And so was Albert Einstein (or Maybe it was Jane Fulton)

Posted: April 24, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Support | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

In my last post I quoted Henry Ford who said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”  I support this idea and believe you need to believe in yourself and go forth with confidence. But, I suspect that some readers might have felt “Yeah, right, six months ago I would have believed you, but now I’m not so sure.” 

I hear that.  I once had to look for 13 months to find a job. So let me suggest another famous quotation.  “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”  This quote is widely attributed to Albert Einstein, but according to this site the author Rita May Brown originated the line in a novel. Regardless of the source, I believe it to be a true statement.

If your job search seems to be going on and on, and you are not having much success, you need to do something differently. Spend some time volunteering so that in addition to doing good work and clearing you head, you can meet some new networking contacts.  Take a course at the local community college to learn some new skills and meet new people. Consider looking in a different geographical area.  Get a part-time job working retail to give yourself something to do, make some money, and meet new people. Spend more time with your family. Whatever – just change things up.

Sometimes, you get so focused on your search that you lose sight of the bigger picture. Take a step back to examine and alter your process.  Maybe you need to change your goal, or maybe you just need to go about it in a different way. The economy is coming back.  Soon it is quite possible that there will be more jobs than people who want to fill those jobs.  You will find one, and while it might not be the perfect one, it may be the change you need to help you take the next step forward in your career. 

Life does not often follow a straight line.  One of my friends likes to say, “Man plans and God laughs.” None of us can predict the future.  We know what we want to happen, but it usually doesn’t turn out exactly that way.  If you a struggling, change things up. Do something different for a while.  Alter your search process.  Look in in different places.  Hopefully, change is what you need to get things moving in the right direction.

If you are struggling with your job search, this might help.  https://im-fired.com/about-the-book/

Henry Ford was Right!

Posted: April 17, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Support | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

It can be difficult to be unemployed and to find a new job.  It is hard, frustrating work. You have to put yourself out there, swallow your pride, ask for help and take rejection – a lot.  You have to sell yourself.  You have to talk to strangers.  You have to make looking for a job a full-time job in itself.  How’s that for a depressing way to open a blog post?

But, people do it every day.  You have probably done it more than once already. There are lots of harder things you have done and will do in your life.  While challenging, the job search can also be a great learning experience, and if you do it right, you’ll come out at the other end with not just a new job, but with step up in your career, a number of new network contacts, and hopefully you’ll even learn something about yourself.  You will know that you stepped up, met the challenge, and were successful.  To sound like Polly-Anna, every cloud has silver lining.

I enjoy words.  I love songs more for the lyrics than the melodies.  I like to hear how someone can turn a phrase and make a complex idea simple, or provide that brief shot of motivation.  One of my favorite quotes is from Henry Ford.  Ford said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” This quote is all about attitude and confidence.

Looking for a job can be hard work, and if you get up each day thinking, “I can’t do this – I’ll never find a job – no one wants to hire me,” then Ford would say “you’re right,” and you should probably go back to bed.   But the fact is, you’re wrong.  There are jobs. You have skills, and you can learn new ones. There are people who are willing to help you.  The opportunity is there for success.  Grab it!

But it starts with you. Think, “I can.”

If you are struggling with your job search, this might help.  https://im-fired.com/about-the-book/

Where are you aiming?

Posted: April 10, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Job Search | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

When I network with job seekers, many are more adept at the search process than I was when I first had to do it.  They have good looking resumes; they know how to network; and they are getting better at being prepared and doing their research.  But most still have not prepared one of the most important job search documents.

If you are job seeker you need a Target List.  This is a list of 20-25 organizations where you think you might want to work.  You may not know if they have job openings, but they are organizations who might be a fit for you due to their industry, location, size, reputation, what-have-you.

Inevitably, during a networking meeting you ask, “Do you know anyone that I should talk to?”  All too often your host says, “No, I can’t think of anyone.”  The prepared job seeker then pulls out the Target List and says “Here is a list of organizations that I’d like to know more about.  Do you know anyone who works at any of these?”  Now the conversation can begin anew.

That list of companies will spark some potential contacts, “Oh, my next door neighbor works for XYZ Company.”  You may also hear, “You don’t want to work for that company; they’re a sweat shop.”  Whatever the feedback, you’ll have more information that you did at the beginning of the conversation and that’s what networking is all about.

Target Lists should be updated continually, adding new organizations and removing those that aren’t the fit you’d hoped they were.  Format the list to look like your resume – same headers, fonts, paper, etc.  You want this to be a professional looking document that has the same feel as your other search related papers.

If your networking is not yielding the success you need, add a Target List into the mix.  I guarantee it will make your networking sessions more productive and speed you on to that next career adventure.

If you are struggling with your job search, this might help.  https://im-fired.com/about-the-book/

Hunting for Easter Eggs

Posted: April 3, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Networking | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Tomorrow is Easter.  Spring is here, the pandemic appears to be waning, and there is an atmosphere of hope in the air that we haven’t felt for a long time.  Hopefully, you will be able to spend some time with family and friends this weekend, and maybe you’ll get to hunt for Easter eggs.

In my family there is a tradition of hiding plastic eggs in and around the house, supposedly left by the Easter Bunny, and then allowing the children to hunt for those eggs.  Inside the eggs might be candy, money, small toys, or maybe stickers.  For me, the best eggs had chocolate in them, next came those with money (pennies and nickels), and then toys, and way at the bottom of the list were stickers.  I never was much of a sticker kind of kid.

Networking can sometimes feel like an Easter egg hunt.  You race around, looking in every corner, under every branch, and under every rock, hoping to find an egg (a new contact).  And then you find someone who is willing to talk with you and you arrange a meeting.  In your mind, you hope that when you open this contact they will pour out a mountain of chocolate eggs (new contacts).  It will be glorious!  But, when you finally crack open that egg, you find a wrinkled SpongeBob sticker.

Networking is a process. Every contact you meet will not hold the key to your future. But somebody does. If you work hard enough, there is a high likelihood that someone that you meet will lead you to your next job. Somebody will introduce you to somebody, who will introduce you to somebody, who has been looking for a person just like you. So, if you happen to open a whole carton of eggs filled with stickers, don’t stop.  Your chocolate egg is still out there.  Keep hunting.

I hope you have a wonderful and relaxing Easter Weekend.  If you are struggling with your job search, this might help.  https://im-fired.com/about-the-book/