It was a great pleasure have Aldo Dórea Mattos as career coaching client. He has a high caliber résumé having managed several important engineering sites in Brazil and abroad but that was not reflecting his special value proposition. We always knew he would become a quick success case as it is reflected in our interview below.
Octavio Pitaluga: How did our business networks coaching methodology contribute to reach your goals so quickly?
Aldo Mattos: The coaching process we developed allowed me to identify some weak points in my approach towards new professional challenges. Summing up, I was selling wrongly. I used little of my referrals with former co-workers and bosses, I was relating more with people below me than above (this made me reflexive for a week!). I had a boring résumé and was not organized with addresses, phones, congratulations calls and things like these. Your proposed methodology rather put light on the right place than tell me what to do.
OP: Being in Bahia state and being Octavio based in Rio, how was the virtual coaching?
AM: The basic tool was
Skype, that allows the real time interaction, with áudio (and eventually image, but this was our case). We exchange files of
FreeMind (mind mapping software to create diagrams as tree in order to structure our sessions, goals, etc.) through
UNYTE (collaboration tool). It works well.
OP: How was this learning process?
AM: I noticed that referral is a paramount weapon in the business world. I knew it by intuition but I convince myself to networking. A good referral can be decisive, as much as a bad recommendation can tear up an apparently easy job selection process. I must highlight that in recent past times, I was rejected for a new assignment due to a not so kind statement from a former co-worker. The network is the ideal place to obtain informations of from close people: co-workers, bosses, employees. In fact, we have our family networks (do you know where your cousins are and what they do?), high school, college/university, former jobs. In general, we do not value reconnecting, but if one decides to do so, one will see the wealth that will come from it.
OP: Please tell about your experience with social networks (time, platforms, number of contacts etc.)
AM: I woke to networking because I was interested in change my career. What I was doing did not make me happy from a professional standpoint. Without knowing how to proceed with headhunters, résumé preparation and delivery, etc., I decided to handle LinkedIn, platform which I was connected to for 6 months but I have never used it more specifically. At first, I added some colleagues (I searched for companies I had worked for), afterwards, I invited those who bring the emails next to their names. I also disclosed my email and started receiving a lot of invitations to connect. Besides, it was through LinkedIN a headhunter contacted to send the résumé, until that after some interviews, I was hired by a Spanish company.
OP: What changed in Aldo "Networker"?
AM: I became more gentle professionally. I acquired the habit of always returning messages, sending e-mails thanking for attention, registering business cards and enhancing the value of a network. I learnt that good manners (and good style, why not?) weigh as much as, and sometimes, even more that academic history.
OP: What advises would give to a beginner?
AM: (As Brazilian) First, learn English! Second, use web-based tools to keep on with your former classmates, relatives, neighbours, suppliers, co-workers, etc. They will potentially value your work.
