Last week when I wrote in this space about the one-year anniversary of my unscheduled career change, I closed with a promise this week I would outline some of the strategies that did - and did not -work for me in my job search. I hope some of these ideas might help someone else who is presently in the same position I was a year ago.
The first thing you need when you head out into that great new frontier known as the job search is a positive attitude. I know this can be difficult, especially at first when you are still licking your wounds from losing a job. But trust me, a positive attitude will do more for you in your job search than a lot of other things. Sure, I had my days when I started to despair; we all do. But I always kept it to myself and worked through the doubt and before long, I was upbeat with new ideas and plans to carry out.
Tied in with this positive attitude is a desire to put the past behind you and move forward. No prospective employer wants a sorehead on his or her staff if they can avoid it, and negative things you say about a former employer have a habit of coming back to haunt you later on. Keep it positive and look forward, not behind.
While I think about it, remember prospective employers will check your social media platforms, be it Facebook, Twitter and especially LinkedIn, so make sure to keep any axes you might have to grind off all these sites. Again, think positive!
If your previous employer offers the services of a career counsellor, by all means take advantage of it. The transition person assigned to my case, Judy, was always there to listen to me on my good days and bad days and offer support and important advice. Although it meant I had to travel to Hamilton every other week to meet with her, I actually looked forward to the visits, as I always came out energized and renewed, and that is what you need at this point: an independent third party who has the skills and knowledge to help guide you in new directions in your career.
For me, I can't imagine going through what I went through last year without Judy's help. You cannot do the job search while living in a vacuum, so don't be afraid to reach out for help. It is there for the taking, so mine that knowledge base for all it is worth. You'll receive help designing and writing your resume, for example, which is vital as you embark on your job search.
While writing your resume, be honest and don't embellish the facts. If you had important and relevant information for a particular employer, by all means include it. But don't include anything you can't back up during the job interview if the resume gets you through the door. Be careful about including humour in your resume unless the position you are applying for specifically calls for someone with that type of talent.
My last resume was chiselled on stone tablets it goes back so far, so I really appreciated the input from Judy as we brought it into the 21st century. I discovered during this process I had far more skills than I realized, and it was a revelation seeing them all down on paper. Be honest with your resume, but don't sell yourself short. You likely also have more talents than you realized, too.
I would even go so far as to suggest everyone should have their resume rewritten once every five years or so whether you need to or not, just to see for yourself what additional knowledge you have acquired since the last time you reworked it. You'd be surprised how things change over time.
Very early on in my job search, I knew one of my most valuable assets was my extensive network of contacts, and in spite of my losing access to my company email programme, I still had all the contacts on my iPhone, so without missing a beat I got to work immediately notifying anyone and everyone who could possibly help me with my job search of the situation, and without sounding needy, just planted the seed in their minds that I was on the market, as it were, and available to work.
In fact, it was while working my contacts I landed the all-important interview that eventually resulted in my present position with Meridian Credit Union. People know you. Don't be afraid to reach out to them, as they can be an important ally and resource for you in your job search.
In the old days, you consulted hard copies of newspapers for classified ads, but now you go on the internet to search job sites. Believe me, this makes your life much easier, although you can almost have too much choice if you're not selective. I utilized about ten different job search sites as I worked through the process, and that seemed to be the maximum for me without undue duplication.
If there are any job fairs coming up in your area while you are looking for work, by all means go to them. I went to three such job fairs while I was looking for work, and although ultimately they did not bear fruit for me, I did get two job interviews out of the fairs, and if nothing else, I got my name and resume out there in front of any number of prospective employers. You will find, as I did, a lot of the jobs being offered are part-time or for students, but you just never know what might happen at one of these events. Remember, not all jobs are being advertised, so you want to tap into that "underground" job market.
While at job fairs or even while just dropping off resumes to prospective employers on a day-to-day basis, do one thing that people tend to overlook, yet I cannot stress enough: dress for success. I don't care if you are applying to be a welder or a business executive, you should put your best foot forward and look professional at all times during your job search.
At the job fairs I attended, I was astounded by the number of people who should know better who turned up in track pants or worse, like they had just dragged themselves up from the couch to take a break from watching television. I always dressed up for these events and trust me, it got me noticed. A little effort goes a long way to showing prospective employers you mean business and are ready to go at a moment's notice.
One of the most important things I learned during this process was to think outside the box, as it were, and get outside of your comfort zone. For me, it became painfully obvious my radio broadcasting days were just about done due to my age, as radio is very much a young person's game now. So the challenge for me was to come up with other uses for my skill-set.
Over the Christmas holidays I sat down and thought of jobs I could apply my skill-set to and build on that base in order to gain employment, and although it took some time, it worked. If you think I ever imagined a year ago I would be doing the job I am now doing, you'd be sadly mistaken. But you have to look beyond what you have already done with your life and look ahead to what I called at the time "my next big adventure."
My next big adventure brought me to a local company with a proven track record for progressive thinking, and I found them through careful research and opening my eyes to the possibilities even I had not considered before. Will your next big adventure come the same way?
Don't be angry, don't be afraid, and don't sell yourself short. You have a lot to offer the world and you should be proud of it. Remain positive, patient and proactive, and good things will come to you.
Good luck!
August 18th, 2014.
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