Tips for Work and Life with Andrew LaCivita

Ever feel like you're doing everything you can to find a job, but nothing seems to be working? You're sending resumes. You're reaching out to employers. You're grinding. But the interviews just ain't coming. Or maybe those interviews ain't turning into offers. Every day that goes by without getting hired feels like another day you've failed. What if, I mean just what if… You're closer to getting h...

Why do people freeze in job interviews? It's not because they can't think fast enough. It's because they're trying to think about too many things at once. What did they ask me? What should I say? Is this the right example? Am I talking too much? Did I answer the question? Do they like me? That's a lot of traffic running through your head when you're trying to have a conversation. 😂 The solution i...

Most job candidates think they're ready for their interview. They've researched the company. They've reviewed the job description. They've practiced a few answers. Maybe they've even asked ChatGPT, or the better version, ANDY AI, to throw a few interview questions their way. But interview readiness isn't about checking a few boxes. It's about knowing whether every part of your interview is ready t...

You know you have the experience. So what gives with not getting the job offer? You're in the interview. Per my Interview Intervention , that means you're qualified. How come the interviewer couldn't see that?! Is it possible you're making the interviewer work too hard to find your value? Possibly? Or, here's another favorite of mine…taking a wee bit too long to get to the point? Oh. Let's not for...

Are you worried you're too old to get hired? If you're 22, settle down. 🤣 If you're 42, maybe pay attention to this lesson with one eye and one ear. If you're 52, both eyes and ears, please. If you're 62, pull up a chair. We need to talk. Ageism is real. Don't let anyone tell you it's not. But I also don't want you thinking age is a disadvantage. (Have I mentioned I'm now officially in my 60s? 🧓...

You're more experienced. Yay.   But here's a funny.   Just because you're great at your job doesn't mean you're great at interviewing for your job!  I see senior professionals make mistakes in interviews that actually make them sound less senior.   They dive too quickly into the activity. They explain too much. They answer about how they execute instead of elevating the conversation to show how th...

Most people think influencing someone means making a stronger argument. It doesn't. It means understanding what the other person wants.   Whether you're interviewing, negotiating a job offer, or trying to move an important conversation forward, the fastest way to change someone's mind isn't by pushing harder. It's by helping them achieve their goal. Today's lesson shows you exactly how using a com...

There's a part of the interview process almost nobody thinks about.   The emails you send after the interview. Or throughout the hiring process. Or when you get an offer. Most job candidates assume email is the safest way to communicate. Technically, it's the riskiest. I've seen candidates try to rewrite an interview in a thank you note, send multiple follow-up emails, ask important questions over...

One of the biggest mistakes job candidates make is preparing for the wrong thing. They spend hours trying to predict which interview questions they'll be asked. They search for lists of the most common questions. They memorize answers. They rehearse responses. And then they walk into the interview hoping they guessed correctly. There's just one problem, I mean, other than this giving me heartburn....

One of the biggest misconceptions job candidates have is that if they're qualified, they'll keep moving forward. Uh, not how it works. Every week, I hear from professionals who have the experience, skills, and background to do the job. They get the recruiter call. Then they never hear from the company again. They assume they weren't qualified. Or, they're totally confused because they believed the...

Most people spend a lot of time thinking about what they want. A better job. A bigger paycheck. More freedom. But very few people ever stop to calculate the cost of not getting it. Not next year. This year. And the year after that. And the year after that. That's what got me thinking. What if the biggest expense in your life isn't something you're paying for? What if it's something you're not doin...

If your job search feels harder than it should, it's probably not because you're underqualified, bad at interviewing, or missing the goods. It's more likely… 👉 You're asking each step of the job search to do too much . Choosing the perfect role before understanding the possibilities that exist or how to evaluate them. Eliminating companies before having conversations. Using a résumé to explain yo...

Sometimes an interview is an hour. Sometimes it's several rounds stretched across multiple days. And sometimes you finally get time with the hiring manager… and the calendar invite says 30 minutes. That's when many job seekers make the same mistake. They think I need to cram everything in. So they start walking through their résumé, overexplaining their background, stacking story after story, and...

One of the biggest mistakes job candidates make is thinking the interview is only about what they say. So they spend all their time preparing answers and trying to sound impressive. Meanwhile… The interviewers are reacting, signaling, judging, connecting, disengaging, leaning in, checking out, growing skeptical, getting interested, and making real-time decisions based on how they feel. Most job ca...

One of the biggest mistakes professionals make is assuming that because a company is hiring… the company must be healthy. Uh, sadly, no. Sometimes they're putting fresh paint on the walls and didn't bother to patch the concrete underneath. Today, I have a short, but powerful lesson on how to evaluate whether you're joining a company that's going up… Or is sinking, but just doesn't know it yet. Of...

I want to discuss one of the most important decisions you make in a job interview. It happens before you ever start speaking. It's not how you tell your story. It's which story you choose. Most candidates default to the example they like the most. The one they're most proud of. The one that feels the most impressive. But that's not what determines whether it lands. The story that sells you best is...

Most job seekers think they need to beat the ATS. Optimize the résumé. Match the keywords. Play the system. That's the wrong goal. You don't beat the ATS. 👉 You stay out of it. Because the applicant trashing system is not designed to hire you. It's designed to filter you out. And when you rely on it, you're putting yourself in a low-probability game. Most people aren't even reviewed. Not rejected...

Let's talk about something most candidates completely miss in interviews. 👉 The questions they ask. I'm not talking about whether you ask questions. Most people know they should. I'm talking about how you ask them. Because here's generally what happens… You wait until the end. You ask something safe. Something generic. "Can you tell me about the culture?" "What's the work-life balance like?" [Ins...

Let's talk about something that sets people back. Career mistakes. Not obvious ones. Ones that look like progress. Work hard. Stay loyal. Do a good job. The kind of unnoticeable acts that don't cost you a bad day. They cost you years. Years of time. Income. Momentum you never get back. And it happens because people are pointed in the wrong direction. Not because they aren't capable. That's what we...

Let's talk about the thing that's sitting in the back of a lot of people's minds right now… "Is AI going to take my job?" I get it. You're seeing layoffs. You're hearing nonstop noise about automation. But here's the problem… Most people are asking the wrong question. They're thinking about AI like it's coming to take a fixed number of jobs. That's not how this works. Every major wave of technolog...

There is no faster accelerator in your career than communication. And there is no bigger drag. Think about it. You have skills. Experience. Judgment. Ideas that could help your team, your company, and your customers. But between everything you know and the value you deliver sits one thing: Communication. It's the wrapper around everything you know. It either broadcasts your value or it traps it in...

One of the biggest mistakes job seekers make in interviews is trying to sell their skills. They walk through their résumé. They explain what they know. They talk about tools and responsibilities. They assume the employer will connect the dots. But employers are not hiring skills. They are hiring value. Skills are just the ingredients. Value is the outcome. Two candidates can have the same skills....

Happy St. Patrick's Day. ☘ ️ If you're counting on luck in your job search, we need to talk. Let me say something that might sting a little. Your skills aren't the reason you're not getting offers. And they're definitely not the reason you'll get one. Most job seekers think interviews are about listing what they know. "I'm certified in…" "I've done Agile…" "I've led teams…" "I implemented…" That's...

There is at least one moment in a job interview you can count on.   Whether it happens literally or figuratively, it's this: "Tell me about your accomplishments." What do many people do when they hear this? They panic. Not because they don't have wins.   But because they don't know how to talk about them without feeling awkward, arrogant, or self-promotional. And that's where offers disappear. Whe...

If you've ever felt overlooked or misunderstood or plain ole underappreciated, this is my gift to you today. It doesn't matter if it's you job search or job. You're welcome. If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings:   1. Check out the milewalk Academy , my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums....