The contract I was working on terminated on September 30 and I have been taking advantage of training, development, and a host of services provided by community groups, my county, and On-Line to better prepare myself for finding an income replacement.
Getting out there and doing something to keep busy is extremely important. When you are sitting home, and displaced from your peers, the negative self talk can creep up. The longer you sit by yourself finding your way through the maze of this new economy, the more damage you are doing. I am not talking just about the emotional end, but keeping your skills and professional networks up to date.
I have been going to various networking groups, and following on-line newsgroups to share information on success and failures in the job search game. The game has changed, and people not finding success are typically not changing with the times, not focused on personal development, and not keeping up to date with their skills.
I am receiving at least 20 emails from legitimate recruiters offering positions each week. I am getting a good 10 -15 solid job referrals/leads from people I know. I am getting about 6 phone interviews each week and selecting who I want to meet face to face. In fact, I have 2 interviews next week. This really upsets my friends who have been on unemployment nearly a year and are close to exhausting all of their benefits.
What makes me special? I am well prepared. I made sure I had a number of "informational" interviews from various companies even though they were not hiring. I connected with key people in my industry on-line and asked for a phone call to see what the current challenges are. What are the strategies companies are looking at.
I also looked very closely at job postings in my field to analyze trends of skill sets employers are looking for. This was really critical to developing a solid resume and a continuing education plan to improve upon my skill sets.
More than one company asked me to write a statement explaining how my personal life philosophy meets their corporate culture and specifically asked how I differentiate myself from all of the other candidates. I was also asked to explain what I have been doing with myself since my last day of work. Employers are asking for this, before they even schedule a phone interview. Two companies called to schedule an interview next week. I have been playing phone tag with two others to schedule an interview time.
I was able to write volumes on my management philosophy and style. I was able to show how I am not afraid to step outside the box to keep myself positively focused in commission sales to learn about “the green movement”. I explained that money was not a motivating factor in this commission based venture, but the networking, relationships and education was inspiring. I also talked about my volunteer efforts to share career management techniques at a local events. I was able to write about various achievements that I was able to illustrate a desire to learn, grow, and contribute to a greater cause. What differentiated me was not only the words of my philosophy, but the evidence and achievements to back it up.
All of these commission/volunteer activities are a far cry from my career path of Operations Management, Procurement, Resourcing, and Strategic Planning but again serve an important purpose to expand my skills as a top performer and valuable asset to a would be employer. The great people I connected with along the way are phenomenal.
Of all the seminars I have attended, you would think the meeting space would be “standing room only” given unemployment rates are at an all time high. The truth is, the events at the Unemployment Center host maybe 12-18 unemployed/underemployed people who are looking for ways to improve their presentation. The County Library hosted an event and that number dropped to 6. A religious organization asked I come in to present to their “unemployed/underemployed” congregation. No one showed up.
This is really a testament to the unwillingness people have to change the way they are doing things. It takes a lot more than sending your resume through a job board. You need to brand yourself, have a portfolio, and be able to show you value every day. Even when you are employed, you need to get out there and network with industry people not only to share business information but to create relationships in the event your company is looking for a solid candidate, or possibly you will need a new opportunity at some point.
