Welcome to my first newsletter - Officially Upgraded!

Officially upgraded by Ritu Saxena

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My aim with these Newsletters is to give you the actual “How-To’s” and actionable strategies for Growth in 3 core areas – Confidence, Career & Income.

The reason why I started this newsletter is to teach you everything I can’t in 60 seconds of airtime I get on Instagram! Don’t get me wrong- I love that platform but it doesn’t let me detail everything you need to truly succeed in your career and live your life happily.

I always tell my clients that double down on your strengths. For me, my strengths have always been in articulating my thoughts through writing and with this Newsletter, I am practicing what I preach.

Today's topic - Job searching in this horrible market and what will set you apart!

Before we dive in just a small introduction, but you can scroll past to the real meat!

Who am I?

I am Ritu, an Indian origin girl living in New Zealand since the last 8 years. I am a dual qualified Chartered Accountant from both India and New Zealand.

After 3 years of grueling accounting internship, I kickstarted my 12-year career from a boutique Investment Banking firm and thereafter broke into Big4 Consulting with Ernst Young in Mumbai.

In 2016, I moved to New Zealand in a bid to tick my bucket list items of living independently overseas and continued my career with Ernst Young, Auckland.

After 5 years of high pressure consulting, I pivoted to Business side of things which really opened my eyes as to how businesses make decisions behind the scenes. I currently work in Finance -Strategy as a Business Partner at a ASX/NZX listed company, helping Executives solve complex problems.

Why I started this Platform?

If you’ve followed my journey on Instagram, you know that my struggle with self-confidence really hurt and stunted my career growth for a long time, I had reached my rock-bottom when I wasn’t given a pay raise in one performance review. It’s fair to say that my low self-confidence at work also affected my personal life and how I perceived myself overall.

In hindsight, that was the breakdown I needed for my breakthrough. It was only then I decided that this can’t be my story, I can’t be so qualified yet end up like this.

It’s been a journey of over 6 years of transformation since then where I have changed my story to become one of the 'Highly paid -Top Performers' in Finance. I was even recognized as the 'Top 20 CA’s in Australia & New Zealand' for my contributions to the country.

My aim with this platform remains to give women the access to strategies which helped me in this journey and which helped me develop a leadership driven brand which have helped me consistently land high paying jobs and increased career satisfaction.

Now let’s dive into what will really change the game for you in your Job Search:

In this horrible job market out there, if there is one thing that will set you apart it will be your personal touch and connections in job application process. Let’s break it down:

There are generally 2 touchpoints in a Job search:

1. In house recruiters or Recruiter Agency

2. Hiring Manager – Key decision maker.

 Tips for In house recruiters or Recruiter Agency:

Understanding the recruiter psychology first:

• The recruiter is not the technical expert, all they want to know is if you have what it takes to be a part of the culture, do you tick the boxes, your key highlights, are you likeable enough?

• They want to close this position as fast as possible and move on.

• Remember you have to be liked and pass the vibe check

This is my exact roadmap for a job application which I and my clients have successfully used to bag roles:

• I apply on the job portal and then immediately hunt down the recruiter who posted the Job AD. Look out for the name below the job post.

• Even better if you can find the hiring manager because they are one who make the decision (more on that below)

• And even better if you can find the email ID LinkedIn messages are ignored but emails are read every single day!

• PRO TIP to find Email ID's: Check 'Contact Info' under LinkedIn profile to find the information or use Email lookup services like 'Hunter.IO'

• Send them a message/email and ask them for a call. Yes call! This is the exact thing which will set you apart. Adding your voice, personality and your enthusiasm will position you as a confident candidate who knows what they want.

Tips for Hiring Manager:

• If you find their email, that would be gold! Hiring Manager is one who will be hiring you and possibly be working alongside you or managing you. So you can’t really bluff here, not that I ever ask you to do it for anyone, but get more strategic with this approach because they decide if they want to move ahead with your application.

• In a nutshell you want to explain how you are not only technically competent, but how you can contribute to their team, company culture and what results you can produce with your experience.

• Hiring Managers are looking for a great fit and someone who can hit the ground running.

Your exact script is here. Tweak it for either the recruiter or the Hiring Manager.

“Hi ___

I just saw the job post of “XX” <and I have already applied online/wanted to apply but had few questions>. If you have a moment, I would love to chat with you and explain my background.

Background: I am currently working at XX

Skills: I have XX years of experience working in various industries and I have this ‘<exact skills/ very aligned experience>’ you are looking for in this role. I am experienced in XX (Use the keywords of the job description to draw attention).

Achievement: In my previous role at [Previous Company], I successfully [mention a significant achievement or project which could be of direct relevance]

Passion: I am passionate about [specific aspect related to the role or industry] and hence this role really appeals to me.

I would love to explain my background in detail and how I can make a great fit. Please let me know what the best way is to get in touch”.

I aim to keep these Newsletters short and digestible. I will be back next week with actionable tips to grow your confidence, career and Income.

Have questions? Hit reply and ask me.

Found this useful? Share the love and knowledge with someone who might benefit from this!

It's only upwards from here!

Ritu

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