role.

[00:37:27] Hala Taha: Yeah. Because you're in the power when you have the knowledge.

[00:37:30] So in a negotiation, you always, you always want the information. You never want to give information, so you lose as soon as you give information. So everybody tuning in, when you're in any sort of negotiation, you always want to try. Other person to give you information and you do that by asking questions.

[00:37:48] Adam Posner: Correct. You there's a proper way to do it also. And I think that once you remove the contentious part of a negotiation and you keep it very, just factual, it, it evens the playing field. Because I'm being straight up. [00:38:00] It's a big, listen, you, so you'll flip the question about, I'll be like, Hala, what are you looking for in this role?

[00:38:04] And you'll say back to me, Adam, what's the budget for in this role in the past, I would play the game with somebody and you'd play that. Now you tell me, and I tell you, you show me, I show you. We don't want to play that game. I just cut right to the chase. Make how the budget for this role is 1 25 to one 50, depending on experience.

[00:38:19] And you'll say to me either, that's either good. Where I fall somewhere in between that or Adam, you know what I'm looking for 200.

[00:38:28] Hala Taha: Now, do you notice that? Does everybody typically ask for more or do you get people who you're just like, it's 50 grand and they're like, okay.

[00:38:38] Adam Posner: Everybody, almost very few people are okay with that initial offer.

[00:38:43] They're either getting bad advice or maybe it's okay for them. Maybe it's a reach. There are some people who are just financially. Okay. And money is not everything to them. And they really genuinely care about the opportunity. And they're just so happy there. More than not being coached the right way at home.

[00:38:55] Maybe they don't have the right people whispering in their ear. Always negotiate.

[00:38:59] Hala Taha: Always [00:39:00] 10%. There's always 10%.

[00:39:02] Adam Posner: Very rarely very, maybe early jobs. No, I'm not putting a percentage number to it because every company is different. We will go from, there's a thing called salary.

[00:39:10] The problem is at larger companies, you have to keep people within a salary band because you can't hire somebody. Who's already there as a director at one 40, and all of a sudden the new guys coming into 200, it's going to throw everything off. Plus what's going to happen with that director. Who's a 200.

[00:39:22] How the hell are you going to give that person a raise? Next time it throws everything off. So there has to be salary bands, but in this day and age in this market, there has to be a little bit of wiggle room because of the marketing. You have to be competitive. It's crazy. Worldwide.

[00:39:35] Hala Taha: Okay. So let's move into the leap into entrepreneurship and then let's get into podcasting and then we're going to wrap up.

[00:39:40] So entrepreneurship. At what point did you realize that you were meant to be an entrepreneur and why did you end up going out on your own?

[00:39:51] Adam Posner: I really feel like this journey, everything was meant to be in this direction. And the real piece of me clicked when I first went into recruiting and I went from being a W2 [00:40:00] paycheck to being a, in a sales commission based position.

[00:40:03] And that initial fire was lit where I had unlimited earning potential, but it wasn't until I went out on my own and made that decision that I said, I'm not, I'm only meant to work for myself and that fire of going out and eating what you kill. If I don't kill. And my kids don't eat. I mean that literally and figuratively, I really do.

[00:40:23] And that little a fire for me that has just been unlimited that I could go out and yeah. Earn as much as I want that I could hunt as much as I want that it could bring in that I could have my own freedom. That was everything for me. That was a light bulb that went off and said, I am meant to be an entrepreneur and entrepreneur doesn't just mean running my recruiting business, but it's building out the podcast business, building out the pause course that I'm working on to, to teach people how to build a B2B podcast, to bring in business other things that I'm working on the side that I rarely talk about too.

[00:40:52] And that was a fire cause it gives you the financial freedom and it gives you the time and. Anybody, anything I don't report to [00:41:00] anybody. Yes. We have clients. You and I both have clients, but we're on boss. If I don't want to work today, if I don't want to do this, if I want to take time off, I'd have to ask for it.

[00:41:10] It's liberate. But not everybody could do that. You have to earn it and you have to work for it and be able to do that.

[00:41:16] Hala Taha: And you have to be responsible enough to make sure that you're killing all the time. Like you, to your point.

[00:41:22] Adam Posner: If you're not, if you're not killing, you're not eating. And we mean that in a I'm saying that harshly, because it's true.

[00:41:28] If you don't kill, you're not gonna eat.

[00:41:30] Hala Taha: So that's really cool that you just mentioned, you're starting a B2B podcast course. I didn't know that.

[00:41:35] Adam Posner: Exclusive.

[00:41:36] Hala Taha: Yeah, exclusive. That's really exciting. So I know. We both started monetizing our podcast in very similar ways. So we both use it as a lead gen tool. I have a marketing and podcasts agency.

[00:41:48] The people who come on my show are bestselling author CEO. His podcast is the type of people that I service. So it just worked perfectly. The people who come on my show. Typically are interested in my services and [00:42:00] now I'm getting people who aren't on my show just because my brand is so big, but in the beginning it was all my clients were past guests.

[00:42:06] So talk to us about this strategy and what some of the things you're going to teach about in your core.

[00:42:11] Adam Posner: We're actually doing something very similar holler. We're converting guests into clients. So from that perspective, we are doing something very similar. What I'm doing is because I have a recruiting business at the core, I have found it to be insanely easier.

[00:42:25] To reach a decision maker within a company that I want to do business with to engage them with my show, say, Hey, I have a top global career podcast, all about career journeys, talent recruiting. I love your story. I'd love to have you on the show. So the process and building that relationship to get them onto the show, the prep, the booking, all of those individual touch points are relationship builders.

[00:42:46] I do not use. Pitch my services. They should know about this point. If they're even looking at me, they know what I do for a living until after the show airs. That's when I'm pitching them. My business, I have closed this year alone, seven [00:43:00] clients that I've had on the show in the last two years. As paid clients, it's a case in point proven way to break through the cold calling and the cold emails.

[00:43:09] And don't get me wrong. I still do that because you have to have a holistic, approach and multi-channel approach to business development and leave no stone unturned. But my podcast is my number one business driving tool.

[00:43:19] Hala Taha: It's amazing because it helps you elevate your personal brand. You have something to actually talk about on social media and promote.

[00:43:27] You're making these great connections with people who would otherwise never want to talk to you. You're making a great impression because you're studying their life. They're get to talk about themselves. When people talk about themselves, they like you more. So you get to basically ask them a million questions.

[00:43:44] He was like putting piddling his hands, who's that guy. So yeah, like you're just, it's such a great strategy to get new kinds, especially when you're in a service-based business.

[00:43:56] Adam Posner: But it happened organically Hala. I didn't like it. It was right. It was a [00:44:00] by-product. And then we talked, you and I talk about this all the time.

[00:44:02] It logically went in that direction because it is logical and it's organic and it just worked out that way. And here's the other piece too, aside from the business development, it has your podcast. And mine has enabled us to be true thought leaders. We're not, we don't call ourselves experts. We don't call ourselves gurus.

[00:44:19] We don't assign those titles to ourselves, but by the fact of the content and the guests that we're having, we have become those salt leaders. So we actually have real content to put out and it's not, I usually put out more content about other people than and in turn that light, that's shining on them deflect back on us and helps us glow.

[00:44:36] Hala Taha: Yeah. I love the fact that you said that it was organic. Same thing with me. It all just happened perfectly, but if you're listening, you can reverse engineer this and come up with a podcast that is interviewing people who would be your perfect clients. And it's just a great way to have a business.

[00:44:54] And then there's so many other ways to monetize your podcast. Later on, but that is definitely the easiest way

[00:45:00] to monetize a business through.

[00:45:03] Adam Posner: Yeah. So now I'm going to teach it to everyone. I'm working with my producer, Chris, who's amazing. And we're pulling together all that intellectual property, the process, the thought process behind it and what we're really teaching people.

[00:45:13] This course is not going to teach people about how to technically turn on these mics and record it and go on Riverside, who we both love and launch a show. But I really want to teach people the thought process that goes behind. And more importantly than maybe this is not right for you. So I'm trying to talk people out of it too, in my course, because I want to give you all the reasons to get rid of the doubt and be able to recognize the signs of why you should be passionate about it and why care about it and have the right reasons of why you want to do it and follow those passions.

[00:45:42] So that's really what this course is going to be all about, but I'm also going to unpack. The nuts and bolts of it, all my CRM, all my templates, all the process. I do get into production a little bit, about efficiencies and scaling and outsourcing that we talk about.

[00:45:54] Hala Taha: Yeah. Okay.

[00:45:55] Adam Posner: So what it meant to pitch in my pocket, my course there.

[00:45:58] Hala Taha: That's okay. I love to support my [00:46:00] friends and I want everybody who's interested in monetizing through a podcast to take an actual course like this because there's lots of people who think they're going to create a podcast and the money. Rain in, and that is not how it happens. It is very difficult to monetize your show through sponsorships.

[00:46:16] I'm only doing that from three, four months ago, and look how big my podcast is. So you have to be realistic and that is a great way to actually monetize the show. Or a business through your show. So a couple last questions here. First of all, if you guys are podcasters and you love Adam's advice and my advice for always on Clubhouse together, hosting podcast, office hours, Adam has his own room.

[00:46:37] So follow him on Clubhouse, check them out there. And if you guys have specific podcasting questions mean Adam are always hosting rooms together. So I just wanted to call that out. We do. Clubhouse is dynamic. I think it's going to pick up back in the fall, hopefully. All right. So my last question to you, you have a philosophy in life that you should never say no to anything.

[00:46:59] Talk to us [00:47:00] about that. What does that unlock for you? Because I think a lot of us here that we should be saying no more often, so I want to understand why you think that? .

[00:47:08] Adam Posner: Yeah. Listen. I think that they're in theory in a business sense I've started to say no to a lot of things that are just not good uses of my time, but I've been a no person for a lot of my life that where I'll default to no before yes.

[00:47:24] And I'm taking this to the 30,000 foot view. I'm not talking very tactical business no's, but being more open to yes. To opportunities. Yes. To conversations. Yes. To things that I may have said no to in the past. And doing the same for other people when I have the bandwidth, when I have the time to do it right.

[00:47:40] Like Vinnie, our friend Vinnie, who we're talking to later. Same philosophy. They're like, if he didn't say yes to our first conversation, we went to open up this what we're doing right now today. And I just think a lot more holistically about turning the no into yes. Should, I want to be very clear with everybody there from saying no more often as important on a day to day

[00:48:00] execution perspective, but from a mindset perspective, just being more open to things in life.

[00:48:04] Hala Taha: I really liked that you brought that up because I think everybody needs to know who they are. Are you a no person naturally or a yes person. So for me, I'm a yes person. I say yes to everything. And then I get in trouble because I don't have enough time. And I love to say, yeah, I always have a problem saying, no, if you're a no person, you need to be better at saying yes, if you're yes, person, you need to be better at saying, no, I think you need to know.

[00:48:26] Adam Posner: My wife always says that I'm quick to default to no. And that was really impetus and driver to be more, yes. And I think it's more on a personal side with the kids. Hey, let's get in the car and just go somewhere. Let's go do something here. Let's do this. Let's do that. And I think that's where it started.

[00:48:39] So if I could take the yes, on the personal side and translate into business, it's going to open up a lot more opportunities.

[00:48:43] Hala Taha: Yeah. I love that. So the last question I ask, all of my guests is what is your secret to profiting in life?

[00:48:51] Adam Posner: My secret to profiting in life are two things. One is scaling, being able to outsource and start to trust others.

[00:48:57] And really because your time is finite, you cannot [00:49:00] manufacture it. But what you can do is scale it. So I think the biggest thing from a success standpoint is being able to scale, being able to trust other people. And that's when you will really see things open up, cause then you'll be able to multiply.

[00:49:12] And multiply your efforts .

[00:49:14] Hala Taha: And where can our listeners go to learn more about you and everything that you do on the business side, you can check out nhptalentgroup.com and you can check out the thepozcast.com P O Z C A S T.

[00:49:25] Perfect. Thank you so much, Adam. This is so much fun.

[00:49:28] Adam Posner: Thank you Hala. It's been a pleasure to finally be on this side of the mic.

[00:49:32] Hala Taha: Thanks for listening to Young And Profiting Podcast. If you haven't yet, make sure you subscribe to this podcast. So you never miss an episode. So I had a ton of takeaways from this episode with Adam and the first takeaway comes before we even had this interview.

[00:49:46] The first takeaway is my relationship with Adam. So Adam and I met on LinkedIn. We're both running top podcasts. We're both LinkedIn influencers and we could have seen each other as competition and rivals. But instead [00:50:00] we thought of each other as collaborators, and we came about our relationship with an abundance mindset, not a closed mindset, not a limited mindset.

[00:50:09] We decided that the world was abundant and that there was enough pie for everyone. It's really funny to me that your new friends. And people that you met online and people in your industry, they can sometimes be more supportive and more caring and want to see you win more than your old friends. And that's a huge life lesson that I've learned along the way is that these new friends that I'm making and these people that have common interests can be more supportive and understand your journey and what you're going through a lot more deeply, than your old friends.

[00:50:40] There's definitely a place for old friends in your life and memories and, you definitely need to separate work from your personal life and things like that, but there's something so special about industry friends who know what you're going through and can be there for you and support you and people who want to see you win.

[00:50:58] So when [00:51:00] someone's out there shining, Remember, don't get jealous. Don't just watch from afar, reach out and make a connection. Your competition can become your biggest collaborators. In fact, in a recent episode with Tiffani Bova called Growth Hacking Your Business, she mentioned coopertition as one of the 10 paths to grow your company cooperating with a market or industry competitor can be really powerful because you can teach each other what you know, and you can lean on each other's strengths to fill in your own weaknesses.

[00:51:29] So that's takeaway number one. Collaboration over competition. Adam gave us a ton of excellent job hunting advice. But the first takeaway I have from this episode is really about the advice. Gary V told him on the day he was fired. Adam had a dream job and that was working at VaynerMedia. He thought this job when he landed, it would be his forever job, but things went south really quickly at the company for him.

[00:51:53] He underperformed severely and he ended up getting fired and during his exit interview. Gary V gave him [00:52:00] an amazing piece of advice. He said, stop focusing on the things that you suck at and double down on your strengths. If you want to become the best in your field, you need an unmatched skillset, Adam, and I believe that strengthening your strengths will have a disproportionately higher impact on you becoming exceptional in your field, as opposed to working on your weaknesses, don't go wide and shallow go narrow and deep.

[00:52:25] In fact, studies have shown that when we focus. We experienced benefits like increased happiness, lowered stress levels, more energy and better health. Likewise, when we concentrate on our strengths, we also develop much faster. This is exactly how Adam turned his life around and started working in recruiting Adam's number one piece of advice when it comes to making a career transition.

[00:52:47] Is to be relevant, you have to be able to do the job. It's true that people care about character, but nothing is more valuable than your skills. You need to meet that minimum skills requirement when it comes to landing your [00:53:00] dream jobs and playing into your strengths and stacking up your skills is the best way to stand out.

[00:53:05] If you have undeniably more skills and experience than the next candidate, you're going to be the one who lands the game. And my last takeaway for this episode is to trust the process and trust yourself. And to be honest about your failures, when Adam started opening up about his experience with being fired, that's when a lot of doors began to open for him, it takes so much more effort to put up a facade versus telling the real truth.

[00:53:31] And this is a huge secret when it comes to personal branding. People love to hear about failures and mistakes owning and sharing your mistakes. Literally makes you more powerful when it comes to network, the number one rule is to be of service. If you want to build a personal brand in your industry, if you want to be looked at as a thought leader, you need to be of service with value driven content and the best way to help other people is to share your failures.

[00:53:57] So they can learn from your mistakes. And [00:54:00] actually this is scientifically proven negative information commands, more attention than positive information. Negative information is processed. More deeply negative information has remembered longer. So when you go out and share your failures and talk about your mistakes, people remember story.

[00:54:16] They remember it more than your successes and your wins. And when they think about who's the thought leader in their space, they're going to remember your story and what you taught them through. Talking about your mistakes and talking about your failures. So this is a number one hack when it comes to networking and building a personal brand.

[00:54:32] Own your failures and share them. So as you can see lots of takeaways from this one, it was a great episode. And if you would like to learn more about entrepreneurship and emptying your dream career, go check out episode number 98, Design Your Dream Career With Ashley Stahl. Here's the clip. From that episode.

[00:54:49] Ashley Stahl: We can be passionate and even interested in a lot of different things, but there's a big difference between being a consumer of something and a creator or a producer of that thing.

[00:54:59] So [00:55:00] in my case, I love fashion. I love cupcakes. I would be a horrible fashion designer. I would be a horrible cupcake baker. They just, because I have an interest or passion in something, it doesn't equate to a skillset in it. And so my biggest advice, I would say for career advisors and anybody in their career right now is to upgrade the quality of questions that you're asking yourself to get clarity in your career.

[00:55:22] And that starts with, instead of asking yourself, what industry do I want to be? What am I passionate about? Those are good questions, but what a great question is to me is what is my best core skillset? When have people seen me at my best? Because according to research, We thrive when we are doing well at something, we enjoy ourselves.

[00:55:44] We have a better time. We like ourselves more. And I think a lot of the time people might pursue a passion, but it forces them to work in an area of their skillset that doesn't really align with who they are or where they're gifted. So I would say any given person has probably. Three or [00:56:00] so core skillsets, and it's important to figure out what is that primary.

[00:56:05] Hala Taha: Again, if you want to learn more about how to narrow down your skillset and land your dream job, go check out episode number 98, Design Your Dream Career With Ashley Stahl. And as always, I want to close out the show by shouting out a recent Apple Podcast reviewer. And this week, shout out, goes to Yaz love bags.

[00:56:23] She says fabulous content. I discovered Hala and her amazing podcast randomly on LinkedIn. And I'm a huge fan. This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for your nice work. I'll. Thank you so much Yaz for taking the time to write us an interview. And if you're out there listening and you found value in today's show, take some time, write us a five star review.

[00:56:43] Give us feedback. That is a number one way to think me and the team here at Young And Profiting, it is a free and effective way to support the show. Apple podcast reviews are the most important types of reviews. So if you can get your hands on an iPhone, if you have Apple Podcasts and listen through [00:57:00] Apple Podcasts, make sure you take time to write us a review and then I'll shout you out.

[00:57:04] On an upcoming episode. And if you don't have access to Apple, drop us a comment or a review on Castbox ,Podbean, wherever you listen to the show. And if you're out there still tuning in, take a screenshot of this app, show me that you listened to the end of this episode, share it to your Instagram story.

[00:57:19] Tag me @yapwithhala, and then let's chop it up in the DMS. I want to talk to you. I love to hear from my listeners. I love to know who's listening and get your feedback. I really appreciate it. You guys can also find me on LinkedIn, just search for my name. It's Hala Taha, and on Instagram again, that's @yapwithhala.

[00:57:36] Big, thanks to the YAP team as always. This is Hala signing off.

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