In case you don’t have a chance to watch it, the person tells the story of a pink pantsuited, bracelet-jangling big haired blond who comes into a networking room where the marketing executive looks down on her… only to find out that she is personal friends with the one contact he cares about. Hmmm…
In some measure though, we’re all guilty of judging others. Some of that is human nature and we need to fight that every day of our lives. In our career, we need to make sure we have an open mind about how we can help others and how others can help us.
I have heard it over and over again from unemployed people when I suggest they talk to their neighbors. I hear, “they don’t know anyone” or “I’m embarrassed for them to know I’m still out of work” and other lame excuses. Get over it.
Maybe you can help your neighbor. Did you ever consider that? If you tackle networking like it’s a job, where the best scenario is a win/win and the worst scenario is that VERY LITTLE effort is put forth AND the results are lousy. No one said finding a new job is easy whether you currently have a job or not.
If you’re a bit stuck in your search; find someone else to help. If you’re currently employed; find someone else to help. Choose wisely but help them; with a contact, a few hours of volunteer time, an idea or the best gift ever, listening.
“Will not consider/review anyone’s resume who is NOT currently employed — regardless of the reason.”
The company who posted the ad believes that it’s better for them to get a new employee from the ranks of those who are currently working and happy. Hmmm…
Now we can debate the pros and cons of that logic but in a world where there are multiple candidates for any job, employers need to find some way to separate qualified from unqualified candidates. Apparently, under the law, using current employment status as a filter for screening candidates is not illegal unless it has a ‘disparate impact’ on minority groups.”
Whining about how this isn’t fair won’t get us anywhere. We need to ignore these companies and find a job. For the employed who are looking for a new opportunity I suggest that you stay away from any company that uses a person’s ‘current employment status’ as a criteria for employment. When they have cuts, what will the criteria be? People whose parents need care? People whose children have a chronic illness?
If it looks like discrimination and sounds like discrimination… it probably is.
For those of you who are unemployed, my suggestion is– DO NOT spend 2 seconds thinking about these short-sighted employers. If you are consistently building your skills (in this you have the advantage over your employed brethren) and have a positive attitude; it will all work out. Don’t let the turkeys get you down.
“If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make that change…” Man in the Mirror, M. Jackson
When we’re employed, we get up, drive to our jobs, interact with our colleagues and go home. We enjoy our work (or not) and put in long hours. We meet our commitments and take pride in providing for our families. We know we “should” network, join that professional society or help on that committee but somehow, we just can’t find the time.
Then “BLAM” –we find ourselves out of work. We ride the emotional wave and try to find a new groove.If you find yourself out of work, pay attention! You have been given the gift of time. You have every day, all day to do the things you didn’t have time for professionally when you had to go to work everyday.
Take Action: Find what you love and then chip away at the obstacles that are stopping you from being successful.
Make a list of the things you are doing to grow your skills. Are you satisfied?
Write down 3 things that you always wanted to do professionally.
Talk with someone you like and respect about how to begin to do any of them.
Commit to doing something everyday that challenges you.
I love to make presentations. I get energized when I’m sharing in front of a crowd. I used to hate to network but then I figured out, the only way to do what I really love is to talk to lots of people and work to get opportunities to do what I want.
What are you doing today to change yourself? Are you getting what you want? Is it time for a change? Confide your dreams to someone. Reflect on what’s good. Take action.
You’ve got the interview. Great. Your suit is pressed and you’ve done your research. You’ve practiced answering tough questions like:
What is your greatest weakness?
Explain how you handled a difficult person at work
Discuss a failure you had and how you managed to turn it around
Phew. Ok, you’re ready. Here’s one more idea. When the interviewer asks you if you have any questions, try this:
“What are you looking for in a candidate?”
Wow, powerful question. Think about it. This gets the interviewer talking specifically about the criteria (hopefully beyond the job description) they are using to judge candidates. I suggest you take notes while they are talking. This will help you talk point by point about how you fit their criteria.
Ask questions for clarification but do not interrupt. Let the person talk as long as they want. This is the specific information that you need to sell them on your credentials. I repeat, let them finish and be sure you understand (using active listening) what s/he is saying.
Once you understand, you can start telling the interviewer about how your skills and experience match what they are looking for. While they are talking you can be jotting down ideas or stories that will convince them you’re the one. This is your chance to be self-confident and helps you to focus on the skills that are most important to this hiring manager.
There’s a new book out called The Checklist Manifesto written by a general surgeon at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. I wondered why a book about checklists had been on the NY Times best seller list for 5 months.
I’m a list person. When my kids were small, I lived by lists. Somedays, I got so little done that I would add something to my list that I had done and then cross it off just to make myself feel better. Other people I know (and love) hate lists. They think it’s a sign of weakness and an insult to their intelligence. I’m not saying I’m right in my list making but the book helped me to think twice about the value of having a standard work list (can you say lean?) and checking yourself against it.
The doctor’s point is this. No matter how expert you are, a well-designed check list can improve results. The best-known use of checklists is by airplane pilots. If you are Pilot Sully Sullenberger and you’ve been flying for 30+ years, do you really need to get into a plane and run through a checklist? The answer of course is yes.
Are the rest of us think so smart or so special that we don’t need lists? Hmmm…
Most interesting to me is the author’s point that checklists, used properly, imply three transformative values:
Humility — we admit we need gentle reminders regarding the obvious
Discipline — we make ourselves go through this simple process
Teamwork — we take the time to be sure we are all on the same page
Imagine how different our workplace would be if we kept these 3 values in mind. I might be a list person but I’m going to start thinking about making new kinds of lists. Ok all you anti-list people, let’s hear it!
I teach social media for job hunters several times a month and meet lots of great people. When I talk about twitter, I often hear, “Twitter’s stupid.” If you don’t need a job and think twitter is stupid you can stop reading right now.
If you have an open mind, you might be very surprised at the number and types of jobs available on twitter. I was talking to a recruiter recently and she said that when she gets a new professional position, the FIRST place she posts it is twitter. Why? Because it’s easy, it’s free and she knows that only people who ‘get’ social media will be looking there. Only people with updated skills know to look on twitter.
Remember, you don’t have to have twitter followers or follow anyone to search the powerful real time network. Go to twitter, find the search box and input any of the following:
For those who haven’t quite come to grips with the fact that work is changing (forever), perhaps this blog post will change your point of view.
Virtual Vocations has 2239 open positions posted. This list consists of jobs that companies are hiring where employees will work from home:
VP Engineering
HL7 Integration/Interface Engineers
Software Engineers
Contract Administrators
Instructional Designers
Virtual Assistants
Swimwear and Toy Designers
Seamstresses
There are other openings for positions that are traditionally done remotely like technical recruiters, writers/bloggers/editors, animators/graphic designers, bookkeepers and translators.
As organizations look to be more nimble and respond to changing customer requirements quickly, virtual teams are needed to come together to meet these new and demanding schedules. How companies find, recruit, provide remote work tools for and pay the talent they need is going to be a big challenge. And for those of us who have the specialized skills that are needed, we will need to make ourselves known to these employers.
Flexibility, outstanding communication, updated skills and the ability to adapt are critical to being successful in the evolving world of work. And the best news is; we’re more likely to be able to attend our kids ball games, concerts and parent teacher conferences.
It’s really funny that I continue to write this blog about job hunting because I am no longer looking for a job, I have my own company. I think it’ s funny because I am not an expert; just someone who’s been through it and who learned a lot.
I like to write and so a blog was a natural fit for me. But there’s writing and then there’s writing well. This isn’t about spelling or even grammar per se. Practicing writing; not emails, not twitter, not just your resume, but writing to clearly communicate is important for job seekers.
I am always surprised when people tell me they don’t customize their resume for each job. How else is the hiring manager going to envision you in the job if you don’t tell them, specifically, how your qualifications match the job requirements.
Here’s an example of a way to customize a cover letter (called a t-style) that highlights the job requirements and how your skills match those needs. I suggest you practice writing whenever you can. Ask for feedback. When you go back to work, you’ll be glad you kept your writing skills sharp.
Your Specifications: “A strong background in organizations going through transformations…”
My Background: Jones Intercable, Fresh Express, and iLogistix were going through major transformations; 1.) Jones Intercable from a regional operator to sixth largest cable company, 2.) Fresh Express from a food service company to a major packaged goods company that successfully competed with industry giants to maintain top market share, and 3.) iLogistix from national service organization to a global organization. In all these cases, I teamed with other senior executives to deal with a high level of change successfully build organizations to go to the next level. Your Specifications “…a strong knowledge of labor relations.” My Background: Have dealt with a number of unions and successfully negotiated contracts including…
I’ve already had three careers. I was a foreign language teacher, then I was an information consultant and now I work in marketing. These changes were my choice and a natural progression of my interests.
For many of us, the way we have worked in the past has changed. Most of us will no longer work for one employer for a lifetime; we’ll need to act as freelancers who ‘market’ their skills to organizations who pay to get work done.
For employers, the economics of this might make sense but how can they be sure that their ad hoc work team has the right skills? How do they compensate them?
For workers, how will we keep our skills up to date? How will we get benefits? How will employers find us? What skills will we need to negotiate our new contracts? These are just a few of the questions that we and the next generation of workers will need to face.
Technology is enabling new ways of working together. Google Wave, cloud computing, Google docs and Basecamp are just a few examples of current tools that are changing the way we work.
Sure there still will be plenty of ‘regular’ jobs, but it’s worthwhile for all of us to think about what we will need to do to rise to this challenge. Entrepreneurs have a golden opportunity to create the tools for the coming freelance boom.
For those of us who have heard these words, just reading them in can make us wince.
The new George Clooney movie, Up in the Air, is about being let go. I recommend it to anyone who’s in transition. (Grab a friend and head to a matinee; you’ll be glad you did.) Up in the Air is just like hell in the hallway. You may not choose it, but once you’re there, you have choices to make. Action is necessary, patience is key.
When I was young, I was fired from a job. Here’s the story. For one of my first jobs, I worked part time selling shoes. The store manager kept telling me to ask every customer if they wanted a purse, stockings and other ‘stuff’ in addition to the shoes. The few times I tried it, the customer snorted at me. I didn’t like pushing items that people didn’t ask for. I knew I wasn’t cut out for that kind of selling and so did my boss. He gently “let me go” 2 weeks before Christmas.
Later in my career, when I was laid off from Eastman Kodak after 17 years; I was fortunate. I was offered several alternative positions but ultimately I took a package and left the company to start my own business.
Do you feel stuck or are you energized? Are you using your time wisely or are you worrying your days away? What are you teaching your children by your actions?
There are so many free interesting educational opportunities. Here is just one: free video courses from Columbia, Yale, UCLA, Michigan and MIT.
Whether it’s continuing your education, upgrading your skills, finding a mentor, starting a business or deciding to change professions; you do not have to be afraid to hear those words. My favorite saying works at any time of the year: change is good, timing is everything, patience is the key.
Here’s a cool little video that describes why there’s no place for snobbery in networking.
Life Transitions, job search | Deborah | 
July 14, 2010 3:42 pm | 
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