Dr. Karen Gurney - The Secret to Doubling Job Interviews

Dr. Karen Gurney - The Secret to Doubling Job Interviews
author of the day

After helping a job candidate who could barely get a call on his resume to get over 500 Linkedin connections and four job interviews within one week (without applying for a single job), Dr. Karen Gurney decided that it was time to share her secret with the world. Growing up in Cleveland, dr. Karen Gurney has seen a city in decline and experienced its rebirth. Driven by her passion for the job market, Gurney soon earned a Ph.D. in Economic Development and Workforce Development. As our Author of the Day, Dr. Gurney reveals some of her secrets with us, chats about the course that accompanies the book and her aspirations to become the Suze Orman of career coaching.

Please give us a short introduction to what Stacked is about.

Candidates can double their job interviews by leveraging recruiters, online profiling, and advanced Linkedin techniques. Many of my readers get their next job without applying.

What inspired you to write a book for busy professionals?

In 2015 a job candidate that could barely get a call on his resume came to me for career coaching. I checked his Linkedin profile and it was horrific. He only had 23 connections, his profile picture was a bad selfie, his headline was meaningless, and his industry setting was wrong.

I got his logins for all his online profiles and changed everything to match the job search goal.  Within one week he had over 500 connections and he had four interviews. 

The most important part—he had not applied for one single job.

This changed everything about how I coach my job candidates and resulted in this book and 5-star rated online class. 

How has your work as the director of Strategic Development of Career IQ influenced your book?

This is not something I just write about.  I am doing this every day from both the coaching side and recruiting side every single day.

Why, would you say, is a person's professional image on LinkedIn so important?

Employers use Linkedin to ‘see’ their candidate and verify their work history.  In addition, they search Linkedin to look for ‘passive candidates.’  These are professionals that are online but not necessarily seeking work. Often, the candidate that the recruiter needs can only be identified through these strategies. 

Your book deals a lot with keyword-stacking. Why?

Recruiters use keyword search to identify their candidates.  Once a professional knows the right keywords are for their goal, they can keyword-stack their resume and online profiles so that they can be found for the job they want. 

How will Stacked help readers get jobs?

This is pretty shocking to candidates but employers have a really tough time finding candidates in their own systems and online. The Stacked strategy addresses that issue by ensuring the candidate can be found for the jobs they want.

Tell us a bit more about your online course. How long does it take to complete?

The course is 6.5 hours long but broken up into bite-sized modules. The class is the video version of the book but also include lessons, tutorials, quizzes, resume templates, interview scripts, salary negotiation conversations, and other downloads. I made this a companion piece to the book to really increase the value of what I offer my readers.

Besides writing and helping people get jobs, what other secret skills do you have?

I also source talent for a network of recruiters.  This ensures I am on the cutting-edge of every method used in the industry.

If you could meet any person, living or dead, who would it be and what would you ask?

Suze Orman, Oprah, Dr. Oz, or Dr. Phil.  I have said that I want to be the ‘Suze Orman’ of career coaching and have a television show on CNBC that teaches about hiring, recruiting, and job searching in a way that has never been done before. I would ask her (them) how to go about finding a show producer and how to acquire the right corporate advertising sponsorships to pay for everything.

You grew up in Cleveland - how has your environment shaped your view of the job market?

Cleveland, was a dying steel town from the moment I was born. It is tough being from a city that is best known for a river that was on fire in 1969.  The town was later gutted by the international relocation of manufacturers following NAFTA. No one understands the link between policy and urban economics better than a Clevelander.

To grow up in a city in decline and watch its rebirth has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. My Ph.D. is in Economic Development and Workforce Development just in time to fully experience this urban renewal.

Do you often hear from your students after completing the course?

The students in my online class are invited to connect with me on Linkedin for a free profile review.  I hear from them all the time—before, during, and after their search. 

Which students' stories were the most memorable?

One of my Canadian students moved from a purchasing role to a Digital Marketing Manager using the class. That move would be difficult for any candidate.  He took the class, applied it, and made the career change in a spectacular fashion.

What are you working on right now?

I am working on the audio version of the book, an upcoming keynote in Vancouver, I have one this fall in Cleveland OH, I am releasing the class for a CPA organization, and I will be working on a ‘Back-to-Work” Mom book this year.

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?

Readers can get the book at www.karengurney.com. Once they have the book they get access to the class and can connect with me on my Linkedin profile as well.

This deal has ended but you can read more about the book here.
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