If you’re coming here after hearing me speak at Career Income Jump Summit, thank you!
As promised, here are your Participant Tips for Job Search Success.
Archive for Career Coaching
An article on cleaning your desk started a conversation on LinkedIn, and I chimed in – below is my response. I think you will find this helpful in creating more time for yourself, while still getting cleaning done. This applies to your career, business, job search, and personal life.
This is so true – if your office in general is a mess, you create chaos around you. The same goes with your home. When you clean and straighten, reduce clutter, and clear areas and/or let go of items, it lifts your spirits, often means a worthy organization gets donations, and calms the mind. All of this means more productivity, better sleep, and a more joyful attitude. Don’t try to tackle it all at once, as the overwhelm will be debilitating, and instead start small, chunking time. Go through a box of paperwork you have collected and sort, go through half of your clothes in the closet and reduce and donate, straighten one-half of your desk (perhaps the front half closest to you), and that success will propel you to do more. Each time you see progress, you will want more, and those small amounts of time (15-30 minutes each, even two or three times a day if you would like) will produce more fruit. Continue to set short appointments for yourself daily to tackle the issue and you will have a clean and organized space in no time.
This article dovetails with the “bad manager” article comments posted last week. Micromanagers are one of the worst type of “bad managers,” as they lack trust in their employees, need to always have ultimate control, and over-manage their every task.
The sad thing is that micromanagers don’t think they are micromanaging. I had a family member whose company did an employee survey for their department. Every employee and lower management staff complained of micromanagement by the managers above them. They were detailed – you micromanage use to death, crazy micromanagers, when will you stop micromanaging, why don’t you trust us (you get the drift). The management staff ignored it stating “I don’t know what they mean, we don’t micromanage,” and they really did believe there was no issue. When brought up to the management group by executive level management, they just blamed it on employees not liking the extra hours they were working. Not the first time I have heard of this type of denial, and I doubt it will be the last. The executive suite should have taken notice to the point of action, but never did. To them, as long as the work was done, they didn’t really care.
A January 5th, 2021 Forbes Coaches Council / Forbes Online article on “Landing Your Dream Job” prompted a response. I have included a link to the full article at the bottom, and the article introduction and my quote (#5) below.
No matter how out of reach it might seem, most professionals have a dream job. Of course, having a dream and pursuing a dream are two different things. If you don’t approach the attainment of a dream intentionally, taking incremental steps toward achieving goals that move you closer to realizing it, then the dream is nothing more than a wish. To make it a reality, what should your first step be?
The experts of Forbes Coaches Council know the importance of planning and taking small, actionable steps each day to reach an ideal position. Below, 10 coaches share simple things you can start doing today to land the job you dream of having someday.
5. Reframe Your Expectations
Reframe your expectation of a “dream job,” which ensures disappointment when inevitable imperfections ruin the fantasy. Instead, focus on the many great jobs with wonderful work environments that are available, including the one you want the most. Set realistic goals, including writing an updated resume and cover letter. You never know when a job will appear for application, so be ready! – Karen Silins, A+ Career & Resume, LLC
The article link below discusses the “labeling” women often use to describe themselves. I commented on the article on LinkedIn, and thought you might find the content useful.
“I believe this is a real issue for women. From “I am just a stay at home mom,” to stating “I am just” and inserting a job title, there is a lot of minimization of value and skill. Ladies, you are never “just” anything, and we must encourage our fellow female friends, colleagues and clients to embrace their talents, education/training, and most importantly, value to the world! Take the word “just” and other limiting words out of your self-description vocabulary. Do the same when describing others – build yourself and others up and watch your world blossom into something amazing!” #coaching #personalbranding #success #leadership, #motivation #personaldevelopment #inspiration #mindset #careers #womenbusinessowners
Article link: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/view-the-mist/201604/caution-using-self-labels-can-be-hazardous-your-health
A comment to a Forbes Coaches Council question on training and career development outside of work was featured in a December 23rd, 2020 Forbes Coaches Council / Forbes Online article. I have included a link to the full article at the bottom, and the article introduction and my quote (#7) below:
While employers often stress the importance of self-development in the pursuit of an advanced skill set, they may not provide formal training to help employees meet those expectations. Where does this leave professionals who wish to move forward in their careers? They might need to take matters into their own hands and get creative to sharpen their skills outside of work.
As industry-leading coaching professionals, the members of Forbes Coaches Council work with clients who are constantly seeking self-improvement, both in and out of the office. We asked them to each share one thing that a professional can do to take their skills to the next level without formal training. You can read 14 of their top suggestions below.
7. Read Up On Relevant Topics
While there are a plethora of online options for training, how many of us actually read to improve ourselves for the workplace? From emotional intelligence, productive disagreement and time management to change management and project management, there are books and articles on these topics at the ready. I don’t recommend just diving in; instead, get a few recommendations from people you trust and get to reading. – Karen Silins, A+ Career & Resume, LLC
I recently commented on the article link below shared on LinkedIn, and thought I would share those comments on my blog:
“I call this “time chunking” with my clients, and use the technique myself in my personal life and business. It is great for decreasing project/task overwhelm and helping clients see immediate success. When you get something done without distractions, even in short spurts of time, the feelings of satisfaction will typically spur you on to another “time chunk” and ultimately, completion of the project or task. Take things in chunks of time – 10-30 minutes, and see your To-Do list shrink!”
https://www.success.com/7-shortcuts-to-work-smarter-not-harder/
How many times have you heard the statement to be careful what you post online? Well, it turns out that companies are exploiting information they can access in the public domain about job candidates, including those posts you wish you had never made. Whether full-time, part-time, contract or temporary worker, a company may wish to know just as much about an entrepreneur contracting with them for a month, as they do about a full-time employee. While there’s a bevy of software available to scan resumes for keywords, more-and-more, organizations are seeking to create a full-fledged profile on their candidates. Is it creepy and Big Brother-esque? Yes, but an unfortunate reality the Internet has facilitated.
What information are they targeting? Old and new resumes, blogs, and social media profiles, including those posts you so often believe are private (they aren’t), certifications, licensing, professional development, academic histories and degrees, military service, awards, presentations, and papers, just to name a few.
While this offers a broader perspective on a potential new hire, the profile they develop on you can be polar opposite of what you are attempting to convey on your resume and in the interview. Hence, why what you post matters, and why those old YouTube videos of you, particularly the live videos that tend to be less than flattering, need to go. From throwing your computer out the window during a temper tantrum, doing live makeup applications with friends in high school and college, and nearly crippling yourself doing wild skateboard jumps, to smoking pot on camera, all can eliminate you from consideration for a job. Any job! Not to mention get you featured on the show Ridiculousness. Certainly, you may have been intending to garner this attention at the time – but let it go for the sake of your career!
Ask yourself: should the company believe your resume and interview, or the comprehensive profile they developed containing contradictory information? Make them ask that question and we can guess what will happen. Ultimately, I see this technology impacting any aspect of a career, from job search to promotion, entrepreneurs, and for college admissions.
So, what can we do to stop past poor decisions from haunting us? My advice to clients is to go through their social media and to Google themselves to see what else comes up that they have forgotten about over time. First up – scrape all social media, videos, and blogs and get rid of nasty comments (particularly you fighting with others online, and political and religious insults and articles). Be sure to go back to the beginning and clean up your posts. This isn’t about stating you love a particular political candidate or God, but the negative comments and articles that cause issue. Why should a company hire someone they believe will come and start political arguments or push religion or non-religion on others? Trust me, they won’t!
Next, get rid of excessive cussing in posts, videos, and blogs, look through your pictures and delete most of those with you drinking alcohol (a little bit is okay, but some people are way too “thirsty” in all their pictures) and definitely all of them where you are doing drugs – I shouldn’t have to say why. The fights you get into on social media with others need to go to, and so do all those personal posts on health issues and family problems. Then find the “friends and family” that continually do the same and unfriend them. But Karen, you say, I can’t unfriend my Mom, best friend, or anyone to whom I am connected. Actually, you can, and my clients regularly do so with just a small explanation about how it can hurt their job search. If these people truly care about you, they will understand. Find the old profiles that you haven’t deleted, old resumes posted on Monster, CareerBuilder, etc., and delete, delete, delete.
Blessedly, once something is deleted, it will be increasingly harder to find. My clients have seen a job search or career revitalized after ridding their social media of questionable content, negative political and religious opinions, and old profiles they forgot existed. The impact of having a positive overall profile cannot be underestimated with so many companies doing a “deep dive” on candidates.
I realize the temptation that exists to share this information, but do so privately with friends and family in conversation to avoid having it online where it can come back and hurt you. Lastly, always take 24-hours before responding to an email (those can also get shared out on the Internet), post, video, etc., to ensure you have a calmer viewpoint with more context, which often will make you hit the delete button. Purge the negative from your overall “public” profile, and watch your career grow and your job search reinvigorated!
Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers, executives and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, executive/career management coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 20-50+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.
Assumptions that individuals make during a job search, particularly when it comes to rejections, are rarely true. We second guess ourselves because of perceived failure. Below, I offer a more accurate assessment of what is often occurring, and a few tips to overcome it when the issue is one you can rectify.
1) The organization interviews candidates but doesn’t hire anyone because they are too cheap to pay the going rate. Magically, days later, they re-advertise the same job with a new title at a lesser pay rate.
2) They already knew who they wanted. Job ad and interviews were for show and to meet Federal hiring requirements.
3) They are looking for a unicorn. Remember, unicorns (also called Purple Squirrels) don’t exist, and they couldn’t afford the salary if they found one.
4) The job never existed (trying to look good to the competition or testing the talent pool), or the requisition was pulled during interviews due to budgetary concerns (so it no longer exists).
5) Expectations on length of job search may be unrealistic. An average job search prior to COVID lasted approximately 23 weeks, and even now, despite increased hiring, is still 21 weeks. Those numbers are direct from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) A-12 Table. Additionally, current Total Unemployment according to BLS U6 Table is at 12.3% for September 2020 (that is the genuine number looking for work and unemployed, and not just those on unemployment benefits).
Many a client or potential client comes to me expecting a one-month job search, and as you can see, that isn’t typical. Putting an irrational “target date” on your job search is a guaranteed recipe for disappointment and creates undue stress.
6) Applying for any and every job that looks good, instead of a focused job search on one to three job types/careers. Determine the one to three careers you truly want and have the skills to pursue. Create a tailored resume and cover letter for each career (tweaking for every application). Stick to them for success.
7) Not dressing appropriately for the interview. Nice blouse, or shirt and tie, and please, put on real pants for video! We haven’t moved to a “casual everything environment” and jobseekers are still expected to dress appropriately, whether a video or in-person interview.
8) Poor camera and sound quality or utilizing a questionable background for video interviews. Test your sound and camera quality with a friend prior to that first interview. Also, it should go without saying that pictures of pot leaves, pot plants, political figures or slogans, smarmy or inappropriate sayings, liquor and beer bottles littering the area, too many religious items, Star Wars (sorry collectors) and Barbie items, etc., will ensure you won’t be invited back. Keep it simple, keep it professional, and see a good result. Don’t forget to look at the camera during the interview, not the screen!
9) Have a nervous “tick or tell” that happens when you are interviewed? Do a mock interview with a friend in HR or use an interview coach. Either party should offer constructive feedback that includes tips to mitigate the issue(s).
10) Offering negative answers to questions, especially when it comes to current or past employers/bosses. Try running your answer by friends who are hiring managers or in HR, to ensure you aren’t torpedoing yourself without realizing it.
11) You played the one-page game. Most resumes are actually two, sometimes three pages, depending on the experience. Tell a story with your bullet points, education, adjunct information, etc., of success in your career. Employ the necessary keywords and key phrases throughout your experience and supplemental detail.
12) Your social media is a hot mess. All that info to get rid of in a video background on my #8 applies to your social media. It isn’t private, they are checking, and it will cost you the job.
Things you can do to help yourself:
–Remember that your length of job search in no way reflects the value you have or will provide to an organization.
–While your job search may be taking longer than expected, it doesn’t mean that you are unemployable. Understanding that it takes several months for most people to get a new job, should give you comfort in knowing you are not alone.
–Stay away from negative friends, family and acquaintances who are judging your job search. The irony of their judgment frequently becomes clear during their next job search. If you can’t fully avoid the person, limit your exposure. (See my article “Give Jobseekers Your Support, Not Your Judgment” on LinkedIn.
–You can, when necessary, take a less than desirable job to have income. Do not allow that situation to end your job search. You have merely taken a Stop-Gap Job to meet financial needs, and this does not have to be a permanent relationship. Keep on searching!
Sometimes a job search takes longer than we anticipate or want. Never allow expectations to get in the way of your search, as they create frustrations and impede your progress. New jobs are advertised daily, so don’t permit current disappointment to keep you from applying and networking your way to your next job. Never give up, never surrender!
Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers, executives and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, executive/career management coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 20-50+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.
Despite the supposed studies to the contrary, this is spot on. The number one reason people literally flee their current job, will quit on the spot without notice, or have zero engagement and just wither away until fired or laid off, is due to a bad manager. Over 20 years of coaching and writing resumes for my clients, and always digging deep as to the reason they are leaving, this is the number one reason people leave.
When will Corporate America start promoting those with management and leadership talent from the start? When will they provide ongoing training to all of their management? When will they eliminate the lazy promotion of people who are “good at their last job,” into management roles? From micromanagement disasters, to nasty egomaniacs, to the disengaged manager allowing their employees to languish, these bosses are like having a giant mower constantly cut you down until you become a bitter, resentful employee, or quit.