126: How to Land Your Dietitian Dream Job with Brooke Schantz Fosco, RD

Dietitian Success Center Podcast Cover Photo 22
In this episode of The Dietitian Success Podcast, I sit down with career coach, Brooke Schantz Fosco. We discuss: What to do if you’re feeling ‘stuck’ in your role, but you don’t know whether you have the skills to change...

In this episode of The Dietitian Success Podcast, I sit down with career coach, Brooke Schantz Fosco. We discuss:

What to do if you’re feeling ‘stuck’ in your role, but you don’t know whether you have the skills to change niches or jobs What to do if you’re a student applying to jobs for the first time with limited experience Tips on how to structure your resume strategically Why your network is your superpower

Links:

Join us for Brooke’s Resume Development and LinkedIn session (or watch the recording) by becoming a member here: https://dietitiansuccesscenter.com/membership

Follow Brooke on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/bitchinnutrition/ 

Connect with Brooke on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookeschantzfosco/ 

Episode Transcript:

Today I’m joined by registered dietitian and career coach Brooke Schantz Fasco. Brooke is the founder of Bitchin Nutrition where she works one-on-one with RDs to progress their careers, land their dream jobs and gain confidence throughout the process. And so this episode is for you if you are thinking any of the following things.

Number one you’ve been in the same job for a while and you’re feeling like it’s a bit of a dead end. Maybe you’re not fulfilled anymore in the work that you’re doing, or you don’t necessarily see your role progressing in the future. Number two, you found yourself in an area of practice.

That you don’t really love. You want to be passionate about the work that you do, but you just haven’t found the right fit. Or number three, you’re a new grad who is on the job hunt. And you’re trying to figure out how to break into the job world when every posting requires experience. And you have no idea.

What to apply to or what to do next. Do any of those sound like you. If so you are in the right place. Let’s jump into the episode.

All right, Brooke. Welcome to the podcast. Feel free to say hey to the audience. Thanks for having me, Krista. I love listening to your episode, so it’s so fun to actually be here today. Oh, that’s so awesome.

Okay. I would love to know more about your dietitian backstory, because you have worked in a number of different areas. So can you just give us the Kohl’s notes of how you got to where you are today? Sure. So briefly, I feel like I’ve been around the R D N block as far as jobs and career experience is concerned.

I’ve had the privilege of working as a pediatric dietitian, outpatient dietitian, inpatient dietitian, community, dietitian or dietitian, entrepreneur, educator, and now career coach. And all of that kind of started, right after grad school, I took a job that was a big. As an entry level dietitian and went right into running nutrition counseling program for a pediatric company, I even negotiated that salary and remember my mom being appalled that I would even dare to negotiate for my first position.

Honestly, that takes guts. That takes some serious guts. I remember my first role and just being like, oh yeah, no, whatever you’re gonna give me is fine. . Like you’re just scared. I feel like you don’t think about it, but that’s gonna set the standard for what you’re gonna be requesting in the future.

So again, moral of the story. I probably will say this multiple times by we’re speaking, but you always just have to ask and they can say no. So that position was a big learning curve, to say the least, and not something new grads would even try to get into. But I learned so much by taking on that risk, and then that job gave me the leverage to jump into another non-entry level role.

At a large hospital working as an outpatient dietitian. And then after five years I was asked by a grad school friend if I would consider teaching etic students, interns, and grad students. And I thought to myself like, why not? So I applied for that position and landed the role. And then over time I worked my way up to the assistant director role managing four dietetic program tracks for interns and grad students, and I love it.

I had no idea I would love teaching this much. And in fact, in undergrad I remember talking to my program director and telling her that I never wanted to teach the next generation of dietitians. , and here I am. So I just feel like it goes to show you that you should always be open to new opportunities because you just don’t know what’s gonna ignite your soul until you try it.

And then today I still work as an educator and am. A dietitian career coach, and I really believe these two roles go nicely together because my career coaching philosophy is to teach my clients how to advance their careers so they feel empowered. I don’t do the task for them, and there’s a difference in that.

And okay, so let’s talk about your business then. So you’re a career coaching business. It’s called Bitch and Nutrition, which I just love that name. The first time I saw it I was like, yes, I love a name . That is just so unique and makes you giggle a little bit when you see it. So first of all, tell us where the name came from and then let’s talk about what that business looks like.

Yeah, so the name Bitch and Nutrition popped in my head during undergrad. When I was at Purdue University. I was just talking to my friends, playing around with names, thinking like what could be a fun future business, but also could sound like a radio TV show. And then later at grad school at U I U C, I had a professor tell me during my dietetic internship, no one is gonna listen to you unless you can make nutri.

Cool, fun and sexy. And the slang, meaning for the word bitching is remarkably good. Excellent. Cool. Awesome. Like I’m an eighties baby, so that resonated with me. So I immediately thought done and bitch and nutrition was born. And then that led me to create the website and private practice that was more nutrition counseling in 2009.

And in 2009, having your own private practice was still very cutting edge. Everybody was like, you’re doing this? I’m like, yeah, I have clients over. It’s amazing. I’m making, I have my side hustle going. And that was, To encourage my clients that learning about nutrition can be fun and living a healthy lifestyle will make you feel awesome.

And then in 2019, I was honestly getting burnt out from talking about fiber, which it sounds funny, but at that point it was a decade later doing multiple roles as being an RD Plus. It was interesting because I was continuously being asked by my peers to help them with their resume, their cover letters, their LinkedIn profiles, mock interviewing, et cetera, and I.

why not turn this into another income stream for my business? And this led me to officially launch my career coaching services at that time, which honestly, it’s brought me so much joy and meaning like beyond, I could even imagine, like there is nothing like supporting my peers and helping them gain career clarity.

Building their networks, finding career happiness by working in positions that are not only exciting, cool and fun, but also ignite their souls. Like I just, the messages I receive when they get that job that they wanted for so long, it’s just it’s so rewarding. , that’s so special. And I love when we see dietitians, like I think, you and I have done the same thing in that we’ve paired the dietetics piece with something that we feel so passionately about, but it’s not necessarily nutrition care.

And I think that’s what’s so cool about having your own business. and what you’ve done is you’ve taken the dietetic side of things, but then you’ve also taken your experience in the corporate world and the career world, and you’ve put them together into this awesome service.

Yeah. There, I think you just have to know that there is no dietetics job mold. Yeah. You gotta think outside the box. and we are trained so well. It’s amazing. Again, everybody talks about it on the Facebook post. The list serves that we, your RD exam, it’s like taking five different certifications.

You’re, you are trained so well. , you really can go after whatever you want. You just have to get creative. . So true. Okay, so let’s talk a little bit about what career coaching actually looks like. Of course you don’t have to get into specifics in terms of, past clients that you’ve had, but I’d love just to hear some examples of what that process looks like.

So what types of RDS would approach you about working with you and what do you guys do together? This is a really good question. So I have so many good client success stories. This will be hard to narrow it down, but let me think of a few different categories. So one example is a switching dietetics niche.

So I had a client recently that worked their way up in the research niche and wanted to go into sales and marketing. . So first we had a career strategizing session. And during that session, we really do a deep dive into their experiences, their skills, what do they want out of a future career, and together we make an action plan.

And I’m telling you by adding in this one 30 minute session. , my client’s success rate is almost a hundred percent because it’s like the secret sauce. If you don’t have a strategy that goes for business, right? You have to have a strategy. You have to make a plan. You have to set goals to achieve what you want.

So this individual switching niches. In her action plan, we decided to target companies that she was interested in. We created emails together and sent them to CEOs to get their name out there. Elevated their resume, their cover letter to position them as an ideal candidate in this dietetics niche.

Then once the client landed a bunch of job interviews, they purchased additional coaching sessions for interview prep, salary negotiation, because they were getting multiple offers, and within five months, this client landed their dream job with a very high profile food and nutrition company. So that’s one example.

A new grad example that I worked with who wasn’t sure where or how their career should start. They reached out to me because they wanted to be an attractive candidate, but didn’t know how to break into the sports nutrition realm. So after our career strategizing session, we created a career action plan that allowed us to leverage their dietetic internship experience.

And passion for sports nutrition to take steps to making this goal a reality. And then together, we restructured their resume, developed a networking plan, and had a mock interview. And this client ended up successfully landing an opportunity to work at the Olympic Training Center. I don’t remember how many months that one took, but it was super exciting because that was exactly the path that they wanted.

And then I also have clients that are like career changers. So for example, through our career strategizing session, sometimes my client and I determined that the next step might actually be beyond the dietetics profession. So one recent example of this is a client of mine had been in a few high profile roles like clinical nutrition director, patient care coordinator, and wasn’t sure what the next best step was to take in their career and after a soul searching session.

They decided that they wanted to become a healthcare recruiter, so we created a career action plan that included resume, LinkedIn and cover letter updates that really had a cohesive personal brand that showcase where that individual could go next in their career. Cuz it’s not enough to just put on your resume or LinkedIn profile what you did.

You have to show where you can. , and that is so important. And within two months, this person landed her dream job as a new healthcare recruiter for home health, hospice, and nutrition care at an innovative company. . So those are like three different recent examples I can think of. But it’s just, again, it could be the new grad.

I’ve also worked with dietetic interns. I’ve worked with really seasoned dietitians. and it all starts with just figuring out, what can we do with what skills, uniqueness you have, and then where do you wanna go next? And so that’s super interesting because, that keeps a lot of people stuck.

In a job that they feel like they’re not super fulfilled in is that feeling of, oh, I can’t. , right? It’s oh, I can’t do that job because I don’t have the prerequisite skills, or ] I can’t go into a completely different niche because I haven’t worked in that before. Or there’s no way that I can start working in the area of sports nutrition as a new grad.

There’s so many of those, like I can’t, and I. , it sounds like what you really do is you really try and change people’s perspective on that, which is really interesting. then I also wanted to, It’s all about the confidence. Yeah, totally. It’s all about the confidence. Yeah. So if you’re having that self-limiting belief that you’re stuck. Yeah. If you can get it through to yourself, like you have the confidence, you have the skillset, you have the experiences. You just, I feel like dietitians don’t like to too throw horns too much. . We don’t wanna brag as much. The helpers. We wanna help people.

Yeah. If you’re going into an interview, you’re gonna have to showcase your awesomeness basically.

This episode is brought to you by the dietitian success center membership. Within DSC, not only do we have over 80 nutrition courses over 200 nutrition, client handouts. And more than 50 evidence summaries, a library, which is growing every single month to save you admin time and help you provide better patient care. We also regularly host professional development events to help you get more out of your career, all within an affordable monthly membership price.

At the end of this month, Brooke is going to be hosting a workshop within our DSE community. All about how to define your brand. As an individual and make that come to life in your resume and your LinkedIn to land your dream job. This is a workshop that will ensure your resume stands out in a pile of hundreds of other applicants, and will help you understand how to leverage LinkedIn, to actively find your dream job and set you apart from all of the others. And of course, this recording is going to be posted for anyone who can’t attend live, or for those listening to this episode, after the live event, you can absolutely still access it within the membership.

So now is the perfect time to join us in the DSE membership. Just go to dietitian success center.com. And click the membership tab or click the link in this episode description. Okay. Now let’s get back to the episode.

And so one of the other things you mentioned in those case studies was just the use of LinkedIn and we won’t get into LinkedIn strategy in too much detail because you’re actually coming in to do a live workshop for us in D S C at the end of this month.

Where we’ll actually talk more about some of. true tactical. How do we actually use LinkedIn? How do we use our resume to our advantage? So just a little plug for D s E members. If you’re a member, come to that session, sign up for that session. If you’re not a member, you’re gonna wanna come to that session.

\ And so you talked a little, you did mention LinkedIn and I hear this all the time, even when I’m talking to people about their businesses is we’ll brush over LinkedIn and I’ll be like, do you use LinkedIn? And they’re like, oh no. Like I have a profile, but I’ve never updated it. They created it in university cuz probably somebody told them that they had to and then they never, they’ve never updated it and they, I think, People do not realize like the power in LinkedIn.

is such a powerful tool when it comes to career development, even when it comes to having, like when it comes to having your own business, even if it’s a nutrition care business, there’s so many different avenues that you can go with LinkedIn. So can you just speak high level to just some of the benefits in actually having a presence on LinkedIn as a dietitian in any.

I would say one of the things that is missed so much on LinkedIn, I feel know, as a dietitian, we’re trained to use PubMed, for example, that search engine capability. The search engine in LinkedIn for searching companies, people, jobs, interests, is amazing. So a lot of times we’re incorporating that into our job search strategy because if you’re not hearing from a hiring manager and you’re one of 200 applicants for position, I’m working with my clients o often and saying, We’re pulling up in real time during our virtual session.

Here’s the hiring manager in LinkedIn, because we’re looking at the companies. Here’s a script. We’re gonna reach out to this individual and getting in front of them, even if it’s in a virtual manner, so that you’re just not one of 200 applications in a virtual pile somewhere. Again, I think yet, just even that connection capability in reaching out to CEOs, there’s really no stopping and it, again, you can get a no, but you’re not gonna know if it’s a no or a yes if you don’t put yourself out there.

As a new applicant. , I think also too so that piece, a hundred percent. And then also the piece around you making yourself searchable so that if companies are looking for somebody with your exact qualifications or who have the exact experiences as you do. . Often they’re gonna be looking on LinkedIn cuz again, it’s not a stack of resumes.

They’re able to see a profile of somebody real, a real human. You can show what you’re capable of through your LinkedIn. Absolutely. And adding in keywords, whether it’s in the headline in your LinkedIn bio, that is what’s gonna help you be more searchable. I’ve even had recruiters reach out to me.

There really is power in updating that online. If anything, I think sometimes your LinkedIn is as powerful, if not more powerful than just a standalone resume. . Cause you know you can. Connect with so many more individuals. Recruiters are looking for more people through LinkedIn now. So it would be, yeah, a lost cause if you weren’t taking advantage of that and you really were looking for a position, even if you’re not looking for a job, I feel like.

even, I think this was even in one of my Purdue classes, as a freshman, somebody says, even if you have a job, you should be looking for your next job. . . That’s where I think dietitians get stuck a lot because we just, we find something and we stick with it. But a lot of other professions, they’re moving around every few years to increase their salary, to collect new skills so they don’t burn out.

So it’s just why are we so afraid to do. . And is salary negotiation something that you help your clients with too? Because I think that’s something that, is scary for a lot of people. I know we alluded to it at the beginning, not only for new dietitians though. Like I, I remember I had this fear when I.

Took a new job and they gave me the salary and I was terrified to negotiate because I thought that they were just gonna take it away from me. , , I had this like belief that they were gonna be like, no, sorry. Actually we changed our mind. On you. And I think, I don’t know, I, maybe I’m the only one that picks that, but I don’t think I am.

I think other people have struggled with that too. I’m sorry. My dog just came in and is sitting under me now. If you’re the ideal candidate, trust Yeah. That it’s not gonna be taken away. And if you really want the job and they say unfortunately we just can’t meet that number. If you’re only asking for salary alone, then you can still accept the.

If they can’t, go higher in salary. But again, when I work with my clients on salary, we think just beyond the number. So you have to include everything you know, is there education stipend? Is there extra p t o? Do you have hybrid work? There’s so much within that job offer. It’s never just salary one.

. So a part of the career strategizing session. I do with my clients too. We talk about non-negotiables, like what’s your walkaway number? What’s your cutoff? Is it health benefits? Is it this salary range? Do you have to have remote work? And it’s easier to say no to jobs if you have your non-negotiables ready to go.

And that also makes you, I think, empowers you to really stand firmin. . If they can’t meet X non-negotiable, I’m not gonna take the job because in 90 days I’m gonna be unhappy. , one of the clients I’ve been working with, he’s gotten a lot of job offers, but nothing’s been exactly what this individual wants at this point.

And this individual’s been turning positions down because they’re not meeting his non-negotiable. So it’s great that he’s getting it, but it’s also amazing that this individual is recognizing that this isn’t my next best. and I want my clients to feel like they’re taking their next best step. They’re not taking

just any jump in their career because that’s not gonna suit them long term. You can always negotiate. I actually posted, and this is like one of my biggest hits on Instagram, is a salary negotiation email. It’s oh, that’s so smart. At the top of my Instagram page. And so you can steal it, use it.

Straight out and just say, this is what I’m asking for. Or another thing that’s really fun, if you wanna negotiate, you can give I’m really interested in this position, and I’m paraphrasing. I have a whole thing on this as well that I can, you can find on my Instagram too, but give options like, I’m ready to sign with your company today with option A or option B, and just C, you know what?

That recruiter or hiring manager comes back. and then I don’t, I feel like it’s a fun game or something like that. . I don’t think everybody has that passion for it, but that’s why I really like working with clients. It feels like a fun game. Your employer has their bottom line.

They wanna give you the lowest salary and you have your bottom line. The goal is to figure out where you can both compromise that you’re happy. That’s awesome. Okay, so let’s talk for a minute about this idea of feeling unfulfilled in your role as a dietitian, because I think all it takes is for you to go into one of those dietitian Facebook groups and you see how many people are struggling with their current roles and just not feeling like they’re fulfilled in what they’re doing for whatever reason.

Maybe they feel like they’re being taken for grant. . Maybe they feel like they just aren’t passionate about their work. If someone came to you and they were like, you know what? I’m just not feeling inspired by the work that I do. I feel stuck and I just don’t know how to move on from this or find something else.

What would you say to that person in terms of some of their first steps that sh they should be taking? Yeah, I, I. So many dms and me on Instagram and then messages on LinkedIn about this, and my first response honestly is always, what do you want to do and what are your career goals? So we can figure out if where you’re currently at aligns with that.

And then also are you conflicted because the company mission statement or values or goals don’t align with your personal values, missions and goals? Is that something else? And then you can figure out what the next step is and I feel like sometimes my. We’re looking for other jobs and honestly, sometimes we’re just trying to do a job audit and figure out what we can go to the current hiring manager with a request of, I would like to do more of X.

So maybe you don’t have to leave that role. Maybe it’s just, I wanna have a conversation with my current hiring manager to figure out how can I improve the job that I’m at, because 75% of it, I. , but 25% of it is really making me feel unsettled and want to move on. So change that or is it time to move to another role?

And that actually came to me cuz I talked to a few hiring managers at a dietetic event a long time ago when I did a personal branding workshop. And these dietitians that are hiring managers are like, we wish that our employees, if they. Upset or unsatisfied would come to us first because do they understand that we’re more willing to work with them because it’s gonna be harder to hire somebody?

And I thought that was such an amazing session for both the employees in the room and the employers to hear that message. So I also like starting there with my clients first. Like again, is there anything within that current role that can be changed? it is like it’s where what you like to do and it aligns with your curve goals.

So if the answer is no, then we’re going down a different path altogether. But if the answer is yes, then we’re trying to do a job audit. Maybe they have an upcoming performance review and they wanna negotiate for different responsibilities or a higher salary, et cetera. So there’s so many things you can do.

you know when you’re at that I guess roadblock and sometimes just for checks, I \ have them, my clients fill out, I have a free find your dietetics niche quiz. Just cause I wanna get a feeling of is the niche they’re in right now, really what their soul is being drawn to. And it’s just, again, this was a quiz I dreamed up a long time ago.

and it’s amazing how true it actually is. When my clients take it, they’re like, wow, no, this is definitely, I wanted to be sales, but I’m doing clinical work right now. So that’s just something I have them do. In those early phases of us working together just to see where that alignment is as well.

That is so smart, and I think that will even just be helpful to people to hear. That this solution doesn’t necessarily have to be leaving and finding something new. Exactly. There’s a lot of, in between , there’s a yes and you’re so right that it is so much more exp I remember learning about this in my M B A, just the cost of hiring new employees.

Is insane for a company, like just in terms of the training that has to be done, the learning curve, all of those, just the time it takes for them to get up to what would be a maximum capacity or a full capacity role. It’s just wild. And so they’re not gonna do that if they don’t absolutely have to do that.

And so if they can keep you and just make some shifts that are gonna make both you and them happier, , then that’s great for everyone. And so I think that’s just helpful for people to hear that it doesn’t necessarily have to be a completely new job. Exactly. Yeah. . okay, so what advice do you have for new dietitians?

So maybe students that have just graduated who are entering the job field and are like, what do I do? What do I do? I don’t have any work experience except for what I’ve done in my internship rotations. How do I set myself apart from all of these other people for a role that says I need three plus years of.

Because we never see jobs on LinkedIn or posted that are like, you don’t have to have any experience for this job. That doesn’t exist. And so what do people do when they’re new grads and they just don’t have that experience under the routes? Yeah. I think again it’s just good to take a look at.

What unique characteristics you bring to the table, and that can be, a part of your dietetic internship experience. That’s completely fine to add that content on your resume, LinkedIn profile, et cetera. Because I’ve worked with dietetic interns. I was a dietetic interns, and sometimes what you’re doing in those roles is amazing.

So why not showcase it? Put it on your LinkedIn profile, put it in your resume. and then take a deep dive of again, what did you love doing the most? And then look into those roles. Is that something that you wanna do in the next two to three years, or four to five years? And what type of jobs? Maybe do a quick job search and start looking at job descriptions.

Do I really like this job description? And if you do, then you’re gonna start tailoring your resume. LinkedIn profile, we were talking about personal branding. You’re gonna position. , your personal brand as that candidate that’s gonna land that job. . And a part of that is again, looking at job responsibilities, characteristics, and then meshing that and elevating your own experiences and skills to match, those responsibilities before you apply to any position.

So you’re not just putting random stuff on your resume and you really need to take the time. Thoughtfully think through, honestly, every line on there, if you’re going for the job, Really take the time and invest in updating your resume in your LinkedIn profile, because when you’re going up against a hundred candidates, 50 candidates, 25 candidates, your resume and your network is most likely gonna get you the interview. So you make sure that’s your first step.

And then from there, if you’re not landing any interviews, maybe I need to rethink my resume at that point. . If you’re landing interviews but not landing the job, then we revisit and make sure that you’re able to sell yourself in a job interview. . Okay. And I wanna ask a question as we’re talking about this, just about resumes specifically, because I’ve always wondered this question because I remember when I was pl applying for, internship programs and grad programs, they were very strict about what the formatting of your resume needs to look like.

It was like, X margins times new Roman font, double spaced. It was so generic, so for somebody who’s applying for a job, what’s your opinion on.

Spicing up your resume a little bit with regards to the design piece. Do you think it’s good to add like colors and different fonts, maybe even add a picture of yourself? And I know that there’s not like a one rule of thumb for this because I feel like every hiring manager probably has their own preference, but what are your thoughts on that?

I’m definitely not the El Woods like pink scented resume , especially in the virtual world. . Yeah. But I am a fan of like modern elegance. . So how can you do that modern minimalist look, but elevate it? And I actually just sent some clients over the weekend some examples of what that looks like.

So you still can add a little flare. You might be able to. The color slightly. So if you’re printing in black and white, the hiring manager’s printing in black and white, you can still see a difference in the color palette. That’s really important, but yet it’s not your basic boring like education on top, et cetera.

And actually, and I’ll mention this in the workshop, I always like putting everything that’s important above the. as I call it. So if you fold your resume in half, put the most important content above the fold. Cuz if someone’s looking at your resume for six seconds or less, you wanna capture their attention.

They’re not scrolling to the bottom. They’re gonna look above the fold line. . And I think even you saying that is just a really novel approach to resumes because I think even me, I have this notion of a resume needing to follow. Exactly like what you said. It’s like you put your education on the top and then you know, even if you did one year at, which was me, right?

I. Different degrees. And I started off at a different university, and so I’m like, oh, do I have to put that in there too? And it’s not important. Nobody cares about the one year that I did at McMaster University, right? , nobody cares about that. But for some reason, I feel like I need to put that at the top.

But in reality, it’s like we’re all. Looking for the most important key information. We’re skimming something, and if we don’t see what we’re looking for, we move on. It can be as quick as that. So why don’t we, as the person submitting the resume, try and be strategic about it.

make so much sense, . Exactly. Yeah. Be concise. Make sure every sentence counts, and then it however you can quantify the work you’re actually doing by adding in real numbers. , I feel like that’s amazing. So smart. So smart. Okay, so I have this question in here, but I feel like we’ve addressed most pieces, but I wanna see if there’s any gap.

So the question was, if an r d is starting the hunt for a new role, what are some of the key things that they need to do to get started? And From what we’ve talked about a few of the things that you’ve mentioned. Number one, starting with understanding what your goals are with regards to your career and actually having a sense of what do you want out of your career and what that looks like.

Making sure to refresh your LinkedIn profile and understanding that your LinkedIn should really be a living, breathing representation of you. Doing that search on LinkedIn to really understand what are the, those job profiles that you’re looking for and what are some of those qualities that those people, the hiring managers would be looking for?

Possibly reaching out to some of those hiring managers. Anything else? Yes. One big missing component is your, Oh, okay. I would say again, my, even my first job outta grad school, I got that because I was doing pediatric research. I reached out to a lot of pediatric companies in the Chicagoland area, sent them my resume and I was pitching myself cuz I knew I wanted to go into that.

So I was networking from the get-go. That landed me that first role, my next, one of my next big roles I was. Outpatient dietitian for a large hospital. But I got that role because I applied as A P R N and they remembered me and they’re like, actually, we really want you for this role. I got my teaching job because my grad friend, knows of the quality work I do as a clinical, practitioner and thought I’d be a good educator.

So your network. , you should be nurturing that wherever you go. That starts as a student, a dietetic intern. Even the dietetic interns I work with, I always tell them, you need to do the job for your preceptor. They don’t even know what they need done. Because you to be remembered, and if you are remembered, you are taking those individuals with you.

Even. Some of my students, I still talk to them and we still work on other projects together in the real world, like they’re going with me throughout my life. And the same things for some of my mentors. Like your network is gonna be promoting you for the rest of your career journey. So if you can give back to others, be remembered,

it’s gonna help you get that next job. Sometimes more than a resume alone, I would say 80% of jobs are not posted. And a lot of dms I initially get are, I apply to so many jobs I never hear back. And sometimes it’s because they already have a referral coming from within. So they’re not gonna look at those 200 applications because word of.

The power of word of mouth, you cannot, deny. . So that’s why, again, investing your network and make sure again, your personal brand that you’re putting out into the universe is a positive one. , because I’m telling you it’s gonna follow you throughout your entire career. And I hear stories like even now, people say, oh, you had that student five years ago.

Or, oh, you worked with this individual, r right outta grad school. What did you think of them? And they’re asking those questions. People take word of mouth, they, they base a lot of opinions and factors heavily in interviews and that hiring process on the. Component. So true.

A hundred percent. I’ve had that happen so many times where people have reached out to me in terms of, cuz like I said, we take on a lot of students with D S E and I also did with the role that I was doing before and the number of times I’ve been contacted to ask about my experience with the past student is, Wild.

It happens all the time. So it’s so true. It’s worth it. to make a positive impression and just build those good relationships. And I would say that’s one of the most, it was, one of the job interviews I did a long time ago, they were asking about, your key features and attributes, and I’m an inclusive person, which is was interesting to take that test and learn that.

That’s one of my like, key features. , I like everybody to feel inclusive. Even as a kid, if somebody was left out of the playground, I’m like, come over here, let’s play together. And that to this day, it’s made me a people connector. So even when my clients come to. if they don’t have the network to help them get to where they wanna go.

I’m using my network and again, connecting those individuals to help, pass that apple down the line and hopefully it gets somebody closer to their dreams. So again, I think, your network is so powerful and if you can use it to help others as well, that would be a great thing to do.

. Wow. Okay. There was so much good information in that interview. Thank you so much for your time, Brooke. That was awesome. I learned so much and I’m not even looking for a job , where can the audience find out more about you and the work that you. For more information, free resources and support on how to land your dream job and cultivate a successful career with confidence, I would say please find me on Instagram at Bitch and Nutrition and LinkedIn at Brooks’s fsco.

Awesome. I will link to all of those in the podcast description. But otherwise, thanks so much, Brooke. So good to chat. Thanks so much for having me.

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