Career Chaos

TOP 5 INTERNET JOB SEARCH TIPS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

Gone are the newspaper classified ads – so we go to the Internet to look for jobs. How you use the Internet will impact your success in landing your next position. While a new medium for many job seekers, the Internet should not scare you. Many reputable businesses operate online. As you conduct your job search, it’s important to remember that you are CEO of Me, Inc. and responsible for your own success. The job search process is a lot like marketing and sales – your resume is your marketing brochure representing your brand and your job interview is your sales presentation. You are your own product. And job search success depends on how well you connect with everyone..  
 

1. Create an eye-catching, professional LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) profile with industry specific keywords to boost your findings in the search engines. Invite people to join your network. Post your resume on this website.
2. Join industry/role specific LinkedIn groups as well as general LinkedIn networking groups in your city. Build your visibility inside these groups by participating in discussions and posting your own questions. Showcase your expertise and make yourself a “go-to” person.
3. Start your own blog where you demonstrate your expertise and share good resources with others in your industry. Develop a blog theme and stick to it. Again, make your blog keyword rich for find-ability purposes.
4. Learn how to use Twitter (www.twitter.com) professionally. Set up an account and post several times a day. Ensure your tweets show up on your blog and LinkedIn profile. Cross-promotion enhances online visibility. Tweets need to be about 80% career-related and 20% personal to show your human side – beware of your digital dirt!
5. Apply for jobs on the job boards, but also make a list of jobs that have recently closed for applications. In six weeks, send your resume to these companies along with a cover letter commenting that you appreciate that this position has already closed, you hope the new hire is working out, but if not, here’s your resume to review. Track the responses your get.

BONUS TIP: When looking online for professional career services (resume writing, career coaching, etc.), “shop” no more than three businesses at one time – too many will just confuse you. Request free phone consultations and references – your comfort and others’ satisfaction should figure highly into your decision of choice, more so than the final cost. Cheaper is usually not better. Ask yourself, “Who will help me the most for what I need?”

Now, go make connections! Get that job you want!

HOLDING A GRUDGE AGAINST YOUR PAST EMPLOYER?

If you have a grudge against your former employer, you’re just being human. Of course, you want to blame someone for being laid off – it wasn’t your fault, right? Maybe – maybe not.

While you may not be fully responsible for your job loss, you may own a piece of it. If so, it’s important to accept whatever you could have done differently and change your behavior before you move on to your next position. What part of your layoff could you possibly own? Most layoffs are decided after management rate employees for certain factors: productivity, interpersonal relations with boss and co-workers, job knowledge and skills, job apathy vs. creativity – and a few other things probably beyond your control. Any of these resonate with you?

Whenever a person does the same job for a few years, it’s easy to start approaching it in a routine way. Apathy can replace creativity and productivity can suffer. The boss who hired you may leave and his replacement is someone whom you find difficult to get along with. If you don’t keep training and learning, your job can outgrow you – not something you want to happen, but what have you done to prevent it?

Before you launch your next job search, do an honest self-assessment. Choose which behavior(s) you want to change – and then do it! If you don’t change now, you will probably repeat your negative ways and possibly set yourself up to be laid off again. Yes, I said laid off again – if you blatantly mess up, you could even be fired instead.

When it comes to that grudge you hold against your past employer for laying you off, is your desire for revenge really valid? And even if you still feel it is, you need give it up and stop living in the past. Put all your energy into fine-tuning and improving your work attitude and skills so you are more than ready when opportunity puts itself in your way. The past doesn’t matter anymore. Focus on the present with an eye to the future to move forward self-confidently with a positive attitude.

FIND YOUR "JOY BUDDY" FOR JOB SEARCH MOTIVATION

Do you struggle with finding your creativity when exploring new career possibilities? Some of my career coaching clients do. They let the overwhelm of money worries, coupled with the facts and fears brought on by high unemployment rates, get in their way of productive introspection and career clarification.

As a dog lover living with three rescued canines (I only get rescued dogs - but that's for another post), I regularly watch Cesar Milan's "Dog Whisperer" TV show. One of his frequent lessons is to explain that dogs live in the present, not the past or the future. We can all benefit from living in the present. Instead of dwelling on the past (why was I laid off?) or fearing the future (I'll be living on the street with a tin cup in a year), job seekers can help themselves more by focusing on the present.

"Present" questions to ask yourself:

• What are my core values and why are they important to my career?
• What makes me want to get up in the morning and go to work?
• What job skills am I good at AND love to use?

If you let your emotions, or fears of the past or future, cripple your creativity, you will freeze your ability to act. And you have to act to change your job situation for the better!

I found an inspirational article that I recommend to anyone trapped by their worries: "How to squash worry and grab more happiness out of life in tough times". Please read it and discover things you can do today to get your job search back on track once you make room for creativity to flourish again. And while you're at it, find a "joy buddy" - dogs make great "joy buddies," by the way.