Kathryn Minshew, The Muse, Job Discovery In Uncharted Waters

May 11, 2019,

Dwelling on old thoughts relevant to the past may hinder developing cognitive thought processes that focus on the future.

What is the future in need of? New ideas. How do we create new ideas?

The starting place is about what you consume.

Just as the expression, you are what you eat, from a health standpoint can be a road map to the status of your health, what we consume in terms of entertainment, associations and employment can be a road map to our idea creation.

Consider what you consume. There is a school of thought that idea generation is fueled by entertainment consumption, not creativity.

The process can be likened to sitting in the driver’s seat of a high octane vehicle driving us into the future with endless possibilities or one that has broken down and keeps us stuck in the past until we repair it.

While there is a boom in the growth of female entrepreneurs, most of us still work for an employer. At some point we get an idea that it is time to move on.

Sometimes we are forced to move on.

In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They are considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric songs, and myths that were related orally for centuries in these ancient cultures.

Similar to the ancient world, in modern times a muse is a person or personified force who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist.

With an eye towards employment, a film that humorously depicts a situation where a person needed a muse after losing his job is aptly titled, The Muse.

The Muse is a 1999 comedy film starring Albert Brooks, Sharon Stone, Andie MacDowell and Jeff Bridges, directed by Mr. Brooks.

We love the opening of the review found at the legendary site rogerebert.com. They analyze, “The Muse” opens with its hero winning a Humanitarian Award. “Daddy,” his daughter asks at bedtime, “what exactly is a humanitarian?” “It’s someone who’s never won the Oscar,” he tells her. That ability to snatch failure from the ashes of success is common to many of Albert Brooks‘ characters, and in “The Muse” he plays Steven Phillips, writer of “over 17 movies,” who is fired by his studio for having lost his edge.”

To help him get his edge back, he enlists the service of a muse, with hilarious results.

In most job seekers cases, looking for a new job is no laughing matter.

Sometimes we need new ideas to help solve an age old problem.

Maybe we need a muse, with fresh ideas and a proven successful approach to obtaining a new job.

That’s where Kathryn Minshew can be of help. She is the founder of The Muse Company.

Ms. Minshew was a management consultant at McKinsey. She worked for the Clinton Health Access Initiative until 2010, when she co-founded Pretty Young Professionals, a networking site for young professional women.

In 2011, she co-founded The Muse a “career platform and job discovery tool serving more than 5 million professionals worldwide,” with Alexandra Cavoulacos and Melissa McCreery.

Ms. Minshew is the CEO of The Muse and Cavoulacos is the COO.

The Muse has raised $28.7 million in total funding from 22 Investors. The Muse was accepted into tech accelerator YCombinator for the Winter 2012 class.

Very impressive foundation.

Now let’s see what her company can do for you by visiting their site at themuse.com. What impressed us the most was the creative staff that works with her. You really should take a look.

Again, please pause and look at her site. It is incredibly impressive.

In 2018 the informative group cio.com wrote about the top 20 Female Entrepreneurs to watch.

Here is in part what they had to say about Kathryn Minshew, “It’s one thing to search through online job listings — it’s quite another to discover a career path that will help you fulfill your aspirations. As Founder and CEO of The Muse, Kathryn Minshew has helped over 50 million people move forward in their careers with expert advice and personalized job recommendations.”

In your employment search, her service could be just the Muse that you are looking for.

What do they have to say about themselves and what they do at Kathryn’s company?

First they speak with praise about her. “Kathryn is the Muse’s CEO and number one swashbuckler. Kathryn has spoken at MIT and Harvard, appeared on The TODAY Show and CNN, and contributes on career and entrepreneurship to the Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review. She was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Media and Inc.’s 15 Women to Watch in Tech. Before founding The Muse, Kathryn worked on vaccines in Rwanda and Malawi with the Clinton Health Access Initiative and was previously at McKinsey.”

So what sets The Muse apart from other employment search products?

Perhaps it is in their mission. They share, “At The Muse, we believe in relationships over transactions. That’s why 50 million people rely on us to navigate their careers and find work experiences that are the right fit. Companies partner with The Muse to attract and engage the best emerging talent by telling a more authentic and compelling employer story. Together, our mission is to make the world of work, from job search to career development, more fulfilling — because life’s too short to hate your career.”

In a little simpler terms, typically in their job search people often just ask friends and family for advice, despite knowing that their personal circle may not have the right skill sets.

Even those who decide to hire a pro may just go online to find them.

Kathryn Minshew is hoping The Muse will become a more trusted and efficient source of professional help.

Her site works with numerous coaches, last count over 40 of them.

In an interview with Forbes Magazine, she explained the company has considered as many as 3,000 pros and experienced coaches by looking at samples of their work (such as before-and-after examples of resumes they’ve edited) and reviewing references from past clients. Before booking, The Muse members can check out coach’s profiles and see reviews left by other users.

Kathryn expresses that users of her product, which attracts up to 4.5 million monthly visitors, are in need of this type of service especially if job seekers are looking for more than just basic online services.

Does that describe you?

In some ways we’ve felt that there is nothing new in the employment search game. Before they were called Head Hunters and now they are called Coaches.

In the future they might be called Muses.

With the introduction of the online process to obtaining virtually everything from retail products to food, it was inevitable that the job search approach would need to be modified and enhanced as well.

The Muse seems to have an edge in that area.

Sometimes in life we do need a Muse.

We really so.

Are you currently pursuing a career?

Kathryn’s company just might provide unique and innovative new ideas as a solution for your current employment situation.

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Opening photo muse.com via Wall Street Journal

https://www.themuse.com/team

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_Minshew

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muses

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Muse_(1999_film)

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-muse-1999

https://www.cio.com/article/3243995/leadership-management/top-20-female-entrepreneurs-to-watch-in-2018.html

http://fortune.com/2015/11/05/the-muse-wants-to-connect-millennials-with-pro-career-coaches/