Take the Interview

Posted: January 8, 2022 | Author: | Filed under: Job Search | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Happy new year!  I hope you are staying safe and healthy and ready to jump into 2022 with both feet.

As I’ve said several times recently, this is a wacky job market. There is huge demand in food service, warehouse work, and other trades. There is a significant number of voluntary quits in all arenas, which means that those jobs need to be filled by someone else.  I expect the employment activity this first quarter of 2022 to be through the roof. It is a great time to be job seeker.

So, let’s imagine what would otherwise be an unusual scenario.  Say you apply for a job that you are only lukewarm about, but they call you for an interview. What do you do?  You could pass because you really don’t want the job, and I just told you that there were plenty more fish in the sea, right?

Take the interview! There are at least three good reasons that you should take the interview and go into it as if this is the best job ever.

  1. Practice – To land the job you really want, you need to be good at being interviewed. This gives you the best possible practice. You get to hear and respond to questions, gauge the interviewer’s reaction, and practice your questioning techniques.
  2. Networking – Even if you don’t think you want this job, you might learn about a different job at this company, or you might be able to include the recruiter and/or hiring manager in your network to help find a job someplace else.
  3. You might like the job – Want ads are tiny slices of jobs, designed to attract candidates and to weed out the unqualified.  You won’t really know what the duties, the work environment, etc. are just by reading the job posting.  But, by going through the interview process and talking with people, you might find out that this job is better than you thought.

Let’s be real, what the worst thing that can happen by interviewing for a job you don’t think you want?  Maybe you waste a couple of hours of time.  Maybe you run into your current boss in the HR office (awkward).  Maybe you have to turn down an offer.  Those are all pretty small risks.  If you get a chance to go through the job interview process, take it. The practice alone is worth your investment in time, and maybe it will turn out even better than you expected.  If you need some help with your job search, try this: https://im-fired.com/about-the-book/.

Networking 101

Posted: November 22, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Networking | Tags: , | Leave a comment

New to networking? The skill of building a network of contacts is crucial to finding your dream job. Here is a set by step guide. It’s easier than you think.

  1. Make a list of everyone you know – not just the people you think might have good contacts – everyone.
  2. One-by-one, contact them and ask them if they would help you.
  3. At that meeting, tell them your elevator speech.
  4. Hand them your resume.
  5. Ask them if they know anyone you might talk to about your job search.
  6. If they say no, show them your target list and ask if they know anyone who works at one of these companies.
  7. Ask them if there is anything you can for them.
  8. Thank them.
  9. Using the list of names they gave you, return to step 2 and repeat the process.

Depending on your personality, networking might be fun, or daunting, but it is by far the most effective way of looking for a job that you’ll really love. it is rarely fast. For most of us it is exhausting and frustrating. But it works – consistently.

Over the coming holiday season, the job market will slow down, but the networking season can ramp up. People will be feeling more generous, and they may have more time on their hands. Use this time to work on your network, and when the job market opens in January, you’ll be ready. If you want more help with networking, this might help https://im-fired.com/about-the-book/.

Independence Day

Posted: July 3, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Support | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Happy Independence Day! This weekend we celebrate the 4th of July, the day that the United States declared independence from England. We’ll have barbeque and fireworks. Bands will play and families will gather. A great American holiday. Hopefully, we’ll also take some time to reflect.  If it were not for the women and men of our Armed Forces, we wouldn’t be celebrating Independence Day.  If not for their sacrifices, and their willingness, when necessary, to give their lives for our freedoms, we would live in a very different county. If you are member for our Armed Forces, a veteran, or a family member, thank you for your sacrifice. We can never adequately repay that debt.

But, many can also to celebrate independence from more than just England.  Maybe you’ve broken the grip of chemical dependency.  Maybe you’ve left a toxic relationship, or a really bad job.  Maybe you’ve finished your formal education (at least for now) or maybe your last child has moved out of the house, and you are an empty-nester.  Independence is phenomenal. The ability to do what we want, when we want it is one of the greatest gifts you can be given.  An effective job search can help you find the right job and that job might put you one step closer to independence.

But, with independence, comes responsibility, to assist those who have not yet achieved independence.  Look around you and find those that need your help.  I believe it is that willingness to help others that has made our country great and will continue to propel us into the future.

Enjoy Independence Day, for whatever you are now independent of.  If you are struggling with your job search, this might help.  https://im-fired.com/about-the-book/

Are There Jobs Out There?

Posted: June 5, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Job Search | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

I am not sure anyone really understands what’s happening with the economy or the labor market. I have a PhD in business and 35 years of experience in human resources and much of what’s happening does not make much sense to me. 

According the May unemployment report form the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate is hovering around 6.1%. There were hopes that it would have dropped more, and lots of talking-heads are suggesting why it hasn’t.  But, here is what bothers me.  In February 2020, before the pandemic, the unemployment rate was 3.5% and there were 152.5 million people who had jobs (this number excludes military and farm workers).  That means that the total workforce (working plus unemployed) was approximately 158.1 million workers.

The May, 2021 numbers (6.1% unemployed and 144.3 million working), indicate that the total workforce was 153.7 million workers.  Where did the 4.4 million workers go?  If unemployment should drop to a pre-pandemic level of 3.5%, there will still be over a 4 million workers who appeared to have disappeared.

Rest assured, most of them are still with us.  The overall population is still growing.  The reality is they quit working and stopped looking for work.  Many are Baby Boomers who just decided it was time to retire.  Some are parents who decided to stay home with their children. Others simply just gave up.

But this is a blog about job search, not geeking out on the economy, so what does this mean to you?  It means, there are jobs. In fact, there are likely to be labor shortages in some sectors.  As “unprecedented” as these times are, the economy is rebounding, companies are hiring, and there are jobs. They may not be exactly what you were looking for, but those jobs may still lead to fulfilling and successful careers.

Bottom line: take hope, keep pressing ahead, work your network, tell your story, and you will be successful.  If you need help with your jobs search, try this  https://im-fired.com/about-the-book/.

I Should Write a Book!

Posted: May 15, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Job Search | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Your job search is slowing down and you’re thinking, maybe I need a different kind of job. Then the lightbulb clicks on, “I’ll write a book.”  Okay, good idea.  But as one who has written a book, knows several people who have written books, and read lots and lots of books, please allow me to give you some free advice.  (Remember, you get what you paid for.)

  1. Don’t plan on getting rich. While Stephen King and Patrick Lencioni are getting by on their royalties, don’t write to make money.  It takes multiple best sellers to truly generate cashflow you can live on.
  2. Don’t do it yourself.  It is now possible to write a book, publish it and have it available an Amazon all by yourself.  But, many (if not most) of those books are bad.  You need a good editor. You need a good proofreader.  You need someone who understands the business and can advise you on content, cover art, etc.  I was fortunate to get associated with Lighthouse Point Press and my book is 10 times better than if I had done it alone.
  3. Don’t think it’s easy.  Good writing is a skill that takes practice.  It is a craft.  You need to write a lot to practice your craft, to find your voice, and get comfortable with the process.  Start with blog and see if you can generate content that people want to read on a consistent basis.  Work your way up to writing a book.
  4. Don’t neglect your competition.  Let’s say you want to write a book on leadership.  If you search Amazon for books on leadership, you’ll get over 60,000 hits.  Books on Job Search – 20,000, Job Networking – 3,000. There is a lot of competition – and again, much of it is bad – but you can’t tell that from looking on Amazon.
  5. Don’t think it ends with publishing.  Finally, the reality becomes that writing the book was the easy part, now you have to sell it, and you will be the one who is in charge of marketing.

I don’t want to discourage you from a life-long dream to be an author.  I did it, I’m proud I did it, I think I did on okay job, and, I’m thinking about doing it again.  But, I’m not getting rich and it was a lot of work.  So, keep looking for your day job, and make time to write in your off hours.  If you are struggling to find that day job, this might help.  https://im-fired.com/about-the-book/

How Long Should My Search Take?

Posted: May 8, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Job Search | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

I understand, really. You lost your job. You have bills to pay. You’re ready to go back to work.  The economy is still wonky. What you want to know is “how long will it take to find a new job.”  You better be sitting down, because you may not like my answer.

Long ago I learned a simple rule-of-thumb. You should be prepared for your job search to take one month for every $10k of annual salary you want to earn.  A lot of things have changed since I first heard that, so maybe now it is one month per $15k, but that math is harder to do.  Be prepared for a search for a $30,000 annual salary job to take 3 months and an $80,000 job could take 8 months.  I’ve been fired/laid off/RIFed/what-have-you six times.  The fastest I’ve ever found a job was about 4 weeks and the longest was 13 months.  

Your search may not take that long.  Some people are in the right place at the right time. If you already have a strong and well-maintained network, you may be able to speed up the process.  But, for the 1-month rule to be a rule, it has to be an average.  That means that for many of you it will take longer.  Unfortunately, recent experience by several of my friends, says the rule-of-thumb is still be pretty accurate.

What this means is that you need to be patient, persistent, prepared.  If you think you are at risk for losing your job, evaluate your assets.  If you have no other source of income and will rely on unemployment and savings, figure out how long they will last.  If you don’t have enough money for the rule-of-thumb, you may want to change your search process. You may need to settle for a lower paying job just to get some income flowing.  You might have to lower your standards, or look in another geographic area.  You just need to be prepared.

If, like me, you have a loving spouse with a good job and you can get by, then be patient and work the process.  Know that it probably won’t happen overnight, but it won’t happen on its own either.  You have to do the work, build the network, and get the system to work for you.

Patience may be a virtue, but when it comes to finding a new job, impatience often is just as important.  If you are struggling, this might help.  https://im-fired.com/about-the-book/

Where Should I look?

Posted: May 1, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Networking | Tags: , | Leave a comment

It’s a question I get a lot.  Where is the best place to look for a job?  Is it Indeed, Monster, Zip Recruiter Workable, Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and the list goes on and on.  The good news is that I have a very easy answer for that question.  Everywhere – and more.

As the Internet continues to grow, technology expands, and innovation is in the wind, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of places you can look online to find job postings, and you need to look at as many of them as you can.  Look at some of the biggest boards, especially Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn on a regular basis.  Some sites contain only the jobs posted there, while others are aggregators, collecting links to jobs posted on other sites.  On many sites you can create an account and the site will send you alerts when a job that matches your criteria is posted.

You also need to look on industry sites based on what you do – or want to do.  You need to look on company websites.  You should even look at your state’s unemployment website where they usually post jobs.  I’m sorry, but the short answer is everywhere.  As I’ve said before, if you are out of work, you need to make looking for a job a full-time job, so start clicking.

But, and this is a HUGE BUT, the odds are pretty good that you will not find the job you want if all you do is search the web and apply for jobs that appeal to you.  According to Matt Youngquist, president of Career Horizons, 70 to 80% of jobs are not published.  According to Payscale.com, that number could be as high as 85%.  The first time I heard this statistic was in the mid-1980’s and way back then it was 75%.  While technology has changed, it appears that people haven’t. 

So, if 70% or more of jobs don’t get posted, then how do you find out about them?  Networking.  The cold, hard fact is that if you want to find that perfect job, you need to talk to real people, tell them your story, ask them for help, and ask them who they know that you could talk to, and then repeat that process, over and over.  It may make you uncomfortable, but your option is to spend days and days searching the internet and fighting for jobs against hundreds of other job seekers who are doing the exact same thing.

In job search, almost always, when the question is, “Should I do A, or should I do B?”, the answer is do both.  You need to look online, you need to apply for jobs, and you need to research companies and their openings.  But you also need to network, meet people, and spread your story. 

Your dream job is out there and waiting for you.  You need to look for it on the net – everywhere, but you also have to ask people to help you find it.  If you are struggling, 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/

Does Networking Really Work?

Posted: March 13, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Networking | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Maybe you’ve been looking for a job for a while, and you are getting frustrated?  I can understand that, but I need to stress networking really is the key.  I have worked for 14 different organizations in my life. Three were before I graduated from college and the rest make up my professional career.   I have applied for at least one-hundred jobs, online or via mail, and I’ve had lots of interviews; but I have never been hired because I responded to a job posting. 

I got my first job at age 14 by asking about a help-wanted sign in the window of a fast-food restaurant.  One time I found a job through a professional recruiter. Every other job I’ve had, I found through networking.  Each time, someone I knew suggested that I talk with someone they knew, and those introductions led to an interview, and to a job offer.

It’s also important to understand that I don’t quit jobs very often.  Seven of the organizations I have worked for asked me to leave due to position eliminations, business closings, or changes in ownership.  Once, I was recruited away, and once, I left a part-time job for a full-time job.  And twice, when I couldn’t find a job, I became a one-man consulting company. So, I needed to learn to network.

You should also know that some of my transitions were quick, and some were not.  The first time I got “fired” was my first job out of college. The bank I worked for was about to be sold and I was told on the Monday before Thanksgiving that my department was being eliminated and my job would end after Christmas.  The good news was that I got to be a stay-at-home dad with my infant daughter for a month.  And, I networked into a better job before my severance ran out.  Twice, I was able to identify a new job before the current job ended, so I easily moved from one to the next.  One time I looked for three months before deciding to give consulting a try full time.  One time it took me 13 months to land a new job.

So, I get it.  Job search can be frustrating and exhausting.  You may find a job quickly, or your search could drag on, and on. And, while you need to work with search firms and to apply for jobs you see advertised, networking is the key. Through networking you can learn more, reach more people, and find jobs that are never advertised (six of my jobs were never posted).

From my experiences I wrote a book.  If you are struggling, this might help.  https://im-fired.com/about-the-book/

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