Kathryn Minshew Quotes

Slouching or leaning back may send the wrong signals. When you sit down for a formal interview, lean forward to show interest and active listening.

- Kathryn Minshew

We spend a lot of time on Skype and other video interviews, and it's funny how many people will prepare for a Skype interview by wearing a formal suit jacket with pajama pants on the bottom. Then suddenly, someone is at the door, and you have to get up, and you realize you're wearing reindeer boxers. Just put pants on.

- Kathryn Minshew

I'm an entrepreneur, so I've got to be ruthless about 'me' time if I want to have any left to myself! I make myself leave the office by 8 or 9 P.M. most nights, even if I do curl up with my laptop and a glass of wine at home to get through email.

- Kathryn Minshew

Don't let that nagging fear - that feeling that being different automatically qualifies you as being wrong - eat away at you.

- Kathryn Minshew

As a cohort, millennials are unique in their social consciousness, and they make decisions based on that awareness. Keep them engaged at work by showcasing a culture of paying it forward and tying the day-to-day into the larger purpose of the organization.

- Kathryn Minshew

It's easy to imagine that because a certain company has a prestigious reputation or everyone says it's a great place to work, that it will be the perfect fit for you. But, in reality, the search to find a career is a much more individual process.

- Kathryn Minshew

When talking to first-time entrepreneurs, I often ask them: 'How do you know that people want your product or service?' As you can expect, the answer is often that they don't yet, but will know once they launch. And they're right. That's why it's critical to launch as quickly as possible so you can get that feedback.

- Kathryn Minshew

Sure, it's fun to chat with people with interesting backgrounds who seem to have a passion for your company. But a job interview is not a friendly chat. You need to determine whether candidates, can they really do the job. So ask them to prove it.

- Kathryn Minshew

When The Daily Muse initially wanted to launch a job board, our first ideas were insanely (and needlessly) complex. We wanted to integrate with social networks, gather rich personal data to build predictive algorithms, and put together numerous cool visualization tools before launching out to the world. We were just sure users would love it!

- Kathryn Minshew

Ultimately, I think it takes a certain grit and determination to constantly re-prove to people that you're just as dedicated, just as determined, and just as capable as the entrepreneurs around you who may better fit the physical pattern - but on the flipside, women who succeed often become razor sharp through the process.

- Kathryn Minshew

Job seekers light up when they find The Muse - we're a breath of fresh air in a stale, musty world. Our user experience focuses first and foremost on the individual, on providing them information - from content to company profiles - to make the most pressing professional decisions in their lives.

- Kathryn Minshew

Millennials can be very hardworking, but it's easier to tell the story of the ones who are entitled.

- Kathryn Minshew

Employees don't need to be best friends, but there does need to be a level of mutual respect and understanding.

- Kathryn Minshew

I know, being the odd one out can feel brutal. But, rest assured, it's also wonderful - because your desire to do things differently isn't 'uncool.' In fact, it's the exact opposite.

- Kathryn Minshew

The Muse should be a trusted destination for answers. A hand when you need one. Someone to talk you through tough decisions or situations. A starting point.

- Kathryn Minshew

There are always going to be obstacles. I think the bigger your aspirations, the larger the obstacles.

- Kathryn Minshew

As we've grown 'The Daily Muse' and met contacts who want to collaborate with us, knowing who does what has helped us be clear on who we want our partners to connect with - and makes us look buttoned up, too. SEO firm? Talk to our COO. An editor from the 'Huffington Post?' Meet our Editor-in-Chief.

- Kathryn Minshew

I grew up thinking that I would be an ambassador secret agent. From age 14 to right before I graduated college, I was really interested in the foreign service and the United Nations. I learned to speak French, Turkish, and all these things.

- Kathryn Minshew

As you move through the application process, keep refining the way you present yourself. Like any skill, you'll only get better with practice, and you'll only hurt yourself if you get discouraged too early. This is one race that's definitely a marathon, not a sprint.

- Kathryn Minshew

So many of my rookie mistakes could have been avoided by first-hand exposure to other, more experienced technology entrepreneurs.

- Kathryn Minshew

Much-derided chick lit, chick flicks, and chick magazines have left ambitious women in a bind. Why is it that I, a young woman, can read 'GQ,' enjoy 'Fight Club,' and subscribe to 'Thrillist,' while the idea of a guy doing the same with 'Glamour,' '27 Dresses' and 'Daily Candy' is nearly unheard of?

- Kathryn Minshew

It's all too easy to forget that cultural fit is a two-way street. Yes, the candidate needs to gel well with your company's vibe and mission. But, you also need to fit in with her desires, goals, and long-term career vision. It's not a one-sided relationship.

- Kathryn Minshew

Call it nature or nurture, there are differences in how men and women approach professional conduct, and facing these issues head-on will make us all more equipped to succeed.

- Kathryn Minshew

As a general rule, most recent university graduates know far more about U.S. economic history and 'The Lord of the Flies' than about how the modern workplace functions and how to succeed in it. Yet come senior year of college, it couldn't be more important or more timely to learn the basics of getting a job.

- Kathryn Minshew

I always encourage people to learn the basics and nail the basics. Take the time to customize your resume and cover letter to reflect your qualifications, your research on the specific company and position, and how you believe you can add value.

- Kathryn Minshew

For almost the first year of The Muse's life, I would do 5 to 8 networking events a week. And I don't necessarily think that's the right path for everyone, but I realized that as an entrepreneur, one of my strengths was finding the right people who could help us. I didn't come into startups with any network.

- Kathryn Minshew

The most important thing in startups is getting a product to market, as imperfect as it may be, and then iterating on it and continually making it better. A first rev of a site that has a few typos may not be perfect, but it was the start of something that I deeply believed in.

- Kathryn Minshew

Previous experience, key skills, and education. They're undoubtedly all important things you consider when filtering through applicants in order to make a new hire. But, what's another major determining factor of whether or not that hopeful interviewee deserves an offer letter? Cultural fit.

- Kathryn Minshew

Every generation brings something new to the workplace, and millennials are no exception. As a group, they tend to be highly educated, love to learn, and grew up with the Internet and digital tools in a way that can be highly useful when leveraged properly.

- Kathryn Minshew

I probably have a small number of people that are consistently advisors and mentors, but I'm much more likely to have a broader array of... almost like an unofficial board of advisors, where I know that certain people are going to be good for certain types of topics.

- Kathryn Minshew

Being able to hear someone say, 'I found an incredible job on The Muse,' or 'It gave me courage to make a career change,' that's the motivating factor.

- Kathryn Minshew

I tend to find you have to be fairly vulnerable to get something... to get a perspective worth having. Which can be controversial. But I find telling someone what you're thinking about, what you want, and what you're afraid of can often help them give guidance.

- Kathryn Minshew

Most weeks, I work 100-plus hours on TheMuse.com. There are definitions of 'work-life balance' that would say I have none.

- Kathryn Minshew

I had been a veteran of pretty challenging job searches, so I knew firsthand how frustrating, confusing, and demoralizing the job search process can be. Even after you get a job, many people join companies and discover in the first couple weeks that they aren't a good match with the personality and values of the company.

- Kathryn Minshew

Recruiters sometimes have their wires crossed when it comes to what Millennials really want at work. While fancy perks are great, many Millennials are more excited about growing and thriving at a company that appreciates their talent and will help them continue to learn.

- Kathryn Minshew

With clearly defined roles and a focus on communication, it's much easier to make your company come across as well-organized and on top of things - because it actually is.

- Kathryn Minshew

I didn't even know that there was a startup culture, that there were events with people who built businesses. When I started meeting those people and going in to that world, I felt like I was among my people for the first time in my life.

- Kathryn Minshew

One of the top causes of startup death - right after cofounder problems - is building something no one wants.

- Kathryn Minshew

People actually aren't moving on from companies much more quickly than in the past, but there's a perception that they do, so companies are investing less in talent on the assumption that young employees won't stay long.

- Kathryn Minshew

It's hard when you have a lot of naysayers to know when they might be right or when to ignore them and go with your gut and do something that may seem risky.

- Kathryn Minshew

I work late nights catching up on emails, and then, in the mornings, I just hop on my laptop right away. Then, every other day, I'll hop into the shower! My husband is horrified that I don't shower every day.

- Kathryn Minshew

Thinking big is only one part of being a successful entrepreneur.

- Kathryn Minshew

There's a dance happening on both sides of the table. Individuals are giving their personal and career values a lot more weight when it comes to finding a company that aligns with both. At the same time, companies are becoming a lot more transparent about their core values as an organization and the types of people they want to attract.

- Kathryn Minshew

It's fantastic to be known as a company that responds quickly to users, shares great resources and friendly banter with them over Twitter, and forges relationships on Pinterest, Facebook, and every other social media site out there.

- Kathryn Minshew

There were so many lessons I learned the hard way: missing out on a raise because I didn't know to ask, having colleagues consistently get credit for my ideas because of how I spoke up in meetings. When I looked for a resource that addressed the challenges I was facing, I couldn't find it. There was nothing.

- Kathryn Minshew

When I was still a bright-eyed McKinsey consultant, I remember hitting a point where I didn't know what to do next, and someone gave me the book, 'How Remarkable Women Lead,' and I read it and scribbled in it, and it felt like a guide in helping me figure out my career.

- Kathryn Minshew

Sure, you're an intelligent and highly capable individual, and you are learning a lot on the fly as you build your company. But you also need to come to terms with the fact that there are things you have chosen not to be an expert in.

- Kathryn Minshew

Millennials tend to appreciate regular feedback because they want to feel that their work matters and that they are making a difference in the workplace. As the youngest generation at most organizations, they also tend to be hungry for growth and development opportunities.

- Kathryn Minshew

For those working menial jobs or putting in 100-hour weeks for corporations, the lure of starting your own business can seem like a great way to get more flexibility, upside, and ownership.

- Kathryn Minshew

You don't hire for mediocrity. Instead, you bring people onto your team because you know that they'll make a valuable contribution and turn in amazing work. But, in order to have that expectation, you need to make sure you're fostering an environment that allows them to do so.

- Kathryn Minshew

Launching a start-up, you need to get a lot done quickly. Every day is different. Everyone pitches in with everything. It's easy for the founding team to say, 'We're flexible. We all help out with everything!' But when it comes to making decisions - that flexibility can spell inefficiency and disaster.

- Kathryn Minshew

I think the idea of a 'perfect job' is a myth - there are pros and cons of every position, good days and bad days, and even what most people would consider dream jobs come with their share of downsides.

- Kathryn Minshew

For many people, the hardest thing about job-seeking is figuring out where to start. All through college, I heard my friends asking themselves, 'What do I want to do with my life?' And guess what? After college, and after that first job, people still ask the same question.

- Kathryn Minshew

My first company failed completely. And it failed at about ten months old. I had about 12 months of savings, so when it failed I was thinking: 'Do I go back to work?' And at that point I believed so deeply in what I was doing that I couldn't imagine anything else other than trying to make this business work.

- Kathryn Minshew

You know, as most entrepreneurs do, that a company is only as good as its people. The hard part is actually building the team that will embody your company's culture and propel you forward.

- Kathryn Minshew

Starting with the values that feel authentic to who you are can serve as a compass to find more meaningful, fulfilling work.

- Kathryn Minshew

Work-life balance for founders doesn't look like work-life balance for everyone else. Starting a company isn't a nine-to-six job - or a nine-to-nine job, or a nine-to-midnight job.

- Kathryn Minshew

Done right, a performance review is one of the best opportunities to encourage and support high performers and constructively improve your middle- and lower-tier workers.

- Kathryn Minshew

Even your most talented employees have room for growth in some area, and you're doing your employee a disservice if the sum of your review is: 'You're great!' No matter how talented the employee, think of ways he could grow towards the position he might want to hold two, five, or 10 years down the line.

- Kathryn Minshew

You won't be exiled to permanent unemployment just because there's a picture somewhere of you holding a red Solo cup and looking underage. But, your Google results tell a story: Have you been in the news? Authored articles or blog posts? What types of topics do you frequently tweet about?

- Kathryn Minshew

It's often said that if doing something was easy, everyone would be doing it. I think that's particularly true when you're trying to make your mark or architect your own career. There's often not a path to follow.

- Kathryn Minshew

Having a co-founder is incredible, but it has to be the right person: someone who shares your values and ethics, absolutely, but also someone who has a similar vision for the future in terms of their appetite for risk, for low salaries, for hard work.

- Kathryn Minshew

Take the time to match your application to the company and the role you're applying for. Even if it means you're sending out fewer applications overall, I think that can be really powerful.

- Kathryn Minshew

For me, I spent months on job boards in 2010 and was frustrated by the experience. It's antiquated and clunky, and there was nothing about a particular job posting that helped me favor one company over another. You literally get a list of 5,000 jobs that look the same.

- Kathryn Minshew

Something I've learned is that when people tell me I can't do something, I immediately wonder why and then think it through. It only makes me more motivated to prove them wrong.

- Kathryn Minshew

Understanding your employee's perspective can go a long way towards increasing productivity and happiness.

- Kathryn Minshew

We knew when we started the Daily Muse, we wanted a recruiting-focused business model rather than an advertising-focused one. We felt like publishers were being forced to go to more and more extreme lengths to monetize through advertising.

- Kathryn Minshew

When I started my first company, I still had a 40-hour a week job. I was working on my company on nights and weekends before I took the plunge and gave up a salary.

- Kathryn Minshew

Keeping a 'CEO blog' or 'founder's blog' can be a great platform for engaging your users in a nontraditional way, reaching people outside of your product pitch and building rapport without selling them anything except a belief in your ideas.

- Kathryn Minshew

If you're able to arrange a trial period with a new hire, do it. It will give both of you a chance to make sure the position is a good fit - and can help you avoid being in the awkward situation of wanting to fire someone three or four weeks in.

- Kathryn Minshew

Know your career values: Not your parents' values, not your friends', but what you personally value in work. For me, it's things like moving quickly and scrappily, ownership and authority over my work, and flexibility.

- Kathryn Minshew

I am a big advocate for having an open discussion about team norms and preferences. At The Muse, some of us like to start working at 7:30 A.M. Others focus best from 10 P.M. to 2 A.M. Create a culture where it's acceptable not to be working when someone else is working.

- Kathryn Minshew

Work is personal in the same way that finding a friend or partner is personal.

- Kathryn Minshew

Employers are looking for individuals who can tell a story about what they bring to a particular company, and people with an understanding of that have a much better chance of getting to where they want to go.

- Kathryn Minshew

The first time you meet someone, they're a new acquaintance, the second time you have a bit of an understanding, and the third time you meet them, you're old hats.

- Kathryn Minshew

One classic mistake is when people give the impression that they just want a job, not this job or this company in particular. From a hiring manager's perspective, you're looking for someone who is excited about this role or this company.

- Kathryn Minshew

The idea for The Muse came from my own life, from a product that I wanted but couldn't find anywhere. Sometimes when you see a need for something in your own life and you can't get it, you feel crazy enough to make it happen yourself.

- Kathryn Minshew

Get your product in front of actual, living, breathing strangers. Your college roommate's approval does not mean there's market demand.

- Kathryn Minshew

Networking doesn't have to be all about talking shop over appetizers and bad chardonnay - do it in a way that works for you.

- Kathryn Minshew