10. Treat your job search like a job - be organized and devote time to the search
9. Get out of the house - be active and engage with others
8. Act as a lawyer - Look for ways to use your knowledge - even if the opportunities aren't exactly what you are looking for, full-time or paid
7. Think outside the box about jobs - part-time, project work, solo, quasi-legal jobs, etc
6. Be a person people want to be around - believe in yourself, be confident, be interested in and interesting to others
5. Brand yourself & know how to sell the brand - realize what you have to offer & let others know
4. Do an honest assessment of your blind spots and work on them to strengthen your candidacy
3. Never say “no” or “never” - those words limit your opportunities and the ways people can keep you in mind for opportunities
2. Methodically work your network
1. Don’t lose hope
Showing posts with label job search. Show all posts
Showing posts with label job search. Show all posts
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Career Movers Series: Thriving After A Tough Employment Situation
I was raised to believe in a rational universe populated by honest, well intentioned people. I enter all situations with that mindset, but have left some shocked by a much different reality. One place where reason may not prevail, but life must go on is your career. Time will help your heart and ego heal. For now, you must be pragmatic.
So, for those who may have ended their employment involuntarily, here are a few fundamental next steps.
1. Gather as much evidence as you can. First, see if the employer will give you any information about how they see the situation. You will rarely get the full set of facts as employers are uncomfortable with the conversation and worry about legal liability, but you should ask. When you do, let them know you are asking so you can move forward assured you won’t run in to the same problem. When you get the feedback be appreciative for their honesty and do not challenge the facts, their role in the problem or their analysis of the facts. This is not a trial and this is not your time for a closing argument. As you begin to process your feelings and begin next steps, partner with a trusted confidant to determine which parts of the feedback are helpful to you and which are a matter of perspective, which you do not share. You will likely never fully agree with what the employer said and you may be tempted to argue, but don't. There is your truth, their truth and THE truth. It is unlikely you will understand all three. Second, move on to finding out whatever you can about the good work you did. You may be able to use that in place of a good reference or to refute untruths about your work.
2. Frame an explanation of what happened so you can speak of it without focusing on the negative. Keep it brief, moderately vague, and focused on whatever positives you can find.
3. If you know of other people who are aware of the employer’s bad behavior (towards you or others), seek them out to gain insight as to how to move forward and limit the effects of the fractured relationship. They may know people who will understand your experience and look past it. This is not permission to gossip or wallow.
4. When possible, do not burn the bridge, even if the employer seems to have started the fire. Exit as gracefully as possible. Even consider thanking the employer for the opportunity despite the result. That may soften the employer and benefit you in the future.
5. Seek alternative references from the employer. A reference can come from a colleague, non-supervising member of the organization, vendors, clients, etc.
6. Don’t tell everyone every detail of the story. You don’t want the story to grow a life of its own. That only leaves room for gossip and takes the focus off your qualifications and availability.
7. If there are lessons to learn, learn them, but don’t take the situation on as a Scarlet Letter. Don’t take on the self doubt, blame and guilt that goes with taking this one situation and having it act as a reflection of you in a broader context. You will get past this and it is not a final judgment on your potential or career.
Ultimately the biggest challenge will be to move on from trying to make sense of what happened. That is often challenging. Your job is to move past it. Not make it last longer by tarnishing your reputation and the employer’s through negative talk, and find a way to reframe the experience so it gets out of the way of your next opportunity. 20% of success is what happens to you and 80% is how you respond.
Start working on that response.
1. Gather as much evidence as you can. First, see if the employer will give you any information about how they see the situation. You will rarely get the full set of facts as employers are uncomfortable with the conversation and worry about legal liability, but you should ask. When you do, let them know you are asking so you can move forward assured you won’t run in to the same problem. When you get the feedback be appreciative for their honesty and do not challenge the facts, their role in the problem or their analysis of the facts. This is not a trial and this is not your time for a closing argument. As you begin to process your feelings and begin next steps, partner with a trusted confidant to determine which parts of the feedback are helpful to you and which are a matter of perspective, which you do not share. You will likely never fully agree with what the employer said and you may be tempted to argue, but don't. There is your truth, their truth and THE truth. It is unlikely you will understand all three. Second, move on to finding out whatever you can about the good work you did. You may be able to use that in place of a good reference or to refute untruths about your work.
2. Frame an explanation of what happened so you can speak of it without focusing on the negative. Keep it brief, moderately vague, and focused on whatever positives you can find.
3. If you know of other people who are aware of the employer’s bad behavior (towards you or others), seek them out to gain insight as to how to move forward and limit the effects of the fractured relationship. They may know people who will understand your experience and look past it. This is not permission to gossip or wallow.
4. When possible, do not burn the bridge, even if the employer seems to have started the fire. Exit as gracefully as possible. Even consider thanking the employer for the opportunity despite the result. That may soften the employer and benefit you in the future.
5. Seek alternative references from the employer. A reference can come from a colleague, non-supervising member of the organization, vendors, clients, etc.
6. Don’t tell everyone every detail of the story. You don’t want the story to grow a life of its own. That only leaves room for gossip and takes the focus off your qualifications and availability.
7. If there are lessons to learn, learn them, but don’t take the situation on as a Scarlet Letter. Don’t take on the self doubt, blame and guilt that goes with taking this one situation and having it act as a reflection of you in a broader context. You will get past this and it is not a final judgment on your potential or career.
Ultimately the biggest challenge will be to move on from trying to make sense of what happened. That is often challenging. Your job is to move past it. Not make it last longer by tarnishing your reputation and the employer’s through negative talk, and find a way to reframe the experience so it gets out of the way of your next opportunity. 20% of success is what happens to you and 80% is how you respond.
Start working on that response.
Career Search Essentials Series: The little things...
I received an email recently that was written with absolute panic and despair. The sender had just been at a second interview that included lunch only to get to her car after the interview and find spinach in her teeth. Uugh!
The horror. This is the smallest point I will ever make, but it is one that can cause stress and embarrassment so read on.
When interviewing you need to be a little more high maintenance than you may be on your normal days. Order food that is simple and not full of potential hazards. No soup. No foods with sauces. No food with cracked pepper or spinach (both get stuck in teeth easily). No garlic (only you will enjoy that aroma). Nothing on skewers. No alcohol.
Think simple and clean.
And finally, be the person who needs to make a bathroom stop at some point in the interview process, particularly after lunch. Beyond ensuring you don't have to go to the bathroom in the middle of an interview, it avoids wardrobe malfunctions. Check your suit in the mirror. Check your hair. And check your teeth!
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