My Career Hacker
Alfonso Colasuonno and Lauren Rubin from Baltimore are the founders and CEO of MyCareerHacker.com. They are Millennials targeting other young people with their career advancement (résumés, cover letters, LinkedIn) business, who are underemployed or unemployed. We have conducted an interview with them.
Why is it important to 'career hack' to succeed in today's context?
It's absolutely critical to hack your career because job applicants today are facing unprecedented levels of competition. When many open positions have over 500 applicants, you need to stand out or you may face underemployment, unemployment, a job beneath your qualifications, or an extreme amount of time devoted to job hunting - often with little to show for it. Hacking your career with MyCareerHacker.com puts you in the best possible situation for success.
What is essentially different in career advancement years ago versus today for the Millennials/young people?
Young people today face stiff competition. Now, a college degree is roughly equivalent to a high school degree in our parents' generation. With a slowing economy and rising student debt, young people need to go on the offensive to avoid the horror stories we all hear about overqualified, underpaid, or unemployed young people who aren't moving forward in their careers, even into their early 30s. This is where a good résumé, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile can make all the difference. Whereas in previous generations, the focus was more on specific training for specific lines of work, now there's a generation of multi-faceted, well-rounded professionals seeking jobs in a variety of fields. Being able to tailor your résumé and cover letter and reach out across the spectrum to a variety of jobs through networking on LinkedIn is essential to propelling this generation towards the careers they're suited for and the careers that will be fulfilling to them.
Which are your Career Hacking Specialties other than education and social work? How did you divide your career hacking specialties with Lauren Rubin?
Aside from education and social work, I specialize in communications, marketing, public relations, social media management, sales, entrepreneurship, freelancers, and criminal justice. Lauren and I divided our specialties based on our experience as multitalented and versatile professionals. For example, Lauren's skill set in the medical field and nonprofits comes from her time working as a pharmacist at a rural health clinic in Kenya. Regardless of our specialties, Lauren and I work on every résumé, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile together. We believe this strengthens the service we give to our clients given our unique perspectives, backgrounds, and skill sets. As an engaged couple, we're devoted to each other, and we put that same love and devotion into all material that comes across our desk.
What are the ways your services help present the candidate as an elite, distinctive professional?
MyCareerHacker.com's process isn't computerized, automated, or generic in any way. We take each résumé and look at the person behind the materials. We ask probing questions to get at the heart of what makes them elite, and then use our superb communication skills to translate that onto the page. Most people don't know how to best present themselves to hiring managers. Having been on both sides of that process, we're aware of what hiring managers are looking for and how to pull it out of each client to present the best possible versions of themselves. Lauren and I then go and utilize our clients' network to increase the scope and traction of their newly realized potential.
What kind of service guarantee do you provide to your clients?
The guarantee that we provide is that we'll work tirelessly until our clients are completely satisfied and feel that they can put their best foot forward into their job search. We offer as many résumés, cover letter, and LinkedIn revisions as necessary, all at no extra charge, until our clients are 100% satisfied.
