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#JobSearch : The Three Skills You Need To Succeed In Your Job Search. Must REad!

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We’re almost five months into the Covid-19 pandemic—with no end in sight. Our nerves are frayed and tension runs high. If you’re in between jobs, panic may be setting in right about now. You read about 53 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits since March and start fearing that it may take many more months to get a new job. In the back of your mind, there’s palpable worries that you may never find another job or it won’t be anywhere near the level and salary of your last position.

Tough times make tough people. This is a uniquely brutal job market unlike anything we’ve seen before. What worked in the past won’t necessarily work today. You have to cultivate, develop and execute these three skills to survive and thrive in this unprecedented, cruel job market.

You Need To Have Grit

Grit is defined as possessing perseverance, fortitude and resilience. It’s building a coat of armor around you to endure and withstand the blows that you’ll take. Grit is the steely determination to make yourself strong and impervious to the challenges you encounter. It’s digging down deep inside yourself and finding the fire in the belly to become unstoppable.

You will face unrelenting rejection, disappointments and dead ends in your pursuit for a new job. After spending hours, days and weeks completing dozens of lengthy applications and submitting hundreds of résumés, you won’t hear a peep from the companies. Interviews will be capricious—cancelled minutes or hours before it was scheduled to start. You’ll go on half a dozen interviews and then get ghosted and never know what really happened and why you didn’t hear back.

Having grit provides the inner strength, mental rigor and toughness to keep you going in the face of adversity. It will push you to jump over all of the hurdles in your way, run through brick walls and kick down doors to get to the opportunities you want and deserve.

 

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Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & Type(#Jobsearch, #Resume, or #Networking) in Blog Search:  https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Article continued …

Stay Flexible And Nimble

Prior to the pandemic, the job market was relatively hot and it was much easier to interview and find a great, new job. Now, it’s even tougher than it was in the aftermath of Sept. 11 and the financial crisis of 2008. It’s possible that the type of job you previously held doesn’t exist any longer, relevant appropriate jobs have relocated to less-expensive cities or outside of the country and companies want to hire applicants for a lower wage than you’re seeking.

As time goes on, you’ll need to reassess the situation. If you’re doing the same thing each and every day, it may be time to start considering other options—as opposed to continuing to knock your head against the wall. Think of pivoting into something a little different. Assess your core skills, background and experience and check into how you can apply them to a different job or career. You can then expand your search to include these other types of roles. Casting a larger net will yield more results.

This may be the time to reinvent yourself. It’s a little more challenging than a pivot. It will require you to take a few steps backwards to later advance. Consider what you really want to do next. Ask yourself what’s your passion and love—that can also pay the bills.

Find out what you need to learn or the credentials required to start anew, then re-create your career. It’s not easy to start all over again, especially if you’re of a certain age and previously earned a good living. However, in desperate times, you need to take desperate measures.

You may also have to consider relocating to other locations that offer more job opportunities or a lower cost of living. Try applying for jobs outside of your commuting distance and tell them that you’d like to work remotely. The worst they could do is say, “Sorry, we can’t do that.” You could simply reply, “Please keep me in mind as remote/work-from-anywhere is becoming the new standard.”

Become A Sales And Marketing Guru

Ages ago, back in 2019 and early 2020, you could have an adequate LinkedIn profile, contact a few friends and former colleagues, send out some résumés and have a good likelihood of getting interviews, which could lead to job offers within a reasonable time frame. Those good ol’ days are now from a bygone era. You now have to work 10 times harder to get a fraction of the results.

Since it was a good job market for many people, it’s natural that your interviewing skills atrophied a bit. You didn’t have to be hardcore to get a job, so you likely became somewhat complacent—expecting that the job opportunities would fall into your lap. That won’t fly now. You have to be energized and do everything in your power to get noticed.

This entails actively and effectively networking on social media sites, such as LinkedIn. Approach networking with thoughtful purposes with an endgame in mind. Reach out directly to hiring managers and the internal human resources professionals responsible for hiring.

Cold call or email recruiters who are active in your space. Request a video meeting and sell them on yourself. Ask them to share opportunities with you. Do this with a number of other recruiters so you have several people championing your cause. If—and when—your calls and emails aren’t answered, you can’t let it discourage you. Keep knocking on doors until one opens up for you.

It may feel awkward and uncomfortable, but you need to contact old acquaintances, former colleagues, college alumni and anyone and everyone that you can think of who could potentially put you in touch with the appropriate persons at a company that has the right job for you.

Salespeople develop a thick skin and accept “no” as part of the process. They view rejection as all part of the game and one step closer to a “yes.” Sales is all about the law of large numbers. The more people that you get in front of, the greater chance you have of someone purchasing your product. If you keep plugging away, not letting the rejections get to you, something will eventually give.

In this current job market, the key to successfully finding a new job is having grit, allowing yourself to be flexible and learning how to effectively sell yourself to recruiters, people who could offer introductions to opportunities and prospective employers.

Author: Jack Kelly
…
Forbes.com –  July 24, 2020

#JobMarket : In A Scary Sign Of The Times, LinkedIn Plans To Lay Off 960 People.

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In a sign of the times, with a little bit of irony, LinkedIn—the go-to social media site for white-collar professionals—announced that it is laying off 960 workers.

In an open memo from LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky to his employees, published on the platform, he wrote, “LinkedIn is not immune to the effects of the global pandemic. Our Talent Solutions business continues to be impacted as fewer companies, including ours, need to hire at the same volume they did previously.”

Roslansky said in the note that LinkedIn, similar to many other companies, is trying to adapt to this new and different environment and needs to “make some hard calls.” In a desire to offer transparency to his workforce, Roslansky offered, “After weeks of discussion and deliberation, the executive team and I have made the extremely difficult decision to reduce approximately 960 roles, or about 6% of our employee base, across our Global Sales and Talent Acquisition organizations.”

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Article continued …

Chris Russell, the managing director of RecTech Media and 20-plus year expert on recruiting technology and job boards said, “The layoffs at LinkedIn are not surprising given the fact that thousands of recruiters have lost their jobs due to Covid-19.” Russell points out that a substantial portion of the social media platform’s revenue is derived from recruiters purchasing pricey subscriptions and job postings. With fewer recruiters, he said, “They have less people to sell into right now.”

Russell noticed that the downsizings in the job board space “have been happening for months since it was kickstarted with the ZipRecruiter layoffs in late March.” ZipRecruiter, whose advertisements dominated radio shows and podcasts for a while, laid off almost 500 employees, according to the Wall Street Journal—representing over 30% of its workforce. At the time, Ian Siegel, the CEO of the job board said, “Our customer base looks like the U.S. economy by size, geography and industry.” Siegel added, “The U.S. economy is hurting and we regretfully have to do what is necessary to make sure we are there for the great American comeback story to come.”

 

Forbes.com –  July 21, 2020 – Jack Kelly  Senior Contributor Careers I write actionable interview, career and salary advice.

#JobSearch : Why Having A Career Coach Means Escaping Your “Hamster Wheel”? In our Modern, Highly Dynamic, Algorithm-Driven World, Time is Everything.

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In our modern, highly dynamic, algorithm-driven world, time is everything. The hiring process is changing dramatically, leaving many of us lost when we try to find a new job or make a change in our career.

So with the gargantuan amount of information available online on all topics imaginable, it might seem pretty easy to find the answers that will make us feel, if not entirely in control, then at least less lost in our job hunt. You just read online all sorts of interview tips, follow many guidelines to improve your CV or find different advice on how to land a job and you are there. But, are you really?

Having all this openly available, one can rightly doubt the need for career coaching at all. Many would probably argue that hiring a coach is a waste of time and money, which, to be honest, can be so true if you end up with someone who is barely an expert.  However, I am a firm believer that two heads are always smarter than one and if we use an expert’s long experience and wisdom to go ahead professionally, it might be beneficial in so many ways. Because, at one point in our lives, we all come to realize that we don’t know what we want from our job anymore, that we are not happy, that we are not challenged enough, or we just don’t see our career path so clearly anymore.

Mothers surely know how hard it is to get back to work after maternity leave and find out that their career path is everything but clear. New graduates, due to inexperience, usually have problems with job search at the very career start. Many of us, after a considerable number of years, want to change career path and follow another professional passion. Moreover, in so many cases we don’t see or know our full professional potential. It is tough for a person to be objective, positive and proactive in such moments of self-doubt and inner-confusion.

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Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & Type(#Jobsearch, #Resume, or #Networking) in Blog Search:  https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Article continued …

So how to move from this status-quo position? Is it possible to do it on your own? Well, the answer entirely depends on you. You can try working this out on your own, or you can ask for a help people who have spent years dealing with this kind of situations. If you choose the latter, you have various options – single session group coaching, several weeks long group coaching, traditional one-on-one coaching and one-on-one virtual coaching through different video conferencing platforms (blissful technology!).

So, you are probably wondering what is it that a good career coach can do for you to help you improve your career? First of all, he/she can help you to understand better who you are, what you really want and how your talents and expertise match your expectations. You can count on coach’s external objective and realistic assessment of your professional situation. This further helps you formulate and follow a successful career strategy related to job search, promotion, career change, return to work, or when you decide to start your own business.

As a consultant and coach, I’ve seen how just a tiny help and push in the right direction can be significant and even life-changing for my clients. Things are not always clear and simple. One-on-one coaching in a virtual setting gives the best results because the location doesn’t matter. People can genuinely focus on things that are important during a coaching conversation within the comfort of their own home, which, believe me, brakes so many barriers that otherwise keep people from moving forward with resolving their current professional dilemma or status. Why? Because, if you are in the middle of a coaching session together with other people in the environment that is entirely new to you, it is hard to talk to a coach (a stranger) about your deepest fears, doubts and worries related to your career. Virtual career coaching builds a sheltered space to strategize and face some of the biggest professional, as well as personal, challenges.

A coach actively listens to you and your coaching session is entirely about you, and this leads to the heart of issues very quickly. So, you benefit from a coach’s customized, timely and individualized intervention, appropriate advice and suggestions – main prerequisites for a coaching session to be successful and with substantial impact on your professional (and personal) life.

Do you need to be truly listened to?  Do you need a keen ear and an open mind for resolving your work-related status, troubles or dilemmas? Start today.

I profoundly understand the importance of tailoring the coaching session to the needs of each of my clients individually, and I use the latest coaching methods and models.

FSC Career Blog Author:  Ms. Olivera Andjelkovic,  Executive Career Coach & Consultant ➡️ Helping clients stand out and land their dream jobs.  Learn all the possible ways to advance and improve your career.
Feel free to visit :   https://www.oliveracoaching.com/careercoaching
FSC Career Blog –  July 22, 2020

#YourCareer : 5 Strategies to Boost Your Personal Brand. Building a Personal Brand is Hard, but it is Critical, here’s How.

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You, no doubt, have heard about the importance of personal branding. You’ve even decided to start working on your own brand…but what’s next? This is a very common question that has been asked by several senior level professionals just like you.

As it turns out, building a personal brand is hard, but it is critical, and you can do it! Here’s how.

  1. Do a Self-Evaluation

Keep in mind that every employee, and especially every senior level professional, has something significant to offer a company. You will have to tap into just what your skills and expertise are before you begin crafting your personal brand. In fact, this is the first step of c-level personal branding. It may help to approach this issue from the perspective of an employer and figure out what traits are most desirable in any employee, then work backwards to hash out what makes you unique from every other applicant out there. Craft a story about yourself for your hiring audience to read.

  1. Start Pruning Your Presence Online

Whether you’ve ever done this or not, now’s the time. Google yourself! It will actually help you figure out one of the most important parts of branding yourself—your name. Keep track of how you’re mentioned online and whether it’s in a negative or positive context.

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Article continued …

  1. Be Strategic About Your Online Activity

Now that you have an idea of how you’re perceived online, you’ll have to make sure to keep these perceptions under control. Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want potential employers to find later on. If you’ve already engaged in online activities that you wouldn’t necessarily want employers to discover, you will generally have the option to delete them—but be careful! You can never completely erase something from the Internet once it’s there. In the meantime, you can do damage control by carefully considering what you post and only letting pictures and other forms of media slip through if they contribute to your efforts toward personal branding for senior level managers.

  1. Begin a Blog

Blogging usually isn’t something executives think of when it comes to boosting c-level personal branding. The benefits are proof enough for you to consider starting one, though. Experienced executives have a lot of knowledge that may be beneficial to many other people. You would be surprised how many executives search for information online. Getting noticed for articles you write is a great way to enhance your branding. It can also increase your network. Putting a link on your LinkedIn profile to let your connections know where to find your blog is a great way to share your knowledge and build your brand.

  1. Identify Others with Successful Brands

You can find other people who’ve built personal brands by connecting with those who are in either the same industry or are alumni from your alma mater. Search through LinkedIn and reach out. Connect with these people as soon as possible for tips on how to better construct your personal brand. If you play your cards right, these new associates should prove valuable!

The concept of personal branding seems simple enough, yet many professionals don’t quite understand the ins-and-outs of it. Personal branding is an ongoing process that can take years to develop, but only seconds to destroy. The real secret to branding is identifying your unique traits and communicating them consistently in everything you do.

 

FSC Career Blog Author:  Ms. Erin Kennedy, MCD, CMRW, CPRW, CERW, CEMC, is a Certified Professional Resume Writer/Career Consultant, and the President of Professional Resume Services, named one of Forbes “Top 100 Career Websites”. Considered an influencer, she is consistently listed as a “Top Career Expert to Follow” on Twitter and LinkedIn.

 

FSC Career Blog  –   July 21, 2020

 

#JobSearch : Job Seekers- Be Careful Using LinkedIn’s New “Open To Work” Feature. So Should you Use this New Feature, and if So, which Option Should you Pick?

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LinkedIn has released an “Open to Work” feature to help you let employers, recruiters and your network know you’re looking for a job. You can share your open-to-work status by checking either “share with recruiters only” or “share with all LinkedIn members.” To access, click the “Add New Profile Section” button to the right of your profile picture and then click “Looking for a new job” in the Intro section at the top.

So should you use this new feature, and if so, which option should you pick? My thoughts:

Select ”Share with recruiters only.” When you choose this option, only a small subset of recruiters on LinkedIn are notified, namely those whose organizations have paid for access to LinkedIn’s “LinkedIn Recruiter” platform. From my experience training recruiters on this platform, these recruiters do use the open-to-work field in their talent searches. And since they use this field, check this option to be found in their searches.

For those currently employed, a word of caution: LinkedIn prevents recruiters at your firm from seeing this option turned on for you, to safeguard your privacy. But that’s no guarantee a recruiter at your firm won’t ask a recruiter-colleague at another firm who uses LinkedIn Recruiter to look up who is open-to-work at your company (I’ve overheard recruiters discuss this).

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Article continued …

The unlikely prospect that your firm will discover you’re open-to-work should not, in my opinion, prevent you from using this feature. You can always say “I love it here and hope to be here for years, but I find it helpful to see what other firms are doing. You should turn this on too!” Or they may want you even more if they think you’re looking to leave.

DON’T select “Share with all LinkedIn members.” When you choose this option, LinkedIn simply puts an open-to-work graphic around your profile photo, so people looking at your profile will know you’re open to opportunities. Don’t select this option because:

  1. You’ll be contacted anyway: If an employer is using LinkedIn to source candidates and your profile shows up in their search, they know to contact you regardless of whether or not you show the open-to-work indicator (as long as you fit the bill).
  2. You could hurt your chances of being contacted: In fact, employers or recruiters may actually be turned off by the open-to-work designation because of the well known preference for “passive candidates” i.e. those who don’t seem to be actively looking (it’s like playing hard to get). I’ve seen this bias in action when working with recruiters and employers, it’s real.
  3. You could get the wrong kind of attention: You may see a sharp increase in connection requests from less scrupulous search firms, which you should ignore. Only accept requests to connect from the quality search firms that you know and have already spoken with (the best firms will talk to you first before sending an invite to connect). The bad ones can actually hurt your search. They might even be scams or fishing expeditions to see who you’re interviewing with, so they can send their clients (not you) to these employers.
  4. There are better ways of notifying your network to get help with your search. You should send emails, LinkedIn messages or posts with content that is far more targeted than is possible with the few fields that LinkedIn makes available using this feature. You want to make it easy for your network to help you, and this LinkedIn feature falls short vs. direct outreach. It’s also passive; individuals in your network have to stumble upon your profile to see that you’re looking.

In fact, I recommend that you instead send out a mass email (or Facebook post, LinkedIn message, etc.) to your entire network. Think broadly about your network; aim for sending this message to 200 people by including those you worked with years ago, former classmates or professors, family, friends, your neighbor, and so forth (you never know who knows someone). In this message:

  • Include your job target, i.e. job title and type of organization
  • Include your pitch, which indicates what differentiates you from the competition
  • Ask for help with contacts they might have at organizations you’ve listed at the bottom of your message (seeing the organization names can jog the reader’s memory)
  • Say you will not be asking for a job, but rather a 10 minute conversation to learn about how the company is organized and where you would fit down the road.

Don’t attach your resume as it announces “please hire me,” which will reduce the number of introductions you receive. Your goal should be to have lots of meetings with the right people whether or not there’s an opening now, and then keep in touch so they think of you when something does open up. A strong pitch is enough, and include a link to your LinkedIn profile if you’ve filled it out properly. Make sure to blind copy all the recipients; don’t expose their e-mail addresses! Then supplement this broad outreach with individual messages.

Author: Robert Hellmann 

As president of Hellmann Career Consulting, I’ve helped thousands of individuals to define and reach their career goals, and dozens of organizations to achieve their

…
Forbes.com   –   July 20, 2020

#YourCareer : Could Blogging Help Advance Your Career? During a Difficult & Competitive Job Market, you Need to Do Things that Set you a Part from the Competition.

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During a difficult and competitive job market, you need to do things that set you a part from the competition, that show your unique value and experience. As an experienced executive, you have a lot of knowledge that may be beneficial to many other people. If you have a good amount of experience and have decent writing skills, you could enhance your career even further by starting a blog.

Even new executives who may not have a lot of experience, but have a lot of ideas, can benefit from blogging. Blogging is also a way to help solidify your c-level personal branding, showcasing your industry expertise. The benefits are proof enough for you to consider starting one. 

Blogging Can Get You Noticed

You’d be surprised at how many executives like you search for different articles to help their craft. If your blog offers what they need, you may start building a nice collection of subscribers who want to read your material. Being noticed online in a positive light is one of the best ways to enhance your career.

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Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & Type(#Jobsearch, #Resume, or #Networking) in Blog Search:  https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Article continued … 

You Could Build Your Network Through Blogging

You may already have hundreds of connections through your LinkedIn profile, but you can expand it even further with a blog. Consider putting the link to your blog in your LinkedIn profile as well, so your current connections know you have one. You never know who will read your material online, so it’s always best to put it out there as much as possible. 

Blogging Will Put Your Name in Search Engine Results

If you’re actively searching for a job and have applied to several places, the first thing those companies will do is search for your name. Your LinkedIn profile is important to them, but they also want to see what else is online about you. When links to your personal blog with insightful topics and advice come up, you’ll have a better shot at landing an interview compared to someone who doesn’t show up in the search results at all. 

Use Keywords and Write About Relevant Topics Naturally

Writing a blog is different than writing an executive bio. Use your blog as a chance to show your casual, laid back side rather than the business professional you have to be every day at work. Incorporate the keywords you have to use throughout the day and talk about those topics as well, so you can relate to people in your industry. Being as natural as possible on your blog will be a relief to you and your readers.

As a professional, you should always be looking for ways to boost your career. Whether it’s optimizing your resume, posting content on LinkedIn, or enhancing your personal brand, keeping your career moving forward should be at the forefront of your mind. Blogging is one unique way to capitalize on your industry expertise and get you noticed at the same time.

 

FSC Career Blog Author:  Ms. Erin Kennedy, MCD, CMRW, CPRW, CERW, CEMC, is a Certified Professional Resume Writer/Career Consultant, and the President of Professional Resume Services, named one of Forbes “Top 100 Career Websites”. Considered an influencer, she is consistently listed as a “Top Career Expert to Follow” on Twitter and LinkedIn.

 

FSC Career Blog | July 17, 2020

 

 

#JobSearch :How To Virtually Network In The Midst Of A Global Pandemic. So How Should you Go about Networking in this Increasingly Uncertain and Stressful Time?

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With the arrival of Covid-19, mid-day coffees, after-work drinks, working lunches and dinners have all been suspended. Our networking options have moved almost entirely online, which makes establishing and maintaining a personal connection all the more challenging.

So how should you go about networking in this increasingly uncertain and stressful time? Below are a tips on how to network virtually:

Determine Your Goals

Are you trying to strengthen your relationships with your colleagues? Make more connections in your field? Find certain opportunities, perhaps getting a board position or more speaking engagements? Consider what you want from your professional relationships and connections, and think about who you know who could advise you on it or put you in touch with someone who can. But give your networking intention, otherwise you’re aimlessly contacting people with no goal in mind, which is a waste of your time and your desired contact’s time.

Start With People You Know

Think about your colleagues, friends, family, and who can help you achieve your goal or put you in touch with someone who can. Networking doesn’t have to mean going to contrived events with name tags and strangers, it can simply mean making friends in your field and maintaining those friendships, and keeping a good relationship with family members in your field. It’s always smart to consult your alma mater’s career center and see if there are any active alumni in your field who would be happy to speak with you. These are all resources that are waiting to be tapped, use them.

 

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Article continued …

Regularly Schedule Zoom Meetings

Talking to people face to face always helps enhance the connection. Check-in with friends, family and colleagues the way you would in person, but over Zoom. It is not the same, but everyone is navigating Covid-19 the best they can, and keeping up a social routine is important, so make sure and maintain a robust, virtual social calendar in spite of occasional awkwardness and tension of getting accustomed to a new routine.

Engage People On Social Media

Keep up a modest to active presence on social media: post interesting articles, a funny video now and then, keep in casual online contact with friends and family on the social media platform of your choice. It is an easy and enjoyable vehicle to get to know people, to get in touch with people, send private messages to ask how people are doing, send them articles you believe they would find interesting. It is an easy, organic way to keep in touch and strike up spontaneous conversations.

Update Your LinkedIn

Updating your LinkedIn notifies everyone in your network you’ve updated your profile, inviting current connections and potential employers to read your updates, including what you’re searching for professionally. So make sure to clearly articulate what you are looking for and don’t wait for others to reach out, scroll through your online contacts there to see if there is someone you should get in touch with that you didn’t think of immediately.

Author:  Frances Bridges

I’m a twentysomething freelance journalist, writer and blogger in New York City. I write about everything I’ve done wrong as a twentysomething woman here in the trenches.

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Forbes.com | July 15, 2020

#JobSearch : Smart, Actionable Advice From Top LinkedIn Career And Job Search Professionals. A Must REad!

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When you think of social media, the first go-to sites are likely to include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snap. It may not be as exciting and engaging as other sites; however, LinkedIn is the destination and home for white-collar professionals.

During these challenging times, with nearly 50 million Americans recently filing for unemployment benefits and millions more seeking out new opportunities, LinkedIn offers some smart insights and valuable advice to job seekers. Here are a few recommendations from top LinkedIn accounts that focus on helping people with their job searches and achieving their career goals.

1- Ed Han is a self-described “talent geek” and recruiter at a top financial services organization. Han is highly engaged on LinkedIn and offers intelligent ways for people to empower themselves in their job search. To those who are newly unemployed, concerned over the safety of their current jobs or simply seek out a new and better opportunity, he offers the following advice.

“There is a ton of competition out there right now due to furloughs and employer closures. The competition is tougher now than it’s been since 2009-2010.” Han’s best advice is to “do a little competitive intelligence: see how others with your job title are talking about themselves. Go to Indeed.com and do a search for your job title and industry, and see what others are doing with their résumés.”

Han suggests that you don’t necessarily have to reinvent the wheel. Look at how others are positioning themselves and portray their talents, skills and experience. You can then incorporate what works best to make yourself stand out in a crowded field.

Since video interviews are now standard, Han strongly suggests that candidates should inquire about the systems used by the company, install the requisite software on your phone or computer and then conduct trial runs to ensure that you work out any glitches. This way, you’ll be ready and more confident when the big interview day arrives.

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Article continued …

2- Andy Foote is a LinkedIn brand and content coach and one of the most well-respected experts on how to utilize LinkedIn to its fullest potential and your advantage.

LinkedIn, unlike other social media sites, does not push or promote virality. It’s hard—if not almost impossible—to become a superstar on the site, like you see on Youtube or Twitter. They even curb the amount of first-degree connections. You may have only 30,000 people.

Foote offers sage advice for people who are active on the site. Unfortunately, many folks currently find themselves engaged on LinkedIn due to a downsizing or fear of falling victim to a layoff. He points out that it used to be that only “influencers”—people such as Bill Gates and Richard Branson—on “LinkedIn had the option of having a ‘Follow’ button, instead of the usual ‘Connect’ on their profile page.” Foote says that LinkedIn now offers this feature to all of its users and wrote, “I decided to go with the Follow option. The results were what I expected and hoped for.”

Stop asking “why.” “Why didn’t I get the job?” “Why did I get laid off?” Instead, ask “what” and “how,” so that your focus is redirected to a solutions approach. “What can I do better next time?” “How can I nail the interview with Company X?”

Receiving daily spam-type of connection requests is one of the most annoying aspects on the platform. On a daily basis, you’re likely to receive a large number of unsolicited requests from real estate agents, stock brokers and an array of others trying to sell or market something to you. It’s time-consuming and irritating to wade through the people that you actually want to connect with and those that are just trying to get something from you.

Once he switched from connections to followers, Foote noticed that he “got a ton of followers” and was happy to see that he received fewer “useless/crap connection requests.”

This one simple change, for those who are actively building up a network, may make it easier to take control of who you want to connect with. When searching for a job, especially in this difficult environment, it’s mission critical to build and cultivate a robust network of like-minded professionals. These allies can then potentially help you find the right people at the companies you’d like to work for, which enhances your chances of success.

3- Sarah Johnston is an interview coach, executive résumé writer and LinkedIn branding career coach. She offers her clients, as well as LinkedIn members, tips and strategies to successfully navigate their careers.

Recently, Johnston made the case for taking a temporary position, even if it is beneath your level of expertise and experience—to get through this Covid-19 brutal job market. Johnston wrote,

“Hear me out: there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking a job to help pay the bills.” She referred to an email received from an unemployed job seeker who asked Johnston what she thought about him taking a part-time job at Home Depot as a sales associate while he looks for his next corporate “director of marketing” role. The person was concerned if this would be “career suicide.” 

Johnston took the position that it makes sense to stay in the game. In light of the current economic condition and disruption to the job market, there’s little or no visibility as to what the future will look like. You can’t predict when or if there will be an appropriate position available next week, next month or one year from now. It’s prudent to take an offer that would serve as a “bridge.”

She says that the candidate should ask oneself, “Does it get you out of the house? Does this help you contribute in a meaningful way? Do you like tools? Can you learn anything in this role? Will you be able to maintain job search intensity?” If the answer is “yes” to these questions, then it “sounds like a great bridge job.”

Johnston says, “Bridge jobs can be a great option because they can impact your mood, get you out of the house and can give you an income boost, so that you can take more time to find the RIGHT next job.” She suggests that a person who takes a bridge job should then “work with a résumé writer to help you address gaps and develop a positioning strategy.”

4- Phyllis Mufson is a career coach that helps with career change and job searches. Mufson takes a holistic approach with her clients. She recognizes that while résumés, LinkedIn profiles and the nuts and bolts of interviews are important, so is working on your mindset and attitude.

Mufson maintains that most people are dealing with the “Covid-19 brain.” This is the feeling of being overwhelmed by all of the problems swirling around us. Mufson empathizes with job seekers, as they’re “dealing with feelings of grief, trauma and trying to cope with prolonged periods of stress, which drains your energy.”

When this happens, according to Mufson, “It’s easy to succumb to ‘micro-addictions’ to distract from reality.” This could range from binge-watching too much Netflix while eating junk food to drinking too much alcohol or engaging in drug usage. One way to counter these feelings is to substitute good habits for micro-addictions. Mufson tells people to “double down on your self-care.” For instance, she says if you meditate or do yoga for 10 minutes a day, then try for 20 minutes. The same holds true for painting, practicing a musical instrument or any other positive productive outlet that takes you away from the prevailing negativity.

5- Ana Lokotkova is a personal branding and career search advisor, résumé and LinkedIn profile writer and a job interview coach. She recently shared three strategies to help job seekers get back on “the confidence track.”

Ana offers engaging, positive and uplifting videos to reinforce her messages. It’s easy to lose confidence when you’re sending out résumés, completing long and glitchy applications and never hear back from the companies. It’s discouraging when you finally get an interview, then you’re left in the dark when the hiring manager ghosts you. Ana suggests that you should do the following when you feel yourself slipping into feelings of despair.

a. When those negative feelings start to creep in, (vividly) remember as many of your past wins and successes as you can. Where were you? What were you doing? This will trick your brain into thinking that those same experiences are happening now and help to re-energize you.

b. Stop asking “why.” “Why didn’t I get the job?” “Why did I get laid off?” Instead, ask “what” and “how,” so that your focus is redirected to a solutions approach. “What can I do better next time?” “How can I nail the interview with Company X?”

c. Invest in your written presentation. Make sure that your LinkedIn profile and résumé reflect your accomplishments in a way that demonstrates your value.

6- Kenneth Lang, a LinkedIn facilitator, LinkedIn trainer, business analyst and product owner, brings up a questionable practice that’s noticed by job seekers. Lang asserts, “There’s nothing worse for a job seeker than applying for a job that isn’t actually an available job—happens all the time.”

Lang heard about this from a presenter at a networking group, who referred to the practice as building a “talent pipeline.” The job advertisement entices job seekers to apply to a position that isn’t currently available. The recruiters, however, will create a “pool of qualified candidates able to assume recently vacated or newly created positions” for a later date.

He feels that if a company places a listing for a role that’s not currently active, they should—in full disclosure—add a comment that the opportunity is for a “future position and isn’t available now.”

Applicants can proactively use Lang’s finding to their advantage by asking, “When will this job be available? Is this a new or existing opportunity?”

Given the staggering amount of unemployment and underemployment, it’s important to learn as much as possible about the job market and investigate smart ways to make yourself stand out in a crowded field.

Author:  Jack Kelly  Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work here.
I am a CEO, founder, and executive recruiter at one of the oldest and largest global search firms in my area of expertise, and have personally placed thousands of
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Forbes.com | July 14, 2020

#JobSearch : Why The 90/10 Loser Gets The Job Over The 60/40 Winner. Here’s How to be a 90%.

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If you’re looking for a job, strive to be the 90/10 loser instead of the 60/40 winner. It’s better to come in first 10% of the time than second 60% of the time.

Candidates for jobs need to convince hiring managers that they can do the job (strengths,) will love the job (motivation,) and will be tolerable (fit) better and more than any other candidate.

This is where the 90/10 versus 60/40 positioning comes into play. To become a 60/40 winner, you have to tend toward the mean so you appeal widely. Those tending toward the mean, round their edges so they offend less people. These people tend to be more acceptable to others (60%) but have less people passionate about them. As a result, they make the cut to be final candidates for jobs more frequently than others, but often come in second place.

90/10 losers don’t have that problem. They get rejected out of hand 90% of the time. But the 10% that want them, really want them.

The difference is focus and the courage to talk about what’s most important and walk away from opportunities where the fit is less clear.

For example, imagine a hiring manager that says they need someone with strategic, organizational, and operating strengths.

60% of presented candidates come in with solid examples of their strengths in each area. They move on to the next round.

Not you. You come in and explain that you’re particularly strong in any one of the three areas and relatively weaker in the other two. Note you’re not saying you’re weak. You’re not saying you’re weaker than others. You’re just saying you’re unbalanced and stronger in some areas than others.

What this does is make the hiring manager think about what they really care about. If they really do want all three areas, you’re out. Fine. If they really care about one of the two areas in which you’re relatively weaker, you’re out. Fine. But if what they really care about is the area in which you are particularly strong, you’re now the candidate to beat.

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Article continued …

The prescription is to figure out what they should really care about. If it’s not your core strength, walk away. If it is your core strength, focus your conversations on that. Talk about that. Of course, there are other things you can do. You’ll do them and over-deliver on expectations when the time is right. Then there are things you won’t do. You most definitely do not want a job that requires you doing them.

Talk about the things you’re most interested in. Learn about them. Practice them. Volunteer for assignments that give you experience in those areas. Build a deep expertise in these things. Guide your own career into these areas directly and indirectly.

Along the way, there are a whole range of other things your employers or clients will ask you to do. Do them. Do them really well. Over-deliver. You’ll learn by doing and get better and better. You’ll develop strengths in some of these areas. You can deploy those strengths over time. Just don’t talk about them.

And there are things you won’t do. The key here is to be upfront about those so no one ever asks you to do them. Some of these violate some of your underlying values. Most of them are distractions from what you think are most important. Any moment you spend on somethings less important is a moment you’re not spending on what is important. That is the opposite of focus.

Oh, by the way, if you’ve got someone working for you doing things outside of their core areas of interest, you should do what you need to do to get their focus back on what they care about most. Doing that is a sign of respect. If you don’t do that, eventually you’ll lose them. They’ll burn out or quit. Just because they are doing what you need them to do – and doing it well, does not necessarily mean they’re doing what they want to do.

Sometimes you don’t want to stand out. Sometimes you do want to tend to the mean. But not when it comes to positioning yourself and your career. Be known for something. Invest in it. Get better at it. Build your expertise. Claim your expertise. Talk about it. And don’t talk about the rest.

Click here for a list of my Forbes articles (of which this is #648) and a summary of my book on executive onboarding: The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan.

Forbes.com | July 14, 2020  | George Bradt Senior Contributor

#JobSearch : Why It’s So Hard To Narrow Down Your Career Choice (And How To Make It Easier!). A MUst REad for All!

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I’ve been in the career field for two decades and have witnessed many changes in how individuals search for jobs. However, the part of the process that’s changed the most, and subsequently has become the hardest, might surprise you.

If you’ve been in the professional world for a while, you’ve likely noticed few significant changes in the format of resumes or the general interview process, perhaps with the exception of how they’re created or conducted, respectively. And technology and personal websites have just extended how we express and communicate our expertise.

Networking as an effective search strategy is likely the most stable in the process, having earned its place as a front runner in the 1970’s with Granovetter’s pioneering work on the spread of information in social networks. If anything, networking has become infinitely easier with the invention of social media and tech-based communication tools.

What’s become much harder, is figuring out what you want to do.

The age-old question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” appears deceptively innocent. But for many who’ve been on the receiving end of this inquiry, it instills a sense of anxiety and confusion, especially if you haven’t quite figured it out or are ready for a change and don’t know where to begin.

Here’s why it’s so tough to answer, and what you can do to start formulating a response you feel good about:

1- Traditional paths have been obliterated. Upon retiring with 40 years of service from the local power company, my father was given an engraved lamp built with spare machine parts. So, although odd retirement gifts aren’t the reason professionals don’t stick with one company anymore, I can’t say it wasn’t a contributing factor. But seriously, it’s common today to change roles 10 or more times throughout a career span. It’s even becoming rare for someone to stay in the same industry or function for more than a decade now. New markets, hybrid roles, portfolio careers and side hustles have created opportunities for professionals to completely change trajectories, create mixed sources of income and test out emerging fields. And while having more options is exciting, it’s also confusing and overwhelming.

Make it easier: Stop looking at titles. Many people start here, but titles aren’t uniform or specific enough to really help narrow down your choice. A “Director” at one company may be equivalent to a “Manager” at another. “Business Development” can mean sales in one firm and marketing strategy at another. Instead, break down roles into projects, skill sets, and competencies so you can understand the actual work and make a clear decision based on what you’ll be doing day-to-day. O’NET Online is a free tool that helps you research work activities, abilities, educational requirements and general tasks for thousands of job families and roles. Plus, you can sort your search in a variety of useful ways including what industries have a bright outlook in the current market.

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Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Article continued …

2- We’ve been fed some outdated advice. While there’s wisdom in the tip “follow your passion,” taken at face value, that phrase loses some of its effectiveness. Most people have multiple passions, and sometimes activities you’re passionate about aren’t ideal careers. When encouraged to discover your passion, it puts undue pressure to find the right choice, when in reality, there are many great career choices and very few true career mistakes. Everything you do is a chance to expand your network and broaden your experience.

Make it easier: Follow your professional energy instead. Think of a work project or task you look forward to doing or jump to when you’re avoiding less desirable work activities. Or maybe there’s an accomplishment you’re proud of that gets you energized when you share the story with others? Your answer likely lies within these examples, so examine what aspects make these interesting to you. Perhaps you love solving an impossible problem or partnering with a collaborative team. Or maybe you enjoy being up against a tight deadline, or digging into data to find the underlying story. Once you discover the thread, look for roles that engage these skills.

3- The market is shifting at warp speed. In many ways, the world has changed more in the last six months than in the last six years. Even if you discovered your life’s true vocation early on and never wavered on your choice, chances are technology advances, global needs, market demands and customer preferences will cause significant disruption to your daily tasks, making it tough to remain in one profession your entire life. But with traditional paths decreasing, and options becoming almost limitless, it can be paralyzing to move forward.

Make it easier: Not even career coaches or recruiters can keep up with the influx of new job families that are cropping up almost daily. So, instead of focusing on what you want to be, ask yourself, “What challenge do I want to solve in the world?” Read what’s happening in the market in areas that interest you and look for roles in organizations that are tackling those problems. Identify your professional superpower, align it with your values and interests and then learn how to wield that superpower to the changing needs of the market.

4- A reactive process is becoming less viable. In early 2000, applying to jobs online was all the rage (as was saying, “all the rage”). Since the internet has become over saturated, it’s harder to trust what’s online, and data show it’s only a slice of what’s actually available in the job market. So, if you’re bored or fed up with your current career, looking on big job boards can give you some general ideas, but it’s not likely going to solve your problem.

Some look to vocational assessments for the answer. Although these can be helpful to understand your strengths, interests, values and preferences, the information you receive is only a piece of the puzzle, not the total solution. Others decide to return to school, which can be valuable if you’ve already made a clear career choice and have confirmed additional education is necessary to attain your goal (note: often it’s not).

Make it easier: Create an experiment or research project for yourself where you reach out to people doing interesting work. Ask how they got into the field (you may be surprised to hear their path was more of a zigzag than a direct line). Reach out broadly, even to people who work in fields you’ve never considered. They may share stories of how their organization functions internally or partners with vendors that can open up new ideas.

And don’t limit yourself to standard full-time roles. Consider side hustles, a portfolio career or even short-term contracting gigs to create the mix of activities you’d like to explore. Even if you ultimately decide a full-time role is more to your liking, clarity comes through action. It’s important to try things on for size versus just allowing various pieces of information to bounce around in your brain.

5- Outside influences are strong. It’s common to rely on loved ones for advice. The great news is they usually have our best interest at heart. The not so great news is they likely aren’t the best career coaches because it’s hard for someone you know well to be fully objective. People we know often advise based on their own values (e.g., so if status or wealth are important to them, they may see your choice to pursue a role based on altruistic values as unwise).

Make it easier: Have a different exploration conversation with those you know. Instead of asking about your career, ask what you’re “known” for and what unique qualities they see in you, which may help you to better understand your professional superpower and abilities. Also, stop comparing yourself to others. This is demoralizing and prohibitive. While it’s great to have role models and mentors, remember everyone is on their own path. Lastly, reach out to people able to be direct and objective. This could be weaker ties (e.g., 2nd level contacts) in your network, or a career coach. Although others won’t have your answer, they can certainly help by asking deep questions, offering fresh insights and enabling you to see yourself differently.

6- Identity clinging is strong. When pondering a new career choice after working for a period of time, it can be challenging to see ourselves in a different way. Our career becomes part of our core identity with our title, company or profession often being one of the first things we share with someone we meet. So, if you desire something different, often professionals start with assessing how their current role can extend into their next career because they cling to the identity they’ve built. But ironically, this often keeps us stuck in a place we’re trying to exit. Also, humans hate ambiguity and often feel like trial and error are a waste of time.

Make it easier: First, stop asking yourself the question, “What do people in my role usually do next?” during your exploration. This may lead to some simple answers, but will limit your total options and may convince you a compete switch isn’t doable (hint: it is!). Next, recognize jumping off your career ladder to try something new won’t be catastrophic if it doesn’t work out, and unexpected career detours are usually surprisingly valuable to your marketability.

So stop looking for guarantees when there are none. And although many skills are transferable, actively keeping one foot in your old career may prevent you from truly getting to where you really want to be. So, if you can shed your title or professional label and start looking at yourself as the value you add to the market, you’ll see yourself as incredibly versatile professionally.

What you may have gathered if you read the article versus skimming the bullets is that figuring out your next career still takes work. But, you can make the effort you put forth meaningful and productive by following these steps so it’s not harder than it needs to be.

 

Forbes.com | July 13, 2020 |  Dawn Graham Contributor