Interested in a 1:1 career coaching session with me? Here's how

I have a job interview?! This is how I plan on acing it (steal my interviewing framework)

Author

Jade Walters
May 22, 2025

NOTE FROM AUTHOR

WELCOME BACK! Our 3rd newsletter post for the month?! I honestly have to pat myself on the back for pulling this off because Lord knows I don’t have much time these days.

If you’ve been keeping up with me on socials, I have a lot on my plate.

  1. I’m giving a TEDx talk on June 24th.

  2. My mini-corporate break is coming to an end and it’s time to get back into #corporateamerica (dealing with job rejections too LOL)

  3. Managing the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.

But when one door closes, another one opens:

  1. 2 days after I posted about my job rejection, I received an interview for a role more aligned to my professional interests in employer branding

  2. I launched my giveaway with K18 for my audience consisting of a K18 product haul and 2, 90 min 1:1 career coaching sessions (1 per winner!)

  3. I found out 2 of my career coaching clients landed paid, early career opportunities (best news ever)

  4. My TEDx talk is 80% memorized!

I’m really excited about what’s coming and of course, I need to put y’all onto the tea.

In today's post:

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT: hellohive’s hellofinance Summer 2025 virtual program

Don’t have a Summer 2025 internship OR looking for something additional to do in conjunction with your internship?

hellohive is currently accepting registrations for their 4th annual hellofinance virtual summer experience that’s open to US students and recent graduates. This year, they’re partnering with over 15+ firms, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, John Hancock, and more.

This 2-week event is aimed at demystifying careers in financial services, so it’s perfect for those interested in roles in:

  1. Finance

  2. Tech

  3. Operations

  4. Sales

  5. Marketing and other job functions at financial institutions

Over 500+ program participants have landed early career offers at participating companies over the years! You could be next 😉 

Not only is this a real work experience you can add to your resume, but upon program completion, you’ll receive access to hellohive’s new resume tech + the chance to submit your resumes to the companies to be considered for roles. I’m currently using the hellohive resume tech to re-write my resume and I LOVE IT!

I met the founder, Byron, earlier this week, and he gave a masterclass on how to use the platform and personally helped me make edits to mine. Make sure to follow him on Linkedin, he’s a wealth of knowledge.

You can learn more and RSVP HERE!

How to win a 1:1 career coaching session with me

I’ve OFFICIALLY announced my 1:1 session with K18 Hair!

@theninthsemester

When you feel your best, you do your best - boosting confidence in yourself and your career. That’s why I’ve partnered with @K18 Hair on a... See more

There will be 2 winners who will receive:

  1. 1, 90-minute career coaching/mentorship session with me

  2. A K18 product haul

How to enter?

  1. Follow K18 Hair on LinkedIn + my page Jade Walters

  2. Like THIS LinkedIn post and comment responding to the prompt I share in the video

  3. Every comment counts as an extra entry. I’ve posted this on LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram 😉 

Winners will be selected at random. The giveaway ends on 05/26/2025 at 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time - so enter ASAP!

How to ace your first round interview/recruiter phone screen

I’ve landed an interview! It’s for a Senior Employer Branding Specialist role perfectly aligned with my employer branding/recruitment marketing background. Here’s how I did it:

  1. I found the role on trueup.io. I love their UI and you can find more niche, high paying roles.

  2. I used ChatGPT to revamp my resume. I leveled up my existing resume content and I like my resume a lot. I’m still going to create another version using hellohive to compare who yields the best results

  3. I waited to hear back. I didn’t chase the recruiting manager. I simply waited.

When it came to selecting my interview, I was intentional and chose a date for later next week. It gives me time to get my ducks in a row, do my extensive interview prep research, and get in the mindset of interviewing after taking some breaks. Rushing to interview the next day after hearing back doesn’t make you stand out - you need to give yourself time to prepare.

Since it’s an introductory interview, the questions will be easier to answer. The most important things I will sharpen/prepare:

  1. Solidifying my “tell me about yourself” answers and “why this role”

  2. Strong emphasis on talking about my background in employer branding through work experiences at Yello/WayUp and The Ninth Semester

  3. Knowing what I want for my salary, sharing my ideal timeline of when I can start

I also plan to go further by preparing for possible interview questions.

To do this, I’ll enter the job description in ChatGPT and ask it, “Reading this job description, pretend you’re the recruiter and it’s our first interview. What are 5-7 questions you’ll ask me?” and prep using those questions. I’ll repeat these for my next interviews and replace “hiring manager” with the title of the people who will be interviewing me.

Now, regarding post-interview questions, this is where you’ll get the REAL tea about the role and a chance to leave a lasting impression. If I have more questions about the role after reading the job description, I’ll ask. I also have a few staple ones that I love:

Questions I ask that always intrigue them:

  1. What is a skill set not listed in the job description that this team is looking for in their next hire that’ll be a great value add to the team?

  2. Based on my resume and our conversation, is there any experience or skill set that I have that you think I should focus on in my new few interviews?

  3. What does the interview process look like?

  4. What’s a skill set or experience the hiring manager really wants to find in their next candidate but has had a hard time finding?

  5. What is feedback the hiring manager has had for other candidates?

I’ll keep y’all updated on how it goes!

OPPORTUNITIES TO CHECK OUT

Interested in landing your first job in film & TV? This Linkedin post from Lauren Parker has ALL OF THE JUICY DEETS. I love when people put others on.

Conferences, Scholarships, Travel Opportunities

ALPHA (Association of Latino Professionals for America) is providing an all-expenses-paid scholarship to qualifying ALPHA NY members to sponsor their trip to the 2025 ALPHA National Convention in Las Vegas. Application closes on 5/24 at 11:59pm EST

National Sales Network is still accepting applications for their all-expenses-paid student conference in Atlanta this September. I’ll be speaking at the conference! Use “Jade Walters” as your application referral. So many of y’all have told me that you got into the conference!! I can’t wait to see you there.

Lowe’s Retail Immersion Program is an all-expenses-paid travel opportunity for HBCU undergraduate students in August 2025. Designed specifically for rising college juniors, this immersive program will introduce participants to the wide range of career opportunities available at Lowe’s—helping to prepare and position them for future internship consideration. Learn more and apply HERE

Internships and Campus Ambassador Opportunities (Summer 2025/2026 and Fall 2025)

Notion is hiring Campus Leaders, and this is a global opportunity! Open to undergraduate and master's students. You can learn more and apply HERE

BearPaw is hiring Fall 2025 campus ambassadors. Applications close on June 16th!

Shoutout to Simplify for creating this list of Summer 2025 and Fall 2025 internships hiring now!

Barefoot PR is hiring a Summer 2025 graphic design intern in their Denver office

Full-time roles

COOP Careers Fellowship is still accepting applications for its Fall 2025 cohort. This program is open to first-generation college grads pursuing careers in tech, data analytics, and financial services. I gave a breakdown HERE. The early action deadline is May 29th

FUN FACT: When I joined TikTok, there were 7 out of 8 people in my cohort who were COOP fellows before landing their role at the company. This program works!

The Knowledge House is accepting applications for their Technology Fellowship. It’s a fully-funded, year-long program based in Stamford, CT, designed to prepare you for high-growth tech careers.

Fellows receive a monthly stipend, learn in-demand data science skills, and land full-time roles before the 12-month program ends. The priority deadline is May 26, 2025 so act fast.

That’s a wrap! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Anything you want to hear from me in my next issue? Reply and let me know!

Know someone who would benefit from this newsletter? Forward the subscribe link to them!

Love, Jade xoxo