About Leslie Ayres, The Job Search Guru

Hi, I'm Leslie Ayres. Let me tell you a little more about me and how I became The Job Search Guru.

Navigating job searches is second nature to me with more than 30 years of success as an executive recruiter, career mentor, high-touch resume writer and job search coach,

I’m also a bit of a renegade, and have always been sparked by the idea of a world where we all love our jobs and our lives and new adventures are always around the corner.

And if there’s one thing I have come to know, it’s that if you can be yourself, all the time… at work and at play… then it's much easier to create and love your life.

How I got here is an example of that.

My career in the job search world began when I was a young mom feeling unhappy with my job.

I majored in Art and English in college but never had a specific career in mind. I just loved learning and found office work easy to get and I was really good at it. So that's what I did.

And I found myself living in San Francisco, married to an artist, with a toddler in day care, and working in a job as an office manager for a small architectural firm. The job wasn't terrible, but something was definitely missing for me and I couldn't see myself staying there much longer.

Then one lunch hour, I was browsing at the bookstore and saw a book called What Color is Your Parachute by Richard Bolles, an Episcopal minister who wrote the book after budget cuts at the church necessitated he and other colleagues look for new opportunities outside the church.

I took it home and did a handful of the exercises that appealed to me. I just wanted to get a little clarity... but those simple exercises changed my life.

And in a way, it felt like that first day I got glasses and realized how much more detailed the world was than I had realized.

For the first time, I saw patterns in what I liked and didn't like in my job, and I saw some things that felt missing from my work that I needed.

In the process, I had a number of unforgettable aha! moments and I started to see what I wanted and what worked for me.

For the first time in my life, I was empowered to make choices I felt confident with.

So I wrote down my new insights and my new list of criteria of what to look for, and I made an appointment with an upscale employment agency to see if they had any jobs that fit my list.

I arrived to a beautiful 20th floor office with floor-to-ceiling windows looking over the San Francisco Bay and completed the form they gave me.

"How about a personal secretary to two attorneys?" (nope), "Department admin at an insurance company?" (also no), "Office manager for a travel company?" (that didn't feel right either).

My career in the job search world began when I was a young mom feeling unhappy with my job.

I majored in Art and English in college but never had a specific career in mind. I just loved learning and found office work easy to get and I was really good at it. So that's what I did.

And I found myself in a job as an office manager for a small architectural firm, which wasn't bad, but something was definitely missing and I couldn't see myself staying there much longer.

Then one lunch hour, I was browsing at the bookstore and saw a book called What Color is Your Parachute by Richard Bolles, a book about how to understand what career might work for you.

I took it home and did a handful of the exercises that appealed to me. I just wanted to get a little clarity... but those simple exercises changed my life.

For the first time, I saw patterns in what I liked and didn't like in my job, and I saw some things that felt missing from my work that I needed.

In the process, I had a number of unforgettable aha! moments and I started to see what I wanted and what worked for me.

For the first time, I was empowered to make choices I felt confident with.

So I wrote down my new insights and my new list of criteria of what to look for, and I made an appointment with an upscale employment agency to see if they had any jobs that fit my list. I arrived to a beautiful 20th floor office with floor-to-ceiling windows looking over the San Francisco Bay and completed the form they gave me.

The recruiter brought me back to her desk by the window and began paging through her binder of job orders and as we talked and she learned more about me, she suggested other office manager or admin jobs they had available... "Personal secretary to two attorneys?" (nope), "Department admin at an insurance company?" (also no), "Office manager for a travel company?" (that didn't feel right either).

And as we talked, it hit me.

This woman's job checked every single box on my wish list, including:

honest, one-on-one conversations with people (check!)
making independent decisions on how to do my job (check!)
a chance to make a lot more money (check!)
and even my bonus wish for a job where being curious and maybe a little nosy is a good thing! (awesome!)

So I told her that her job looked really interesting and I asked her if they were hiring. She said yes, and introduced me to the owner, who talked to me for 45 minutes and offered me the job. I said yes.

Oh, I forgot to mention... after the first couple of months, the job was going to be 100% commission. And I had a family and needed to earn money, so I had to make it work.

I was a little panicked as I resigned from my job at the architects' office.

But I knew I had done my thinking about what was truly important to me in my next job, and I knew that job checked every box on my list.

And guess what?

I made a placement my first day.

I'd found my calling.

I was a successful recruiter for decades, including more than 13 years doing executive search for early-stage startups.

My focus as a recruiter was always to serve the best interests of my candidates and to help get them clearer about where they want to go, while still also helping companies fill their job with the best possible person.

That's the essence of being a recruiter... asking the right questions to understand as many variables as possible from both the company's perspective and the candidate's needs.

Then you put it together and connect the dots so you can match the person with the job, team, boss, and company.

I used my prior document design, writing and recruiting skills to revamp resumes for presenting candidates to my executive search clients (to make sure the resume was accurately reflecting all they could do, and was working for them, not against them).

Then I started taking projects from friends on the side, and my referral-only resume practice snowballed, so I decided to give up executive search and became The Job Search Guru full time.

Through wildly optimistic boom times as well as disruptive busts, I've seen and learned a lot.

I've reviewed tens of thousands of resumes (and am continually amazed at how ordinary and unimpressive most are).
I've interviewed thousands of candidates, from CEOs to administrative staff, from mega-earning sales superstars to financial experts and brilliant scientists, all sharing their priorities and challenges (and have seen how often great people have no idea how to prepare for a job search).
I've worked directly with hundreds of companies, from Fortune 500s to startups looking for employee #1, and from nonprofits to cutting-edge tech companies, large and small.
I've recruited for a wide range of different corporate cultures, and partnered with executives and hiring managers as well as recruiters at every level, all of whom have their own priorities and requirements.
And in my resume practice, I've collaborated with hundreds of stellar people to create powerful custom branding materials that felt authentic to who they are and opened doors for them.

I've learned a lot about how you can increase your odds at winning the job you want.

I've seen who's doing what in their job searches, and what's happening in the world of resumes, LinkedIn profiles, social networking, interviews, salary negotiations and every part of the job search quest.

I see the qualities and mindsets of the people who are searching with a plan and I also the qualities of people who are letting their job search lose focus or momentum.

I've learned how hiring managers think and make decisions, and I've been right there as the world evolved from ads in the paper into today's world of digital job searches where you can tell AI to apply for you and submit your application in a few seconds. (Spoiler alert: don't do that.)

And I've paid attention to the not-so-obvious factors in a job search... things like understanding the psychology of hiring and being hired, the User Experience of how resumes are reviewed, and the hidden elements of making hiring choices when there are so many to choose from.

I've also worked in branding and advertising.

I spent years with a branding company that named products that are now household names, and with an ad agency focused on tech clients.

My most interesting side gig was being recruited by NBC Universal to be their resident business and career blogger on a lifestyle site they were launching with Procter & Gamble, where I wrote for several years on the side.

And somewhere in there, I spent a couple of years writing directories of executive education programs for Fortune 50 companies.

And of course, there is more to life than working.

I'm a fan of electronic music and underground dance culture. I've been to Burning Man nine times. I spent a couple of cumulative years living in the mountains and on the beaches of Thailand. I love watching small-town baseball, seek out thrift stores and flea markets wherever I go, and enjoy every minute with my ridiculously entertaining grandson.

So thanks for being here, props for reading this far, and nice to meet you!

I've learned a lot about how you can increase your odds at winning the job you want.

I see the qualities and mindsets of the people who are searching with a plan and I also the qualities of people who are letting their job search lose focus or momentum.

I've also spent time in branding and advertising.

I spent years with a branding company that named products that are now household names, and with an ad agency focused on tech clients.

My most interesting side gig was being recruited by NBC Universal to be their resident business and career blogger on a lifestyle site they were launching where I wrote for several years on the side. And somewhere in there, I spent a couple of years writing directories of executive education programs for Fortune 50 companies.

And of course, there is more to life than working.

On the side, I'm a fan of electronic music and underground dance culture and was a founding member and national spokesperson for the San Francisco Late Night Coalition in the past. I've spent a lot of time on beaches in Thailand and Mexico, love baseball, seek out thrift stores and flea markets wherever I go, and cherish every minute with my ridiculously smart and always entertaining grandson.

So thanks for being here, let me know if there's anything else I can share!