Bay Ridge writer’s book has advice on how to land that first job

December 18, 2014 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Jason Navallo says his book is filled with useful information for young people entering the job market. Photo courtesy of the author

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Like any ambitious entrepreneur, Jason Navallo saw a void in the marketplace and went about trying to fill it. “I noticed that there were a lot of advice books on job hunting out there, but none of them were aimed at college kids,” he told the Brooklyn Eagle.

Now, there is one.

Navallo, a Bay Ridge resident who is an executive recruiter in Manhattan, has just self-published his first book, “Driven to Succeed: How to Start Your Career After College” and is making it available for free through his website, www.navallo.net. It is also available on Amazon.

“It took me two years to write it,” said Navallo, who has a degree in business administration from Baruch College.

The book offers tips on what to put in a resume, how to cold call prospective employers, how to conduct oneself in a job interview (Hint: show up on time and have a copy of your resume handy) and how to negotiate a starting salary.

“I am in the hiring industry, so I know what employers are looking for,” Navallo said.

For the job hunter sending an email to a company head in the hope of landing a job interview, Navallo has this advice: Keep it brief.

“People are busy. They don’t have time to read a long email. The person reading the email usually has three questions: Who are you? What do you want? And how long is this going to take me? The key is to answer those questions in four sentences or less. The less words you write, the better you are. Get to the point,” he said.

And if you do land that job interview with the company of your dreams, don’t blow your chances at the job by failing to follow up with a thank you letter to the interviewer, Navallo said.

“You have to follow up with a thank you letter. The thank you letter is just as important as the job interview,” he said.

“Driven to Succeed” also has advice for the college student who is not sure what type of job he or she wants.

“A lot of kids go through four years of college, and at the end of it, they have no idea what they want to do with their lives. The first section of my book has ways to discover a field that you might want to established a career in. I tell how to research to find a field relating to your major,” he said.

Millennials, who grew up in an age of technology with smart phones, Instagram posts and Twitter tweets, might be surprised to learn that discovering one’s career path often takes some old-fashioned, face-to-face contact.

“The best thing to do is to just get out there and talk to people. Do a lot of networking and ask people questions about their professions. Instinct is very important. Your gut will tell you when a field is a good fit for you,” Navallo said.

Navallo said he plans to write a sequel to “Driven to Succeed.”