Author: dchopefuls

Great Networking Finds Great People It Doesn’t Convert Jerks

A few nights ago I was talking to a truly amazing young woman who is only a freshman in college. I was blown away by her and quickly found myself giving her the same advice I’ve given to hundreds of other people. As we talked I said something I had never said before. It was so simple and obvious yet it isn’t something I think I had ever articulated before. I said “look the goal is to become an amazing networker. If you become that person you will find amazing people who are willing, if treated correctly, to become career investors. However, the goal is not to convert every person you meet from a contact into a career investor. The goal is to find those diamonds in the rough.”

The reason I said this was she had built a great relationship with a professor who was really helping her out. She didn’t understand why other professors weren’t being helpful despite her approaching them the same way. She assumed it was her fault. For every contact I’ve made probably less than 10% ultimately became a career investor. Some people just are not going to be helpful. Most will be helpful up until certain point and it is up to you the networker to find where that point might is located.

The reason I created D.C. Hopefuls Fellowship and D.C. Boot Camp is to teach you how to make sure you are treating/approaching people correctly and maximizing the potential in each person. Doing things the right way will help you find those amazing career investors out there and maximize those less than helpful contacts.

What Is On The Line For The Other Person???

I got off the phone with a good friend this morning. He was asking about D.C. Hopefuls and told me an all too common story. A few months back he met a young man through a friend. We’ll call the young man Tom. My friend spoke to Tom once and because Tom doesn’t understand networking months went by without my friend hearing from Tom. Mistake #1.

My friend reached out to Tom and told him about a paid internship in his office. Tom said he was interested but did nothing to follow up about it for two weeks. Didn’t send a resume or ask what he should do. Mistake #2

After two weeks my friend reached out to Tom and said “hey send me your resume if you are interested in the job.” Tom sent it promptly (which is good) but the resume was a mess. Mistake #3

My assumption is Tom was waiting for my friend to give him instructions on what to do. Tom should have responded “yes I’m interested what should I do? Do you need a resume?” Mistake #4

My friend offered edits and comments and sent it back to Tom. Tom then sent back the revised version ignoring 80% of my friend’s suggestions. Mistake #5

So now put yourself in my friend’s shoes…what would you do? 

Tom never made him feel valued. He didn’t follow up with him the first time, didn’t jump on an opportunity, and ignored his resume advice.

Now what Tom never knew was the circumstances around my friend knowing about the paid internship. My friend really only knew about this opening because his friend/co-worker was put in charge of the internship program.  After Tom’s initial interest my friend told her that he was sending Tom’s resume as a way to give her a good candidate. Two weeks later (as Tom dragged his feet) she asked my friend “hey where is this Tom guy’s resume.” When he finally did submit Tom’s resume he had to explain to his friend/co-worker “sorry this took two weeks not sure why he took so long. Also I know this resume isn’t great I tried giving him edits.”

Are you shocked that she threw Tom’s resume in the trash?  I’ve seen various versions of this story a few dozen times. Tom had no idea what was on the line for my friend. That his lack of professionalism and common decency was making my friend look bad at work and feel totally unvalued.

The worst part is Tom is sitting back thinking he has this great inside lead. My friend isn’t going to sit him down and explain how he messed up. He isn’t going to help him learn from this mistake…why would he? My friend isn’t his dad, his professor, or career counselor. This was a partnership (although Tom likely didn’t it see it that way). Tom would have got the internship and my friend would have helped a co-worker in order to build political capital in his organization. Tom was a bad partner so my friend doesn’t owe him advice, lessons, or guidance.

Don’t be Tom!!!! You may be making all sorts of mistakes, although I hope not this bad! One of the great things about D.C. Hopefuls Fellowship is you have the ability to interact with me via the group or private one-on-one phone calls. I and others in the group can be that person to tell you the mistakes you are making and through D.C. Boot Camp help you to know better than to make them in the first place!!!

Stay Steadfast,

Tommy Pevehouse

No Syllabus in Real Life So Listen For Instructions

College is great but it can create bad habits. The real world is not going to hand you a syllabus and plan out your next 4 months. A very important skill you must develop is the ability to hear instructions that aren’t clearly labeled as instructions. Whether networking or chatting with your boss they will tell you what to do but it can be sandwiched in the middle of a thousand other things.

Say you are on the phone with a contact. She knows you are interested in Capitol Hill or advocacy work. She is telling you about how she worked on two campaigns after college. She then slides in “yeah in fact 3 of my 4 best friends from campaign life all work on capitol hill and have been really successful, they would probably be better for you talk to than me! Haha. So I would really say the things that stuck out to me after I stopped campaign life was…blah blah blah.”

You have to pounce on the fact she has 3 people she considers friends on Capitol Hill and even admitted they’d be good for you to talk with for help.  In D.C. Boot Camp I teach D.C. Hopefuls Fellowship members how to take those sandwiched instructions and turn them into tangible results.

At work this can be an even more valuable skill because often these less than obvious instructions are important to the person. In the first example it probably isn’t personally important to the woman that you meet her friends but your boss is different.

Recently my wife and I looked at a condo. The realtor showed up to inform us he was only able to show us the first place despite the fact we asked to look at several. He didn’t pick up on our disappointment. Three or four times I mentioned as we talked I’d love to know what other places have sold for in the neighborhood and how much units charge in rent if they are used as rental units. It felt rude to say “listen these are the things I want you to go do for me” so instead I mentioned them in conversation several times. Three days later he sends me more expensive listings in a different neighborhood. I didn’t respond.

He was not picking up on what I wanted. If your boss casually mentions how several times how she gets yelled at by her supervisor when timesheets are late and you continually sign your timesheet late guess what she is going to start thinking about you? Right or wrong most managers don’t feel like they need to sit you down and lay out exactly what you are supposed to do, they expect you to adapt. I have seen people in every job I had, including myself at my second job, fail because they don’t pick up on what people are asking them.

You have to learn to become an active listener and act upon these subtle instructions!

Don’t Think A Resume Is Important?

If you are anything like I use to be you may think a resume is a formality. It is a history of what you have done you put together once to use to apply to jobs…ALL WRONG. A resume is something used to network and the way it is crafted on the paper will show a level of professionalism beyond your years. Don’t believe me? See an email I recently received below!

Hey Tommy,
I just wanted to let you know that I recently interviewed with the Office of Congressman XXXX for his/her summer internship in D.C. The staffer I interviewed with said I had the “best resume she had seen of all the people who had applied for the job”. It’s important to note that she did not say I had the most qualified or impressive resume, but rather the actual layout of it demonstrated a level of professionalism that merited an interview. I appreciate all the advice you have provided with the resumes through D.C. Hopefuls, it really pays off!

Thanks,
Chris Peterson
University of Arkansas Honors College
Alpha Phi Sigma President 

Don’t Win The Lottery

Why is that a third of lottery winners end up broke, meaning they are actually worse off than before they won all that money? It has been reported lottery winners have a much higher rate of suicide and depression than normal Americans. How could this be? The answer to me is simple…they didn’t earn it.

Success is a curse if not properly earned. People who earn massive amounts of wealth by starting a business or moving up the company latter get there through hard work and being smart. They know how they became rich and rarely go back to being middle class. The same principal is true for applying to jobs…I know that sounds crazy but hear me out.

Recently a few D.C. Hopefuls dropped this line on me “well my friend/coworker landed a job by applying online.” My response each time was “so what?” Just for a moment let’s table the fact that applying to jobs is a total crap shoot and numbers game. The majority of the time people don’t have the right resume to ever stand a chance and often are applying to jobs that are not truthfully posted. Heck with the lottery at least you have the same odds of winning as everyone else!

Let’s just focus on hitting the lottery…landing a real job through applying online. That is a nice short term victory but you cannot build a successful long term career that way. Think of your ideal position at 45 years old. Chief of staff for a U.S. Senator, Under Secretary for an Intelligence division, or policy maker on K Street, seriously I want you to envision yourself. Do you honestly think you got there by going onto to indeed.com and applying? You must know by now that is not how D.C. works.

This method can also hurt you in the short term and is high risk. It can hurt you in the short term because you are starting day one totally fresh. Yes, they interviewed you and liked you but you are starting from zero day one. I’ve had 5 jobs in D.C. (area) and only one I got through straight up applying online. This was back in 2013, long before I had the steadfast spirit, but in the moment I was very excited. As you know it was a disaster. My other four jobs I walked in day one having been recommended by someone who works there (twice that person was still working there and helped be learn the ropes) or use to work there. I was able to start day one with a level of credibility that would take a fresh outsider a few months to likely earn. When you enter the right way people usually assume you must be good, trustworthy, and hardworking until proven otherwise because why else would someone vouch for you in such a way?

You also remove a lot of risk. That second job I had no idea what I was really walking into. Sure I asked good questions in the interview but the people interviewing me really didn’t know what my actual job and client would be like. If I had really known what that job was I never would have taken it and wasted 18 months of my young career! All four of the other jobs I had a very solid understanding of what I was getting myself into. I got honest insights about the good and bad parts of the position and how best to excel. I felt like I was set up to succeed and shockingly I was successful!

Is there ever a time to apply online? The short answer is yes there are around 3-4 times I encourage online applications. Up until now I’ve only given this advice to accepted members of the D.C. Hopefuls Fellowship but today I’ll share one with you as well. Applying to jobs makes sense when you are following the advice of a contact. For example if your contact at agency ABC gives you the not so great advice to start applying on their site then you do it as proof you are willing to follow their advice. You can later use the fact you didn’t get the job as a talking point with them (See my blog Jumping Through Hoops).

In conclusion I want you to remember the goal is not to get a job it is to have a successful career. Getting a job only to fail (like I did with my second job) will set you back mentally and professionally. The goal is to get the RIGHT job and grow your professional network. If this is good enough for 45 year old insanely successful you then it should be good enough for twenty something you!!!

Stay Steadfast,

Tommy Pevehouse

The Closer

Many of you probably think of a pitcher coming to seal a win in the 9th inning. Maybe you think of a greasy salesman who comes in and closes the deal. I think of an awesome networker and established Washington, D.C. professional.

Every person is vulnerable and deals with insecurity. Bad people look for insecurities in others and try to exploit it while good people know that is the perfect time to close. What do I mean by close? I mean bringing finality to an interaction.

I’m no Yankees fan but Rivera was the ultimate closer…

For example I have jumped on the phone to give advice to probably over 300 young professionals by this point. Often I have this tiny voice in my head saying things like “this advice is generic, they could get this anywhere, or who are you to be telling anyone how to do things?” I try my best to shut that voice up but nothing does it like an email two hours later saying “Tommy thanks for the amazing advice. I feel like I have a plan and am so motivated to put into practice what you told me.” That is great closure to an interaction. It makes me feel valued, appreciated, and good about myself. Moving forward I will subconsciously associate that person with feeling happy and will want to have continued interactions with them in the future.

We all have the ability to silence other people’s little voices of self-doubt and the more you do it for other people the more they will like you and the more they like you the more likely they are to help you out or work hard for you. Those who are in the D.C. Boot Camp learn how to write great follow up emails to reiterate promises and action items while also bringing closure to the interaction…it can be powerful! I challenge you to go out and do this wherever you can. Next time a classmate or co-worker does a presentation just go up to them after and tell them good job. Sounds small but I promise otherwise they will walk out wondering if was good enough. Your small gesture will mean a lot and bring some closure to a likely anxious event.

D.C. Hopefuls Fellowship member Elliot Cole is the master at this practice. Of course he sends great follow up thank you emails when networking but he is quick to let you know how much he appreciated the quick chat or advice. He is great at closing out each interaction on a positive and self-assuring note.

It is not a coincidence that the three highest-ranking people I have ever worked for are the best three I’ve ever seen at this simple skill. I guarantee they did not start to wait doing this until they rose to the top leadership post in their organization, so I encourage you to go out and close everyday!

Stay Steadfast,

Tommy Pevehouse

The 1% of the 1%

Are you in the 1% of the 1%? No not the 1% that Bernie is always yelling at I’m talking about the steadfast spirit 1%. Last fall was really amazing for D.C. Hopefuls. I had the opportunity to speak seven times at five different college campuses. I spoke to various groups of both undergraduate and graduate level young people.

I’ve run some rough numbers and based off the email listservs and facebook groups my presentations were advertised to I would say no less than 5,000 people (entire student bodies and departments were emailed so this number may be much larger). Based on the notes I kept around fifty people attended….total! So off the bat anyone in attendance was in the 1%. Of those fifty people who attended less than ten have followed up on my promise to speak with them about their career and join this the D.C. Hopefuls newsletter. Less than 10 of the over 5,000 have taken the time to get free career advice!

In the past I would have been devastated by these numbers and begin telling myself I was simply wasting my time. There have been countless occasions were I thought about closing all of this down because such a small number of people seem interested. This is why I’m so thankful for the members of the D.C. Hopefuls Fellowship. I have been able to watch them take this information, put it into practice, change their lives and the lives of their fellow members.

There are plenty of young people who are determined to succeed and willing to put in all the work necessary and I’m optimistic they will eventually be successful but I have serious doubts. This isn’t about how hard someone is willing to work it is about how smart they are willing to work. I can go fishing for 10 days straight but if I’m using the wrong type of bait and scaring the fish away with my music it doesn’t matter how determined I might be.

It really is the 1% of the 1% of young people who are willing to admit what they don’t know, humble themselves, and learn the necessary skills to reach their dreams the right way. The right way doesn’t usually have immediate payoffs but always ends up being far easier and much less painful than sheer will of ignorant force (aka me for the first 5 years of my career).

So take some pride if you are in that small group who cared enough about your career to sign up for a newsletter like this and if you haven’t I encourage you to sign up right now. I also challenge you become part of the 1% of the 1% by seeking the guidance and skills necessary. Obviously I am biased and think D.C. Hopefuls Fellowship and D.C. Boot Camp is the best place to do that but if this not for you then please go surround and immerse yourself with people who can help you, guide you, and growth with you.

Stay Steadfast,

Tommy Pevehouse

Let Them Be Your Hero

My friends recently got in a tough spot where they badly needed someone to take over their lease. I wanted to help and started posting it in various housing Facebook groups. A few days later I heard they found someone through craigslist. I was happy for them but there was this weird part of me that was disappointed. I wanted to save the day and find them renters. I ultimately am happy with the outcome but wanted it to be because of me (super selfish).

Everyone likes to feel like a hero and you can use that! When you are networking it is so important to take people’s advice and update them on how it played out because it makes them feel like your success or just general journey is in part because of them. Each new contact, interview, or lead you get try to make it about them if you can (see Ditch The Pitch Tell Them Our Story). Giving people that hero feeling is incredibly powerful.

I wanted to be the hero that found them renters and the right people will want to be the hero that launches your career. People don’t just want you to find a job they want to be a part of your process but it is on you to make that happen! In D.C. Boot Camp I teach various ways you can incorporate people into your journey and feel like heroes as you convert them into career investors.

LET THEM BE YOUR HERO……I’ve included the link to let this message sink in further….so now every time you are out networking I want you thinking of Enrique Iglesias….

Stay Steadfast,

Tommy Pevehouse