No career/job/networking blather today – I am too busy writing thank you notes.
I hope you have fun and at least slightly indulgent plans for New Year’s Eve.
When you are making all those resolutions, don’t forget your career!
All the best for 2o17 – may it be one of growth and success for us all!
Laura
Filed under career change, Networking
It’s that time of year again – the time of year when we fill the malls looking for the perfect gifts. Is there a job seeker on your list? It’s unlikely you can find them a job to wrap up and put under the tree but here are some things they might really appreciate.
All the best for some great shopping!
Filed under career change, Interview, Job Search
I have heard the term “digital revolution” about 10 times this week and I have to say it is wearing a little thin…..I know it’s a big deal but what does it really mean to the average job seeker?
It means that you have many more sources to find out information on industries, people and jobs. We used to have job sites like Monster and now companies post jobs on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and a whole bunch of industry specific lists like AngelList, Freshgigs and TalentEgg.
You can find out about actual companies at sites like Glassdoor. It started out as a place where employees could post salary information anonymously and then quickly morphed into a place where people talked about their interview and employment experiences. This can be handy but like any user fed information source, it is buyer beware. Generally speaking, only the very happy and the very angry/sad/bitter people share their thoughts and feelings. Definitely take info from Glassdoor with a grain of salt.
Here is the real impact point of this digital business: your resume. When your resume is reviewed, chances are, the person reviewing it is looking you up on social media at the same time.
What happens when you search google for your name? (Hint: use quotation marks to get it right i.e. “Laura Machan”).
Check google images and google news (different tabs on the search page).
You need to see and be aware of what others will see when they look you up. Are there lots of people with same name? Are there pictures of you doing weird things? News clippings about some neighbourhood shenanigans?
If there are less-than-professional items, there is not a lot you can do except contact the site owner and ask for material to be taken down.
You also want to able to explain what was happening at the time to provide some context and alleviate any concerns in an interview situation or maybe even in your cover letter.
The better thing way to solve this is to get out and do more positive activities. Volunteer, speak at conferences, get involved in kids sports. Gradually, those images will push the junk to page six or seven of google and most people lose interest after page three.
Take a few minutes this weekend to look yourself up. You might be surprised by what you see.
Filed under career change, Interview, Job Search, Resume, social media
I am at a conference in Ottawa this week. Not just any conference but the annual meeting of the Canadian Nuclear Association.
When I tell that to people, I get a blank look in return. Completely blank.
This is a not small meeting. There are 800 delegates from across Canada and likely more post graduate degrees per square inch than anywhere outside a university campus.
These people are not just involved in generating power but also mining, food processing, nuclear medicine and more. And it’s not just engineers. The nuclear industry directly employs 60,000 people in Canada. They are responsible for powering many of your laptops and proving the isotopes for your MRIs.
Yesterday was student day and I can’t tell you how many students stopped by our Women in Nuclear booth to say they really knew nothing about the industry but someone told them they should stop by and check it out . Did I mention the free food? That could have been an incentive as well, I suppose.
So, here is an industry that is responsible for putting five billion dollars (yes, billion) into our economy and yet people don’t consider it as a career possibility.
How many other industries are out there under people’s radar?
If you are looking for something new to do, you have to stretch your horizon. It may be lovely to work for a Fortune 500 company but there are so many other interesting, stable, well-paying options.
How do you find these out about these industries? Stop where you are right now. Identify six things that are in your immediate area. Where do they come from? Who made them? Where did they get developed? That’s a good way to start.
For example, there is a banana beside my computer. It took a bunch of people involved in farming, logistics, transportation, export, inspection and distribution to get it to me.
Could I work in one of those industries? I don’t know but I think it’s time to find out.
Filed under career change, Job Search
Imagine you have just gotten off the phone with your recruiter. You got the interview! But instead of being excited, you feel like you are going to throw up.
How do you harness all that nervous energy and all those great ideas swirling around in your head so that you appear focussed and confident?
Think of the interview as an audition or a tryout. Think about how you used to prepare for those when you were in high school. How did you get ready for the community theatre audition or tryouts for your rec hockey team?
Research
You probably talked to someone who knew the coach or someone who has worked with the director before. It’s good to find out about their style or particular hot buttons before you are face to face with them.
Prepare
Consider the role you are trying out for. What kinds of skills and experience are listed in the job posting? Obviously you have some of those things or you would not have gotten this far.
Develop examples of the top three or four skills required. Where did you perform this skill? For whom? What did the team look like? Were you successful? What did you learn?
Practice
Success at an interview is just like success in any sport or performance. It comes from practice. Do not underestimate this. Winging it based on your charm and relaxed attitude will not work. You can really only pull off the relaxed look if you are super comfortable with your material and that only happen if you practice. Tell your stories to your friends and your spouse and when they are sick of hearing you talk, use the recording app on your phone.
Last bit of advice: check your teeth and your fly on the way in to the interview. Discovering a poppyseed in your teeth when you are back in the car, is a cruel way to finish a great conversation.
Good luck!
Filed under career change, Interview, Job Search
If you are like me, you spent some time this weekend switching your clothes around. Moved the golf shirts and flower prints to the front and shoved all the black stuff into a box in the garage. That’s what we do in spring.
It is just your closet that should be sorted and updated. Your resume should be refreshed too.
It may not be as important as your smoke detector, but in terms of your career, it should be right up there.
Here are the things to consider:
Has your title changed?
Has the scope of the role been increased?
Did you take any courses or workshops over the winter?
How about any special projects?
Any new volunteer committees or fund raising (yes, the ride to conquer cancer counts)
Once this is done and stored in a place that’s easily retrievable, like Dropbox, you might want to apply the same logic to your LinkedIn profile.
And if you have a few minutes at work, find all those emails that say “thank you” and “you’re a star”. First, email them to yourself and second, print them and take them home. You just never know when you are going to need a little lift or evidence of your great work.
So put on your favourite cotton, short sleeved shirt and get to it!
Filed under career change, Job Search, Resume
This weekend marks the practical beginning of spring. I know it was a couple of weeks ago on the calendar but I can still see my breath in the mornings so it’s not here yet.
Spring is when we think about cleaning, decluttering and generally freshening things up. This should not include just your living room, fridge or stinky, salt stained car but also your network.
Yes, I said network.
I am not saying you should unfriend people in droves however, once in a while, you need to take a look at your network to see if it reflects your needs. Your network is a bit like insurance. You really only learn about the consequences of choosing the cheap plan when you get into an accident and realize what is not covered.
You don’t want to figure out that your network is made up of mostly peers from the same company or industry when there is a downturn in that business. You will all be moping at the same time. Not helpful.
Here is what really drove this home for me: Justin Bieber. Seriously. We watched his roast on Comedy Central this week. It was hilarious (on many levels) but what struck me was the diversity of the people willing to go on tv to roast the kid.
You might expect comics like Kevin Hart and musicians like Ludacris. They are his natural, industry network. They probably go to the same parties and award shows and have a lot in common.
Guess who else was on the stage? Shaquille O’Neil, Snoop Dog and, wait for it, Martha Stewart.
No matter that they were only there to make fun of him. That’s not the point. The point is that they were willing to expose themselves by telling jokes about him to a live audience.
That is a powerful network. With that kind of diversity, Justin should be able to steer clear of all kinds of career obstacles. He should be able to use them to evaluate opportunities and get doors opened for new ideas.
So, who would do your roast? Can you pull together people from difference industries and backgrounds? Do they know enough about you to tell some stories?
Forget cleaning the fridge. Spruce up your network instead.
Filed under career change, Interview, Networking
I was invited to a change management workshop this week. I figured since I am in the business of helping people make a pretty important life change, I ought to go. I have to admit that I felt a bit of a know-it-all on the way into the session.
And as it turns out, it was a lot of stuff I talk about every day. I suppose having someone remind me to take my own advice was valuable. But the real value was the sidebar conversations with my colleagues. We were in a safe room and change was the topic at hand. People got to express some of their concerns in a way that would not have come up in the regular course of business. There was comfort in realizing that other people have the same concerns.
There was one gem though. The facilitator’s last slide talked about how one person’s attitude can change that of the group. She did not put it quite this way but basically a grin can fix everything.
This had a pretty dramatic effect on me. I turned to my group and grinned like a cheshire cat. I suspect I looked a bit wild (all teeth and big eyes) but it worked. Their brows unfurled and their arms uncrossed. Laughing causes such an outburst of air that you have no choice but to suck in a big breath of fresh air.
It was awesome.
So, let’s grin and carry on. We’ll get through this.
Filed under career change
Being a job seeker is not all sunshine and roses. Sometimes we just need a laugh to break up the repetitive job listings on LinkedIn and the “thanks but no thanks” emails.
Here a few lines might cheer you up a little. Even a small grin will make a better day.
And finally, put on your headphones and have an interview-fail giggle here. https://youtu.be/2ikXSt4L6BE
Feel free to pass this along to your friends and former colleagues – it might be the best thing they get all day!
Filed under career change, Interview, Job Search, Uncategorized
Keeping your eye on the job market is tough. It really only occurs to you on Sunday night when you are dreading work on Monday and let’s face it – that is not the best time.
The more we can automate the tedious searching and sifting though job postings, the better we will be.
LinkedIn already have developed at pretty good active job search site. You can click on the Jobs tab in LinkedIn and search through hundreds of postings. Shorten the path by the clicking on the advanced tab. This allows you to filter by location, industry and a bunch of other factors.
This week, LinkedIn introduced their new and improved iPhone app for job searching. It uses the location service along with your keywords to give you a list of local postings to scroll through. When you see something you like, you can apply with your profile in just a few taps.
You can set up alerts and favourites pretty easily too.
The folks at LinkedIn point out that this all happens privately. Your LinkedIn network is not notified that you are doing this. I should think that would be pretty obvious but I guess it’s worth knowing.
One caveat: this means your LinkedIn profile has to be ready to serve as your application. You cannot just have a company and a title. There has to be some meat and potatoes in your jobs. Your education has to be clear. Awards, sports, hobbies, projects – all of that needs to be in your profile and spelling mistake free.
Tap, scroll and apply away!
Filed under career change, Job Search, social media
Recruiter's Couch 