SkillSharp The Podcast... Career Advice To Stay Sharp! · SkillSharp Media

SkillSharp The Podcast - Stop Waiting & Get Hired (Using Career Coaching & Reverse Recruiting) Part 1

·27 min·1 clip

Wade Smart says he “supersize[s]” reverse recruiting by building an executive summary, design options, and AI-assisted materials.

Career pivots sound simple until they are your own problem. Todd Nakasone and Brian Wright start with the familiar stuff: feeling stuck, burned out, or ready for something else. Then Wade Smart gives the practical version. His path runs through tech work, recruiting, business development, coaching, and entrepreneurship, so the advice does not float above the work. It has some dirt on it. That background helps in recruiting. When Wade talks with IT project managers, engineers, or other technical people, he can speak from help desk work, systems administration, web content management, technology training, and project management certification. People relax a little when they realize he knows the world they are describing. The conversation gets more specific after that. He also does not treat outreach as cold. Wade talks about approaching calls as warm leads, which means finding a real point of connection before the professional ask. A sport, a town, a school, a family note, or a small remembered detail can make the whole thing feel less like a transaction. Then the conversation gets into the tougher part of building a business: charging for help that used to be given away. Wade had to move from being the employee who naturally helped people to being a consultant who believed that help had market value. That part is not dressed up as easy. The resume work is where the episode gets especially useful. Wade asks people what they accomplished, what they are proud of, and what numbers never made it into the first draft. Small omissions can bury real value. Once those accomplishments are named and quantified, director or senior director possibilities may start to look less far away. It is confidence, but it is also positioning. The same work history can read very differently when the strongest outcomes are brought forward. Coaching here is preparation, not pep talk. Smart Partners Consulting covers coaching, marketing, interview help, and readiness work so a person has a better shot before the interview even happens. The useful push is simple: stop waiting for the market to understand you, and do the careful work of translating your experience into language employers can use.

As heard by us

Career pivots get practical when recruiting wisdom meets lived workplace experience.

This episode treats career change as a practical problem, not a pep talk. Todd Nakasone and Brian Wright keep the conversation grounded while Wade Smart traces a path from help desk and systems administration into recruiting, then into founding Smart Partners Consulting, LLC.

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Why you'd press play

You want a warmer way to job hunt, from someone who treats outreach like a warm lead.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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