Monica Fochtman, PhD, is a career clarity coach and resume expert, specializing in helping people find their true passion, with her company Sheldrake Consulting. When Paula's own son struggled with finding his ideal career, Paula reached out to Monica to come on the show.
We start with a look at resumes in 2023. Talking about ourselves and our strengths is important, and we are often tempted to list all of our strengths on a resume, but Monica explains why it's better to focus on some key areas, tailored to the job you're applying for.
We also discuss LinkedIn, where it's possible to grow your network exponentially. And it's important to always be active on LinkedIn, not just when you're job-hunting. The value in this is building your network before you need it. In fact, schedule your time to be active on the platform, just as you would plan out everything else on your to-do list, and make a habit of it.
Monica started her business in 2017 when she discovered a passion for helping people find their ideal careers. And she says there are two schools of thought - following your passion as a career, or having a separate career that allows you to follow your passion when you aren't at work.
To learn more about Monica and what she does, you can email her: monica@sheldrakeconsulting.com or visit her website at sheldrakeconsulting.com.
BTP Monica
Paula 00:00
Hi, welcome to Beyond the Paycheck, I'm Paula Christine. I've watched my son struggle for the last few months. He just got a new position at a company. But he struggled with what was his passion, and what did he really wanted to do? At some point he wanted to be a police officer, then he wanted to be in construction and then he wanted to be in homeland security. So he's struggled over the last few years on what he wanted to do with his life. So I met this very interesting woman the other day, Monica Fochtman, who works with Sheldrake Consulting. So I've asked Monica to talk with us today, not only about her resume writing, and how to prospect for employment, but also about her coaching business, and how she helps people find their passion, and do what they want to do for the rest of life. I hope that makes sense. Anyway, welcome, Monica.
Monica 00:47
Thank you. I'm thrilled to be here. Nice to meet you, Paula.
Paula 00:50
You too. I'm really excited to talk with you today because I know I struggled for a while myself with what my passion was and end up starting this Paula Christine, about my passion for educating about, all things money. So let's first start with your resume writing. I know that's very difficult. I never want to have to ever write a resume again. So I'm grateful that I worked for myself, and I don't have to, but that is really hard. It's not easy. I know resume writing has changed quite a bit. So what should you do?
Monica 01:19
Talk about yourself confidently, directly, and be willing to share specific actions and specific accomplishments. A lot of people, women especially, but I've seen it across all clients and all career level. Many of us speak about ourselves and our careers in generalities. And so the resume starts to sound like a job description. Very general, very vague, something that almost anyone could do. Like you could plug in Person A into this resume. And it would be the same as if it were Person B, or C.
Paula 01:59
Do you think that's because people just want to have someone say, "Oh, I see where they can fit, because they can." I don't know if I'm saying that correctly. But when I think about wanting to apply for a job, I want to feel like, "Oh, I can do everything that you want."
Monica 02:13
Right. Yes.
Paula 02:15
So I make a list of everything that I can do and hopefully I'm going to fit.
Monica 02:18
Right. Well said, Paula. Yes, I think that's part of it, for sure. And fear of possibly missing out on something. When really a better strategy and a more productive strategy is to actually niche down. So say you have 10 strengths, I have 10 strengths. On a resume, a better strategy is to pick five or six of those 10 and talk about those in more detail, with more depth. And to have your document be specific to you, instead of general to everybody else. So like, what is the Paula difference? What is the thing that only you could do? That's what your resume should show to the person reading it.
Paula 03:05
Oh, my God, do you know how hard that is for people? I'm even thinking myself, "What can Paula do?" Even though I know I can do all these amazing things? What would I actually put on a piece of paper?
Monica 03:15
Right. It's very hard, and we have not really been trained or coached or even allowed to do that. And so Resume Writing is a skill, a learned skill. I learned it. I wasn't always a resume writer. But I have been for the last eight years. And six years of that full time with my own company. But writing a resume, it's a different skill set. Because you're exactly right. We don't know how to talk about ourselves. Because so often it was, oh, don't brag. Don't talk about yourself. But that's what you have to do on a resume.
Monica 03:18
And I think women struggle a lot with having to brag about themselves.
Monica 04:00
Absolutely, yes.
Paula 04:02
Do you write more than just resumes? Do you help people write like bios and different things or?
Monica 04:07
Yeah, so resumes, executive bios, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles.
Paula 04:13
Let's talk about LinkedIn. So I love LinkedIn.
Jon 04:16
It's Facebook, but for grownups and professional.
Monica 04:18
That's exactly right.
Paula 04:20
I know but you have to use all those tools to market yourself, to brand yourself, it's just overwhelming sometimes. But LinkedIn, I'm getting more and more involved in that for promoting my brand. But one thing we talked about when we talked on the phone was that you suggest people starting college, starting with LinkedIn and building up their network.
Monica 04:41
Yes. So LinkedIn truly is a professional networking platform. And so yes, you can start as early as you want. And a lot of people, students, especially and young professionals, really underestimate the power of their alumni network. So yes, be on there as early as you can, and have a profile that is as complete as possible. And so that means you have to have a photo.
Paula 05:12
A professional photo.
Monica 05:13
That's right. No sunglasses, no drinks in your hand, no other person that you very clearly like cut out from the photo, it should be just you. And the beauty of LinkedIn is, it really can be a cumulative holding place for all of your stuff, all of your career professional stuff. Whereas resume is windows into certain periods of time. Resume is very specific and much targeted to the role that you're applying for. Whereas our LinkedIn profiles are the complete story. So you can go back as far as you want. And you can have the profile be more robust.
Paula 05:58
What do you mean by that?
Monica 05:59
So on a resume, you really should have a two page document. Sometimes three, if you are a very senior level professional, and a new professional might have a one page document. But the rest of us should have a two page resume. So it's very likely then that you're going to have to cut a lot of content from your resume. Anything that you cut from the resume, can have a home on LinkedIn. So that's what I mean, when I say more robust, because on LinkedIn, we're not limited by pages.
Paula 06:33
And you can also put your accomplishments on LinkedIn, which you are limited to, I guess, on a resume. So if you do work on a big project, you can put that out there that you completed this project, and maybe you won an award, those kinds of things.
Monica 06:47
Yes, exactly. All kinds of strategies you can use on LinkedIn. You can list it as an honor or award. That's a section on LinkedIn, your resume, too. But definitely LinkedIn. And then you could even talk about that in the content that you share and in how you're networking with other people on the platform.
Paula 07:09
I think the only way LinkedIn works, though, is if you're interacting. You just can't put your stuff out there and just never like or comment or engage with others.
Monica 07:15
That's exactly right. So I always tell my clients, LinkedIn is like working out or going to church, you will get out of it, what you put into it. So you are exactly right, Paul, you have to, it's not enough to have a profile. That's the first step. The second more important step is to use your profile to engage with others on the platform.
Paula 07:40
Yeah, that's where I struggle. I mean, I have the best intentions. It's on my to do list that I'm going to go out and comment on other people's posts and be engaging, and then life happens, and I don't get it done that day.
Monica 07:55
Sure. I totally get it. Yeah, it really is something that you need to build into your schedule. Just like checking email in the morning. So for me, personally, I'm a late starter, and my work hours really are 10am to 6pm. So honestly, I'm not hopping on to LinkedIn till about 11 o'clock. And that's fine. There's no rules about when you have to do it. So it really it's about creating a timing structure and a timing plan that works for you. And to do it consistently, is one of the things that clients struggle with. They go from 0 to 100. And as a strategy that doesn't work.
Jon 08:37
Monica, I'm glad you said that. Because I think we've all seen people on our social media feeds where they go from never posting to just practically spamming you by posting a ton of stuff. And you're like, okay, they're looking for a new job. They've got an angle, what's going on here?
Monica 08:50
Yes, exactly.
Paula 08:52
All right, finally made it off their to do list like me.
Monica 08:56
And, you know, I get it. But long term, that's not a productive strategy. Because to go, 0 to 100 all in and then to disappear, well if you disappear, what happens? Then the next time you needed to look for a job, you have to go all in again. Whereas, slow and steady wins the race.
Jon 09:16
It's just like networking. If you have people in your network, and they only hear from you when you're looking, they're much less likely to help you with same concept.
Paula 09:23
Or just in general to build the current job that you're in to build your network to help you grow your business.
Monica 09:23
Exactly. That's it. A client said to me once, she's like, "Yeah, networking really gets a bad rap." But really, it's about having people before you need people. And I just loved that framing of it because I think it's spot on. And that's a mistake that people make with LinkedIn. It is only being on it when they're job searching. When really the best time to be on it is all the time. And you don't need to be on LinkedIn only to job search. It really is a platform that you can harness to network so that when you are job searching you've got it already established.
Monica 09:33
Absolutely. I built my business on LinkedIn, because I was doing it on the side while I was working in my first career. And that way when I decided to leave my first career in 2017, I had my business already established and ready to go. So I wasn't starting from scratch.
Paula 10:25
So let's move on to that. So how did you know that the business that you're in now? Because I'm going to assume this is your passion or you wouldn't have left your current employer. How did you figure out that this is what you wanted to do? I know a lot of people struggle with that.
Monica 10:36
Absolutely. So what really helped me was looking back over all of my roles and finding the themes. What was the common thread throughout? So my first career was in college administration. So I worked on college campuses around the Midwest, and I worked in indirect service providing with students. So I was constantly one on one working with student leaders, student groups, or students who were struggling academically. And so that was the theme. It was the service, one on one, and really helping students become better versions of themselves. So in 2017, things had started to go a little south in my job. And honestly, I just sat there one day, and I was like, "This can't be all there is, there has to be something else out there." And so I saw students struggling with Resume and Career stuff. And they were doing it on their own and doing it badly. And so I volunteered to help them. And it really snowballed from there. So I was doing it on the side for free, then I started to charge a little bit of money, then I started to charge more money and then I figured out, this is what I want to do, because it's still tapping into my skills and strengths. But now being out on my own, I set the terms. I set the rate, I set the hours, I get to choose who I work with. So for me going out on my own was the perfect combination of using those skills and talents in service of clients who really needed help.
Paula 12:22
And you get to change people's lives.
Monica 12:24
Absolutely. Yes, that is the best part. When someone comes back and says, oh, my gosh, they implemented what we talked about, and it worked. And a lot of my clients are getting monster pay raises, which is so exciting, especially for women, because you know, we're underpaid anyway.
Paula 12:42
But how does someone figure that and came to you like when you started looking back and to your past? So let's say you're working with a 30 year old, they don't really like their job. How do you help them figure out? Now this is the coaching side of your business? How do you help them figure out what their passion is?
Monica 12:59
Well, I have two schools of thought there. And this is slightly controversial, I think, but one school of thought is that your day job that pays the bills, doesn't have to be about your passion.
Monica 13:15
Obviously, you don't want it to be soul crushing. And obviously, you don't ever want to be in an abusive situation. But it is okay to have your job, be a job, so that you have the mental time, space and energy to pursue your passions outside of work. So that's one school of thought. The second school of thought is, to have your passion be your job. And that's where I am personally. But not everyone wants that. And so the first step is really figuring out, what do you want? Do you want to have your job be your passion or are you okay with it not being your passion so that you have time to pursue your passion outside of work? And related to that there's a lot of pressures, especially on young people. I have two sons who are in high school. And there's a lot of pressure especially on young people to have it all figured out at way too young of an age. And that's just unrealistic.
Paula 13:15
Interesting.
Monica 13:28
Yeah, if I looked at myself as a youngster, I went to college, I went to art school, I was going to be a graphic designer. And now I coach people on money.
Monica 14:27
Yeah, right. Totally.
Paula 14:28
Two different realms.
Monica 14:29
I was going to be an interior decorator and then a marine biologist, and then a pediatrician.
Paula 14:36
Oh, biologist would have been fun. I would have done that. Yeah, that would have been a great career.
Jon 14:41
I thought I was going to be a famous sports caster ended up being a radio DJ, so somewhat related. And then when the radio industry went in the toilet, I started getting into podcasting. So it could be complete opposite or you could just pivot if there is something that changes in your circumstances or your career.
Monica 14:54
Exactly. Everyone's using the word pivot now and I was using it for a long time and I still do truthfully. Because that's what it is.
Monica 14:57
But that's really what it is. Like related to the pressure, people also put pressure on themselves to make this giant change, when really what most people do, and most of my clients, at least they make a quarter pivot, or it may be a half pivot. But very few people, at least that I coach and work with, do this drastic, "I'm quitting my job, and I'm going to be a nurse or a lawyer." Well, okay, that's great. But that's a real 180. That requires more school, more time, and more training. Most people that I get to work with, it's that quarter turn, it's that, I want to take these top five skills and use them in a new space.
Jon 14:57
Ever since Ross on friends, pivot.
Paula 15:56
I get that. I think that's what I did when I started the Paula Christine, is that I took the things that I really enjoyed about my current position, other than the Paula Christine, and want to use those tools, quarter pivot to help others in a different way.
Monica 16:13
And you're still who you are. And you still hell have all of those other skills and strengths, just different ones are in the foreground now. And some others have rolled to the back.
Paula 16:26
Correct. So I have been through this whole conversation, and I have been just thinking about what I've done to change some of the things in my life to put me into an attraction where I find more fulfillment out of what I'm doing. So how does somebody reach you if they want to have that conversation with you?
Monica 16:43
So LinkedIn, of course, it's a great place to start. They can also go to my website, which is sheldrakeconsulting.com, or they can email me. And that's monica@sheldrakeconsulting.com.
Paula 17:01
You have given me a lot to think about. I know sometimes I didn't know how I was going to respond to what you were saying, because even though I've did what you're talking about, I still struggle because that part of me that wants to go forward is a little stuck. So I really appreciate spending time with me today.
Monica 17:17
Oh, thank you. Likewise.
Paula 17:19
You're welcome. Anybody wants to reach out to me, they can email me at paula@paulachristine.com. Or they can check out my website at paulachristine.com. Thanks again, Monica. I really appreciate your knowledge.
Monica 17:29
Thank you. It was great to be here.