Good Neighbor Podcast: Union
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Residents of Northern Kentucky! Based in Union, KY....The Good Neighbor Podcast helps the residents of Northern Kentucky get to know local business owners as people. We allow the business owners and influencers in NKY to tell the stories of how they started their business and why. We hear about their families, their personal interests and why they love living in and serving resident of Northern Kentucky!
Good Neighbor Podcast: Union
Stand Out in the Job Market: Jonathan Nugent on Resumes, Side Hustles, and Personal Branding
Ever wondered how to stand out in a crowded job market? Join us for an enlightening conversation with Jonathan Nugent, the mastermind behind All-Star Career Services, as he shares his journey from recruiter to revered career coach and professional resume writer. Jonathan talks about the rise of side hustles, especially in tech and creative fields, since the pandemic and how they're reshaping the workforce. His insights shed light on the delicate balance between traditional resumes and modern LinkedIn profiles, offering listeners a fresh perspective on how to effectively market themselves in a digital world.
We also tackle the puzzling disconnect between job seekers' frustrations and the constant stream of hiring announcements. Jonathan advocates for a holistic job search approach—one that goes beyond the resume to include personal branding and self-awareness. Through engaging personal stories and thoughtful guidance, listeners will learn how to leverage professional resume assistance to gain a competitive edge. With shared anecdotes about Michigan roots and local dining experiences, this episode offers a mix of professional wisdom and relatable personal touches, essential for anyone navigating today’s job landscape.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Mike Murphy.
Speaker 2:Thank you, charlie. Yes, I am Mike Murphy, host of the Good Neighbor Podcast. The Good Neighbor Podcast interviews local business owners, influencers, people in the community who you need to know, if you don't already know them. Somebody who I did not know until today, until maybe 10 minutes ago, is our guest today Jonathan Nugent. Are you the owner, jonathan, of All-Star Career Services? I am Okay. So, jonathan, with All-Star Career Services, he's just shared with me a lot of what he does and it's going to apply to the vast majority of listeners out there. So, without further ado, jonathan, introduce yourself to the community, tell us who you are, what you do, and that's where we'll kick it off us who you are, what you do, and that's where we'll kick it off.
Speaker 3:Thanks for having me today, mike. So my name is Jonathan Nugent. I am the owner of All-Star Career Services. I have a very unique position as a professional resume writer and career coach. I work with clients at all levels in all careers all across the globe, helping them find their next job from resume writing to LinkedIn profile development, interview coaching, teaching people how to properly look for a new job and a little bit of everything in between.
Speaker 2:Okay, so you're talking about worldwide. I don't know if that means clients or if you're placing people worldwide, or both. How did you get into something like this?
Speaker 3:Absolutely so. I work with clients all across the globe, although 75% of my client base is here in the greater Sinsang northern Kentucky area. 75% of my client base is here in the greater Sinsang northern Kentucky area. I've actually been in the employment industry now for about 21 and a half years, started from the world of recruiting and then over time kind of moved in this direction here. This particular business actually started as a part-time side hustle for me back in 2015 while I was still recruiting, and then over time, over the next couple of years, it grew into a full-time business venture. I closed my recruiting business back in 2017. I've been doing this ever since.
Speaker 2:It's kind of funny how side hustles can become more than side hustles. Exactly, hustles can become more than side hustles. Do you deal with a lot of clients that are currently doing side hustles, or is is is this the side hustle concept, something that's just kind of a part of our society now in terms in terms of work life?
Speaker 3:It is. It's becoming more and more prevalent. Especially saw a lot of it really coming out of COVID. People have lost their full-time position or were underemployed at that point, looking for additional income streams, whether that be something like DoorDash or Instacart or possibly selling something on some of the different online platforms Not only just part-time side gigs, but people that do it full-time as a living. You especially see that a lot in some technology sectors where people are just taking short-term type of contract type of rules. You see that quite often. You see a lot of other people and in some other industries uh, graphic design or marketing that come to mind where they're consulting you know, consulting on the site for additional income so it is becoming more and more prevalent all the time.
Speaker 3:A lot of it really depends on the industry, of course that you're in, but depends on the industry, of course that you're in.
Speaker 2:But technology is probably the biggest one whether it be website design or designing an app for your business or something like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that all really comes into play, often as well.
Speaker 2:Do you personally have an affinity for a particular industry in terms of maybe helping clients tap into a certain industry?
Speaker 3:So I'm what's called a generalist. So I work with pretty much anybody for the most part. The only clients I don't work with I don't work with any type of federal government resumes. That's a whole different process to itself for me. I work with pretty much anybody. Um, I really enjoy the challenge. I learn a lot about a lot of different industries, know a lot of things and about different jobs I never knew existed. It's the hardest part of my job, but it's the best part of my job learning, uh learning about different people in different industries and different walks of you, know walks and way of life, and so, um, I, I I've always tried to stretch myself, and so I'll never turn down a client unless I just really can't help them, in which case I have a network of writers in other parts of the country that I can refer people to if I was out of my comfort zone.
Speaker 3:But I've always tried to, like I said, really really stretch myself for my own professional development. Because, really, at the end of the day, industry position title, experience to me doesn't really make a whole lot of difference. Because, at the end of the day, experience to me doesn't really make a whole lot of difference because, at the end of the day, the strategies to create an effective resume, or as we refer to as a career marketing campaign, really comes down to the same concept and that's really trying to understand your unique value proposition, really understand what your personal brand is. And so the difference between writing a resume for a new graduate or a CEO, it's 80%. Exactly the same concept.
Speaker 2:Okay, so help me with this. I've had people tell me resumes are kind of passe, that today's resume is a LinkedIn profile. And then I've had others tell me don't fall into that trap. There are still plenty of companies out there that require a resume. So what's the skinny on that whole thing?
Speaker 3:So the so-called experts have been predicting the demise of the resume for the last decade and we have not seen a slowdown yet. Are there some companies that will take a LinkedIn profile and move a resume? Yes, there are, Although resume and LinkedIn profile are two completely different things. Your resume is designed to be, you know. Your resume is really designed to be a career marketing document. It should be very laser, focused on the position that you're looking to apply to, Whereas your LinkedIn profile is designed to be more casual, written in first person. It's designed to be more casual person. It's designed to be visible by the over one billion people on the platform right now. While some of the content certainly you know, while some of your resume content certainly makes it onto the LinkedIn platform, they really are two completely different things.
Speaker 2:So resumes aren't dead yet and I don't see them dying anytime soon. So once upon a time a resume was literally typed out on your typewriter at home and you pull it off and you might make a bunch of copies and then you hit the road and you're handing them out and the only people seeing your resume were the ones that you actually physically handed it to. Nowadays, I would imagine it's out there in mass and could literally travel across the planet. Is that correct?
Speaker 3:It could, it absolutely could. A lot of it really depends on how you're executing your job search you know putting your resume.
Speaker 3:One of the biggest misconceptions and myths is people think that the best place to go is utilizing an online job search, posting your resume on different job boards and applying to different ads online, whereas the reality is it's the least effective way to find a job and a lot of people one of the one of the biggest problems a lot of times that people have in the job search is they spend too much time focusing on online job searches instead of branching out and doing some of the.
Speaker 3:You know networking is is still far and away the most effective way to find a job. So I kind of compare often that to clients that utilize an online job search strategy only. It's kind of like investing for retirement with putting all of your savings or putting all of your retirement savings down at your local credit union. It's just probably not going to get you very far. So there's a whole lot better way to kind of go about things, and that's where some of the coaching which I do helps people really try and understand what really the job market is like how to really go about executing an efficient job search strategy so do you operate mostly on referral or do people search you out and find you?
Speaker 2:How do you get your business?
Speaker 3:So my business is predominantly through three primary sources. Referrals is certainly a big source of business for me. Secondly, my website has a very, very, very strong online presence, which drives a lot of business to me. And then thirdly, through LinkedIn, some different business tools that LinkedIn offers to small business owners. That really helps drive some engagement as well.
Speaker 2:So how would you characterize the job market overall these days? Is it tight, is it wide open? The job market overall these days Is it tight? Is it wide open? You know, I see people all the time saying I'm beating my head against a brick wall, I'm out there looking and there's nothing. And then I see we're hiring, we're hiring, we're hiring. So where is that disconnect? Where's that happening at?
Speaker 3:So the first thing is which I always caution people against is to turn off the news, because I think a lot of it scares people into thinking that the market's great, the market's bad. Whatever the case may be, the market is what you make of it. Are there certainly some sectors that are stronger than others? Yes, Is that always going to be the case? Yes, Often. Those people that are struggling in finding a job and there's often a reason behind that, whether that be, whether that be the resume not getting through, possibly some of the computer- you know, that to really take a holistic approach to the job search.
Speaker 3:The right yeah, you can't just have one piece without the other is kind of buying a new car and then putting gas in it. You have maybe really kind of have to have the whole package and really be able to kind of see through a lot of the noise out there. And that's where that's where a lot of what I do, you know, really comes into play is a lot of the client education piece of things here.
Speaker 2:So if somebody reaches out to you and they need your services, are you writing a resume for them or are you helping them to write their own resume?
Speaker 3:I do everything for them. So I've worked. I'm pretty different than a lot of others in my industry. I don't use any type of forms or any type of questionnaires, I don't outsource anything and I'm not and I'm not a virtual service. You know I'm not exclusively virtual service. I should say what I do with all my clients is I sit down and I interview each and every client for two hours where we go through anything and everything and things that they never even realized would be relevant in their job search, and then, after we go through that, intake session, we really try to uncover what their unique differentiators are and what their personal brand is.
Speaker 3:At that point then, I develop all the content for them. It's usually a three to five day turnaround.
Speaker 2:Okay, so you sit and meet with people, whether it's virtually or in person. I would imagine in persons may be preferred. I don't know that for sure, but you know this podcast is primarily reaching people Northern Kentucky Union area. You live in Union, is that correct?
Speaker 3:That is correct.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, we try to get to know people a little bit on the personal level. Do you have family? What does family look like to you?
Speaker 3:Yeah so. I grew up in Michigan Me too.
Speaker 2:Where, at the Ann Arbor-ish area, I grew up in Lansing.
Speaker 3:so I have a little of that Michigan, michigan State thing going on there. Yeah, grew up in Michigan, moved down here to the greater Cincinnati area, northern Kentucky, when I was 23 years old. Been down here ever since. I am married to my wife, jennifer. We've been together for almost 19 years now. I have a 26-year-old son, james.
Speaker 2:Okay, so what do you and your wife like to do in your spare time?
Speaker 3:We are both amateur foodies. If you will definitely enjoy dining out listening to her suggestions from Facebook group Chowdown, cincinnati. Both enjoy shooting pool, playing golf, going to comedy clubs just kind of really enjoying life being empty nesters at this point. So, kind of whatever. Take it as it comes, I guess.
Speaker 2:That's me and my wife too, you know, unbeknownst to people listening to this. You and I talked a little bit ahead of time before we recorded this, and we found out that we live just down the street from each other and we're empty nesters too. Always looking for people to go out and eat food with. Food is good, comedy clubs are good, laughing is good. So, you know, maybe we'll be able to go out together and hang out sometime. That'd be good. You mentioned Michigan. I took a peek at your quote-unquote resume and I saw something about Central Michigan University. Did you attend that Mac school there?
Speaker 3:Indeed Go Chippewas.
Speaker 2:Chippewa. Yeah, so I was at Eastern Michigan University. I was a Huron back in the day, and then they became the Eagles due to the whole political correctness thing. So I don't know if I call myself a Huron or an Eagle, but I guess in my heart I'm a Huron.
Speaker 3:Understand.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I do root for the Maize and Blue Michigan Wolverines. Do you watch Michigan State games?
Speaker 3:I'm really not that big of a college sports fan. Okay.
Speaker 2:Well then we can be friends.
Speaker 3:Exactly, I'm not an Ohio State fan, so we're good there. Good More of a professional sports fan, and you know Reds Bengals do follow the Detroit teams as well, growing up there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, the Lions are hot right now.
Speaker 3:Yes, they are.
Speaker 2:Okay. So let's see. If somebody has you know by now said all right, this guy is somebody I need to tap into his brain, I need to meet with him. I'm frustrated with the whole resume thing because most people are you know, if you need a resume, you very quickly, you know, many people will try to just kind of Google how to write a resume and you're going to find a lot of stuff out there, and so they become confused very quickly. They're looking for somebody to demystify that whole process. If you're that person who will demystify it for them, how do they reach you?
Speaker 3:Absolutely so. I am by appointment only. I'm in my office Monday through Friday, from 7 till 4. You can reach me on my website at allstarcareerservicescom all one word allstarcareerservicescom or by phone at 513-322-0161.
Speaker 2:Easy enough, easy enough, okay. Well, is there anything we haven't talked about before we wrap up here that you think people should know? Anything at all?
Speaker 3:myself can really help with. There's a lot of low cost internet providers out there that people think I can spend $150 and have a fantastic resume. The reality is you really, truthfully, do get what you pay for. The return on investment with somebody such as myself pays dividends hundreds of times over. My average clients typically report about a $14,000 pay increase from one job to the next, and it reduces their time to hire by about 40%. So it's a pretty immediate return for somebody that's looking to make the investment in themselves.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, you get what you pay for is a good way to look at it. That's true in many aspects of life. So we're a brother. I think we're done today. You've raised a few eyebrows and I'm sure you've piqued some interest out there. We're going to ask people to give Jonathan Nugent a call at All-Star Career Services Again, 513-322-0161. Your office is in Florence, correct?
Speaker 3:That is correct, located right on US 42, right next to a heritage bank.
Speaker 2:Oh well, heck. Yeah, pretty much everybody in town knows where that is. All of us spend enough time on the other side.
Speaker 3:I'm next to the heritage bank on the other side of 42, down by the 25.
Speaker 2:Yep, nope, we all pass by there eventually. So yeah, whether it's the heritage on this side or the heritage on that side, that's always a good landmark for people here in Union and Florence exactly all right. Well, thanks for spending time with us today, jonathan. I enjoyed getting to meet you here. Maybe you and I can get together and maybe get to know each other a little bit better. Hang out, do a local restaurant together, since you're a foodie and we're foodies as well. That'd be great.
Speaker 3:That'd be great, Mike. Appreciate you having me today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're all about neighbors meeting neighbors, neighbors helping neighbors. This is the Good Neighbor podcast. So thank you for being a good neighbor to everyone here in the Union and Florence area and all of you listening. Be good to your neighbor and until our next episode. We'll see you next time and take care. Bye-bye.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Union. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPUnioncom. That's GNPUnioncom, or call us at 859-651-8330.