Career Chaos

You Can Beat the Job Search Blues: 5 + 3 Tips to Get Re-energized

Let's face it: job search is a tedious task, even during the best of times. When you're used to being motivated by others in a team work environment, it's so very difficult to motivate yourself while conducting a job search on your own. Particularly if you're a layoff survivor, you know that the longer you're out of the work, the harder it gets.

So, what can you do to keep up your spirits - to stay on track with your job search? To keep moving toward finding your next job?

Noah Blumenthal, best-selling author of "Be the Hero: Three Powerful Ways to Overcome Challenges in Work and Life," offers his five tips in a CareerBuilder article posted on CNN: 1) Go online; 2) Separate yourself; 3) Have fun; 4) Set a big goal; 5) Go to work. Jump over to the article to read all the details.

While I agree with everything Blumenthal says, as a career coach, I have three more tips (or variations on his themes) to offer you to overcome job search discouragement:

First, get in touch with your personal spirituality and get strength from an inner anchor. For believers, this is probably your God. For others, this may be your connection with nature and all its wonders. (Yes, a pet counts as nature! Pets offer a great source for unconditional love.)

Second, plan your escape time. Now, I don't mean sleeping around the clock. But everyone needs to take purposeful breaks in job search to jump start your creativity. Examples could include a short weekend trip to clear your head and make room for new ideas; take in a free concert; or invite friends over for a potluck dinner.

Third, join free job clubs for face-to-face social interaction with others who understand what you're going through. Empathy is good, as long as it doesn't turn into a pity party. Remember, you're seeking positive energy for rejuvenation. (Read about how "life rewards action" from Rules for Unemployment.)

Bonus tip: I'd be remiss if I didn't encourage you to hire a career coach. The special relationship you form with your coach can do much to help you stay energized and focused.

Whatever you do, some action is better than no acton. If you can stay connected to the "who" that you are, you will project a more powerful presence to all you encounter in your job search.

Wishing you career success in 2010!

Meg

SPECIAL NOTE: I am honored to be a member of the Career Collective, a group of career experts who will each month share their advice and tips to enhance the management of your career. Please link to their blog posts below. Your comments are invited and much appreciated. Follow our hashtag, #careercollective, on Twitter, as well as follow everyone's individual tweets:

@MartinBuckland, Job Search Made Positive

@GayleHoward, Job Search: When It All Turns Sour

@chandlee, Strategy for Getting “Unstuck” and Feeling Better: Watch Lemonade

@heathermundell, Help for the Job Search Blues

@heatherhuhman, 10 Ways to Turn Your Job Search Frown Upside-Down

@WalterAkana, Light at the End of the Tunnel

@resumeservice, Don’t Sweat The Job Search

@careersherpa, Mind Over Matter: Moving Your Stalled Search Forward

@WorkWithIllness, Finding Opportunity in Quicksand

@KatCareerGal, Job-Hunting in a Weak Job Market: 5 Strategies for Staying Upbeat (and Improving Your Chances of Success)

@ErinKennedyCPRW, Dancing in the Rain–Kicking the Job Search Blues

@keppie_careers, What to do when you are discouraged with your job search

@DawnBugni, It's the Little Things

@ValueIntoWords, Restoring Your Joy in Job Search

@jobhuntorg, Just SO VERY Discouraged

@barbarasafani, Making Job Search Fun (Yeah, That’s Right!)

@GLHoffman, How to Overcome the Job Search Negativity

@LaurieBerenson, Ways to Keep Your Glass Half Full

@ExpatCoachMegan, Dealing With Job Search Stress: Getting to the Source of the Problem

New Must-Read Resource for #Jobseekers: The Twitter Job Search Guide

#Jobseekers are always asking me, "How do I use Twitter for my job search?" Some have a difficult time believing that a staggering number of jobs are posted on Twitter every month. In fact, some career experts claim that Twitter is the fastest-growing opportunity for employment, even ranked as high as #1. TweetMyJobs.com has over a million jobs tweeted each month (enough to make a Monster tremble?).

[Newsflash: 48,099 jobs were tweeted on TweetMyJobs.com just in the last 24 hours.]

OK, so are you a believer yet? I can hear the moans now, "I don't have time to do Twitter." Or maybe you think LinkedIn or Facebook is enough in the way of social media tools for you. But wait! Aren't you still job searching? Maybe one more tool could really help? Consider this: Twitter is the "barrier buster." It's the only social media tool that doesn't require permission to network. There are no gatekeepers! On Twitter, you can as easily read the Twitter stream of a CEO as that of a college student. And connecting with anyone you want to follow is easier, too!

Twitter is really one of the fastest ways to find others who share common interests - to exchange job search practices, professional ideas, and resources for your job search.

With a vision ahead of the curve, career management authors Susan Britton Whitcomb @SusanWhitcomb, Chandlee Bryan @chandlee, and Deb Dib @CEOCoach have collaborated to publish The Twitter Job Search Guide - to be released in March (reserve your copy now!). Their book is a practical tutorial in Twitter tools and best practices including pioneering Twitter-inspired techniques with step-to-step guides to:

>>> Creating your "160me" - your 160-character Twitter bio

>>> Writing cover letters in 10 tweets

>>> Developing your "Brand to Land Plan"

>>> Engaging with networking contacts, recruiters, employers, and more

>>> Tweeting in "Day Tight Compartments" for as little as 15 minutes a day

This book includes more than 100 contributors: 13 successful job seekers, plus an all-star cast of respected authors, recruiters, and career management experts (including me - @KCCareerCoach).

If you're not using Twitter, you're missing out on a cutting-edge job search method. Take a chance - dip your big toe into the pool - you won't drown, I promise. Nothing to fear here!

Wishing you career success in 2010!

Meg

Job Dissatisfaction Running Rampant: Are You Running With It?

How unhappy we are at work these days! Job satisfaction is at an all-time low, yet most workers are afraid to even contemplate making a career change. Fear rules most career decisions.

For the past couple of days I've been blogging about career change - how people want it, but many are afraid to take the leap, especially in today's uncertain economy. Everyone needs a paycheck, and most are willing to do anything to keep one coming in. Yesterday the Herman Group published their weekly alert quoting a respected source about employee job dissatisfaction:

"The Conference Board research group recently reported job satisfaction has fallen to a record low of 45 percent, the lowest level ever recorded in 22 years of surveys! Extrapolating from that number, more than half (55 percent) of US workers state that they are "dissatisfied" with their jobs. It is also logical that the most dissatisfied group is workers under the age of 25---64 percent of whom said they are unhappy in their jobs." (Read the full report from the Herman Group - Herman Trend Alert, 1-13-10)

It's so much easier for people to identify what they don't like, than to bravely venture out into the unknown to identify what they do like. Fear is a powerful emotion that will cripple your creativity - creativity that's essential for new career directions to be discovered, let alone be acted upon.

Don't get stuck in one place like the proverbial deer in the headlights. Take the first step to evaluate what your values, skills, and interests are that you'd like to transfer to a new career direction. You don't have to hurry the process, but do go beyond the fear to find your next career path to job satisfaction. You deserve to be happy! And believe it or not, that option does exist - even today.

Career Change for You in 2010?

OK, admit it - haven't you been wondering what it would be like to work somewhere else? Aren't you tired of the long hours, reduced benefits, and while we're at it, when was the last time you got a raise?

According to recent surveys, about 50% of all currently employed U.S. workers are ready to find that elusive "better job." Before quitting what you have (especially if you have some degree of comfort there), take the time to evaluate your options. Know what's most important about the next job you go to. Is it the Money, the Work, the People? What really matters most? Perhaps you just want some work/life balance. Or a little fun - what a concept!

Whatever your reason, get the help you need to make a successful career change. On this blog you'll see the link to go grab my f*ree assessment, "The Top 17 Signs You're Due for a Career Change and What to Do About It." Sign up for this, take it and see what you learn. You may be ready to take the leap and didn't even know it!

Wishing you career success in 2010!

Meg

2010 Workforce/Workplace Forecast

Seldom, if ever, do I print anyone else's material in my blog. However, the following article hit my email box this morning and I feel its value needs to be shared with all job seekers, employed workers and employers. Please share your comments on this blog.

Thank you, Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurist, of the Herman Group (full attribution follows at the end of the article):

Each year at this time, The Herman Group issues its annual forecast. Once more, this year, we offer you our full forecast (longer than our usual alert) for the coming year:

1. Cutbacks and Re-Engineering will continue into 2010

Expect ongoing reductions in force as some employers continue to optimize their workforces and eliminate "redundancy". We caution these employers to be very careful, because we know that 54 percent of today's employees are ready to jump, as soon as the economy improves. They are currently "Corporate Cocooning".

2. Shortages of Certain Skill Sets will become More Acute

As the economy begins to recover, certain skill sets will be more critical and difficult to find. These high-demand workers will be more demanding about their work schedules, environment, etc. The wisest employers will embrace not only flex-time, but flex-place as well.

3. Employers will embrace Innovative Ideas to Reward their Valued Workers

This innovation will include non-financial ways and even non-reward (recognition only) ways to add value for their top talent; these innovative ideas will come from the employees themselves. Employers that do not mine the collective intelligence of their workers will find themselves unable to optimize profits.

4. Fear and Apprehension continue to reduce Productivity

A significant percentage of employees continue to worry about the future. These negative feelings will persist, unless addressed. Transparency, besides being one of those elements employees seek, will be imperative.

5. More Employers will invest in a Variety of Healthcare Cost-Cutting Strategies

Besides wellness programs to address expensive unproductive behaviors (like smoking and over-eating), more large employers will embrace ideas like onsite clinics and health coaches. For some candidates, the cost of not complying with the prospective companies' wellness programs will change their employee value propositions so drastically that they will choose to work elsewhere.

6. Focus on Engagement will replace the Focus on Retention

Recognizing that with engagement comes not only retention, but greater productivity and profitability, too, employers will change their focus. We will see Directors of Retention morph into Directors of Employee Engagement. The next step (coming much later than 2010) will be to recognize the importance of the total "Internal and External Customer Experience".

7. Increasing Attention to Succession Planning

Around the globe, we see an increasing attention to succession planning and management. However, the issue of succession preparation continues to take a backseat to succession planning. This big mistake will begin to be felt in 2010, when Baby Boomer retirements combine with the lack of trained people becomes a critical problem. Succession management continues to be critical to long-term success.

8. Employers that did not build Bench Strength will pay More to hire Experience

Organizations that did not take the opportunity presented by this business slowdown to send their people for more training, will have to pay more to hire trained, experienced people.

9. Some Employers will eliminate Reward Programs

Misunderstanding Dan Pink's new book, "Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us", some employers will abolish their reward programs altogether. This ill-advised shift will cause significant, negative, unintended consequences.

10. Burned out Employees will begin Leaving Employers

Over 80 percent of today's employees feel overworked and under-appreciated. Too many organizations have survived and maintained some level of profitability by over-loading their long-term employees. Once we begin to see positive job growth in the second half of 2010, some employees will feel confident enough to leave their companies.

11. Employers will accommodate Older Workers like Never Before

The exodus of their long-term employees will challenge some employers to get the work done, without resorting to hiring expensive contract help or paying high fees to recruiters. Enlightened employers will mine the rolls of their retired workers and hire them back on a part-time, temporary, or seasonal basis. These seasoned professionals will be welcomed back, in spite of the fact that they will dictate their own terms.

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From 'The Herman Trend Alert,' by Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurist. (800) 227-3566 or

http://www.hermangroup.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group of Companies, Inc. © Copyright 1998-2009 by The Herman Group of Companies, Inc., all rights reserved.

Internet Job Search Tips - More

In a follow-up to my last post, here are a few more tips to add to your Internet Job Search toolkit:

Google Alerts: Free service to set up through Google (http://www.google.com/alerts?hl=en). Use targeted keywords related to your job search to get daily or weekly digests of published resources related to your job goal delivered directly to your email inbox. A very handy tool!

Twitter Follows: Now that you have a Twitter account, look for others to follow that post job openings, offer career advice, and support your job search in any way. Create your Twitter Lists!

Blog Responses: Not only post frequently to your own blog, reply to the posts of others on their blogs. This cross-posting will build your visibility on the Internet. Just remember to control your digital dirt!

Discussion Boards: Beyond LinkedIn, find other discussion boards where you can spotlight your expertise. Industry-related are great, as are boards geographically pertinent for local job search.

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!

JOB SEARCH FOR FEDERAL POSITIONS

Job seekers say they want more information on finding federal jobs, but don't know how to find it. The web site, Where the Jobs Are, has been updated for 2009. It's well worth the time to check this out - for both job seekers and career coaches.

The site is keyword searchable. It also offers tons of information on how to find U.S. government jobs for the next three years, job trends to be aware of, and resources you really want to have. I've bookmarked this web site and advise you to do the same.

CAREERS CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Last week I attended the Career Management Alliance annual conference in San Antonio, Texas. So much talent in one place was quite the experience. Not only were long-time professional career management members present, but also attendees from military transition career centers. The job of translating military experience into terms easily understood by corporations and private industry is a challenging task. I applaud those working in that field helping our separating and retiring armed forces personnel enter/re-enter the traditional workforce.

There were many good conference speakers and presentations, but the ones that stood out for me were the opening keynote by Peter Weddle, "Work Strong: Career Fitness" and breakout session by Carol McClelland, "Plug into the Green Economy: A Field of Opportunities for You and Your Clients."

A few of Weddle's presentation nuggets included (some paraphrased by me):

• Workplace is seeing downsizing of structure, not just downsizing of jobs.
• Just as individuals are responsible for their health, they are responsible for their careers.
• The career ladder has been replaced with a career jungle gym.
• To be "qualified" isn't enough - must be "best qualified."
• Slide: "The Greater & Unspoken Danger: The Perceptions People Work With" - e.g, do a good job, & you'll advance up the career ladder

A few of McClelland's presentation gems incuded (some paraphrased by me):

• Green economy: ever-evolving & advancing at different rates in different industries
• "Green jobs are jobs that provide products and services which use renewable energy sources, reduce pollution, conserve energy and natural resources, and reconstitute waste" (White House definition)
• Green collar jobs = trades jobs, e.g., installation, manufacturing, distribution
• Green professional jobs = technical - hard science (research, engineering, IT) and non-technical - managment, finance, marketing, human resources, operations
• Find green jobs by "following the money" - the federal government money being invested into a greener economy

Interested in learning more from this conference? You may find tweets from conference attendees by going to search.twitter.com and searching for #careers09. I have some tweets there, too. Look for them - my Twitter handle is @KCCareerCoach.

JOB SEARCH METHODS: BLENDING THE OLD WITH THE NEW

In this time of using cutting-edge, online social networking (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) for enhancing our job searches, we sometimes forget about tried and true tradtional tools. Here's my favorite list of four must-read books for anyone engaged in a serious job search with links to their authors' LinkedIn profiles:

• The Job-Loss Recovery Guide - by Lynn Joseph, Ph.D.
• Knock 'em Dead - series updated annually - by Martin Yate
• Winning Interviews for $100,000+ Jobs - by Wendy Enelow
• Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minute - by Jack Chapman