Helping job seekers revitalize their networking strategy in Q3 | Conversations > Applications ✌️

I help job seekers unlock $100K+ roles by mastering the story that sells. Conversations ​> Applications // Career Coach // Resume & LinkedIn Writing // Job Search Strategy

I believe you should be able to obtain your career dreams and that’s what I help professionals do. 

My clients have landed roles at Oracle, Deloitte, EY, Tata Consultancy, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Eaton, Salesforce, KPMG, PWC, Dell, Higher Education or started their own venture 😌

But, landing your dream role doesn’t happen by chance, or with me creating an offer letter for you. My most successful clients know it takes hard work, patience, and perseverance.

The results? Massive career pivots, finding clarity in what you wanted to do, landing your target role in 2 months, and getting 2x your current salary. 

Ultimately, the people I work with feel respected, valued, and paid fairly in their career path.

I am a career coach guiding frustrated mid-career professionals to their target roles by teaching them to have the right conversations with the right people

For brand partnerships or creator collaborations, reach out anytime: dominic@dxconsults.com

Sick of hearing from me?  Scroll 👇🏼  to see what my clients have to say

Who am I and why should you listen to me?

I was an underdog, I never had the perfect GPA, experience, or stories to tell and I still broke into the #1 professional service firm in the world. Before that, I spent time in public accounting, start-ups, and fortune 500 companies.

I sat behind the scenes in HR and watched resumes pile in, held phone screens and reference checks, and interviewed candidates, and rejected candidates (yes, all while utilizing an ATS). 

I’ve seen how treacherous the job searching process can be; automated rejections, ghosting, 14 rounds of interviews, and 250 applications a week. I don’t want you to have to live in the process that every candidate believes to be normal.

Born and raised in Cleveland, I took an unconventional path: four years in Austin, an unexpected detour living in Indonesia, and now a return to Austin where the weather is elite and the tacos are dangerously good.

My time abroad gave me perspective, my time in Cleveland gave me grit, and Austin has given me the space to build a business around helping people do work they love. I still root for the Browns (against all odds), and I’m usually running, creating, or hanging with family and friends when I'm not coaching.

Dominic Imwalle

Career advice nobody wants to hear:

Close your laptop.
Grab a whiteboard (or paper).
Map your stories.

Last week, VP-level client in a 1:1.

They kept looking left during our session.
Finally I asked: "Did you do the work on a board?"

"Yes - collected my thoughts and wanted to make sure I had the stories right."

So few people do this.

Get off the laptop.
Grab a pen and paper.
Start mapping where you want to go.

What will you sell to the next person who takes a chance on you?

Your pivot starts with clarity.
Your clarity starts with writing it down.

Few are doing this work.

Which is exactly why it'll help you stand out.

Platforms don’t hire you, people do | Conversations ​> Applications

If you're getting interviews but not offers, here is what I’ve noticed over the last month:

You're missing translation.

Most think more interviews = more success/options. But the gap isn't your experience. It's how you're packaging it.

Here's what changes things:

- Connect your work to their outcomes
- Use their internal language
- Speak to their problems

When you learn to translate your value into their vocabulary, interviews convert.

You will constantly start to drive answers towards, "what do they get from bringing me into this role?"

This is what it takes to win. 

The person hired isn't always most qualified. It's the one who made it easiest to say yes.

Learn their language, close the role ✌🏼

I believe universities should be required to dedicate a full semester to structured job placement support before students graduate. 

I talk to talented students all the time who either don't use the resources or have a university that isn't working towards supporting them professionally

Ps) this comes from someone who just hired an intern from alma mater, excited to talk about this more soon. A major focus of our work will be helping them land a full-time role post grad.

If you're not obsessively preparing for interviews, you're leaving the outcome to chance.

- Not "I'll be myself and see what happens" mode.
- Not "hope they like me" mode.
- Not "I'll wing it" mode.

Whether you've got 5 years of experience or 15, the prep work stays the same (to an extent).

Here's what I ask every client to do 👇

STEP 1) Study their LinkedIn profile

- No need to connect yet, but go see where they've spent time.
- What companies? What roles?
- What do they care about?

STEP 2) What will you reference from your last interview?

- If this is round two or three, what did you learn? What thread can you pick up and build on?

STEP 3) What 3 stories will hit home with this interviewer?

- Match your wins to what matters to them. Don't just recite your resume - connect the dots for them.

STEP 4) What are you tweaking from the last interview that went wrong?

- If something didn't land, fix it. Don't repeat the same mistake twice.

STEP 5) Prepare 5-10 questions

- Not 1-3. Aim for 10. Go back through all the steps above - does it drive any further questions?

The preparation is what you control and where you can win.

AND also... you'll know if you left something on the table. 

KNOCK out your prep 🤝

I can't put to words how important it is to hang around for a long time and serve people at the highest level you can. 

I'm having so much fun on LinkedIn right now.

I get to work with great people. 
I get to see them smash their dream role.
I get to help them negotiate the salary they want.
I get to sit with them in the brutal moments of the process.

This doesn't happen if I don't hang around for 5+ years. 

All the moments of people hating on your content, telling you you're too young to serve people, or the content being "cringey" are part of the game. 

This is it. Here's to the long game. 

Smile and wave 👋🏼

ps) it's cringey until it works. and it still feels like the early days.

A few things I've noticed this week working 1:1 with professionals:

1) You can’t control who shows up to the interview room.
2) Nail your follow-ups. I go three times before I stop asking.
3) You will lose at least once in this process. Accept it early.
4) People are waiting to hear from you. Send the message.
5) The first 90 days matter most. Be the one.
6) Prepare questions obsessively. Great questions separate you.
7) Bucket your answers in interviews. Make it easy to follow.

Move through these with speed, curiosity, and a light heart. You'll take a few losses along the way but if you keep moving + prioritize people. 

You are well on your way. 
Have a day 🤝

The best candidates are already in motion.

Building, connecting, creating "value" (yes I know you hate that word as a job seeker at times)

Breaking down a piece I've been working on in mock interviews with folks

let's have a week 🤝

Ps) someone embody conversations > applications this past week, I highlighted them in my newsletter here 👇🏼

https://lnkd.in/g44PJ6vT

Most professionals don't have a job search problem

We tweak our resume. 
We tweak our LinkedIn. 
We tweak our featured section. 

And honestly, those aren't bad things to do... but what's the cadence at which you are doing them?

The real problem that I'm seeing is flipping the role you're going after week after week. What is the ONE lane you want to go spend time in for 60 days?

Ps) I'm working for 24 consecutive hours right now (a challenge if you will), shoot me a message if you need anything and I'll get back to you ASAP.

Ps) saw a speak an interview into existence this week, wrote about it here: https://lnkd.in/g44PJ6vT

I watched my clients land ~$426k in combined comp over the last week. My 3 reasons why they won (and you can too)

1. Stay even-keeled through the chaos

→ This market will test you. One week you're interviewing at a top-tier startup or FAANG. The next week your pipeline is empty.

→ We weren't always great at this, but it's mandatory now. The emotional rollercoaster will drain you if you let it.

2. Keep creating options until the very end

→ You never know when someone will pull the rug or come through. I wouldn't be against entertaining calls up until a few days before your first day.

→ More options mean more leverage. More leverage means better outcomes.

3. Ask PHENOMENAL questions

→ The bar is low here, which means you can stand out fast.

→ Grab information from a 1st round interview that you'll use in the 3rd round when you get closer to the specifics of the role.

And here's the bonus most people miss:

Speed wins.

→ From scheduling interviews to responding to the team
→ The market rewards people who move with urgency
→ Fast doesn't mean sloppy - it means intentional

These aren't theories.

They're what my clients did to win $426k in offers (not including ~10% bonuses per person).

ps) 6 interviews this week across 11 folks, let's keep the motion!

I didn't realize how many folks are out there running a service with people where they don't spend time with them.

Won't get on a call.
Won't respond to a message. 
Won't grab a coffee in-person. 

Don't work with someone that doesn't make time. You're better off taking a risk with someone that'll dive into the trenches with you. 

Food for thought, let's have a Saturday

A recent client didn't get the job because of their resume - they got it by doing the work nobody else would.

This changes everything.

The process started with cold outreach to an old alumni.
That led to intro calls.
They asked sharp questions and got pushed to apply for a specific role.

Once applied, they were invited into a rigorous interview process.

Not for one role - but TWO.

Midway through a case study for the first role, they got the news:

The position was filled.

Most people would've stopped there or maybe lash out at the company for leading them down this path.

But here's what they did instead:

- Showed what they were capable of.
- Finished the case study anyway.
- Sent it to the team.

The team was so impressed, they:

- Made an offer.
- Fast-tracked the interview process.
- Skipped the case study for the second role.

Everyone in the process had similar backgrounds... consulting experience, strong schools, and polished answers.

But my client separated themselves by:

- Delivering a phenomenal product.
- Spending time with people.
- Doing the work required (at a high level).

If you're wondering why your applications aren't converting...

- Go beyond what's asked.
- Show them what you can do.
- Make it impossible to ignore you.

At this point you have 2 options:

1) Keep submitting the same resume

- and wait for a callback
- and stay in the same spot
- and hope someone notices

2) Do the work that separates you

- so you can close the gap to your next offer
- so you can control the outcome
- so you can blow them away

I believe I know where you want to land.

this is the goal in conversations > applications

ps) they looked back on a process of people who believed in them vs. a mountain of rejections.

Your salary grows slow when no one teaches you to ask - here's what changed for one of my clients.

"Thank you.. I'm in."

That first job out of college hits different.
First real paycheck, you take whatever they offer.

Then the years roll by.

3-10% bumps here and there.
Maybe something wild if you're in tech, banking, or consulting.

But here's what nobody teaches you:

How to have the "here's why I'm worth more" conversation.

I just watched a client move their offer up $20K in one conversation.

They asked. They didn't apologize for it.
And they got it. If you do great work AND you're in a solid industry, the money is there.

The difference?
You have to speak up.

Most people wait for someone to notice.
The ones who win? They make the case.

Don't be afraid to schedule the chat ✌🏼

You "get" to do work that changes lives.

If you're lucky enough, you'll serve people through their biggest transformations.

Last 4 weeks, watched folks accept offers in:

Communications Associate
Project Management - Delivery Lead
Strategy and Operations Consulting Manager
CRM and User Retention

Fired off a couple of "first day" texts this morning.

Truly a blessing to see people chase down work they love and make their transformation real.

Here's to the folks next up:

Director of Clinical Operations
Life Sciences Consulting
Senior Backend Engineer
Project Manager (Healthcare)
Civil Engineering Graduate
Director of Manufacturing
Pre-Sales Solution Engineer
VP of Customer Success
Enterprise Architect
AI Operations Consulting
IT Director / Delivery
Accounting Manager

This works because:

- People commit when they see the path forward.
- The right story attracts the right opportunity.
- Information opens up new doors for us.

By staying in it, you'll:

- Build confidence in your next move.
- Prove to yourself what's possible.
- Find people that advocate for you.
- Land the role that fits your career.

Let's go have a week 🤝

A senior leader I work with is now sitting back and fielding recruiter calls.

2 months ago?

This was not the case at all.

They had a 5/10 LinkedIn Profile, had never posted or commented on the platform, and had barely any presence online.

So here's what we went after:

1) They updated their LinkedIn profile

- Clean positioning, clear story, real credibility.
- This alone started generating inbound messages.

2) They started showing up consistently

- Logging on each week (15-20 minutes)
- Finding cool people to chat with in their arena.
- Responding to messages and sending messages.

3) They let their work speak through engagement

- 15 years of great work behind them.
- People genuinely love working with them.
- They stopped being invisible and started engaging online.

The result?

Recruiters are now coming to them.

They're sitting at the top telling potential employers what they want next, not the other way around. Here's what I believe people miss when they read this:

1) Consistent activity takes time (not just 2 weeks).
2) You have to actually do it, not just plan to.
3) You need to do great work (reputation)

Visibility + credibility = leverage 🤝

Ps) a major reason this works for them is because they did the work for 15 years, built trust, and weren't afraid to put themselves out there.

If I'm not serving people on here, hanging with loved ones, or thinking if it'll all ever work out. 

I'm probably figuring out how to incorporate more orange in my life or training.

have a Sunday 🤝

ps) I know it'll work out, there's no other option. 

s/o Garmin Forerunner
s/o Share Aura (they'll never be on LinkedIn)

I love seeing someone nail their professional dreams. Nothing lights me on fire more. 

The moment they crushed the interview, signed an offer, or finally figured out what they needed to pitch. 

I'm also obsessed with seeing how people launch their business, scale, and grow teams. The grit, grind, and figuring out what will work are the moments i love being around.

I'll be wholeheartedly focused on two things when I'm not working 1:1 with folks this year:

The Advocate... this will be a more focused recruiting arm to serve series A founders. These founders don't need more resumes on their desk or team members spending time screening, they need a partner in the process for high-stake hires that'll help them scale. More to come!

(yes, you will see me commenting from this page 😉)

The Operator Reset... this will be a branch of the 1:1 coaching but I want to partner with two leaders this year, fly into their city, run a 1:1 workshop for two-days, and set them on the right path for their next role!

(peep my featured section if this is you)

I love this game. I love serving people and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon. Thanks for always supporting me and giving me a platform to serve others. 

Have a day 🤝

3 coaching engagements wrapped up recently. Here are the questions I asked to close them out:

"What was the first moment you thought, 'Oh… this is different than anything else I've tried'?"

"What part of the process felt uncomfortable at first, but ended up mattering the most?"

"If someone shadowed you for a week during the search, what would they be surprised you weren't doing?"

"What would you tell '3-months-ago you' to stop worrying about?"

"If someone came to you today saying 'the market is terrible,' how would you respond now?"

These calls have been incredible:

- Honest feedback that helps me serve better
- Proof that the right questions unlock clarity
- Laughs and shocking realizations

This matters because:

- You stop repeating what didn't work
- You admit where you were wrong
- You learn what actually moved the needle

The people you serve deserve your best work.
Ask the right questions.

Take their progress seriously.

Learn from what's working ✌🏼

Friendly reminder: you never know who you'll run into during the interview process. The only piece you can control is your preparation and creating more options.

I tried to work for 24 hours in a row. Hit a wall at 19 hours around 5:00 am, came back alive to crush out the last few hours at 10 am.

A few tools that made this an awesome:

S/o Gamma proposal decks ready for today and some exploring with the new Claude integration. 

S/o Lovable built out two new webpages to host offerings for this year (coming soon 👀)

S/o Claude, I've given you an honest try and had you build out my entire financial forecast for the business. I'm with you.

S/o Google Scripts... built out a weekly email automation I'm going to send to my clients with fresh LinkedIn posts with open roles from folks in their arena.

It's not always pretty. But it's honest. 

A few quotes from some background noise through the night

"You have no idea what you're doing, and therefore you're invincible."

"But there are a few people who find something they have to do, something that obsesses them..."

"When you have worked through failures in the past, you fear them less in the future. You know you can bounce back."

have a Friday 🤝

“If someone came to you today saying ‘the market is terrible,’ how would you respond now?”

I ask this when I close out with a client.
I haven't had someone deny the market once. 

"It is"
"The market sucks"
"I've never seen anything this bad"

But here's what followed today that I loved:

1) Patience is everything. 

- That would be my focus outside of the market... you aren't going to get this right in one swing, give yourself grace through it. 

2) YOU have more control than you think. 

- Sure you can't know if your resume is going to be read, but you can own the value you plan to bring to that role. 

3) create your own "mini-market"

- Instead of relying on the macro job market, build a smaller community of advocates and attention around your work. They focused on LinkedIn visibility but the idea was also the long game, "you won't get the job immediately, but you're going to get eyes on the things that are valuable to the job you want"

And that's what people notice. 

My favorite take was the mini-market note, I hadn't thought about all the work I'm doing with folks 1:1 is essentially creating a community for them to operate in. 

These are thoughts from someone who received an offer.

let's rock this week 🤝

Ps) their job search wasn't 30 days either. Lasted a whole 5 months. 

Bonus: 5 offers over the last 4 weeks, don't go at this alone. Reach out if you need support!

Erin Kennedy

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 that my three passions of helping people, writing, and talking would eventually be my career, I wouldn't have believed you. I was hell-bent on working in a human resources office of an automotive company (I’m from Michigan—Motor City!).  

But life had different plans for me. 

It took me a bit to get here but eventually, I did (I post a lot here about my detours!).🛣️

For the last 20 years, we’ve helped 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 land the roles they wanted in the companies they chose. 

We can do the same for you.

We offer a high-touch service and work with you one-on-one throughout the process as your thought partner and career strategist. 

My team of 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱, 𝗧.𝗢.𝗥.𝗜. 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱-𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 create career documents for clients seeking opportunities from $150K+ to $1M+, from mid-level to c-level executives for just about every industry. 

We have 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 on staff to help you navigate LinkedIn’s ever-changing landscape through coaching and hands-on LI exploration.

I’m proud to say I've assembled a select team of writers, editors, and LinkedIn experts that are truly the "𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁". As the top writers and consultants in the industry, they create power-packed documents and profiles that will make you say, "WOW!! Is this really me? I'd hire me!"

▶️ 𝗪𝗘 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥:

✔ Executive Resumes & Cover Letters
✔ VP, Director, Senior Mgr, and Professional Resumes 
✔ Resumes for CEO, CFO, COO, CIO, CTO, CMO, "CXO", CSO, and C-Suite
✔ Board Resumes
✔ LinkedIn Profile Writing, Strategy, & Coaching 
✔ Brand Strategy
✔ Graphic and Networking Resumes
✔ Job Search, Interview, & Career Coaching 
✔ Executive Recruiter Resume Distribution
✔ VC/PE Resume Distribution 
✔ We are Recruiter Approved!

▶️  𝗠𝗬 𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗦

➖ Nationally Certified Online Profile Expert (NCOPE)
➖ Master Career Director (MCD)
➖ Certified Resume Analyst (CRA)
➖ Certified Master Resume Writer (CMRW)
➖ Certified Executive Resume Writer (CERW)
➖ Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW)
➖ Certified Empowerment & Motivational Coach (CEMC)
➖ Member: CTL, CDI, NRWA, Forbes Council
➖ Former Board Member, NRWA: Experienced Business Owner, East
➖ Certification Committee, Career Directors International (CDI)
➖ TORI Judge, multiple TORI nominations and wins (CDI)
➖ 20+ years in the career industry
➖ BS,Human Resources

Call now: 810-664-1933
Or schedule your appointment at: https://www.exclusive-executive-resumes.com

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Dominic Imwalle

Erin Kennedy

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The Battle

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Erin Kennedy

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Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Dominic Imwalle's LinkedIn Performance

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