Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Structure your time to land a job sooner

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clocks.60496147_3330a11d13_mHave you been thinking about how you are using your time? My friend Jessica recently wrote about the topic of how she spends her job seeking time. She breaks it down pretty well – and notes that it keeps her pretty busy, eight hours a day!

When is the last time you really sat down to review how you were spending your hours? I think about this all the time as a business owner. What is the best use of my time? How can I help the most people? What are the best ways to approach new clients? What are efficient uses of my hours? How can I automate or outsource administrative tasks? What can I do to achieve my personal and business goals more quickly? Are there things that I need to say “no” to in order to stay on track and/or maintain my sanity?

I think many people struggle with these issues, but they are magnified for job seekers, who often allow themselves to be adrift in a sea of “job hunting” that doesn’t have much structure.

I have a client who lets me know that she is doing “a lot of networking” and applying for jobs, but is really frustrated because she has not landed something yet. She believes that she is doing everything she can. However, when I ask about what she is doing (specifically) or re-suggest a particular site or something to consider, she typically has NOT followed up on that suggestion.

So, some advice!

I’d suggest you make a list of all the things you are doing – people you are informational interviewing, companies you have researched, jobs you have applied for and other job seeking activities you have been doing so you can best evaluate the course of your job search. I know you feel that you have been doing a lot, but if you outline things, it may help identify deficiencies if there are any.

Take a good, long look at your list. What can you do MORE of? What can you do better? Maybe it “feels” like you are really busy and you have a sense you are doing a lot, but in reality, you can’t break it down in writing. Make yourself accountable. It makes a difference.

Need some help moving ahead with your search? Learn how I can help!

photo by Leo Reynolds

The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl: Real-Life Career Advice You Can Actually Use

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workinggirlfor-about-the-book-copy1It’s not often I review a book whose author self-proclaims NOT to be an expert! (In this case, not an expert “in the field of work. Or in any other field.”) If you are a believer in the value of experience, however, I think you will agree that Karen Burns, author of  The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl has a lot of great insights and useful information to share with readers seeking a job, a career or just a nice way to spend an afternoon reading an empowering story about work! (Don’t miss her blog – an equally good read!)

Karen’s claim to fame is that she held 59 jobs over 40 years in 22 cities and 4 countries. (Mind you, she started when she was 9.)  All that job hopping and experiences led to a lot of terrific life lessons. One of my favorites was the chapter on “Advanced Job Hunting.” Here, Working Girl notes:

The best way to get a job you will LOVE is to figure out:

  • What you want to do,
  • Where you want to do it,
  • and WHO you want to do it for,
  • and then go apply at places that supply all that, whether or not they “have an opening (p. 96).”

Another reason I liked this book? It gives advice that mirrors what I tell my clients! For example, job seekers should:

  • Be prepared. (To talk about what you have to offer.)
  • Be cool. Job hunt from a position of strength.
  • Be irresistible.  Build a website. Write a blog. Comment on other blogs.
  • Be in the loop. Ask for help.
  • Be thorough. Find as much as you can about potential employers.
  • Be persistent.
  • Be real. (Not arrogant.)
  • Be patient.

(Read more on pages 97-99.)

This book encourages readers to take their own paths (even suggesting reading the book itself in random order) and reminds job seekers and careerists that, while there are certain factors that may be out of their control, the journey along the way can be exciting and even fun! I’d recommend this terrific guide to anyone who needs some practical, down-to-earth advice about job seeking, job hopping and finding your career bliss!

Here is Karen’s video about her book:


You know what you want to do, but need help getting there? Learn how I can help you find a job!

Conscious awareness and your job hunt

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cookies3544731083_141829b5ee_mIf you are looking for a job, do you feel stuck and like you don’t know what to do next? You are not alone, as most job seekers I know don’t intend to become professional job hunters and don’t feel confident that they can move from step to step, knowing exactly what they are doing.

Last month, I attended a workshop with Havi Brooks. She specializes in what she calls “Destuckification: working through the stucknesses that get in the way of doing your thing.” Havi teaches about how to get unstuck via a mind-body/yoga practice called Shiva Nata. She calls it “brain training that looks like martial arts and acts like drugs-that-make-you-smart-and-hot.”

Even Havi calls is “wacky,” and it is nothing if not a bit unconventional – teaching your brain to act differently by focusing on patterns, deconstructing them and building new ones!  (I’m no expert on the subject, having just starting studying it, but I think that gets at the basics for our purposes! Read Havi’s blog and explore her site for more details.)

So, what does this all have to do with you – the job seeker who is stuck and can’t figure out the next step? One of the big things we discussed at the workshop was how important it is to bring “conscious awareness” to patterns in order to challenge and change them. Really, that’s just a fancy way of saying that you need to notice what’s happening and point it out to yourself to impact a change.

So, instead of wallowing in self-doubt and avoiding your job search like the plague, stop and think, “Hmmm…how am I feeling when I think of my job hunt?” Does it give you a stomach ache? Your head hurts? You panic? You know it’s important and urgent, but instead of working on it, you decide to take a bike ride instead? Or, eat a plate of cookies?

Every time you think of your job hunt and you go numb and panic, try to be aware of the pattern.

Look at  your intellectual response – I “should” do this now. I feel guilty if I don’t work on my search.
Examine the physical response – I can’t breathe. I get a pain in my neck. Stress creeps into my shoulders.
Focus on what you do – I clean the house instead. Or eat chocolate. Or watch TV.

Then, think about little steps you could do differently. If, when you think of sitting down to your search and start getting stressed, you took a moment to be really aware of all that is going into those feelings, you may have a much better chance of jumping over the hurdle and making a change – step-by-step. Maybe instead of cleaning the whole house, or eating the whole box of cookies, you decide that you’ll JUST clean one bathroom or eat two cookies and then do 30 minutes of job searching.

I’m no expert in teaching about conscious awareness, and I want to make it clear that is my interpretation of when of the things I learned from Havi, but I thought it was too important of a concept NOT to share the idea. Take some time to be aware of what is going on with you – you may be surprised by the results!

Would it help to have a coach on your side? Learn more about how I can help you overcome your “stuck” by teaching you what you need to know to propel your search forward!

photo by dyanna


A new paradigm for work? Slash careers and Gen Y

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sunnyday325950178_aaa3c571cd_mA shadow seems to remain over the job market for new college grads. The Hire Ground blog quoted my colleage, Lindsey Pollak:

While many of Gen Y’s employment troubles can be blamed solely on the current economy, there are other difficult circumstances they must overcome, Pollak says. Those with the misfortune of having been born in the 1980s are also the first wave of job seekers who have been trained to seek conventional careers yet are entering a workplace that is alien to every previous generation.

“The old paradigm is clearly not working anymore,” she says. “The thinking was that all the baby boomers would start to retire and there would be lots of new positions open, but that’s not happening. Even the meaning of the word ‘career’ is changing. You’re not going to see people working for one company for 30 years anymore.”

There’s no doubt that Gen Y (and all) job seekers who embrace the new paradigm will be the most successful finding fulfilling positions, but those positions may look very different from the old norms.

The article notes:

Pollak, author of the new post-grad bible, “Getting From College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World,” says some new terms are cropping to describe the peripatetic nature of employment today, in which workers will commonly jump from job to job, sometimes moving into several different fields. Some are calling these “slash-careers,” she says, referring to the need to add a series of slashes in job descriptions (e.g., editor/speaker/dancer). Others say young job seekers are members of “free-agent nation” and need to become their own CEOs and take more control of their careers.

Marci Alboher, author of One Person/Multiple Careers,  authority on “slash careers” and the writer who likely first coined the term notes on her website:

“…slash careers integrate and fully express the multiple passions, talents, and interests that a single career often cannot accommodate.“

Anyone looking for a job, particularly young people with less experience, will do well to embrace a variety of types of internships, part-time work and entrepreneurial options to take advantage of the opportunities the current economy offers. No, it isn’t your father’s job market…The situation requires a creative approach and may result in different types of results from the ones college students might have expected. However, there are positive aspects to the situation – the proverbial “silver lining.”

For one Gen Y’s optimistic take on the situation, see the video interview with Stephanie Perrett, a Gen Y intern for Stephanie A. Lloyd and Radiant Veracity:


If your search is stalling, consider getting some help to get it jump started? Not sure you can put all of the great tools at your disposal to good use? Need a great resume? Learn how I can help you propel your job hunt forward.

photo by hana8hana

Senator Edward Kennedy’s lesson to job seekers

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It is inevitable that, after the death of an influential political figure, there will be a lot of commentary and talk. TV viewers can watch hours and hours of analysis about everything from his life and work to how many family members might have been around his bedside upon his death. Even Sarah Palin came out with a friendly, sympathetic statement.

A few lessons for careerists come to mind…

Soft Skills/Emotional Intelligence

What strikes me is the emphasis on Senator Kennedy’s ability to reach across the political aisle. Several commentators indicated that they believed the debate over healthcare reform might be much different had Senator Kennedy been able to be more intimately involved.

There is no doubt that the ability to communicate with all types of people from different ideologies and beliefs is a key “soft” skill that job seekers need to consider. Work environments are about relationships as much (if not more) than they are about “getting the job done.”

Quint Careers notes that the first and most important skill employers seek is the ability to communicate well. They say, “By far, the one skill mentioned most often by employers is the ability to listen, write, and speak effectively.” No doubt, this skill helped lead to Ted Kennedy’s long career and will impact his legacy.

Whether or not you are looking for a job, think about your role in your organization. Are you the person who can bring people together? Can you interpret and communicate despite differences? These are key skills to emphasize on your resume when you do look to move on. Don’t underestimate their importance.

Overcoming Setbacks

Most students of modern American history can not help but associate Ted Kennedy’s name with the scandal of Chappaquiddick. The tragic incident in 1969 may have prevented Kennedy from being elected president, but his long career in the Senate since demonstrates that it is possible to overcome even the most horrible of circumstances. While most people will not have a scandal of these proportions nor the privilege Kennedy commanded that helped him overcome it, I think it is worth noting that even the most difficult circumstances may not necessarily fully define a career.

Some commentators mentioned that, while he was haunted by the tragedy, he re-focused his efforts on working in the Senate and determined that he would have an impact there. Some said he became one of the most influential and productive legislators of his time.

So, maybe it is a stretch to suggest that job seekers take heart that no negative circumstances need to totally define their future paths, but it is something to reflect on. What steps can you take to redefine your career road? How can you “drive your career bus” in a different direction? Where can you take control of your situation to alter where you will land? A lot is in your hands – probably more than you know.

Do you need help defining your job hunt? I can help!