The Mid-Career GPS Podcast

257: Build a Personal Landing Page to Find Your Next Job with Kate Speer

John Neral Season 4

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Unlock the secrets to turning adversity into opportunity with marketing and communications expert Kate Speer. Discover how Kate transformed an unexpected job loss into a remarkable career pivot by leveraging her marketing skills for self-promotion. Learn actionable strategies for creating a compelling personal landing page and building a powerful LinkedIn network that can lead to new job opportunities, especially for mid-career professionals.

Find out why authenticity is your greatest asset during a job search and how presenting yourself genuinely can make a significant impact. We discuss the parallels between job searching and marketing campaigns, emphasizing the importance of consistent effort and multiple touchpoints. Kate's journey underscores the need for understanding your ideal work environment, maintaining a robust professional network, and staying resilient even in the face of setbacks.

We also dive into common mistakes mid-career professionals make and how to avoid them. Learn the benefits of a personalized landing page, the power of networking, and staying visible on LinkedIn. Kate shares how everyday conversations can be turned into valuable LinkedIn posts and the importance of being social and consistent on the platform. This episode is packed with insights to help you stand out in a competitive job market and build a stronger personal brand. Don’t miss out on these expert tips to navigate your mid-career journey with confidence and strategy.

Connect with Kate Speer
Kate's Landing Page | LinkedIn 

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John Neral:

What if finding your next job was as simple as being yourself? Today's guest is a perfect example of that. Kate Spear embraced a detour along her career journey and leveraged that circumstance to further define her personal and professional brand and found a way to show up on LinkedIn. That built a network in ways she never imagined. Then, one day, out of nowhere, she gets an invite to interview for a job. You'll hear her amazing story and her different and unique marketing tips to help you find that job you love in today's episode. So let's get started. Hello, my friends, this is the Mid-Career GPS Podcast and I'm your host, john Nerrell. I help mid-career professionals like you find a job they love, or love the job they have, using my proven four-step formula. My guest's story is truly different and unique, and it's one of the reasons I invited her on the show. So let me tell you a little bit about her.

John Neral:

Kate Sper is a people-first, results-driven connection creator with expertise in marketing, communication, engagement, counseling, psychology and positive culture building. Kate brings a wealth of experience and a diverse skill set to drive impactful business initiatives. Previously, as the Vice President of Marketing, engagement and Investor Relations for a prominent trucking company, kate oversaw all aspects of the brand, earning recognition as a 2022 Transportation Marketing and Sales Association Top Brand Innovator and a 2023 Top Woman to Watch in Transportation by Women in Trucking. These accolades reflect her ability to craft compelling strategies that elevate brands and cultivate meaningful stakeholder relationships, and you will learn how she did that for herself in finding her current position. Kate holds an MBA from Robert Morris University and a BA in marketing from there as well. She's attended Duquesne University for counselor education, has earned a women in leadership certificate from Cornell University and completed the Leadership Ethics and Corporate Accountability program at Harvard.

John Neral:

Kate is a certified social media strategist from the National Institute of Social Media and holds a Lean Six Sigma Greenbelt certification. As a proud mother of four boys, two of whom play hockey, kate values family and enjoys spending time at the ice rink. She's also an avid traveler and has explored all 48 continental states, embracing new experiences and perspectives along the way With a strong, collaborative and innovative approach. Kate's recognized for building deep connections with stakeholders, fostering employee satisfaction and acting as the authentic and positive voice and face of the brand in public relations, investor relations and stakeholder communications. And yes, all of this is impressive, but in this episode, I want you to carefully listen to how Kate leverages all of her training and education to market herself when she needed to find a new job. You will definitely get some great tips from her, and so I hope you enjoy my conversation with Kate Speer. Kate Speer, welcome to the Mid-Career GPS podcast. It's great to have you here.

Kate Speer:

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.

John Neral:

So, kate, I want to let the listeners know you and I talked probably the beginning of this year, and so it's been great for us to reconnect. I've been excited to have this conversation with you today because you've got some great job search tips and just general tips in terms of how mid career professionals can show up and play on LinkedIn. But before we get to all that, you got to give us the tea. What was your mid-career moment that brought you to this moment today?

Kate Speer:

I love that, all the tea. So my mid-career moment would be it happened about two years ago 18 months ago now and I was at a job that I loved. I thought that was my forever home. I was leading marketing. I was super happy, I was doing all the right things, I was performing well. But sometimes you know, life's not always in your hands. Things happen. So that job ended in a way that kind of surprised me and took me off of my game a little bit and it really forced me to take a step back and be like now what I thought I had everything figured out Turns out there was lots more for me to accomplish and learn and figure out after that happens. But it really made me take a good look at you know what now? What do I do now?

Kate Speer:

And I'm a marketer by trade, so that's what I've always done professionally. So I've promoted other people, I've promoted companies. Like I knew how to do all the right things. I had never done that for myself and I think a lot of people don't. It's a scary thing to do.

Kate Speer:

It's real easy to kind of talk about how great the company is or the products that you're selling, but when you have to turn that spotlight on yourself and say how do I self-promote?

Kate Speer:

I feel like that feels kind of icky for people. It's a little uncomfortable and it was something I never really had done before until it was time for me to go. It was like I'm going out of the plane. I don't have a parachute. We got to build one as we're falling here. So that would be kind of my mid-career moment and I really dove into all of the things that I know how to do as a marketer. I built a landing page for myself. I really took to LinkedIn and was posting there regularly, connecting with people regularly. Don't want to get into like all the nitty gritty on that, because I feel like you have so many resources that talk about that but I really leaned in hard to all the good things that I could be doing to meet people, to promote myself, to look for my next opportunity, and that's kind of what led me on the path that I'm on today.

John Neral:

Well, kate, I appreciate you sharing all of that, because it's one of the reasons I wanted us to talk and talk about your story specifically, because, for so many mid-career professionals, there is that point where we all get comfortable and we think like, I'm good, I got this all figured out, everything is okay. And then, to your point, something happens and for many mid-career professionals, they're not comfortable with promoting who they are and what they do.

Kate Speer:

How did you get through that in order to leverage your marketing skills to simply say I need to be doing this for me yeah, well, at the time I wish it had come a little easier, but it really was like my back was up against the wall and it's like I have to go, I have to put myself out there and there's a little bit, I think, of emotions that come when you get let go or your job that you thought was going to be forever doesn't exist anymore, where you're kind of also feeling bad about yourself. So not only did I know I had to go to do the things to find the job, to figure out my next step, it was also, I think, helpful and kind of rebuilding my self esteem, reminding myself you know, I do have worth and what do I have to offer. It's beyond just the job title that I had or the company that I worked for. It was a lot of reflection of who is Kate outside of the job and the title and the things that I did at work. So it was very scary.

Kate Speer:

But I will also say, the more that you put yourself out there, the easier that it gets. That first few posts was real scary. You know you post and you kind of look away and it's like, is anybody going to engage with this? But, like anything with practice. The more you do it, the easier that it gets. So I feel like it was scary, but just put one foot in front of the other.

John Neral:

So we know there are two specifically different ways people can share their thoughts and promote who they are, and so obviously, you've become very good and very established in terms of what you post and share on LinkedIn. There's another part, in terms of how you verbalize your value when you're networking or you're interviewing for a job. I'm curious when it came to the in-person or virtual networking, or when you were interviewing for a job, how did you practice or build your confidence to feel that, hey, I can talk about myself and do it in a way that's very authentic to me and I'm not going? Oh, that sounds awful.

Kate Speer:

Yeah, because you'll think that it will. The first time that you do it it's kind of cringey, as my kids would say, but I feel like the more you do it it's kind of cringy, as my kids would say, but I feel like the more you do it, the easier that it gets. And I think it goes back to and I also you have a wonderful resource about like the knowing, your strengths and the gaps. I think that's on one of your PDFs somewhere. You'll have to like give me the exact information there, but I think that's part of it, like doing some reflecting before you go into networking and kind of having your elevator pitched down.

Kate Speer:

It's like here's what I'm going to say to people when they ask what do I do? Because I will also say, when you're unemployed, that's what everybody wants to ask you too what do you do? And when you don't have a job, it's kind of like the first time I got asked that it was like what do I do? I don't know. So it's like you kind of have to almost rehearse that, be ready for that question what do you do? And even now so my story now I do have a great job, I'm super happy where I'm at. But when people ask, what do I do, I like to say a little bit more than just here's my role and here's the company that I work at, because you really are more than just that role and that title. So I would also say too, as far as the in-person meetings, because I did a lot of that, so it was LinkedIn, but also in-person, and one of the greatest compliments I think I've received throughout all of this is when people meet me in person and they say, oh, you're just like you are online.

John Neral:

That's the goal.

Kate Speer:

That's the goal, like you really want your authentic self to show up online. And if you would write something and it's like if you would never say it or you would never say it like that, then don't write it like that, because it will come off as kind of not authentic and you'll have a hard time connecting with people if you aren't being who you are.

John Neral:

Hey, your ability to connect and be authentic, especially in searching for and finding your current position. You've shared with me that that has absolutely been one of your strengths or assets in terms of building those types of connections. Can you talk with us a little bit about what your job search was like and what you learned as a mid-career professional finding this job you currently love?

Kate Speer:

Yeah, absolutely, because it wasn't really easy or quick. It was kind of a long game and I think with many things, and I always kind of correlate my job search to a marketing campaign and when in marketing they say there's that role of seven where you have to get your message in front of people several times before they take action, I think it's very true with a job search as well. So I was unemployed, started you know kind of my plan, my marketing plan, how am I going to launch this? What am I going to say? So that's when I built my landing page, I kind of had my ideas ready of what I was going to start posting on LinkedIn. Then I took that leap of faith and just started going with it. I try to post at least twice a week, but at the beginning you know that first, open to work, you know people like it I got some support. There weren't any companies that were in my inbox on that very first week saying, hey, we have this role, we'd love for you to come and talk to us. And I think sometimes people get discouraged and quit too soon because that doesn't happen. And I feel like for most people that are a little bit further along in the LinkedIn networking and promoting yourself game, they'll tell you. I don't know that anybody hits that like on the very first try. It's kind of that consistency and building up and putting all the things together.

Kate Speer:

So it took me about six months before I landed my role and I ended up at a fairly large, well-known firm. It was a great job. I was there for six months because I realized pretty quickly that I am meant to be at a smaller company where I was there for six months because I realized pretty quickly that I am meant to be at a smaller company where I can be a little bit more agile and take quicker action on things. And I feel like that's kind of an important side note too, to have a better idea of what exactly you're looking for and what might be an ideal fit for you Things I've learned along the way here. So when it came time for me to leave that role, just because I knew it wasn't going to be a good long-term fit, I put a post up on LinkedIn.

Kate Speer:

This was in January of this year, about the time that you and I first connected, and I just said I'm no longer at my role, just kind of wanted to let people know, just because at this point I had been doing some speaking things and networking things and I needed people to know that that wasn't the company I was with anymore, and I guess it's kind of surprising, but also not, if you know marketing.

Kate Speer:

When I put that post up, within that week I had six different companies reach out to me People that had been watching me on LinkedIn, kind of following my story for the whole past year. And again, this didn't happen on that very first week. It was happened on week 50, you know, when I was almost at a year mark, these people reached out and said hey, we have this open role. We think you'd be a great fit. Would you like to talk to us about what you're doing next? And it was really surprising but also nice because it allowed me to then be in the driver's seat and look at these companies. And then I got to pick, like, which company is the best fit for me? Who do I want to work with and align myself with? And all of that really came from doing all the small steps for an entire year leading up to that point.

John Neral:

Are you tired of hearing crickets in your job search? Are you tired of hearing crickets in your job search? Throughout my career, and especially in the last several years of my coaching business, I repeatedly see mid-career professionals make mistakes that are simply holding them back from getting the job offers they desire. Do you want to avoid these mistakes? If so, I want you to grab a copy of my free guide From Stuck to Success Five Mid-Career Mistakes to Avoid in Any Job Market.

John Neral:

In this guide, you will learn how to leverage AI more effectively in your job applications, why job boards shouldn't be your only way to find a new job, how to generate more interest with hiring managers and recruiters, how to dig more deeply when researching a potential company or job, and why hope is not an effective job search strategy. You can get your free copy on my website at https://johnneral. com/freebies. Let me help you get unstuck and less frustrated in your job search. Now let's get back to the episode. So I want to circle back for a moment, because you talked about building a landing page, and I'm sure there are some listeners who are curious about you know what were some of the things you had on your landing page and why did you think, in terms of marketing yourself, that was additionally or more effective, let's say, than just having a LinkedIn profile that you've optimized?

Kate Speer:

Yes, oh, I love this question. So my landing page is still up. It's wwwkatespearconnectcom if people are interested in checking it out and seeing the things that I have on there. But I think it kind of does two things. One, it brings your resume to life a little bit. Everybody has a resume and if you are on the other side of that which I am now in my current role where you're getting the resumes and you're getting all these applicants for the job, it just kind of gives you that little bit of extra, something to make you stand out.

Kate Speer:

And what I did back when I was applying, I would find somebody at the company, usually through LinkedIn, and I would send them a message and I said, hey, I applied for this role, I'm very interested. Here's my link, like the link to learn a little bit more about me. And when you paste that link into the LinkedIn message it also pops up with a thumbnail preview of the landing page. And I just think for marketing, you want to pique people's curiosity, they're going to click on the link and I felt like once I could get people there. It just kind of brings everything to life. It showcases me. You can see my picture. There's a video of me talking on there. It lists out all the things I've done, more so than what you can do on a two-page resume. So I use that really to kind of open the door.

John Neral:

And I love that approach in the sense of it's different. Not a lot of people are promoting themselves through a landing page that is done to the quality that you've done it, so to give people that opportunity to get to know you, like you and trust you a little bit more. Because of that, I imagine that was absolutely one of the goals correct. Yes, absolutely. I love that saying absolutely one of the goals correct.

Kate Speer:

Yes, absolutely. I love that saying. I feel like we use that often in marketing and it just goes to show, too, that the person on the other side can see that I'm somebody that will go above and beyond, will put in the extra effort. And I think in marketing just again, being on the other side of things now, when you're interviewing people there's some people that do look really good on paper, but then when they show up for the job it's kind of like oh, that's like I thought they were going to be a better performer than what they were. This is almost like an insurance policy to you know, really show that I'm the real deal and what I say on paper is who I am.

John Neral:

We've seen this year, and even a little bit of last year, that on average, it's taking about five months for mid-career professionals to find a new job, and your case history certainly demonstrates that as well. What were some of the things you can offer the listeners in terms of being resilient and persevering when your brain wants to tell you this isn't working or it's not going to happen?

Kate Speer:

Yeah, because our brains are sneaky like that and they do try sneaking with those types of messages.

Kate Speer:

They are and, like I said, it's so hard at the beginning too when you are, because I feel like when your job goes away, you are filled with kind of some self-doubt and what do I have to offer? The important thing I think too and this comes from networking is to build your kind of group of people, build your circle. And if you don't have that, you can find that when you go to networking events or, you know, by LinkedIn, and you're posting, pay attention to who is engaging with your content and engage back with them, because it's not about just having them do things for you so you can get a job. It's kind of reciprocal. It's like how can you help them out too?

Kate Speer:

And when you have your circle filled with people that are in your corner one, it makes it a little less scary to put yourself out there. But it also kind of gives you a layer of accountability. If you kind of have your friends and it's like here's what I'm doing and I'll like your stuff if you'd like mine. I also know I can count on like three or four people that if I don't post for a week, they'll be texting me and it's like hey, where are you at? Are you going to this Like we miss seeing you this week. Get those people that are in your corner, pushing you, encouraging you, and it just makes it a little easier to show up and to keep showing up, even when it's hard.

John Neral:

You seem to have solved a problem that many mid-career job seekers struggle with, and that is being able to share your thoughts and ideas on LinkedIn through posts. A lot of times, especially with my clients or people with whom I'll talk to, they'll say oh, I don't really know what to post, or I'm not sure I can contribute in that kind of way. Know what to post or I'm not sure I can contribute in that kind of way. How did you determine what were the things you wanted to post as you were actively job seeking, that were valuable to your circle and to your network?

Kate Speer:

Yeah. So I really do believe that everybody has great things to share and you know experiences and ideas and thoughts that can make really great content. And I think you're right. There's kind of a hard part of like how do you get from here to there? And for me, what I did, I was just always trying to like pay attention to conversations that I had Maybe it was with my husband, Maybe it was with a friend out at lunch and of course we're talking about my job search because I was unemployed at the time and you just kind of pay attention to the questions that people ask you or the things that you are talking about as it relates to how you work.

Kate Speer:

What are you looking for, what do you have to offer? And I would keep actually a notes section on my phone and it's like, oh, that would make a really good post and you put things in there. And I feel like some weeks and this happens in marketing too you know, some weeks you have great creative ideas and there's lots flowing, and then other weeks there's kind of not a lot. But when I had that notes section it's like, save that for a rainy day, there's something more I could do with that. So I feel like, again, that's how you be authentic and have it be what you would normally say anyway, but I feel like everybody has good conversations that they could turn into valuable LinkedIn posts for people.

John Neral:

If people don't want to post but they'd be more comfortable engaging in other people's contents, what tips can you give them to engage in other people or other companies' content that will help get them noticed or at least generate some interest in who they are and what they do?

Kate Speer:

Yes. So I would highly recommend people to engage with others, even if you aren't posting yourself. That's kind of like the gateway step into perhaps posting a little bit more. But if I went on to LinkedIn right now and liked your last post or commented on it, not only does that help you, but that will show up to all the people that are connected with me. So it just keeps your name in front of people and I think that's very important.

Kate Speer:

How I said, I personally like to post at least twice a week. I'm on there every day liking posts or commenting posts. And again, that's kind of how you find your people. And if you aren't sure who to engage with, it's like what companies do you want to work for? Look for people there. What job titles would you like to eventually have? Maybe find people that are in those roles or in your cities. And I like to engage with people that have a similar followership level that I do, just because there's a greater chance then that we can connect and they'll engage back and we can actually make a real relationship. I mean, social media is about being social outside of just the screen of LinkedIn.

John Neral:

How much more often would you say you engaged in people's content on LinkedIn versus you generating your own posts?

Kate Speer:

Probably three times more often. I would say I do my own posts, like I said, about twice a week, and then I try to engage with other people honestly daily. I feel like you know there's people in my circle, the people that always engage with my stuff and I like to reciprocate and engage back with them. People that are job searching. I always try to support that and engage with them just to kind of help their posts get visibility. And it does two things it puts my name on the feed and it helps them.

John Neral:

Absolutely, and I love how you drive home that point about how engaging in other people's content is really a fantastic way to give on the platform. You know you give them some, you get some in return, but the idea of supporting someone else's post is a great way to build those kind of relationships. Just earlier today, I had a networking call with someone who has chimed in on some of my posts and I've chimed in on some of his, and we had this great conversation for a half hour. There was no selling involved. It was strictly a let's get to know each other call, and I'm going to have him on the podcast early next year too.

John Neral:

So it's just kind of nice how those kinds of things work out. So, kate, you've done such a great job of peeling the layers back a little bit to show us how you've kind of strategically and intentionally used LinkedIn to find this new job that you love. As we start wrapping up here, what I'm really curious about is so, now that we look back to here we are in early August, compared to where you were at the beginning of the year, or even compared to where you were a year ago, what have you learned about your personal or professional brand that you didn't know a year ago.

Kate Speer:

Oh, that's a great question. So I would say that there is power in that personal and professional brand, and not just for me, but for anybody listening that kind of wants to do this too, and I think when I started I didn't quite have the confidence in that that I do now, and I didn't have that in week one or month one or quarter one either. If I'm being honest, I feel like that has kind of come over time and you know I speak often about the importance of consistency and really maintaining that again, right now I'm not looking for a job. I'm very happy where I'm at, but I'm still showing up because one you never know. You never know what might be around the bend in the future but also just things like this this is how we've been connected and I'm speaking to you today. It's just like there's all kinds of great opportunities that are maybe beyond a job that I'm interested in pursuing, and it's a great opportunity to help other people.

John Neral:

Absolutely. Thank you for sharing that with us. So for anybody who's listening they're looking for a job, they're thinking they might be looking for a job, they're happy in their job. What advice would you give them to build their mid-career GPS today?

Kate Speer:

So one would be just go, don't be afraid, don't wait until it's perfect, just go. I would feel like my content has gotten better over the last year my landing page, even because I continue to update it. It's better now than it was a year ago. It's just that. Chapter one, I think, for everybody, might be a little messy and it might feel a little bit messy, but you just gotta go and put one foot in front of the other and keep that consistency going. And I feel like I'm speaking to myself a little bit here too, because I'm in a job now that I love. You don't ever want to take that foot off the gas pedal because you never know. So it's just one foot in front of the other. Keep going, even when you don't always feel like it, and I really think great things job and beyond can come from that.

John Neral:

Yeah, and to your point, it's all about taking action. Yes, we can decide to not take action, which in some cases may be fine, but if you're looking for a job and you're not putting yourself out there, no one's going to come knocking on your door without doing some type of action. And what you've demonstrated in this conversation today is, whether it be through how you've networked, you've post, you've engaged, you've added value, you built a landing page, whatever that was and continues to be, you made it easier for people to find you. And so, just to go back for one little thing, so, to be clear and I'm not sure if we necessarily hit on this, but I don't want to miss this the job that you currently have. Did you find that job through a job board like LinkedIn or Indeed, or did you find it through the power of LinkedIn and networking?

Kate Speer:

The second, I would say they found me through the power of LinkedIn and networking. It was not a job that was posted. It was when they saw that I was available and no longer at my last role. They reached out to me and was like hey, we've kind of had our eye on you. Do you want to have a chat? And that's kind of where it all came from. And none of that would have happened if I wasn't consistently putting myself out there.

John Neral:

How incredible is that.

Kate Speer:

Oh, it's so good. I feel like it took two years really to get to this point, but you know, the story has a happy ending and I really think that it can for anybody that is willing to take the steps and take the action.

John Neral:

Absolutely so, kate. You are an absolute delight. If people want to connect with you, find you learn more about you. I'm going to turn the mic over to you. Please share us all the great things where people can connect.

Kate Speer:

Yes, absolutely I would love to. So again, my landing page is wwwkatespearconnectcom. I'm not selling anything. There's nothing for you to buy there. It would just be a way for us to connect. I like to be a supporter and an encourager, so you can also find me on LinkedIn. It's Kate Speer, s-p-e-e-r, and if you do connect with me there, make sure to send me a message and let me know that you heard about me on this podcast and I'll be sure to like and engage with your content and we can both kind of expand our circles of positivity and support that way.

John Neral:

I love that. Kate Spear, thank you so very much for being a great guest on the Mid-Career GPS podcast. It's been an absolute pleasure talking to you today. Thank you so much. All right, my friends, if there's one big takeaway and remember, the summer is a wonderful time for you to be finding a new job and start laying all that groundwork here's a couple of takeaways for you.

John Neral:

So one, get out there on LinkedIn. Find ways to engage with people's content. Find ways to create your own content and add value to whatever industry or profession or circle that you're in. The second thing is build a circle of people that you can support and they can support you as well. So imagine putting a post out there and being a little nervous that, oh my gosh, no one's gonna like it. And then, all of a sudden, you know you've got a handful of people in your network who, within the first 30, 60 minutes of you posting, they're gonna go ahead and like it.

John Neral:

And lastly, what can you do to stand out? One of the things I love that Kate shared with us today was she created a landing page. She leveraged her marketing background to build a landing page that she could message people with when she connected with them on LinkedIn that built that know, like and trust factor differently than what your LinkedIn profile can do. There's nothing wrong with your LinkedIn profile and using it to do that, but what's that little extra thing that might make you stand out In this job market? That's huge and that's key. So go out there, find a way to stand out, and remember this you'll build your mid-career GPS one mile or one step at a time.

John Neral:

How you show up matters. Make it a great rest of your day. Thank you for listening to the Mid-Career GPS Podcast. Make sure to follow on your favorite listening platform and, if you have a moment, I'd love to hear your comments on Apple Podcasts. Visit johnnerrellcom for more information about how I can help you build your mid-career GPS or how I can help you and your organization with your next workshop or public speaking event. Don't forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and follow me on social at John Nerrell Coaching. I look forward to being back with you next week. Until then, take care and remember how we show up matters. Thank you.