Status Updates – always a new opportunity

What effective use do you make of the status update in social media?  I’m speaking of that opportunity to let us all know (briefly) that you are still alive.

For an unemployed person, this is a golden opportunity.  I think you should keep telling us you are doing something fascinating with your time.  Try something like this:

• Just finished an online course in basic proofreading and am ready to tackle a new project.
• Am currently processing registrations for the regional (…..) conference.  Hope to see you there!
• Participating on a committee for the neighborhood block party.  We are currently looking for a sign language interpreter for the afternoon.

These statements seem to be vastly preferable to the following, which I often see:

• I’m unemployed – anyone have any leads for me?
• Hoping to be in touch with a recruiter in the field of engineering.

What about you?  I’d love to hear about status updates that resulted in someone reaching out to you in a productive way.

Workplace Courage

Like many Americans, I’m riveted to the television coverage of the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings.  As I watch law enforcement individuals headed toward targeted sites in the Boston area, I note that they have that unmistakable bulgy look of people who are wearing bulletproof vests.

And then there are firefighters in West, Texas, battling a mighty explosion of a fertilizer factory.

What kind of courage does it take to proceed toward a building that probably contains a suspect with nothing to lose?  Will they face a rain of bullets or a mighty explosion?  And in the face of this terrifying question, what propels the individuals to move forward?  I really don’t know, and I wonder.

What courage does it take to run toward a fire, knowing this might be the toughest blaze you’ll ever face?

These individuals set an example of bravery for the rest of us.  How does this impact me?

Well, I’m not faced with approaching a burning building or a determined terrorist.  But I do face people who may be unrealistic, who are their own worst enemies, who don’t take necessary steps today, but would rather wait for another day.

I don’t need a bulletproof vest or firefighter gear, but I do need courage.  I can remember to say – Wait, that doesn’t make sense You can do better. I can learn from the bravery being displayed at this very moment.

What kind of courage will you need on your job today?  Is it harder than what law enforcement is doing in Boston?  Harder than firefighters in West, Texas?

Resumes: why?

With some voices stating that the resume is dead (by the way, I don’t agree), it is fair to ask why it exists at all.

So – why the resume?

Obviously, it is the document, cyber or otherwise, that one submits to apply for a particular position.  Every reader of this blog knows that.

Other uses, however, might be where the fun begins.  Here are some that come to mind for me:

• your introduction at a job fair (take at least a dozen with you)
• a networking tool (after our brief conversation, I am taking the liberty of sending… for your perusal)
• a bio to send someone who will be introducing you as a speaker or workshop presenter,
• a document to bring to a job interview (in case they have lost yours already),
• an essential part of your portfolio, to be used for internal applications and salary negotiations.

True story:  While negotiating the pay for a week-end workshop, I attached my resume to some correspondence.  The party at the other end was able to obtain a higher pay rate for me because of additional experience they had not known I possessed.  Wow – that was easier than I thought!

What about you?  Have you had success using your resume in an unexpected way?

Help wanted!

A person I know has been job hunting way too long.  He and his former boss signed a reciprocal agreement to speak well of each other. How does one know if the other side is maintaining that policy?

I’m asking my readers for help:  have you ever used one of those reference check services?  Are they discreet?  Are they helpful?

I await your testimonials.

• Did you pay money for a reference check?
• Did you ask a buddy to call on your behalf?
• Any other ways to get feedback?

Hindsight + Memoir = Career Insight

A friend recently published a collection of stories of her youth, and I spent a wonderful afternoon getting to know the author in new ways.  Amid these funny and not-so-funny anecdotes, I gleaned some insight into how one’s youth continues to haunt and/or inspire as we get older.

That’s why career counselors devote much of a client’s first meeting to that person’s background, often over their objections.  (But I came for help with my resume!)

I’d rather hear you tell me about yourself.  When I’ve heard several stories about your past, I will understand that resume so much better, and will be much more able to help with it and with your job search.

Don’t believe me?  Check out Down to ‘Derry; Coming of Age in Vermont by Jeanne Heffron Slawson.  Here you will meet a bright, adventurous, artistic child who observed and remembered – a lot.  She writes of teachers and their attitudes in the village schools.  She reveals the parent who minimized her own daughter’s equestrian accomplishments in order to boost those of an older brother.  And most of all, she reminds us of the philosophy of dying and death that left the kids totally alone to cope.

After you read this collection, you won’t be terribly surprised that this woman went on to become a caring and professional career specialist, an artist, and a mom extraordinaire.

Is this why they say that there’s a book inside each of us?

School Messages that Endure

What are kids learning in school?  I’m not referring to the obvious subject matter in their classes, but rather the philosophy of education practiced in that setting.  If you ask them, they may mutter not much, but I have new proof that the deeper messages simmer and then emerge.

Here’s a story by Baltimore realtor Rachel Rosen Rabinowitz on her blog.  I’ve known Rachel since she was a really sweet, bright little girl living across the street.  She and my children attended the same elementary and middle schools.

Hyattsville Middle School had a dedicated and high-minded principal, Dr. Joseph Lupo, who played classical music stations in the halls between classes and had a motto about “The Pursuit of Excellence”.  Would you think this message would resonate with early teens?  Hmmm.

Rachel has just written about that message, all these years later.  I urge you to read it (http://rachelrabinowitz.com/post/3629378/the-pursuit-of-excellence) and then give the kids in your life some credit for – just maybe – taking it all in.

Rachel, thanks for the memories and the inspiration.  Dr. Lupo, well done!

Great news!

Someone I know just started a new job.  He has been looking for over a year.  And he is smiling broadly.

What the job isn’t:

• full-time,
• very well paying,
• one that includes benefits,
• exactly what he was looking for.

What the job is:

• one that pays!
• has an acceptable schedule,
• is staffed with friendly and welcoming co-workers,
• near home,
• a place to get re-acclimated to work,
• a matter of pride.

My friend is smiling, standing a bit taller, and infinitely relieved.  Gratitude abounds.

I send congratulations, and share the joy that the past year is passed.  May its like never return.

Onward and upward.  Meanwhile, enjoy!  And may this happen soon to every single job hunter out there.  Keep plugging, listen to your friends and neighbors, and have faith.

An Unexpected Gift

Yesterday, I received something so surprising, so delightful, that I have been smiling ever since.

A client from a few years back (4 years? 5 years?) wrote to touch base.  Wanted to let me know what is happening with her and to inquire how I am.

Well, I’m fine, thank you.  As I have shared before, this is a year of moving into retirement / refocus.  I’m concentrating on the clients I already have and on a renewed focus on several writing projects.

But way more interesting is how she, the former client, is faring.  And the answer is – great!  I remember her so well.  A young graduate in a branch of performing arts, stuck between part-time work and that huge question of should I give it up and get a steady job?  

As I recall, she embarked on a program of simply touching base with the good people of her academic world and letting them know she was in the area.  And it worked.

A former teacher, now located in a new university, let her know that there was an administrative job available in an arts department.  Which she applied for.  And she got.  Etc.

Fast forward in time: she is completing a Master’s degree, still works at the university, still delighted to be working in her creative field in any capacity at all.  Her personal life has also blossomed.

If you are reading this and grumbling that some people have all the luck, I beg to differ.  She has worked at it.  Stayed in touch, accepted work that was not 100% what she wanted to do, remembered to say thank you to all along the way.

Barbara, you’ll go far.  Keep doing what you are doing.  Keep in touch.

What did you do during the Recession, Daddy?

or Mommy, of course.

Recognize this question?  It was a solid theme of twentieth-century USA journalism.  How would you explain what you did during the …….. War?  Fight, supply, sacrifice, protest?

Which brings us to the dawn of 2013.  Wars are still being fought, but the draft keeps many folks from being confronted with that question.  (And that’s a topic for another blog.)

But for those who have been unemployed for six months or longer,  how will you answer the question?

I keep hearing of prejudice against hiring long-term unemployed.  Maybe because employers fear:

• they are looking for something better,
• they are depressed and demoralized,
• there must be a reason they have been rejected by others.

So – what did you do during your period of unemployment?

I brushed up on my spoken Spanish.

I renewed my notary license and volunteered my services at the library.

I worked at the church food bank.

Be ready.  This question will come up.  Look energetic.  Be grateful for the opportunity to have caught your breath and gained a new focus. Anyone who cares to share a dynamite answer to this question, please post!

Happier New Year to all

This year, I’m happy to see January 1 roll around.  I sense that wonderful let’s roll up our sleeves and get going attitude in the air.  And I hope I’m not wrong about this.

Let’s put 2012 behind us. This means you: friends, clients, and family members who are unemployed or way underemployed. And there are so many of you!  We are all watching the congressional negotiations which might or might not bode well for the economy, of course, including the extension of federal unemployment benefits.

But I’m also watching the predictions that this will be a year of recovery.

What is recovery?  I’m hoping it means…

• more new jobs being created,
• more confidence in the workplace that leads to more hiring,
• a surge in job search activity among those who have gotten discouraged,
• a sense that the recession is behind us and growth is at hand.

I’m not an economist.  I’m only a person who is really glad to put up a new calendar, toss out the last of crumpled wrapping paper and ribbon, and get on with it.

A happier new year to you all.