If you missed part 3, you can find it here.

Rule 7: Look for concerns. Once you have created your Prove Its, review them for anything that might cause the employer concern.

Andre is relying on his Masters in Marketing to land a high-level job in advertising, but he has no work experience in the field. Instead of helping, his degrees could create concern that he loves to learn but may not be able to apply his knowledge. He is asking for Masters-level salary, but offers no proof he can produce results. My recommendation would be, if he is not hired within 3-4 months, to remove the Masters degree from his resume and get some practical experience. If he applies for a lower-level job with his Masters degree on his resume, he is likely to be screened-out because he appears overqualified. After a year, he can add his degree back to his resume, and go for higher-level jobs. (The exception to this advice is with Masters or Doctoral degrees in areas of study that integrate practicum, such as teaching or the sciences.)

Rule 8: Always have a Good Answer for the Interview. Be ready to explain to the employer why your skill is relevant to their business, even if it was gained in a non-traditional way. As you develop your answer, listen to it as if you were the employer, or ask a friend who is an employer to help you.

So we’ve given you the rules for using less-traditional Prove Its, now let’s put it all together to see how Jason’s used his softball coaching experience to prove he’d be a great Assistant Restaurant Manager?

QSPs to prove as a team leader he could get results — “The team won only 1 out of 5 games the first half of the season, but won 4 out of 5 in the second half when I was coach” became “As the leader of a team of 14 people, I increased success by more than 80% within 8 weeks.”

Story to prove his skills in problem-solving and staff support — “One of my team members was ready to quit, so I took him aside for a chat. Turns out he had been forced out of another position and he wasn’t happy about it. Within a week, I had created a plan that allowed him and 2 others to switch positions. I retained his talent, and he even recruited 2 more strong team members.”

Demonstration – Jason wanted the employer to see that he could take complicated or uncommon ideas and make them simple for staff to understand. The clear and easy-to-see connection he drew between being a successful coach and a great Manager for the restaurant demonstrated these skills.

Credible Reference – One former employer vouched that he relied on Jason to run the kitchen when the Lead Cook didn’t show. Another verified that within 7 months, she began pairing new Waiters with Jason so he could train them.

Using his Prove Its from coaching on his resume got him interviews. Sharing his Prove Its in the interview impressed the employer, but it also raised a question … “Where did you get all this management experience?” When you use unpaid experience or non-traditional learning in your Prove Its, you MUST also have a Good Answer to explain it. Jason’s sounded something like this:

“I have been successfully managing projects and teams for years… it’s one of my natural skills and interests. To date, all my management experience has been unpaid. The examples I have given you here come from my work with a losing softball team that I took to second-in-the-league in the first year. I’ve been the Manager for 3 years now. Sometimes, I think unpaid Managers have an extra challenge, because the team they manage doesn’t have the incentive of a paycheck to work hard or give their best. I’m really looking forward to getting a job where I can use my natural skills and experience to make us both money.”

Jason’s Prove Its and Good Answer resulted in two management-level job offers!

This is an excerpt from a new book by MacDougall/Harney copyright 2008. It is printed by permission of the authors and can not be duplicated.

Photo by San Jose Library

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