Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathy Bernard.
Hi Kathy, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstories.
Well, this is a long story. Take and edit it the way it works for your needs. I always knew that I wanted to use my writing and art abilities in a satisfying job, which is why I ultimately got two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Missouri Columbia (aka MIZZOU), one in Journalism (Advertising sequence) and one in Art (Graphic Design). After I graduated, I needed help finding a “real job. There was a terrible recession, and even though I was an outgoing leader in high school and college, I lacked confidence in my real-world work abilities. I didn’t do as well as I could have when applying or interviewing because I was so scared. I was under-employed for a year until I landed a job in advertising and worked my way up into corporate communications, becoming much better at career search.
While I liked communications and design, I didn’t enjoy the office drama at a particularly challenging company. I jumped when they offered everyone the opportunity to take a voluntary separation with outplacement support. But I realized the outplacement support was very “one size fits all” and didn’t help my coworkers land good jobs. I volunteered to help them, and many of them got jobs. From that situation, I started helping others with their job search and realized that my advice helped. Once I left that company, I took a different communications job but started meeting job seekers at a fast food restaurant two doors down where they could get a free hour of my career guidance for just the cost of lunch. I met more than 250 people that way and helped many get jobs. My reputation spread. Soon, I started writing a career blog and was asked to speak to career groups and companies where they were laying off employees to help them land new jobs.
I left my communications job and started developing my company, offering career coaching, LinkedIn profile, and resume services. Around the same time, I was using a computer at the local library when the man at the computer next to me tapped me on the arm and asked me, “Maam, what is the button that I push to apply for all the jobs?” My first thought was to say, to him, “Oh, you poor man, it’s not that easy.” My second thought was, “Why isn’t it that easy?” From that chance encounter, I started compiling the WiserU Career System, a step-by-step job search process that could be customized for maximum effectiveness for each person. I wrote take-action guides on topics like interviewing based on my blog posts and put together videos and templates so people could handle job searches independently.
The problem was people wanted one-on-one support. They wanted to hire me for advice and support, and they respected me for my LinkedIn training and services, which became the most sought-after part of my business. Long story, made long. I still like to help people with their job search (and also, now, I help many others build their businesses by maximizing LinkedIn). But it all comes back to wanting to help people in a customized way using my writing and art abilities.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh, hell no — it hasn’t been easy. As I mentioned in the box just before this, I was scared, lacked confidence at first, and was underemployed. Then I got used to the better money of working in corporate communications, which made it hard to do my own thing, which I knew was what I really would prefer. Next, I tried to launch my big idea of the WiserU Career System, where I would put together a series of videos and take action guides where I would teach them exactly how to land a job based on research, employer preferences, and best practices and then show them ways to customize their job search based on their specific needs. But I learned that people needed that one-on-one time with me (and wanted me to create their resume and profile), and I needed to learn how to split myself up to handle all the work. At the same time, I became more and more well-known for my ability to help people craft their LinkedIn profiles to be found for a great job or to build their business. While I love training groups and companies or coaching individuals on how to use LinkedIn, I am still trying to get away from doing a lot of hands-on resume and profile creation/optimizations. Both are time-consuming and while I’m good at doing them, they don’t bring me joy. It’s a constant quest to figure out how to do what I want to do to help many people with their needs without spreading myself too thin.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about WiserU.com?
As I talk about on my WiserU site,
WiserU for Businesses: Organizations hire WiserU’s CEO, Kathy Bernard, to train their executives, sales teams, recruiters, or fundraisers, to master LinkedIn to grow their business and reach prospects.
WiserU for Conferences: Trade show organizers, like the SEMA Show, hire Kathy to train their members to excel at LinkedIn. Have Kathy train your show attendees and review their LinkedIn profiles! Shows like the SEMA Show have enlisted Kathy to review attendees’ LinkedIn profiles and resumes.
WiserU for Colleges: Colleges hire WiserU to lead career and LinkedIn training sessions for their students to help their graduates land higher-paying career positions.
WiserU for Job Seekers: Career groups hire WiserU to train them on how to land a job and maximize LinkedIn. Individuals enlist WiserU for career coaching, interview preparation, and LinkedIn training to help them land satisfying careers.
WiserU is about making you wiser for business or a career!
Do you have any advice for those just starting?
Yes, for those starting out in their careers, your high school and college activities, internships, and part-time jobs are impressive to employers when you begin to look for a real career position. Companies want to know that you have leadership qualities, that you know how to deal with customers, and that you know how to handle real work activities. I’d also tell them to make maximum use of LinkedIn because it can help them network with people they might be too shy to call. LinkedIn lets you list all sorts of things on your profile that could impress employers, like videos and presentations; lists of your courses, projects, volunteer efforts; college activities, and much more. New grads can join LinkedIn groups related to their sought-after industry or field where they can interact with group members and forge friendships with people who could make introductions or agree to be their mentors. They can also follow the companies where they want to work to let them know they are interested. And finally, I encourage students to get multiple internships, one of the things employers look for on new grads’ resumes/profiles. Students are often so focused on getting good grades and passing finals that they neglect to apply for internships, and that’s a mistake.
Pricing:
- I charge less for students than adults and I offer different pricing for short and long training sessions so it varies.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wiseru.com
- Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/kathybernard.mktg - Other: Blog site: https://www.wiserutips.
com/
