Career Advancement Advisor | Creator of the Career Moves Advisory | Speaker |

Conversations have the power to change lives. 
Strangers become friends.  New ideas bloom.  Complex problems are solved. Inspiration is found. 

At the heart of every professional interaction, there lies a conversation. 

It’s in the unique conversation dynamic of an interview that I have spent thousands of hours exchanging questions and answers with professionals and executives. 

During my 28 years of corporate leadership and recruiting, I crafted sustainable talent acquisition policies and processes that paved the way for my recruiting team members to hire thousands of people. 👭🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏻👩🏽‍🤝‍👩🏿

I’ve watched life-changing conversations happen.

When I leapt from my corporate career to founding Spectacle Talent Partners, I had a choice. 
I could stay in my conversation comfort zone or begin new conversations.

I was uncomfortable without a title and a company next to my name, it was just me. 

Because I’m the 4th of 5 kids, I learned the value of my own voice early as well as the blessing of a community who was rooting for you to succeed. 

So I muffled my inner critic 🤐 and began casual conversations and then intentionally using my voice to share my knowledge, my own stories as well as learning from others.  

The same way that I learned recruiting from the ground up, I learned that online conversations can lead to offline conversations.

They are the gateway to new opportunities, professional growth, broader horizons and career advancement. 🌄

I transformed from a LinkedIn observer to a LinkedIn Top Voice without focusing on the algorithm, instead I focus on…you guessed it…conversations. 🗝️

Today, corporate clients come to me when they want to streamline processes and attract more qualified candidates.  

Executives come to me when they want a recruitment partner 🤝 working for them to demystify the interviewing, negotiating and hiring processes.  

Let’s start a conversation: susan@spectacletalentpartners.com

Kind words from clients:  
Sue, thanks for easing me out of the fetal position when it comes to LinkedIn!  You helped me find the mindset and confidence to join the conversation with purpose and connect with some great people I wouldn't have met otherwise. You've changed my perspective from social for self to social for good! - Daphne (Career Advisory client)

Sue – Thank you for your incredible advice. You taught me so much and I will forever be thankful for collaborating with you. Your guidance was a huge reason I landed this incredible opportunity. You Rock!!! - Bob T. (Career Advisory client)

When it’s Thanksgiving week and my to do list longer than a CVS receipt
[Why I scrapped the Thanksgiving turkey]

When our kids were young, planning thanksgiving was simple because there was one schedule.

The family schedule. It had a rhythm. 

Thanksgiving was a mix of car rides, cooking and time with family. 
Some years we spent more hours on the road than in the kitchen. 
(I don’t miss the 9 hours in the car travelling from Virginia to Connecticut.)
 
Today, it’s 4 schedules. 
Which is why I scrapped the turkey. We’re going with steak.  
Plus the yummy Thanksgiving sides. 
It’s not traditional, but sometimes tradition needs a mini-makeover. 
 
P.S. Anything that gives me more time to play games, I’m in. 
 
Are you spending time on the road this week?

Susan Gygax

Waiting for a response to your “I’m just following up” email? 
We’ve all felt the angst of waiting after a promising interview. 

“I wanted to check in” email is like trying to make the elevator move faster by pressing the button 6 gallian times while you decide if you are supposed to make eye contact with the stranger standing a little too close to you. 

 Send this email instead:
 
 Dear [Hiring Manager's Name],
 
 I enjoyed our discussion about [Position] [date/yesterday].
 
I [was inspired by/resonated with] our conversation and how you are able to [subject mentioned in interview]. 

The challenge you mentioned regarding [specific
problem/project] stood out, as it closely parallels a situation at [previous
company]. 

While I was there, I was able to [outcome of effort] which eliminated/reduced] [pain – what impact did it have?]. 

I'm enthusiastic about the possibility of joining your team and tackling these challenges together.
 
 Kind regards,
 [First name Last name]
 [phone number]
  
 
The difference: you’re not looking for a reply, you’re continuing the conversation. 
⤷ Swap out the boring email for a mini-conversation that keeps you top of mind. 

P.S. Click “save this post” using the three dots in the right corner so you can have a handy reminder before you send that email.

Serious elevator question: do you say hello or stand there in silence?  You don't want to be rude and you don't want to interrupt whatever it is they are doing on their phone.  Or maybe you split the difference with a polite head nod? 

Photo is a from our trip to France and Spain a few years ago.  Me trying to emulate the ever-lovely Audrey Hepburn.  It didn't work out so well.

A colleague joked, “Running to another hiring emergency?” 
[it bugged me because she was right]

It was a hectic, too-much-to-do and not-enough-time day as a newly promoted recruiting leader. 

I laughed as I continued to fast walk through the hall. 
It was a little funny and a lot true.  
 
Executives would show up at my door with urgent requests:
→A budget finally approved.
→A project falling behind.
→A new initiative needing people yesterday.

I took every request seriously. Rearranged priorities. Adjusted projects midstream. Played detective in the applicant tracking system. 
⤷I was more anxious parent than skilled practitioner. 

She helped me realize that the problem wasn’t the requisition load, it was the lack of structure. 

I shifted from firefighter to player-coach so we could carry on with the workload using simple, repeatable processes. 

Over time: 
Leaders gave compliments instead of complaints.
⤷ the COO came down to speak to the team to thank them

Data replaced guesswork.
⤷ Data is the backbone of a story, it stands it up

Recruiters became trusted advisors, not task-jugglers.
⤷ Every recruiter can be an advisor when they have the skills and tools
 
It’s true that you can’t manage what you can’t measure
And I learned that you can’t coach if you’re only playing defense.
 
What’s your take on the player/coach model? 
 
P.S. I’m a fast walker, even in heels. Maybe one day I’ll be in a mall-loop group.

“It’s weird talking about yourself online”
[my take is slightly different]
 
I’ll cut right to it:
We like talking about ourselves, but we don’t like making it about ourselves. 
 
When you post online, it feels like you’re making the conversation about you. 
And that feels…awkward.
 
When you’re in a conversation, you have a back and forth, an unwritten contract of mutual sharing.
 
When you post online, you are starting a conversation.
And in order to do that, you have to jumpstart a dialogue out of thin air. 
[Which you’ve done dozens of times on the sideline of the soccer field or volleyball court or holiday concert. ]

It feels weird until you realize that it’s not about you, but it does start with you. 

Where was the last place you jumpstarted a conversation out of thin air? 
 
P.S. A few of the kind comments I received after a 15 minute call. These are not clients, these are people who decided that their professional career was worth a short conversation with an experienced corporate talent acquisition leader. 

P.P.S. It’s like calling the plumber without the $185/hr price tag. Chances are you can see there’s a problem, you’re just not sure where the problem starts.

You’ve been heads down for the last 5, 8, 11 years and suddenly you’re thrown into a job market that's changing fast.

Here’s 2 things that haven’t changed about interviews:
 
  1. First impressions still matter
 
 68% of people think their first impressions are accurate 
 [one study found 85% of people believed in the accuracy of their first impression].
 
What you can do before your next interview: Decide what you want that to be because you are 100% in control of your first impression. 

 2. The interviewer wants you to use “I” more than you use “We”.
 
Drop “we” as a main character in your story, opt for “I”. 
Interviewers want to know what you led/designed/redesigned. 
 
What you can do before your next interview: Check your stories for overuse of “we”. The interviewer is most curious about you, not your whole team. 

P.S. Collaboration is included in every JD.  Yet, in an interview, if every answer is “we did” “we evaluated” “we created the initiative” ...
It's the very reason you are not moving forward.

 What's one way you like to make a memorable first impression? 
=
Hi, I’m Sue. I'm a former corporate recruiting leader. If you aren’t getting through the interview process and you keep hearing that someone is more qualified, it's likely that person took the time to figure out how to easily help others see their qualifications even in a 30 minute interview. 

(photo: Thanksgiving 2020)

How would you describe your leadership style in 3 words…
When I interview corporate leaders, I often ask this question. 
 
The follow up question: What 3 words would your direct reports use to describe your leadership?

The answer matters less than your ability to answer with confidence. 
It’s like being asked your street address. 
⤷you may not have been thinking about it, but you know it so well that you can respond instantly.
 
It reveals 2 leadership qualities:  
1. Self-awareness: Leaders who know themselves build stronger teams.
2. Others-awareness: Leaders who understand how they’re perceived build healthier teams.
 
What’s one word you’re proud to have consistently associated with your leadership?

Lunch interview with the EVP…do you immediately think “Let’s go!” or “Oh no!”
Phew, you made it through 3 rounds. 
Just one more to go and it’s a lunch with the EVP. 

Pros: 
→ More casual atmosphere
→ Gives you something to do with your hands
→ Free lunch! 

Cons:
→ Feels awkward, maybe even like a test
→ You have to actually eat
→ Not knowing how formal the interview questions will be. 
 
You’ve been on both sides of the lunch interview. 
Which camp are you in? 
“Yes, I love them”
Or
 “No, I don’t want to add “deciding on lunch” to my interview prep”
==
Hi. I’m Sue. I’m a former corporate recruiting leader working alongside senior leaders who want to tell a compelling story in their next interview. 

Curious how you can do that without worrying you’re talking too much? Let’s talk. A 15 minute call could save you a whole week of the wrong kind of preparation.

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