The Business of Life with Dr King
Dr Ariel Rosita King brings on a variety of International guests from various countries, cultures, organisations, and businesses to talk about turning
problem into possibilities! Let's turn our challenges in opportunities together!
The Business of Life with Dr King
Turning Job Search Into Career Velocity: How to Communicate a Unique Value Proposition That Gets You Seen and Heard with Gina Riley (USA)
Job boards feel like shouting into the wind, and for many smart, seasoned professionals, that silence is maddening. We sat down with career transition coach and author Gina Riley to unpack why “qualified” rarely wins on its own—and how clarity, research, and real relationships move you to the top of the shortlist. Gina shares the thinking behind her book, Qualified Isn’t Enough, and the nine-step Career Velocity model that helps candidates articulate a unique value proposition and turn interviews into business conversations.
Across a fast-paced, practical conversation, we map the journey from rambling bios to crisp narratives that hiring teams can use. You’ll hear how to build your career thread from strengths, values, and motivated skills; why dormant ties are your most overlooked asset; and how to approach outreach with curiosity instead of desperation. We go beyond company webpages into investor letters, competitor analysis, and leadership interviews, then show you how to bring those insights into meetings as testable hypotheses. For new grads, mid-career changers, and executives alike, the message is consistent: unless you get seen, you won’t get heard.
We also dive into executive presence—how you look, speak, and act—and the modern mandate to read the room across virtual and in-person settings. Gina Riley introduces her RARE framework: Research, Alignment, Read the room, Evaluate the fit. You’ll learn smart questions to ask peers and leaders, ways to avoid the ATS black hole, and why volunteer leadership can quietly showcase your value at scale. If you’ve been applying widely with little traction, this is your reset: fewer applications, stronger relationships, and a narrative that makes you the obvious hire.
Enjoyed the conversation? Follow and rate the show, share this episode with a friend who’s job searching, and leave a review telling us which strategy you’ll try first.
Music, lyrics, guitar and singing by Dr Ariel Rosita King
Teach me to live one day at a time
with courage love and a sense of pride.
Giving me the ability to love and accept myself
so I can go and give it to someone else.
Teach me to live one day at a time.....
The Business of Life
Dr Ariella (Ariel) Rosita King
Original Song, "Teach Me to Live one Day At A Time"
written, guitar and vocals by Dr. Ariel Rosita King
Dr King Solutions (USA Office)
1629 K St, NW #300,
Washington, DC 20006, USA,
+1-202-827-9762
DrKingSolutons@gmail.com
DrKingSolutions.com
Welcome to another day of the business of life with Dr. King. Today, once again, we have a very special guest, Miss Gina Riley. Welcome.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you. I can't wait to have this conversation today.
SPEAKER_01:I am so happy because we're going to be talking about, if I understand correctly, um, your book. So why don't you introduce yourself to our audience and tell us more about your book?
SPEAKER_00:Thank you. So I am a career transition coach. And over the past, oh gosh, quite a few years now, I've developed a program that I call Career Velocity. And it's a nine-step model to help job seekers move through career transitions with a foundational approach, which is clearly communicating their unique value proposition. And once I've been using the program for a number of years, I realized I really had to share that with the world. And so I spent all of 2024 writing the book. And it finally is out there to help what I hope will be millions of people. And like I said, foundationally, it's about communicating your unique value proposition. Phase one, I break it down to the micro level, how to do that, pulling in your unique strengths, values, motivated skills, your personality, your leadership approach. And ultimately, Dr. King, what I'm helping people do in that first phase of the book is answer the question you all will get if you interview, which is so tell me a little bit about yourself. That is one of the hardest questions to answer because most people are thinking, okay, I have 20 or 30 years experience. Where do I start? And that's what it, that's what I'm doing is helping you break that down and think about what those decision makers need to hear from your story. So you're pulling out the right stories and you're not all over the map topic talking for 20 minutes.
SPEAKER_01:I really love that. Let's go back to the beginning. Why did you decide to write this book? What was the impetus or the um, you know, the point where you said, you know, I really need to write this book. And also tell us why did you choose the title that you did?
SPEAKER_00:So it took 18 pages of single space notes to get to qualified isn't enough. I was riffing off of my program name, Career Velocity. And one day it wasn't settling at all with me. And one day I woke up and I realized what is the number one thing that we all hear from job seekers today, especially in the wake of the disruption of AI and people applying on job boards and not getting any response. I'm answering this question with the book. I applied to 200 jobs in the last two months. I did not hear back from a single one, and I was qualified for all of them. And my answer is respectfully, qualified isn't enough. You must imagine that when you make it into an interview process, even hitting that first bar, if you are sitting in a virtual or a real waiting room with four other people, there's five of you competing for the job. What is your secret sauce that edges you over? So the hiring team thinks, we want you, we want your unique value proposition. And we cannot leave it to chance. And so we must shore that up first. And so, really, my motivator is all about communication. And it and that I can go all the way back to age 16 or 17 when I was in leadership development programs and I was learning from gurus in these programs how to communicate and relate better. And that has become my life's mission is to help people connect, but first starting with themselves.
SPEAKER_01:I really love that. That is so interesting to me that you applied for 200 jobs that you were actually qualified for, but did not hear back from one of them. Did you do that online? Um, and how did you do that? And do you think that perhaps the way it was done made a bit of a difference?
SPEAKER_00:So that's a really great question. I have not been a job seeker for many, many years. So this is not me. I'm answering this question for the job seekers out there today. And yes, this is what's happening. And the other thing that's happening is people are even investing in automated applying mechanisms to game the system and apply to a thousand jobs. But the challenge here is sometimes when you do that, these a these systems are getting smarter and you can get tagged as a bot. Once you get tagged as over applying and possibly being a bot and not a real human, you're probably not in consideration at all because those internal systems can say, anybody with this IP address, we're gonna put it in the no pile immediately. So, what does that mean for job seekers, especially those that subscribe to my method? It's about relationships and referrals. So everyone hates the term networking. And so instead of me saying networking, it's about talking to people who know, like, and trust you already, asking for referrals, and building a strong target list so you know what to ask for.
SPEAKER_01:I really love that. So I guess one of the issues that most of us do is that we we apply for, I mean, it could be an internship, it can be a consulting, it could be a job, and it's any kind of way to work with someone online. So you're saying that what's really important is to go to people that you know and get a referral, and then there's relationship building. So let's talk more about that. That's so interesting to me. Exactly how does that work?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I have a couple of different ideas, but I will also say in the same vein that job seeking is very hard and it's not it's not only about tapping people who you know already, because you can still effectively network and and generate informational conversations with almost a zero network. And we have to believe this because not all of us have really big networks. So, how? How do we do it? So I'm gonna lean into a little social science. There is an author, Dr. David Burkis, and he wrote a book called Friend of a Friend. And in the first couple of chapters, what he the stories that he tells draw out a conclusion, which is who are the people that will most be likely to take that first call from us? Dormant ties, people who have been friend friendly with us way back in the past, who would be the most likely to say yes to a Zoom coffee or getting together. So I'm in my mid-50s. What does that mean to me? Former alumni from Arizona State. It could be um a pickleball group that I was a part of or a volleyball group or fill in the blank for sports, could be a church group, it could be a former hairdresser who has tons of different people that sit in their chair. So dormant times are people that already will take that call from us. And and you can start there having a warm, friendly conversation. And then as you're reigniting, reigniting it, it shifts into, hey, I'm in the middle of a career transition, and there's a couple of things that I'm trying to, you know, discover in my network. And here's a few companies that I'm targeting. Do you know of anyone? So, of course, there's a purpose to these conversations. You don't start with, hey, I need a referral. You're reigniting dormant ties, people who will say yes.
SPEAKER_01:That's a fantastic technique. I really love that. Um, can you please tell us more about where to start to look? And I think perhaps I really should ask you, you said something about working on yourself first. Um, could you also please talk about that? I think that's so interesting and so important for our audience.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. So let's let's we'll continue on with like the how of these conversations. I'm gonna use my own son. My son, uh, my younger son is 23 and just graduated with a mechanical engineering degree and one year of experience. He's navigating job search right now. And he moved to another country where he doesn't know the language, and he's navigating a network where he doesn't have a lot of direct ties. So we're having conversations daily. Hey, mom, I found this company that does design work in mechanical and industrial engineering. We're looking at the leadership team together. He's looking at what the company does, and he's strategically reaching out with a personal connection request to the engineering leader of these product design teams and saying, I'm I live nearby. I'm I have these kinds of questions about what you all do. May I take you to a coffee? Are you open to a conversation? As a new graduate, he kind of gets a flyer or a pass as long as he can communicate nicely about what he's after. And he is, I'm very clear with him, you're not asking for a job. Of course, you want a job. We all know you want a job. You're a new graduate, but what you're seeking is advice, information, references, resources, support. So if you approach these cold conversations in a way where you're gathering information and you you kind of go in as a fact finder, it shifts the whole tone from desperation, I'm a job seeker, to tell me more about what your company does. Can you tell me more based on your recent, you know, history? I can see before you were an engineering leader, you were a project manager. I would like to get a project management certification. Tell me more. Now you have a senior leader who's flattered. You looked at my profile. I'd love to give you advice. So these are just some examples of how you can ignite a conversation.
SPEAKER_01:So it also seems like we're looking for someone to be a bit of a mentor, right? Instead of going for that job, you're looking for someone to give an idea of the pathway forward. Is that correct?
SPEAKER_00:100%. So for those early in the career, I strongly advise looking for a couple of people that could be go-to's as you go through the job search who you're not actually asking for a job from that you're like, hey, could I get back to you once a month and just ask you questions as I navigate my job search in this new city or this area or what have you? So I think that's a really that's a smart question and a smart way to go about it.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you. I and can I ask, are there differences between those who might have just graduated from university, as you said, those who have several years' experience, and then those of us who are decided that we want to shift what we've done before, and maybe what we want to do in the future doesn't look like anything like what we've done before.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. Such a smart question. Thank you. I did an interview with an author, Steve Dalton. He um wrote a book called The Two-Hour Job Search, and I actually buy it for all of my clients. And what he says in the interview that I had with him is that older job seekers still can hold informational conversations, but a lot of times it's even with younger people. And there's that concern about age discrimination, there's a concern about not coming off as humble as you ask for that advice and support. And so some of the things that I glean from that conversation with him is approach it with curiosity, true curiosity about tell me what your challenges are, you know, in this organization, in your position, amongst your team, and you know, what it, what is it that you're trying to accomplish so that you can get centered on what concerns them the most. What I recommend for people who I call career switchers, let's say I worked in one area and I'm gonna shift gears and it looks very, very different, all the more reason you can ask for informational conversations without asking for a job. Why? You're fact-finding. You're trying to figure out your holes and gaps that will prohibit you from even being considered. Because remember, you see an open job and you apply to it, and maybe you are qualified in your own mind, but it's in the mind of the people reading the resumes. And if you're not an obvious pick, they're gonna be, they're gonna be first screening people that are the most obvious pick because they have to conserve their time and energy. There's probably hundreds of people after you applying for that same job. Does that answer your question? Yes, it does.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, I find that so interesting. So even when your book that says, you know, qualified isn't enough, so instead of asking what is enough, what are those extra, what is the secret sauce? What are the extra things that we should be doing or we should think about doing that will help us to um go past the qualified? You know, there's one job, there's uh 500 people that are qualified. So why should it be me rather than you? What is that specialness we're looking at?
SPEAKER_00:That's a really good question. So, again, foundationally, figuring out that answer to tell me about yourself has a bunch of work that comes in front of it. Many, many hours of reflection and self-discovery to build up the story. And what I recommend, and in my chapters three and four, you're developing your career thread. That is the themes and the patterns of your career, which should not look like everybody else is on the planet. It should be yours uniquely in conjunction with your strengths and your values and your motivated skills, right? Okay, so now I've discovered those concentric circles or my Venn diagram. What makes me unique? Now we're gonna go into a shift. We're gonna start shifting into my where I have my steps or chapters seven and eight. Interview prep, which has deep prompts for research. You're researching way beyond the company webpage. You're if it's a public company, there's gonna be investor reports, there's gonna be videos you can watch, there's gonna be the key players who may have been on podcasts or, you know, in the news. You're gonna going to look at financial reports, you're gonna look at competitors, and you're going to start making a hypothesis about what stories you're gonna develop that will most resonate with those key players on a future hiring team. And then with your job search strategy, chapter eight, I have frameworks for asking really smart questions and uncovering more information if you get those informationals. So I think to answer your question, what you're doing is once you have your your foundation set, it's all about your curiosity and doing really, really good research and building hypothesis that you are gut checking with people. You don't go into an interview scenario or an informational as a know-it-all. You're going in saying, my research shows X, Y, and Z. What do you see from your perspective since you're the insider?
SPEAKER_01:I really like that. And you know what's really interesting to me is right now when I'm going back to it, I'm thinking to myself, um, I love the fact that you actually did research on this, right? As someone who was qualified for these jobs, you went and applied for these jobs to see what it was like. So then I think probably the audience and even myself will think, okay, if that's the case, should we not even think about applying online? Because if you're already qualified, how how can I even get to show you the thread of my career or what I have to offer that's more than the other person? So is how and where we apply just as important as applying? And would that make a big difference to at least having the possibility of someone asking more about who we are and what we have to offer?
SPEAKER_00:Some people would say that 98% of your time should be not applying online because the percentage of being called once you apply online is so incredibly low, the rate of return on your investment is not worth it. Even though it is a grind to build a spreadsheet, build your target list, and build out all the key players you want to start reaching out to, call the referral, otherwise, you're going to land faster. And what I like to say is unless you get seen, you will not get heard. And so you're not likely, if you're not getting phone calls from an ATS spray and pray, apply, apply, apply, then you're not getting seen and you're certainly not getting heard.
SPEAKER_01:That makes all the sense in the world, doesn't it? I really love that. Um, please tell me, according to your book and what you've written, what is the best way then once you once you've figured out who you are, once you figure out what your threat is, once you also do your homework, which is always important, you know, who are these people and why am I why am I applying to them? And what do I have to offer that will help them to go meet whatever goals that they have? Once you do that and you're sitting in front of the interviewers, are there some do's and don'ts that you might have for our audience that are quite important?
SPEAKER_00:Such a great question. Yes. One thing I addressed just a little bit in my book is the notion of executive presence. There was a book by Sylvia Ann Hewlett. She wrote the book over a decade ago, and there's social science, and 17 different elements of executive presence with three categories: appearance, communication, and gravitas, how we look, how we speak, and how we act. And in the last year and a half, Hewlett and her team came out with six new rules of executive presence, which adds a few extra modern twists to it, such as authenticity, which I think is really great, and also like our ability to communicate on a Zoom room or virtually, for example. So what I'm addressing is the most important element of executive presence, in my opinion, is reading the room. So each Zoom room or the actual room that you get into, you're you're reading who am I talking to? If they're interviewing me, what is their role in this process? Because everyone has a role in the process and we'll weigh in. And if we're dismissive of the admin at the front desk or dismissive of that 25-year-old frontline recruiter who I was once was, guess what? You might not move forward. Those CEOs go to the front desk and say, Hey, admin, how did how did that candidate treat you when they came in the door? What do you think? I have worked with CEOs on searches for their team where they have asked people those questions. Um, and that is the surest way. You get all the way to the finals and then you're dismissive of someone or you're not paying attention to what they need. What if it's a peer and you're and you're not asking the questions about, okay, if you if I get hired, how does my role impact yours? I'm gonna be the new HR leader. Hey, finance leader, what are you most concerned about as you hire this next individual? How's my role gonna impact you? Ask those questions.
SPEAKER_01:That that is so in-depth. That makes sense to me. And also it it it shows the person that not only do you see yourself in that role, but you see yourself as an ally and as a partner, and somehow not just as an ally, a partner, but that you're functionally working in order to meet the goals together. And that's very, very different from give me a job. Because what you're really saying is that I'm a part, I'm gonna be part of this team. And what what what you care about, I care about, and I'd like to know how I can be a part of your goals and and make sure that we are we are successful. So I think that makes all the difference in the world. Um it does. Yes. Do you have any do you have any other I guess tips that are so important for us to think about that we don't usually think about? I'm learning so much already.
SPEAKER_00:Well, one thing that I could say is as you're doing uh research on a company and you're planning out your interview stories, which come from your experiences, I developed something that I call the rare candidate framework. It's in step four, chapter seven of my book. And what rare stands for is research. The second step is alignment, aligning your stories with the things that you've researched and what you've already thought through with those key players. And then the third step is reading the room. And then the last step is evaluating, and this is what triggered it for me, evaluating whether the offer is going to be right for you. Is that company in that role going to be right for you? And you were mentioning something that kind of just made me think of that. Interviews are a conversation. It's to see if two parties will come together and do business. They're gonna pay you an awesome salary to do a job. Do you want that job?
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. And and can you be a part of their success story or can you be a part of what their goals are? Which is really what what they're looking for, isn't it? Rather than just filling, filling a quote unquote job. They want to know can you help us to attain the goals that we have? And if so, how? You know, can you be a part of this team? Um, so that makes all the difference in the world. Could you please tell everyone how to buy your book, where to buy your book, and also um any websites that you might have? And I know you haven't talked about this, but I do understand that you do do some kind of coaching. Could you tell us a little bit more about that too, just in case our audience would like to uh access any of these points of uh of your fantastic work?
SPEAKER_00:Thank you. Okay, so the easiest thing on the book is it's where you can buy books online. You've got Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Target, just you know, it's qualified isn't enough by Gina Reilly. It's easy to find. Um, yes, I have a career coaching program called Career Velocity. I have a few little pullouts like interview prep packages and another one for developing your unique value proposition that can be found at gina'reillyconsulting.com. And one of the things that I'm really proud of is this little course that I created, I call it a nano course. And what I did was I interviewed seven leaders who navigated their career transitions through the power of networking. So each of those interviews that I've written up represents 20 hours worth of work. And then I discovered, as I looked at it, five strategies across five themes. So I developed a little course with seven little videos, seven downloadable uh interviews that and articles that you can read, and a workbook that will help you stop each video and start to build your plan. And some of those things, some of the strategies are things like volunteer leadership. It's one of my favorite strategies where I interviewed Angela Shaw. She's a senior HR leader out of Texas. And one of the things that she does in her HR community is she would volunteer through SHERM, which is one of our big HR leadership programs for in all of America, probably the world as well. And so she would deliver content and be a leader for different things. And guess what? She would get tapped on the shoulder for opportunities because people could see her work in action relative to her field. And that's just one of the five strategies.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you so much. And believe it or not, our 30 minutes has gone very, very quickly. I know, too quickly. Um, do you have any last thoughts or comments for our audience?
SPEAKER_00:What I would say is start with you. If you're navigating a career transition and you feel frustrated and you've thought, oh, I've heard these two talking for the last half hour, and I have been doing the spray, spray, spray, apply, apply, apply approach. There's a reason it's not working because the system isn't built for us to do this. Start with you and then build your target and your informational interview strategy so you can move the needle through relationships. That is what is going to do it for you.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you once again for being with us. And we had Miss Gina Riley here today speaking about her book, Qualified Isn't Enough. Thank you so much. And for our audience, remember, if I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, when am I? If not now, then when? That's by the philosopher Hillel. And I've added, if not me, then who? Thank you so much once again for joining us and have a very, very great week. Thank you.