We were lucky to catch up with Matt Shelton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Matt, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.

Even better, how about you hear it straight from them! These are testimonials from readers of my book, How to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job. I make a bold claim in my marketing that this book contains “3 Simple Steps to Get 5 Job Offers in 60 Days”. That claim has been backed up time and time again.

Take a look!

Brady started a new job within 58 days! This is what he had to say, “Wow! What an honest and engaging book. It was full of insightful and useful tools that I used in my search for a new job. I never thought of LinkedIn as a place with so many resources that I can leverage! 10/10 recommend.”

Joseph started a new job within 49 days! This is what he had to say, “Thank You!…. This was the critical tool I’ve been needing to find my value in the workplace! Hope for the hopeless in an overwhelming process! I liked the way you merged available resources from LinkedIn with templates, tools & an easy-to-follow plan of action. Thanks for your direct and personal commentary on this most difficult & personal process. I applaud this book as a pathway to a better life!”

Anne started a new job within 51 days! This is what she had to say, “I was so lost in what to do next. After endless hours spent looking for jobs and never hearing back I finally found something that really works!! This guide truly holds your hand and walks you through all the steps to find that great career job that you have always wanted. I highly recommend buying this guide. You will definitely be glad you did!”

Matt, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

You bet! This is a journey of job loss, COVID-19, and landing a dream job that led me to publish my first book about job hunting.

During early Janruary of 2020, 30 minutes after walking into work, I poured a hot coffee and got settled in for the new year. Not long after, my boss called me into his office. After walking in, I saw him and our COO sitting on the other side of his desk. This seemed odd and within minutes of grabbing a seat, I’d come to find out that the company I worked for had been acquired. And due to the terms of the acquisition, a majority of the employees would be laid off, including me.

As one of the main pillars in anybody’s life – Work – began shifting and changing just 4 days later I’d hear some news that would forever change the – Family – pillar in my life.

Not a hot start to the new year and this all before COVID-19 would change things even more.

On the bright side though, this circumstance gave me the chance to recalibrate my life, reach new heights and self-publish my first book along the way!

My name is Matt Shelton…

And this is the story of how I came to write, self-publish, and share job hunting resources with hundreds through my first book titled, How to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job.

I was only 2 years out of school when my role at a marketing agency unexpectedly evaporated. With little to no experience job hunting or really interviewing, because my internship led me to getting that role. I wasn’t positioned well to grab another gig before the pandemic got really bad. But looking back, it was probably for the better I didn’t grab a new role quickly. I gave freelancing a try and enjoyed working on new projects including one for a SaaS Edtech start-up that sold earlier this year. I didn’t know it at the time but my work with that start up would be the spark that helped me land my current role plus write this book!

This Edtech company I began contracting for was called Rhithm. A software product for K-12 students, teachers, and admins now serving over 1 million students across the US. After some time working with the team and getting to know the others through Happy Hours and what not. I came to learn that one of the sales reps did more than just sell for a tech company. He was a Co-Founder of his own recruiting firm! Even though I wasn’t actively looking for a full-time role, my curiosity peaked and I wanted to learn as much as I could from him. I’m sure you’re catching on but the tips and advice I gained during those conversations became the foundation of my book.

Very generous with his time, I was able to pick his brain and understand the key strategies employers and recruiters use to find new talent. Funny enough, I realized that the best way to promote yourself on LinkedIn is very similar to how I market the brands I work with. We covered resume building, LinkedIn profile optimization, ways to approach each interview, and tons more. 

Come Fall of 2020, I was focused on landing a full time gig. This being my first chance to test out these ideas. 

No more than a few weeks later, after applying these new tricks, my calendar was stacked with interviews. Even before landing a new gig, I had growing faith in these strategies! Having several interviews a day and hearing back after nearly each, a feeling that I would have a “pick of the litter” started to set in, very different from a feeling of scarcity and desperation as I know job hunting can feel like.

Eventually reaching a point where I had several job offers on the table, I was convinced I had discovered some useful secrets about how to work the job market in my favor.

Not long after I felt the call to jot down my job-seeking experience and all the tips picked up along the way into my first self-publish book!

My goal for this project was to help others feel the same level of confidence that I felt while job hunting. And to shift the feeling of desperation throughout a job search to a feeling of abundance of opportunity.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Relatability. I’m not a career coach, just a guy who was dealt a rough hand in 2020, made the absolute most of it then wrote a story detailing my trials and triumph in finding a great job. My readers feel and appreciate this. Versus job hunting courses that aim to sell you a lengthy, 12-hour program, I’ve condensed all that down to a 1-hour read time book. Written in layman’s terms, and simple enough for tech-adverse folks to understand.

“Teaching through examples” is an approach I took while writing. If you’re like me, concepts are best understood with an example and that’s what you’ll find all throughout this book. Along with other tangible resources and downloads like a resume template!

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

There absolutely are but I want to just focus on one called, “Who Moved My Cheese” by Spencer Johnson M.D.

In this story Cheese is anything you value and want a steady stream of. One day when that cheese is not where it’s expected to be and can’t immediately be found. What do you do? Some characters in the book lay around waiting for the cheese to come back and some immediately pivot and begin searching for fresh cheese.

Those that immediately pivoted and searched for new cheese began finding crumbs along their journey. Causing a sense of encouragement and motivation to continue forward. Feeling that they were getting closer and closer, these characters began writing on the walls they passed. With hopes that the others would come searching and see these marks, causing them to feel a similar feeling of hope on their journey.

If the change in your life has to do with finding a new job for whatever reason, take this article and my book as writing on the wall. I’m an average Joe, that’s just a few steps ahead, I experienced an unexpected change a while back and set out to find new cheese ever since.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mbshelton.com/linkedin-job-hunting-2/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-shelton-marketing-strategy/
• Other: https://mbshelton.com/free-resume-template-google-docs/