As co-coordinator with my colleague Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, I am pleased to participate in our second round of posts from our community of expert career advisors and resume writing professionals called the Career Collective.
Today’s post is special because we are participating in Quintessential Careers’ Job Action Day. This is one of many responses aimed at helping job seekers focus on the future and what they can do differently in today’s economy to succeed. I encourage you to visit other members’ responses, which are all linked at the end of my post! Please follow our hashtag on Twitter: #careercollective and visit our Career Collective site.
As a career coach and blogger, I am constantly seeking inspiration and looking for messages to convert into job search advice for my readers. So, when I watched a commercial for Lexus, one sound byte really resonated with me:
You can’t change traffic, so change the way you drive through it!
How true – there is so much that individuals do not control. The economy. The weather. The neighbors’ barking dogs. I bet someone once told you, “You can’t change other people, but you can change how you react to them.”
How much happier would we be if we stopped trying to change the things that we cannot alter and instead focused on what we do control – our responses?
The job market is a case in point. What if job seekers stopped “oh woe is me-ing” and instead focused on what they DO control – the way they navigate their searches. The playing field has changed, and it is important to adjust to the new terrain.
Here are some tips to help you take the wheel:
Draw Your Own Career Map
Identify your goals. You can’t get anywhere until you decide the destination! What characteristics and traits make you special? What are you (or do you hope to be) known for in your field?
Review trends and industries with career potential and determine if there are matches between your skills and interests and those fields. Instead of cursing a business with a shrinking job market, re-adjust, re-tool and re-train to take advantage of new possibilities.
Once you know your direction, optimize your resume. Be sure that it is skill and accomplishment focused, not a list of “stuff” you’ve done. (If you’ve been blaming your age or experience level (too much/not enough) for your lack of interviews, take a good look at your resume. It may be holding you back.)
Is this “new” advice that only applies to today’s economy? No. However, it is so much more important now than ever. If you do not know where you are going, you are EVEN LESS likely to get there!
Design Your Vehicle – Brand YOU!
Once you identify a destination – drive there! Learn how to position yourself as the expert in your field. Use all of the tools at your disposal to create a “vehicle” (your brand – it doesn’t have to be a Lexus. Or a bus!) that will drive you where you want to go.
If you haven’t looked for a job in a while and/or aren’t tuned in to managing your “digital footprint,” it’s time for a quick lesson in social media. Presenting yourself well both online and in person will help open previously closed doors. Optimize Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs and other social networking tools to make connections and share information.
In fact, Twitter’s new “Lists (which you can read more about HERE) are an absolutely amazing way to mobilize a terrific network in your industry or niche. Essentially, those who use this feature (which is not available to everyone, yet) will select a group of people they identify as leaders in their fields (or, at least the most interesting people to follow in a topic). You will be able to visit someone’s Twitter page and easily access not just whom they follow, but whom they endorse.
Job seekers who take the opportunity to get inside someone’s head (via Twitter lists) will be able to narrow down the “movers and the shakers” in their fields of interest. This is really an incredible opportunity. The only downside is the amount of work it takes to get these lists filled in! I have not had a chance to create all of my lists, yet, and it is possible some will “opt out” of creating lists. (For example, Chris Brogan, a social media guru and author of Trust Agents, has some reservations about leaving people out and does not plan to create lists of individuals.) For anyone who jumps in, though, it is a gold mine of opportunity for job seekers. Take advantage of it!
Take the Keys!
The key to a successful career is to network generously. There is nothing more important or more useful for your job search, and the current economic climate makes this even more crucial. Your success depends on your ability to broaden your professional circles and to reach out to a diverse socio-economic group of people. Do not allow your network to be the people you happen to know. Be purposeful. Identify organizations and see how your network can lead you to people who work there. Conduct informational interviews and demonstrate why they can’t do without you!
Professionals who habitually facilitate introductions earn goodwill and reputations as valuable resources and colleagues. Become that professional; it will help you overcome obstacles to career success.
Start the Ignition – Communicate Your Value
Your ability to promote, communicate and connect your value to colleagues and superiors is crucial. Hone this “soft” skill – practice your writing, emailing, speaking, interviewing and presenting skills. Join Toastmasters. Make a point to learn how to communicate well. When you can articulate why your role is vital, you will help secure your future.
Confidently Forge Ahead – Start Rolling
Adjust your rear-view mirror, but keep your eyes on the road! Move forward with your plans knowing that you DO control your career. Is it as easy as reading these steps? No, but if you follow this plan, you will be on your way to managing your job hunt and/or your career with finesse and aplomb!
Seize control of what you can! Don’t be a victim of circumstances. Drive your own career bus!
Feel free to add your 2 cents to the comments…What are YOU doing differently? (Or SHOULD you be doing differently?!)
How have my colleagues responded? Follow us on Twitter with our hashtag #careercollective and read these posts:
Gayle Howard: Today’s Enlightened Job Seeker
Meg Montford: Job Action Day: Finding Your “Mojo” After Layoff
Debra Wheatman: Plan B from outer space; or what do you have in case your first plan doesn’t work out?
Heather Mundell: Green Jobs – What They Are and How to Find Them
Erin Kennedy: Cutting Edge Job Search Blueprint
Grace Kutney: Securing Your Career While Navigating the Winds of Change
Hannah Morgan: Career Sherpa Why Our Job Search Advice is the Same but Different
Heather R. Huhman, Take Action: 10 Steps for Landing an Entry-Level Job
Laurie Berenson: Making lemonade out of lemons: Turn unemployment into entrepreneurship
Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter: You Can Thrive In, Not Just Survive, an Economic Slogging
Rosalind Joffe: Preparedness: It’s Not Just for Boyscouts
Rosa E. Vargas: Are You Evolving Into The On-Demand Professional of Tomorrow?
Dawn Bugni: Your network IS your net worth
Miriam Salpeter: Optimize your job hunt for today’s economy
GL Hoffman: The Life of An Entrepreneur: Is It for You?
Katharine Hansen: Job Action Day 09: His Resume Savvy Helped New Career Rise from Layoff Ashes
Martin Buckland: Job Search–The Key to Securing Your Future Career.
Chandlee Bryan: Where the Green Jobs Are
Barbara Safani: Where the Jobs Are 2009 and Beyond
JT O’Donnell : Actions that got people jobs in this recession
I can help with every part of your job hunt! Need a great resume? Tips to use social networking? Interview coaching? If you need help mobilizing your networks and your job search plans, learn more about how I can help you! While you’re at it, don’t forget those social networks! Be sure to become a fan of Keppie Careers on Facebook…I’d be thrilled to have you as part of the community! Since we’re on the subject of doing something new…Are you on Twitter? Jump on and touch base with me @keppie_careers.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Miriam,
What a great metaphor comparing job search to driving through traffic. You are so on point regarding the idea that people can’t change the traffic but they can alter “how” they drive through it.
You created engaging subheadings including designing one’s own career vehicle and taking the keys. So often, the oppression of job loss reduces people’s sense of control; however, each job seeker has access to his own unique career keys — the ONLY keys custom cut to drive their career!
Perhaps my favorite lines of all are as follows: “Confidently Forge Ahead – Start Rolling: Adjust your rear-view mirror, but keep your eyes on the road!” It truly is about traction, forward-movement and “forging ahead.” Sure, keep a 360-degree view in front, in back, side to side to secure a safe trip, but keep rolling!
Great article, Miriam!
So glad we co-coordinated on this Career Collective project! I’m finding value in reading and commenting on one another’s blogs, and I’m hoping the same value translates across the job-seeking community!
Jacqui
I’m with Jacqui. The use of the car analogy is fabulous!
It’s such a great way to showcase the steps required to get your job search in gear (pun intended) in this economy.
Thanks for starting the CareerCollective!
JT
CAREEREALISM.com
J.T. O’Donnell´s last blog ..7 Steps Worth Climbing: How to Open a Career Door
Miriam,
This is a great roadmap for job seekers. There are many things in a job search that the job seeker can’t control. This post reminds job seekers of all the aspects of their search that are within their control.
Barbara – Thank you for stopping by. Looking for a job certainly can seem like a very “out of control” time. I hope everyone realizes that there is a lot in their grasp.
Wow! What a great metaphor! You are very inspiring in the way you write. I totally agree with you that the “woe is me” syndrome is affecting so many job seekers. As a career coach, I daily see suffering self-esteem. But now more than ever, one needs to be at the top of their game. Only happy, upbeat, engaged people can win the job-interview-to-job-offer game. It’s difficult to de-personalize the job search, but if one can, it becomes so much easier. Emotions tend to get in the way of self-control. Thanks for a great post, Miriam.
Meg Montford´s last blog ..FINDING YOUR "MOJO" AFTER A LAYOFF
Meg – Thank you! What a nice thing to say…Makes writing this worthwhile to know that it is inspiring! You are right, and I hope job seekers can capture positive energy through the home stretch!
Sage advice, my friend! I love how you encourage people to take control of their job search landscape (not just complain about it to anyone who will listen).
Take ownership of your search and MAKE things happen.
Nice post, Miriam!
Erin Kennedy
Executive Resume Writer´s last blog ..The Career Collective
Dawn and Erin – Thanks! It is great to have colleagues agree that my advice is on the right track. I strongly believe in personal responsibility and that it gives job seekers the opportunity to really take charge in a difficult time!
Miriam -
Marvelous post. I love the stop “Oh woe is me, go do something” approach. You not only deliver a strong push in the right direction, you give the tools needed to take control. Great summary of ways to take charge in a difficult time. Also great info for building and keeping a career on track. Thanks so much for sharing.
Dawn Bugni´s last blog ..Targeted company searches
First you have to know where the jobs are before you mount a strategy to go after them. Most executive job seekers look to executive recruiters and job boards for open positions. The problem with this is recruiters get 15% of all executive searches and fill half of them, and only 1% of anybody ever gets a job from a job board.
Typically, I agree, but I have recently heard of several people who found their “dream jobs” on Careerbuilder. (One was a client – certainly, it wasn’t where I told her to look!) In any case, I think “you never know” is a good attitude to have and working on all cylinders a good plan! Thank you for your comment!