I was very impressed when I received this email awhile back from my career coaching client, Robin. Check out how prepared he was for his career fair. It went really well after all the time and effort he put into it!
I researched all 120 companies attending and wound up with a list of 12 I thought were good fits. Further research pared the list down to 4 and I received an invitation from a fifth who saw my profile on the career fair web site and asked me to come talk to them. I prepared folders with my resume, a business card and a cover letter slightly customized for each company. That seemed to be very well received and was an indication of my level of professionalism.
Having a plan and being prepared with information about the company and the positions they were looking to fill was invaluable. The lead company did not even list the position I wanted in the booklet we all received. It was an interesting and very fruitful discussion. Because I knew who I wanted to talk to and what I was interested in, I feel all of the discussions went well and expect good results. None of them may ultimately result in a job, but not for lack of preparation or execution.
When dealing with your job search, it’s always worth going the extra mile. Follow Robin’s lead and put the extra time and effort into preparing for your networking events and interviews. It will pay off!
Hallie Crawford
Job Search Coach
P.S. Is your resume ready for your networking events? Read this article to help you get organized and prepare for the big event!
Many of our career coaching clients are making the mistake of a) not using the internet to find a job or b) using the internet inappropriately to find a job.
Some clients don’t have LinkedIn profiles; others have weak ones that don’t show potential employers their skills and what they might be able to offer. A lot of new clients talk to us about all the job searching they’ve done on the internet, and how all these hours have lead to nothing. Most of the time, those people are doing it all wrong.
I saw this great article on Harvard Business Review’s website – “How to Curate Your Own Personal Job Feed” that gives specific advice on how to use the internet effectively. It’s an article part of the series “The New Rules for Getting a Job”.
Read more here: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/03/how_to_curate_your_own_persona.html
I encourage you to follow through with everything discussed in this article. These are the same tips we give to our clients, specifically her advice on using LinkedIn:
LinkedIn, unlike Twitter, is entirely focused on professional networking so there is no need to separate your job hunting activity. Your starting point for finding listings on LinkedIn is under the “Jobs” tab in the top navigation. At first glance, LinkedIn’s Jobs feature appears similar to other job boards in your ability to search by various criteria, but it offers another important element: the ability to search jobs based on how connected you are to the employer. After filling out your criteria on LinkedIn’s Advanced Search page, you’ll receive a list of results along with, on the left side of your screen, a list of ways to refine your search. When you refine by “relationship,” you can see job postings based on whether you have first, second, or third degree LinkedIn connections into that organization. This is crucial information for determining whether you might be able to ask someone in your network to personally introduce you to the hiring manager or recruiter at that organization.
In addition to searching LinkedIn’s job listings, check out LinkedIn Groups, which also feature job posting areas. Go to LinkedIn’s Group Directory and seek out groups for your industry or other niches. Then, for each group you join, click on the “Jobs” tab within that group. If the group is private, these postings won’t appear in a general Google search, so you may find opportunities that aren’t posted elsewhere.
To add these LinkedIn opportunities to your daily “rounds,” opt in to receive daily job alerts (available from LinkedIn’s main Jobs page) and to receive daily group digest emails from each group to which you belong.
Source: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/03/how_to_curate_your_own_persona.html
One last important note: While networking online is a good idea, nothing beats networking in-person. Make sure to get out from behind your computer and network!
Hallie Crawford
Certified Career Coach
P.S. Is your dissatisfaction a passing phase or a sign it’s time to move on? Find out if you’re in the right career. Take our free Ideal Career Quiz today!
Do you dream of doing something new in your career? Do you spend hours daydreaming about how things will be wonderful in your new career and not stuck in the one you’re in? Do you find yourself hesitant to take the steps forward, even though you know you want change? You are not alone.
As a career coach, I have spoken with hundreds of people who dream of doing something different with their lives, but can’t seem to move forward. What’s holding them back? One word: Fear.
I see fear as the #1 reason people stay in jobs they don’t like. It could be fear of the unknown, fear of what other people will think, fear of failure, or fear of financial insecurity. There are as many different fears as there are people.
So what can you do if you want to make a career transition but are stuck in fear?
Here are my three top tips to clear your fear and make a career change:
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Take Things One Step at a TimeThe fastest way to feel overwhelmed and fearful is to jump 10 steps ahead of where you’re currently at. Instead, just concentrate on the next step in front of you. For instance, don’t worry about being offered the job if you haven’t sent out any resumes. First get your resume and cover letter in order. Whenever you jump ahead past the step you’re on, you will feel fearful.
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Spend Time Getting Clear Inside YourselfMany times fear is based on what other people tell you and what you hear in the news. Basing our decisions on what we think others will think is not helpful for you in getting clear on your career transition. Instead, spend time journaling, meditating, and asking yourself what you most want. Allow yourself to get excited and motivated towards making a change. You are in charge of your own life, so spend time getting clear about what is best for you.
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Find SupportIt is very challenging to make big changes alone. It is important to enlist a supportive team to help you with your transition. You don’t have to do this work alone. Why reinvent the wheel if there are professionals who can help? If you are ready to get support in your career transition, contact us today and we’d love to provide you a complimentary consultation.
I had the privilege of being on a radio show for Q100 here in Atlanta last week. We talked about staying on top of New Year’s resolutions. Here are 4 steps to help you meet your goals that I shared on the show:
- Create a job search plan that includes your ideal career direction, plus two other possible ideas related to it, in case you need to expand your search over time.
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Firm up your elevator pitch. What makes you unique? You have to know your brand or your value. Understand your strengths and what you bring to the table.
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Network, network, and network. Networking is still the best way to get a job. Employers are still going to be hesitant to post jobs because they still get flooded with resumes. Set up as many informational interviews as possible.
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Go for what you really want. The job market is getting better, but you have to realize it takes work and time. Sometimes a new approach to your job search is needed to stand a better chance to land the job you really want.
If you’d like help at achieving your career goals this year, contact us today to set up a complimentary consultation.
P.S. If you are interested in furthering your career direction, be sure to check out these free tools, specially designed to help you on you career journey.
A key element to spicing up your job search is to ask for information. After working with many career coaching clients recently, I’m finding that people aren’t using the right networking strategy for their job search. Here are some key tips to spice up your job search:
- Informational interviews are resonating and helpful in your jobs search. Talk to the people in your network who work in an industry you want to be part of. Ask them for 15 minutes of their time to learn more about what they do. Don’t ask for a job, ask for information.
- Go places where people are, such as professional associations. Instead of going to job fairs and places where people are unemployed, this can be a great way to make connections and learn more about your preferred industry.
- A good networking strategy is critical and includes LinkedIn. Update your LinkedIn profile right away if you have not done so in the past 3 months. People still don’t get on LinkedIn and use it effectively. 80% of recruiters are searching here. We have a career coaching client who upgraded her account to paid and is reaping the rewards of seeing the actual traffic to her account. There are many ways to use this actively to run your search.
- Soft skills are important, and another area that job seekers often don’t fully understand. Soft skills are skills that an employer can’t teach you like work ethic, management skills, or your ability to work in a team.
I hope these tips are helpful to you. If you are motivated and want to spice up your job search more, contact us today to set up a complimentary consultation.
Hallie Crawford
Ideal Career Coach
P.S. A great way to receive free help regarding your career direction is to our Free Monthly Newsletter. Check it out today!
I was talking with my career coaching client, Damon, the other day and he brought up a great point. He shared with me that in his previous job he was always motivated by the fear of not making sales, opposed to the passion for making them. As he was trying to find career fulfillment, he decided this was not something he wanted to continue. Until we looked at it, he had never realized that his motivation came from that fear rather than inspiration.
You want to be challenged in your work and strive to be a better employee, but it’s important that you are motivated by passion and excitement, rather than the fear of failure.
Think about what motivates you this week at work. Is it a positive driving force, or a negative one?
Hallie Crawford
Career Help Coach
P.S. Check out our FREE REPORT: “4 Keys to Career Fulfillment and Effectiveness” to help you find more fulfillment in your career.
If you are an unemployed job seeker, your job search might be more difficult because you don’t already have a pre-existing schedule to help you establish a structure for your search. There are pros and cons to being an unemployed job seeker. You have more time than those who are employed, but you also have to create your own structure and schedule from scratch to ensure you’re effective in your job search.
I recently spoke with a career coaching client, Andrea, about this exact issue. She was finding it hard to structure her days in a way that she was effective in her job search. At the end of each day, she felt like she had taken action, but wasn’t sure if it was the most effective action. She didn’t have a sense of accomplishment. Every day and every week I suggest having a basic template for your job search that creates your own schedule. Go by the hour if needed. For example, every day you start your work by 9 am and from 9-11 you work on networking, and searching online job boards. Take a break for lunch, and an additional hour for working out/doing personal things if needed. Then get back to your job search from 2-5. During that time you can work on applying for jobs, revising your resume, updating your LinkedIn profile, making connections in LinkedIn or reaching out to recruiters.
You can set your schedule however you want to. The key is to have a structure in place so that you know when you want to be working on specific things. This will help you establish what goals you want to achieve each day and each week. Having a schedule will help ensure you’re using your time and energy wisely and that you’ve accomplished what you want to each day.
Hallie Crawford
Atlanta Career Coach
P.S. Be sure to sign up for our upcoming FREE TELECLASS: “How to Tell if Career Assessments Can Clarify Your Career Direction – Which Ones Are Really Worth the Investment!”
