The first 3 steps to launching financial grownup careers with Next Great Step’s Beth Hendler-Grunt

 

Episode Description: Getting started in life is the ultimate financial grownup challenge. Beth Hendler-Grunt shares her best strategies to get started and succeed. 

Timestamps & Main Points:

  • 00:00 - Introduction

  • 04:03 - Introducing Beth Hendler-Grunt

  • 05:34 - You want to get paid what you're worth, so you need to put yourself in the shoes of your employer

  • 06:46 - We need to make sure that our kids not only have the right background and skill set, but they also have the story

  • 07:39 - Your story is like an elevator pitch

  • 09:18 - How technology has changed in the job market

  • 10:55 - Maxing out your 401k, IRA, and Roth

  • 12:51 - Hope is not a strategy. If you have certain financial and career goals, you need to have a step-by-step plan to get there.


Beth’s Bio:

Beth Hendler-Grunt is the founder and president of Next Great Step. She is a dynamic leader, advisor, and facilitator who has extensive experience consulting with startups, Fortune 500 firms, universities, and individuals. She founded Next Great Step with the sole focus of guiding college students and recent grads to help them to land the job they deserve. Beth leverages techniques and insights of guiding CEOs and brings those secrets to students to help them stand out and get the job. She has enabled hundreds of clients to achieve success where 90% of clients land the job of their choice. Her clients have landed jobs at Amazon, Yelp, JP Morgan, EY, and Major League Baseball to name a few. Beth t is the author of “The Next Great Step: The Parents’ Guide to Launching Your New Grad into A Career”.

 
 

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Full Transcript:


Bobbi Rebell:

Hey, grown up friends. There is something I don't talk about publicly that I have decided to start sharing even though it can be a bit embarrassing. I get digital overload and it stresses me out for good reason because when you have so much junk on your computer because you're not as organized as you should be because you get caught up in all the things that you have to do, if you don't deal with it, all that stuff on your computer starts to really slow things down and can become a total drag on your productivity.


For me, there is nothing worse than finally motivating to get stuff done, only to be derailed by a sluggish computer that is just not cooperating. A little while ago, I decided I was going to stop, just hoping that things would get better and I was going to deal with it. I downloaded something called CleanMyMac. It's from a company called MacPaw. I was skeptical, but I took a deep breath and I tried it. Long story short, it totally worked. I loved how I could see it work through my files with clear and easy to understand graphics.


I could see what was messing things up and CleanMyMac would ask me for my okay before deleting files so that something I did need to keep didn't go bye-bye. That was one of my biggest fears. I recently reached out to the company and they are offering 10% off to my Financial Grownup listeners who want to also get CleanMyMac. To get that 10% of CleanMyMac, you do need to go to my link. It is bobbirebell.com/cleanmymac. Bobbirebell.com/cleanmymac. That is all one word. I promise you you'll be so happy. I want you guys to be in touch with me. Let me know how it goes. You deserve to lower the stress of data overload. Trust me. So worth it.


Beth Hendler-Grunt:

I have a strategy, it's a real simple one. It's called 10 and 10. Write down the names of 10 people who have a job that you want and 10 companies that are of interest to you based on what you've seen in the news, what you've researched, and you want to reach out to those people at these companies, ideally fellow alumni because they tend to be the most friendly and the most willing to talk to you and ask them for 15 minutes of their time. Tell me how you got there. Tell me what skills you needed to be successful in the job. Do you have any advice for me? Anyone else that you'd recommend that I speak with? That strategic networking alone is so much more productive than just blindly applying and throwing spaghetti on the wall and seeing what happens.


Bobbi Rebell:

You're listening to Money Tips for Financial Grownups with me, Certified financial planner, Bobbi Rebell, author of Launching Financial Grownups because you know what? Grown up life is really hard, but together we got this. Who doesn't remember the hunt for their first job as a grownup? I'm talking about our first job where it's not just a job for extra cash while in school or something like that. I mean the first job where this was what you did, it was your primary focus. You weren't still in school and while you may have still been living with your parents, the expectation was that you were out of childhood and this job mattered.


I remember feeling like everyone else had it so easy. Recruiters came to my college and all the kids with those fancy finance majors, they got multiple offers and off they went. Problem solved. Tied up with a bow. I of course, languished the summer after graduation trying to break into TV news. I can only imagine the stress my parents were feeling. Something we don't always appreciate until we are parents ourselves. I had the college education but nothing was happening. Now as a parent myself, I was, until recently, in the same shoes cheering on my recent grad, but not able to do much to help them land that first grown up job.


My guest, Beth Hendler-Grunt is here to help with a mix of specific steps that we can take and some tough love too for both the next generation, and to be clear, as parents, her company, The Next Great Step focuses on guiding college students and recent grads to help them land the job they deserve, the job they've been working towards all those years. Her new book also aptly titled The Next Great Step is a roadmap for parents and almost adults that is getting results. Here is Beth Hendler-Grunt. Beth Hendler-Grunt, you are a financial grownup. Welcome to the podcast.


Beth Hendler-Grunt:

Thanks so much for having me.


Bobbi Rebell:

Congratulations on your book, The Next Great Step: the Parents' Guide to Launching Your New Grad into a Career. I love this book so much. It reminds me of a career version of Launching Financial Grownups because you focus on what the next generation or emerging adults can do when they get out of school to get a job. It's a little more complicated than it was... Well, maybe a lot more complicated than it was when our generation, and I am referencing Generation X for anyone out there, when we were first looking for jobs, we had different challenges. The first thing that you talk about is you want to get paid what you're worth, so you need to put yourself in the shoes of your employer. Talk to me about that and how it's relevant to emerging adults, to almost adults and how their parents should approach that.


Beth Hendler-Grunt:

Yeah, absolutely and thanks so much for having me on. I think what we see with a generation who's coming out of school and so many young adults is there's this feeling that most of their life, they've been told how great they are and everybody gets a trophy, and so, there's this expectation that things will work out for them and that just because they went to a good school and they got the grades, which is what we told them to do, that they will get the job that they deserve or their dream job or a job that pays them money that they feel like should really enable them to do things that they want.


What we see is that sometimes, they're more focused on how the job is great for them versus how they're able to help an employer. If they really want to get paid what they believe that they're worth, they need to actually take a step back and think about what's important to the employer. How do I add value to them in a way that helps them to achieve their goals and their metrics versus coming in and telling someone, "Well, this job would be great for me." As much as that might be a nice thing, most employers really want it to be great for them.


One of the ways that they can do that is really thinking about putting yourself in not only their shoes, but what are the skills that you have that can really add value to that company, that manager, that organization that enables not only you to help leverage the skills that you have, but help that company achieve something. I think sometimes young adults often skip the step. I think parents as well. I'll speak for myself too. I am also a parent of a recent grad and a parent of a college student so I understand. I'm living this real time and often will tell our kids, "Just go for it," or, "You deserve this," or, "I'm going to introduce you to a friend," but we need to make sure that our kids not only have the right background and skill set, but they also have the story and the clarity on how they talk about themselves and the skills they have to offer.


It's not just that you're responsible and trustworthy. It's something like you know how to research, you're analytical, you're a great writer. All these things that are really concrete skills that show someone what you can do. You have to have a story behind it. It can't just be, "Well, I know how to do this." Well, tell me how you did it or tell me how you've done that in a class, in a project, in a part-time job, so I know how you can really help us in our organization with the skillset that you have.


Bobbi Rebell:

One thing you talk about in the book is that it's like an elevator pitch. You even say that parents should push their kids to practice it out loud, which is something I think could get some pushback though. What do you do about that?


Beth Hendler-Grunt:

Oh yeah, it's funny, and we just had some clients yesterday and one of our big parts of our program is that you are practicing what you're saying out loud, and that can be very uncomfortable because on paper, it looks great. You have this great story or this great resume or this great explanation of tell me about yourself, but saying it can be very different from having this perfectly worded content because a lot of times, as I tell young adults, people don't read and they don't listen. You need to have a really clear, concise story about what you want them to know about you, and you need to be able to say it in a way that exudes confidence that you know what you're saying, you know where you're going and what you want them to know. The more you practice that, the better that you'll get at it and the more you'll be comfortable at it.


Bobbi Rebell:

It's hard because a lot of young people are so used to technology being the way that they communicate and they're uncomfortable with a lot of the more traditional human ways that people communicate through phone calls and follow-ups maybe, trying to meet with people in-person and then again, following up. That's another thing that's generational, but still, especially with the job market shifting as it is, could be helpful for parents to teach their kids about.


Beth Hendler-Grunt:

Yeah, it's funny, I always go through this concept, the same thing you said, has the job market changed from when someone like you and I look for a job or Gen Z or Gen X to now? In some ways, the technology I think makes it a little confusing where there's a lot more reliance on it, thinking that if I just apply to 50 or 100 jobs and it's a numbers game and it'll work out, but there're some things that I feel like are very much the same from years ago that are very effective, such as picking up the phone and calling someone and expressing interest in a role or asking to be curious saying, "Like you, I went to the same university. I had a similar major. I'd really like to learn more about your role and how you got there."


That ability to network and talk, that is still incredibly effective today. People want to hire people that they know or have met and that they trust and forging that relationship and building a relationship through targeted networking can be incredibly effective and can be the main differentiator as to why a company chooses you over someone else.


Bobbi Rebell:

Curiosity and flattery can take you far. I do want to move on to the second thing, and that is talking about maxing out your 401k from day one on your job. Setting aside the maximum contribution you can. This is something that gets lost in all the noise with all of the acronyms out there with HSA and FSA and 401K and IRA and Roth and all that. People get confused, but there're certain things that are more important than others because they can be supercharged by what their employer is doing, and I don't know that emerging adults always know the difference of what to prioritize.


Beth Hendler-Grunt:

Yeah, I think there's a lot of overwhelm and sometimes, just good financial aptitude and skills are the same way. It's not always taught about how to find a job. It's not always taught about how to manage your money in a way that really sets you up for the long term. I was very fortunate. When I came out of school, I did have a job working for AT&T as a salesperson selling phones and phone equipment, but something that my father said to me, he said right off the bat, "You should take the max that you can put into 401k," so at the time it was 16% and 6% of that, the company matched it, so that's free money. It depends. I don't think people realize that, but put it away and try to live on your salary less the 16%. It will make a huge difference down the road.


Bobbi Rebell:

It's important for parents to not assume that their kids are getting that information or that push from the company, from the HR department. Very often, they're just sent a link to a website and not necessarily specifically getting the information from a human who will encourage them to actually put the money in the 401K and make sure it's invested. It's important for parents and even peers. If you have a friend that got a new job, don't be afraid to bring it up to them and say, "Hey, I did this. You should really look into what your company's doing," because having these discussions can really be impactful for people.


The third thing, I love this. "Hope is not a strategy. If you have certain financial and career goals, you need to have a step by step plan to get there." A lot of people really feel that if you manifest it, if you focus and just have a positive attitude, good things will happen. That's absolutely important as part of a plan because it is hard to stay motivated. I know we've all experienced young people who get frustrated because it is really tough when you get out there, but you got to do more than hope, right?


Beth Hendler-Grunt:

Absolutely. Hope is good and being positive is good, but you also need to take action. It's the same person who says, "Well, I'll look for the job tomorrow," or, "I'll start that next week," and you can't just assume. I think there's a lot of faith, and I understand this. A lot of young adults went to college and was promised on the campus tour that when they finished, that companies would come find them and look for them because of their schooling and their grades. It doesn't quite happen the way that you think.


It's much more competitive and you can't just hope that someone will figure out how amazing you are without saying anything or putting out information about yourself or reaching out to others, and you need a plan. I think this job search process is very overwhelming, it's intimidating and many are not sure how to navigate it, or they have one setback or one application and they hear nothing. They get ghosted. They're like, "Oh, forget it. I'm not good. They don't want me." What we think is it's a process. You can't hold all your hopes on, "I have this one person who said they will talk to me," or, "One potential job that I saw and I thought my credentials really matched."


Do you really have a process of how you're going about it? What are you doing today? What are you doing tomorrow? Next week? What's the list of people? I have a strategy, it's a real simple one. It's called 10 and 10. Write down the names of 10 people who have a job that you want and 10 companies that are of interest to you based on what you've seen in the news, what you've researched, and you want to reach out to those people at these companies, ideally fellow alumni because they tend to be the most friendly and the most willing to talk to you, and ask them for 15 minutes of their time.


"Tell me how you got there. Tell me what skills you needed to be successful in the job. Do you have any advice for me? Anyone else that you'd recommend that I speak with?" That strategic networking alone is so much more productive than just blindly applying and throwing spaghetti on the wall and seeing what happens.


Bobbi Rebell:

The follow-up is also important there because then, what happens next when the person spends 15 minutes with you? A lot of young people might say, "Well, they'll call me if something becomes available."


Beth Hendler-Grunt:

This is probably the most frustrating thing for me. There's this feeling of, "Well, I don't want to be a pest. I don't want to bother them." I said, "First of all, if you don't send a thank you note, that's already a negative in my book that you didn't appreciate their time, that you're not as interested," so you must follow up. You must send a thank you note and I'm all about, you have to keep following up until you get an answer. My suggestion is you follow up every seven days via email and find things that are in the news or say, "Oh, I read this and I thought of you. Just wanted to see where you are in the process until they give you an answer," because it's the ones who are persistent and have the grit to keep following up, those are the ones who tend to get hired versus those who retreat and say, "Oh, I'll just wait." You have to assert yourself in this process.


Bobbi Rebell:

Thank you so much. Tell me where can our listeners find out more about you and The Next Great Step?


Beth Hendler-Grunt:

Sure, they can find out about us at our website nextgreatstep.com. If you're interested in a complimentary consultation, just click the little button that says, "Let's talk." We welcome the opportunity to speak with you or student, recent grad, to see how we can support you. If you're interested also, we just wrote the new book, The Next Great Step: The Parents' Guide to Launching Your New Grad into a Career. It's available on Amazon, Walmart, Target, everywhere you can buy a book and it'll really give you the step by step process if you want to work with your young adult to help them be successful.


Bobbi Rebell:

It's a great book. I whipped through it, I learned a lot and a great companion to launching financial grownups. Thank you so much.


Beth Hendler-Grunt:

Thank you so much. I appreciate it.


Bobbi Rebell:

A big thank you to so many of you that have already bought my new book, Launching Financial Grownups: Live Your Richest Life by Helping Your (Almost) Adult Kids Become Everyday Money Smart. This book was not easy to write because I had to get honest with myself about what was working with my teen and young adult kids and what was not working and I also had to be prepared to share it with all of you. First of all, thank you for your support and your wonderful responses to it. There's definitely some things in there that you may not have been expecting to hear.


By the way, I got a lot of help from my money expert friends and also financial therapists and parenting experts. I am really happy with how Launching Financial Grownups came out, even though it really was hard to be, like I said, that honest and it was a lot of work, but I really love doing it and I'm really happy with how it came out. On that note, if you have not already, please pick up a copy of Launching Financial Grownups today. After you do, please share it on social media. Please leave a review on Amazon. Those reviews are super important because the algorithm picks up on them and that can make the book a lot more visible to more people. I truly appreciate it and I really also appreciate all of your support.


One takeaway from my interview with Beth is that parents or friends who want to take control want to make introductions and that's all good and so well meaning, but Beth warrants that we also need to make sure that our young adults are actually ready. They will often nod and say thank you and they're thankful, but the minute we step away and assume they will take it away from there, they don't sometimes or they don't even know what they're not doing.


Take the time to go through rehearsing things like the elevator pitch and then also, while you should of course not be writing their emails and so on, there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking a look and maybe making a few suggestions. Of course, be careful with your tone there. It's that time of the year, my friends. Now I need your help. When you are looking for gifts for people that you care about in your life and that includes by the way your clients, please consider gifting them my book Launching Financial Grownups. We have bulk discounts available. Just go to my website and click on the books tab for how to get those discounts.


Some of you may not know this, but book sales seem so simple. They're actually really hard to come by and even a single book purchase can move the needle for someone like me. Thank you in advance as a small author and please post a photo of you with the book on social if you do buy a copy. It will make my day. It will also help me promote the book and get the word out, and I appreciate that and I promise I will thank you and I will share it as well. Of course, I also am so thankful to Beth Hendler-Grunt and The Next Great Step for helping us all be financial grownups.


Money Tips for Financial Grownups is a production of BRK Media, LLC. Editing and production by Steve Stewart. Guest coordination, content creation, social media support, and show notes by Ashley Wall. You can find the podcast show notes, which include links to resources mentioned in the show, as well as show transcripts by going to my website, bobbirebell.com. You can also find an incredible library of hundreds of previous episodes to help you on your journey as a financial grownup.


The podcast and tons of complimentary resources associated with the podcast is brought to you for free, but I need to have your support in return. Here's how you can do that. First, connect with me on social media @BobbiRebell1 on Instagram and Bobbi Rebell on both Twitter and on Clubhouse, where you can join my Money Tips for Grownups Club. Second, share this podcast on social media and tag me so I can thank you. You can also leave a review on Apple Podcasts.


Reading each one means the world to me. You know what? It really motivates others to subscribe. You can also support our merch shop, grownupgear.com, by picking up fun gifts for your grownup friends and treating yourself as well. Most of all, help your friends on their journey to being financial grownups by encouraging them to subscribe to the podcast. Together, we got this. Thank you for your time and for the kind words so many of you send my way. See you next time. Thank you for supporting Money Tips for Financial grownups.


 
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