Scripts & Templates for Job Seekers
Thank you for attending out Job Club meeting in January! Below you will find all the scripts I included after our “Scripts & Templates” meeting in December which includes the details of the LinkedIn Referral Program letters from Patrick Bivins. The slides from that meeting are in an interactive format! You can go through them as many times as you like, in any order that you like!
In addition, below the scripts is the message I sent in response to the HR Manager whose AI tool auto-responded when I viewed her profile to run the predicted DiSC Assessment for a member of our program. If you are not a member and do not plan to be, but you a part of another accountability group of some kind, perhaps they can visit and send similar messages on your behalf. I hope it helps.
The letter to the AI auto-invite I received when visiting an HR Manager’s profile for a member of our program.
Wow! Thanks for the quick invite [name redacted]. I’m guessing you saw I checked out your profile this morning. Someone I respect from my network mentioned having a very positive experience talking with you recently so I wanted to take a look.
The person I’m referring to is [I named the SUMJS Member], and for what it’s worth (i.e. an opinion from a stranger), she would be a great asset for any company. I’ve met her several times and think she could bring a great perspective to a communications department given her unique transition into it. She was pretty excited about the CM role and commented about the good conversation she had with you. I’m an IT recruiter so I can’t comment on skills, but from a character perspective, I would find a place for her.
I hope that’s helpful. Thanks again for connecting. – Paul
Disclaimer: Although I will send follow up messages and put in a good word for members with employers whenever the opportunity arises, I will ONLY put in a good word when I can earnestly do so from personal experience. If you do become a member, let’s talk so I can tell them why they should hire you. The message above was discussed during the interview and they did get a 2nd interview afterwards. …not because of the letter, but the letter didn’t hurt.
I created an INTERACTIVE slideshow for you so you can just skip to the slides you want, in any order that you want.
Click “Next >>” in the bottom right corner to progress to the next slide once you are in a topic. I hope this is helpful for you!
During the meeting we were not able to get to all of the scripts I had planned, and I promised to make them available to you on this page. Below is a video with bookmarks so you can skip directly to the script section you would like to watch.
The bookmarks are:
– Calling Employers (snipped from a members only video in the program)
– How to answer questions about Missing Skills
– How to answer, “Why did you leave your last employer?”
– Negotiating Salary
Details about states with salary history bans are below.
During the meeting I promised to include a list of the states that have banned the practice of asking about salary history. You will find that list below.
Illinois adopted that law on Sep. 29, 2019. The * means the ban is not a statewide ban, only in the named locations. A more detailed explanation is below the list. This was taken directly out of my PHASE 4 program in the Negotiating Salary module.
- Alabama
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Georgia* – Atlanta
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Kentucky* – Louisville
- Louisiana* – New Orleans
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Mississippi* – Jackson
- Missouri* – Kansas City & St. Louis
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio* – Cincinnati & Toledo
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Puerto Rico
- South Carolina* – Columbia & Richland County
- Utah* – Salt Lake City
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
Within the statewide bans there are differing laws in some specific cities. In Illinois for example, the questions that can be asked differ in Chicago from those that can be asked in the rest of the state. Thus, the ban you want more information about should be researched thoroughly before acting on assumptions during an interview.
The salary amendment was originally intended to close the gender inequality gap, however research is finding that it is raising wages for both genders.
While it is reducing the size of the gap, it is not improving the rate at which women ask for raises and for more money during interviews as compared to men. That is a mentality shift that goes beyond what a government policy can impact. However, I believe if we can bring awareness to the issue will encourage women to ask for more, and to ask for it more often.
Obviously this doesn’t apply to ALL women and to all men as there are millions of women who are not afraid to ask and millions of men who are afraid to ask, I’m just referring to the current statistics that women have started to close that gap, thanks to the new policy, but that men are still making more than women in similar jobs, so there is more work to be done.
Per the law, however, some states attach a hefty fine to companies for asking about salary history. In NY, there are circumstances in which the company can be fined up to $250K, and ALL of that is given to the person who was asked! Almost makes me want to apply to NY jobs just to catch somebody!
As of August of 2020 it is currently banned in 19 states. Interestingly, there are 2 states that have banned the practice of banning salary history questions, stating directly that employers cannot be told not to ask about salary history! Those two states are Wisconsin and Michigan.
The person who asked about this information (and inspired me to add it earlier this year, thank you Patty), lives in Arizona. In response to her question I shared with her that according to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the 2018 case of Rizo v. Yovino, under the federal Equal Pay Act, an employer cannot justify a wage difference between male and female employees by relying on prior salary. Since Arizona is in the 9th Circuit, a plaintiff could use the ruling to win a lawsuit in Arizona.
Current laws differ from state to state, and the above information is not legal advice, nor am I an attorney. Please consult a licensed attorney before making any legal decisions. Just know that it pays to do your homework and to understand where the lines of what can and cannot be asked are located.
