Career Hub

Success Story - The Value Of Reaching Out To Your Network

In my post earlier this week titled "4 Ways You Stop Yourself Getting Help After Redundancy", I emphasised the importance of reaching out to your network by sending an email to your contacts and friends after being laid off.  An email that is not a "here is my resume, can you help me?" email - but instead an email to inform and update people and so ensure you maintain relationships.

Well, look at what's just dropped into my mail box today from a client I started working with in April:

“Hi Sital,

The email you encouraged me to send out to my contacts in April just came up trumps.

It took someone 3 months, but the response I got from of one of my contacts was “can you help me out?” So I now have a 6 month contract!

It is not in the area I wanted - but it‘s an role I worked in some years ago and really enjoyed - but it gets me some interim management experience which is what I was after as you know. Thanks for all your help.  I’ll keep you posted.

Have a good weekend,

P.”

This client has found a role in London's financial district (where there are apparently "no jobs"), which wasn't advertised anywhere and with very little competition. All because he followed the steps in this article and placed greater importance on reaching out to people he had an existing relationship with, rather than spending endless hours contacting recruiters and job sites that are overwhealmed and overloaded with applicants. 

So what are you waiting for?

Who I have you held off contacting so far?

Who can you email right now to inform them about your situation and reconnect? 

By Sital Ruparelia from 6 Figure Career Management

Update to Technology Tools for Job Seekers

Are you craving even more technology tools to make your job search easier? If so, you may want to augment my 3-part series Technology Tools for Job Seekers with a few more tools:

1. Zoosa.org – aggregator source for social enterprise news and job postings from the non-profit, education, government, and for-profit sectors. Zoosa.org currently defines social enterprise to include the following areas:

* Alternative Energy / Clean Tech
* Arts
* Community Development
* Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
* Education
* Energy Efficiency & Research
* Environmental Protection
* Foreign Aid
* Government
* Healthcare
* Humanities
* Life Sciences
* Medical Research / Technology
* Microfinance
* Non-Profits
* Politics
* Religion
* Socially Responsible Products / Divisions within larger corporate entities

2. Tweetdeck – aggregate tweets and connect with your contacts across multiple accounts in Twitter, Facebook and more. You can also sync this third-party software to your iPhone and across all your computers.

3. 50 Useful Firefox Add-Ons for Job Seekers – Firefox 3 has become my favorite browser because of its customization capabilities. One or more of the 50 add-ons for Firefox 3 cited in this blog post could make your job search much more efficient and effective. Grouped in 5 categories (Job Updates, Social, Research and Organization, Time Savers, and Security), there are bound to be several of these you will find are well worth a try.

If you are a job seeker, let me know if you come across any other technology tools you have found indispensable in your job search that I have NOT already mentioned here or in my previous 3-part series. Thanks!

Cross-posted at Career Goddess Blog

4 Reasons Why You Stop Yourself Getting Support After Redundancy

I’m constantly surprised at how so many people try to deal with job loss and redundancy on their own.

One of the first questions I ask clients who have recently been laid off is: 

“So who knows about it? Have you announced your redundancy to every single person in your personal and professional network..?”

On average, only about 30% of people say ‘yes’ - the other 70% have often not told many people at all - even several week’s after being laid off.

When I ask why - they usually say “oh, I err, just haven’t….” - but I usually know what’s going on. When I ask further questions and probe, there are some common reasons for not telling others about their situation.

Here are 4 of the most common reasons why people are shy about sharing news about their job loss - along with my usual responses:

1. “I feel embarassed..”

As an ex recruiter - both within recruitment consultancy and an in-house corporate HR recruiter, I can assure you that there is no longer a stigma with getting laid off these days.

It’s old fashioned to think only poor performers lose their jobs. Most of the people who are losing their jobs at the moment are being laid off for reasons outside their control.  You probably lost your job due to wider economic and financial problems - not because you’re rubbish. So quit feeling embarassed.

And if you do come across people (contacts, potential employers, recruiters) who do look down at you because you’ve been laid off - that’s their issue, not yours.  It’s their loss, so just move on with your head held high.

2. “I don’t know what to say…”

You don’t have to say much at all. Just tell them what’s happened so that they know what’s happening to you.

Just think, if one of you’re friends got engaged or had a baby and didn’t tell you about it, how would you feel? In the same vain, don’t let your friends and professional contacts find out through the grapevine. Send a short email (DO NOT attach a resume) - stick to the facts and tell them what’s happened, give them your personal email address and mobile number so that they have your new details. And that’s it (for now).

3. “I dont want people who I’ve not contacted in a while to think I’m only now getting in touch because I want something..” (i.e. a new job)

I’m not suggesting you spam your friends your resume with a “help me find a job” note.

I’m asking you to just inform the people you have a relationship with about a change in your life.  Don’t you inform people when you move house? In the same way, informing others of a change in your work situation is very normal behaviour.

I suggest you don’t send your resume initially and don’t ask for anything. If you have people reply back and ask you to send through your details,  that’s great - do it. But initially, don’t send out your details to anyone apart from your very warm contacts.

Informing others allows you to reconnect with others - yes, this may then lead onto an email exchange about potential job leads. But may not. But you don’t have relationships with others just because you want something.

4. “I don’t really know what I want to do next” / “I’m going to take some time out, so there’s no point in contacting people yet”

Read my comments under point 3 again. You’re not informing people because you want something. You’re informing people because that’s how we cultivate relationships - by sharing our news. By sharing information and ideas (E.g, what am I doing right now? I’m sharing information and ideas with you - and in the process building a relationship with readers such as yourself).

Cultivating relationships is what you need to do when you’re out of work

Why?

a) Because during a recession, networking is the single best way to find job opportunities. (You can't tap into that network if no one knows about your situation)

b) Because being out of work gives you a great window of time to reconnect with people you’ve lost contact with (and at our core, connection is what we all want - it's a basic human need)

c) Because the ideas and suggestions you need to deal with the ”I don't know what to do next” challenge will often come from the people in your network that know you best

d) Because your friends, family and contacts are the people who you will lean on when you have a bad day (which, you can be sure you will have at some point over the coming weeks)

e) Because these are the people who can help you let your hair down and a have laugh occassionally (and who doesn't need that right now).

So if you’ve been laid off recently , please do yourself a favour and don’t keep it a secret. Send out some emails or a make a few calls to friends, family, colleagues, clients, vendors, brokers, suppliers - all the people you have a relationship with. You”ll be surprised with the flurry of supportive responses that will come back to you.  

Responses that will show you that you don’t have to deal with everything on your own. And that the only thing stopping you getting support isactually YOU...

 Sital Ruparelia from 6 Figure Career Management 

10 Ways To Change The World (..and Find a Job)

Are you struggling to find a job despite all the time and effort you're putting in?

Well here's some advice for you - stop looking.

That's right, stop spending your whole week job searching and instead spend part of your week doing something completely different. And I don't mean watch TV or 'do lunch' with friends.

 

Instead, go and do something of value, something that would make a difference to someone else.  By spending more time helping others, and less time on your own search, you'll paradoxically find that you improve your chances of finding work. 

If you're out of work, here are 10 suggested projects for you: 

1.  Volunteer your time and skills to a charity or non-profit 

2.  Start a blog and share your opinions on a topic or subject you care about 

3.  Teach your kids, neices or nephews something of value (e.g how to manage money, how to cook, about other cultures and religions)

4.  Learn how to play that musical instrument you've always wanted to learn - and then entertain a small audience for free

5.  Enter a charity walk or run 

6.  Give a talk at a local college or university about a subject you have expertise within

7.  Share everything you're learning about job searching with other job seeekers who are out of work 

8.  Teach your parents/grandparents how to use the internet, email and SMS text messaging (it will give them a new lease of life)

9.  Help an immigrant family to improve their English (or whatever the main language is in the country you're in). You'll help improve their lives and enable them to make a bigger contribution to the community and wider economy

10. Create and share something that would bring joy to others - e.g. a poem, a script, a dance, a sketch, a sculpture or a painting maybe 

The costs to you? 

Nothing.

All that's required is your time, some focus and the right intention.

The benefits to you?  

- You'll have a sense of purpose and achievement each week (something that's difficult to achieve if your whole week revolves around chasing leads, applying for jobs and handling rejections). 

- You'll consequently see your self esteem increase (which often gets crushed when you get laid off). Increased levels of self esteem improve your chances of securing a job. 

- You'll meet new people and widen your network. The wider network improves your chances of finding a job (particularly in a recession when a large percentage of roles are being filled via contacts and referrals)

- You'll have a unique answer to that interview question: "So what have you been doing with your time since you finished your last job?"

- You'll become a much more interesting person to be around - after all, there's only so many times friends and family can ask "So how's your job search going?"

- You'll develop some new skills (e.g. speaking, writing, mentoring, teaching) which can give you another edge in the job market

- You'll develop some new hobbies and interests for the future

- You'll look back at this period with few regrets. You'll know that you didn't waste the time you had between jobs and that instead did something of value.

- You'll enjoy some good karma. What goes around, comes around. 

 

The benefits to the world?

Huge.

Just think what would happen if every single person that was laid off invested part of their week (or month) to at least one of the 10 projects listed above? And then inspired other people to do something similar. What impact would that have?

If you've been made redundant in recent months, you may be low on cashflow, confidence and job opportunities. But one thing you do have is that commodity we all crave: *TIME*. 

So go put that time to good use and, who knows, in addition to changing a small part of somone else's world, you may also change yours - by landing that elusive job.

By Sital Ruparelia from 6 Figure Career Management

 

Is your personal brand failing to impact the competition?

The new iPhone 3GS recent launch saw two impacts - Apple dropping the price of it's 'older' model and more significantly Palm's share price dropping by 7%!

It seem's like never a week goes by without another new phone hitting the market - I heard that the lifespan for a smartphone before it becomes 'obselete' and overtaken by a faster, sleeker, more buttons and gadgets phone is about 3 months.

Is the same happening for you in your career?

Dan Pink in his book A Whole New Mind said that if your job can be done faster by a machine or cheaper somewhere else then you need to differentiate yourself right now.

This is particularly relevant now in a tight job market and where competition to remain useful and employed is becoming key. Even if the economy is showing some signs of recovery you will see it's impact for months to come - the commercial real estate bubble has not burst yet!

So if you are employed how can you have an impact at work so that your value rises?

1. Make sure you get involved in the projects at work that are going to have an impact on the future success of the company and have some senior management sponsors.

2. Look to raise your profile by attending meetings that are not directly your area, but you have interaction with those teams. If you are in finance go to a marketing meeting and if you are in marketing get along to operations or logistics - step out of your bubble and perhaps comfort zone.

3. Keep your boss up to date with what you are working on and keep track of the measures of success - what is the direct impact you are having on the business - make sure you know and then make sure others do too.

If you are currently unemployed how can you impact the competition and get hired?

1. Construct a 'brag' sheet that speaks to your top 5 strengths and how you have used each one of those in a specific situation with a measurable result. Use that as your intro career marketing document - not the boring resume - stand out, be different, get noticed.

2. Be very clear about what value you bring to an organization. They do not care what you want (if you have objective still on your resume GET IT OFF NOW!). What can you do for them? Again this needs to be as measurable and relevant as possible - there are too many others out there with similar skills, experience and education - it's not enough anymore.

3. Go where the competition is not going. Get in front of the senior managers who work with the peole that might hire you. If you are in finance do not go to all the finance networking meetings - all your competitors are doing that - get to the marketing networking meeting.

Cross posted on Reflections of a Square Peg blog

Technology Tools for Job Seekers - Part 3

Get plugged into technology tools to boost the productivity and reach of your job search. Most are free and fairly easy to use. Even if you start with only one of two of these applications and websites, you may just find your job search yielding better results than it has in months!

This is Part 3 of a 3-segment series about readily available technology that job seekers can use. While these are some of my current favorites, we all know that technology grows, changes, and even disappears! So I will be updating this list periodically. If you have any favs to add to the list, please do so in the Comments area. Thanks!

23. Tweetlater.com – Branding itself as “Productivity tools for busy tweeple”, Tweetlater allows you to plan, set up, and even automate your Twitter social network and communications. Its free organization capabilities make it essential for keeping track of tweets (messages), followers, and those you would like to follow. For example, you can track keywords (really important in a job search) and save and re-use drafts of tweets. There’s a professional version that offers even more bells and whistles.

24. TweetMyJobs.com – The world’s largest Twitter job board with the built-in capability for you to apply for a job, post your resume, get instant alerts of openings via text messaging, and refer-a-friend feature among many others. With more than 4600 vertical Job Channels on Twitter, TweetMyJobs is likely to have the latest scoop about jobs in your field or industry.

25. USAJobs.com – The official job posting site for the US (Federal) government. This one-stop center for information about federal government jobs is a must see. From career exploration information, jobs in demand, resources for people with disabilities, veterans resource center, senior executive service, and student jobs, this site is a logical and easy starting point. With Federal hiring trends and top locations hiring, doesn’t it make sense to check out if government service could be a viable career path for you?

26. VisualCV.com – This platform allows you to build and display a “visual” resume that can include elements you might include in a portfolio, such as examples of your work and even charts and graphs. It goes further by enabling audio, video, and image elements as well AND features jobs you can apply for using your VisualCV. You can also integrate your resume with social media sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. The examples on this site are a feast for the eyes and ears!

27. WebCrawler.com – Using metasearch technology, this mega-search engine combines top-ranked results from several popular search engines, such as Google, Yahoo!, Windows Live, and Ask along with others. Best of all, it includes images, video, news, and local information to provide a broader spectrum of search-engine results.

28. WebMynd.com – With this search engine, an Firefox browser extension, you can personalize your search to include results from sources like Google, YouTube, Twitter, and Wikipedia. WebMynd provides the search results in a pleasing and easy-to-navigate display. Further benefits include being able to search a visual history of your web surfing, share links with friends, and keep track of what you find.

29. WhosTalkin.com – One of my favorite social media search tools, this browser search plugin works in both Firefox and Internet Explorer. After searching your name, for example, you get results in categories such as blogs, news, networks (like LinkedIn, Friendster, Facebook, and Ning), videos, images, forums, and tags (such as del.icio.us, blogmarks, and faves). Find out who’s talking about you!

30. Wink.com – This search plugin is promoted by Wink as “the world’s largest people search engine” where you can find phone numbers, email addresses, websites, photos and more. You must join (it is free) to see all the search results and to download the plugin.

31. Xing.com – Xing is a global social network for professionals and business people with more than 7 million members in 200 countries. It has often been compared to LinkedIn as it has similar features, such as groups, networking events, contact management, people search, and job postings. Much more international in flavor, however.

32. Ziggs.com – The Ziggs community also contains people from around the world and allows you to build an online profile, track visits to your profile, find people and jobs, list yourself in professional directories, join groups, and connect with contacts. If you are proactively marketing yourself and your personal brand, you will want to be sure to have a profile on Ziggs as it is a commonly searched site by employers and recruiters.

33. Zoominfo.com – Build a profile here for free for great online visibility and search for people (there are currently 45 million registered users) and companies (5 million). Another easy way to boost your online identity with a strong, keyword-rich profile or add to your job-search research toolbox.

For the previous entries in the list, go to:

Technology Tools for Job Seekers - Part 1

Technology Tools for Job Seekers - Part 2

Cross-posted at Career Goddess Blog

5 Ways NOT To Find A Job

I think there's far too much talk and pressure about "how to find a job" and "how to reinvent yourself," don't you..?

Instead, how about embracing the recession and taking some time off to relax, have fun and veg out?

Just think, you could watch day-time television (Oprah, Ellen or the sports channel), go play some golf, visit the gym and sit in the sauna (but tell everyone you've been working out), play online poker, have fun on Facebook, hang out in coffee shops and "do lunch" with friends.

You could stay up late to watch trashy "made for TV" films whilst eating a tub of Haagen Dazs and corn chips. Maybe buy some completely useless items from the late night shopping channels and wake up the next day when.....well, whenever you like.

With such a lifestyle, why would you want to spend time looking for a job?

Oh yes, I forgot - it's not socially acceptable is it? You've got to at least "look" as if you're trying to find work.

So why not bluff your friends and family into thinking you are working really hard at the job searching but sabotage it?!

Here are 5 great ways NOT to get a job (but which make it look like you're trying):

1. Live in the past

To ensure you don't find a job, just stay focused on the past. Keep talking about all the things you've done, all the experience you've had. Don't think for a second that this may be futile in a new world and a different climate.

(By the way - if you decide you'd actually like to find a role, you may want to think less about what you've done and focus more on the value you can create in the future for employers and clients, the problems you can solve, the results you can deliver, the transferable skills you can offer. But if not, just stay in the past - it's a great way to enjoy the benefits of being footloose and fancy free!)

2. Play the blame game

To guarantee you can continue enjoying lazy lunches and some '"me time" (even though you've no idea what it means) just blame someone - anyone!

After all, it's not your fault you're struggling to find work - it's the government, the greedy bankers, your incompetent employers, the hopeless recruiters, your mother-in-law, the next door neighbour's dog and of course ......."The Recession" - the very best excuse for 20 years to play the blame game and do nothing!

(Oh, if you get a bit tired of blaming others and being a miserable, you may want to quit blaming the rest of the world and take personal responsibility for your situation - you'll probably find a job much faster and be a much nicer person to be around. But if not, just stay there - at least the blame game allows you to take the summer off - much more fun than working.)

3. Hide behind your computer

This is a great one. If you'd rather play online poker or poke a few people on Facebook than get back to work, hide behind your computer for 7 hours a day pretending you're job searching.

You can sit in your PJ's in front of your laptop, apply for a few random jobs, send your resume to the same recruiters and job sites that everyone else is emailing and then sit back and say "Oh, I'm working sooo hard on my job search - but there's simply nothing out there!" Genius.

(But if you get bored or broke sitting at home playing online poker all day, you may want to come out of hiding and get serious about finding work. The internet, email and social media are just "tools." Ultimately it's your relationships with people, not technology, that will help you find a job. Getting out there, speaking, meeting and engaging with people in the real world. But only do that if you really want a job. Maybe you can just stay home and dance in your lounge with Ellen? She's much more fun than working.)

4. Wait 3 days before following up a lead

You've seen a job ad or been given a warm lead. Damn it - your plans to relax and do nothing seem scuppered.

OK, here's an idea. How about you procrastinate, put off the call for a few days until you've perfected your resume or put off making the call until tomorrow when you feel better about yourself. That way, by the time you apply, the warm lead is cold, the job advert is inundated with other people so you don't get to interview stage at all. Brilliant - you can then continue enjoying some more time on the couch with Oprah!

(If, on the other hand, you fancy giving up the couch and decide to get serious about finding a job, you need to be quick. In a tight job market, speed is of the essence - so act NOW, not later. You can improve, perfect and course correct later. But only if you want a job. Maybe Oprah's much nicer than a boss so why bother hey?)

5. Be desperate

This one always works. Be really really desperate, needy and annoying. Just enough so that it puts people off. That way you can look like you're trying really hard but just not getting the breaks. That way you can justify taking a break from the job searching - you know, just to "take a step back and review my options". Perfect plan!

(But if you decide that you actually want to get a job - stop trying so hard. Be open-minded and flexible, but also be confident and self-assured in the way you conduct yourself. Believe you're someone that has some value to offer - and then behave accordingly).

So there you go - 5 ways NOT to get a job this summer. 5 ways to ensure you can spend more time improving your golf swing, watching reality TV and seeing how many juicers and useless knives you can buy from those awful shopping channels.
 
(But if you'd like to find a job in less time and with less stress, do the exact opposite of these 5 points and you'll stand a much better chance of succeeding).

By Sital Ruparelia from 6 Figure Career Management

"Why should I care what you had for lunch?"

You shouldn’t, but the mini blog, Twitter, with its tiny tweets (140 character limit), can do a lot more than blather on about inconsequential events. Twitter can establish you as a player in your field, either as a thought leader or as an involved contributor. In fact, in my opinion, Twitter eats Facebook’s lunch in terms of job search.

Twitter allows you to search for the content that’s relevant to your industry and/or function as well as to search for jobs, recruiters, and job search advice. You can follow just a few tweeters or thousands to find out what’s happening. People will ask permission to follow you.

Although you just have 140 characters, you will have the opportunity to communicate valuable information by leveraging the links within your tweets. You can link to online articles, blog postings, and other sites that you think would be useful to your followers.

Recruiters and hiring managers watch Twitter. You want to be sure your participation is professional in content, because anything that is in poor taste (!) can rule you out, just as a consistently professional brand can rule you in.

If you want to proactively search for jobs advertised on Twitter, you can do that. You can also go to websites that aggregate job openings found on Twitter. Sample tweet: “Go to www.TwitterJobSearch.com, www.twithire.com, or www.tweetmyjobs.com to see if there is a job for you.”

Make Twitter part of your daily diet to build your brand and find job leads.

Management Consulting is Still Growing (as of the Spring of 2009)

Management Consulting is still growing, even in the depths of our current recession. Marketing Consulting is also growing, as are others. In fact, some consulting industries appear to be recession-proof, including Process and Logistics Consulting.

For unemployed job-seekers, consulting (or project work) can help them get through the current recession while still looking for a full-time job.

If you’d like to try consulting, don’t look for a "job," look for "work." This gives employers a choice of bringing you on board as a temporary, part-time or regular full-time employee – or as a consultant or contract employee. Since many employers are hesitant to add full-time staff during a recession, this can make you more attractive and give you more opportunities.

If you line up two or three part-time consulting gigs (say one day a week each), and bill properly, you can make more money than a full time job. Then, if one of your consulting gigs stops, you have not lost your entire revenue stream, and can regroup to find another one-day-a-week consulting gig to fill your plate. To see the current trends for eight different consulting industries, go to http://jobbait.com/a/solo.html.

How to Write a Great Resume - Free Online Course

I don't usually write blog posts touting things I've done, but I'm pretty proud of my new website, which is a free membership site for anyone struggling to craft a compelling resume. 

The site can be found at smartsearchsystem.com.

There you'll find resume writing and job search lessons, a gallery of resume samples and a discussion forum. Lessons are applicable to people at all levels, from entry-level to executive, and are available to read online, listen to as MP3s, or download as PDFs to read offline.

Learn more or sign-up here. 

And if you do become a member, we'd love your help in getting our discussion forum started. The site has been buzzing since our soft launch just a few days ago, and we are signing up new members every day, but very few people are comfortable jumping in to an empty forum. If you're not the shy type, how about helping us get the conversation started over there? (For the first few months, I'll be hanging out on the forum answering resume and job search questions, and as the site grows, we'll invite more experts to participate).

Look forward to seeing you at Smart Search!