Unemployed need not apply?

Today I read an article by CNN that in certain states - unemployed workers are reading job ads that indicate "unemployed need not apply" or "do not bother applying if you do not already have a job". Are we completely mental?

Yes

I had a serious work outage from 2001 until early 2004. I did a bit of work - but not enough to really support myself. Prior to 2001 - job offers were no problem. I had found that recruiters who were previously nice to me - were harsh and rude. On interviews I was treated poorly. When I talked about my experience - there was no empathy.

Anyone can lose their job at any time. That is a fact. It is silly to assume that those not working are not "the best". I have heard too many times "we only hire the top 10% from the best schools" - does that promise you you're getting the best? I have worked with Stanford grads - and those top drawer people - not always the best. How do you know when you have the best? Who established that unrealistic standard?

You wont know you're getting the best until you interview, hire and have them deliver the goods for you. Jumping to conclusions and denying access to people who are down on their current fortune means you are setting America up for failure.... same as bypassing sound maintenance procedures and being responsible for the worst oil spill to date.

Pick better criteria for finding the best.

2 months in... and?

I'm at my new job 2 months. Establishing a foundation of Data Governance with MDM solutions with a technical team. Lots of politics and probably egos prevent progress and problems that need to surface.

I'm anxious to get started - to bring impact - to engage with the business to look inside their issues and establish a "framework" (I count 5 business buzz terms I've used here - does this make sense?). I know I'm not alone - this lesson in patience is tough but essential.

So - I'm learning all I can about the politics, the egos, the solutions and the history while I wait. I'm hoping this will make me more valuable when we're ready to move.

Its easy to complain but not always easy to know when to jump in and help with the solution.

2 friends got jobs after lengthy work outage - I'm so happy for them. Go people!

The Super Human Interviewer

Just read an article on Yahoo finance about the 50 worst things to do on a job interview:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/50-Worst-of-the-Worst-and-usnews-3658564314.html?x=0

I wont repeat everything here - but basically - don't do anything human and don't do anything extreme:

* neither too much nor too little enthusiasm
* neither too many nor too few questions
* neither too early nor too late
* listen carefully, sit up straight, don't yawn
* don't lie about your job skills - but I know people who over market their experience (I have been in the interview-er post too)
* no sun glasses, no bluetooth, chewing tobacco or gum, no smoking (don't smell like smoke OR perfume)
* don't laugh or giggle or do anything to make the situation seem like 2 people sizing each other up and making lots of decisions about each other in 30 to 60 minutes.

The job interview can seem like an inquisition - or a good way to share needs and skills.

Here is my advice - do everything for the interviewer & company you would like them to do for you. Research the job and the company - have an open mind and be prepared to listen as well as share. Dress the way you want to be treated and paid at least in the interview. Not everyone can find out ahead of time how the interviewer will be dressing but that should stop you from dressing for the 6 figure salary... IF that is what you want to be worth.

Happy hunting you super human!

The Upside of a Layoff

Is a layoff / downsizing / reduction in force / termination always a bad thing?

We think so because we may not have enough savings for the amount of time it takes to get a new job that we like. Maybe you're barely making it with your current income and outgo.

If you're like me - you're single - and YOU are all you have. I'm also a consultant (like more of our workforce) and unemployment doesn't apply to me. My independent insurance plan is expensive, even for modest coverage. Looking for work (either full time or consulting) takes time and resources. I leaned on my friends and family which does not go well for an independent minded person.

I was let go from a chaotic, ego driven and political environment several months ago. My friends and even a co-worker worried about my health. I was attacked about my opinions and input and forced out of a role I was good at and enjoyed doing. But I knew it was ultimately not a bad thing to be out of that situation regardless how it happened. When I heard the words "they're eliminating your position" (for a mission critical role) - I said "ok, fine".

I took a month to totally chill. I took 2 more months to study for and pass a new certification. I passively looked for work and wasn't liking what I was finding too much. At about month 3 - I started feeling physically and emotionally stronger and I vowed not to let myself get in that level of employment turmoil again. I would not work for someone who was unsupportive of me - of someone who was so blind to the quality I bring to the workplace.

At about month 4 - I had a feeling that I would need to be patient and that good things were beginning to come to the surface. I began following some career experts on Linkedin (David Perry, Guerrilla Marketing for the Job Search) and through my friend Nina Price who is a life & career coach, health and wellness practitioner and licensed massage therapist (http://www.ninaprice.com/) who is very connected to burn-out and mid-life career strategies. I started to trust my intuition a bit more and be less afraid of making changes to be more employable.

Call it letting go - call it truely engaging - call it timing - by mid-month 5, I was feeling more confident in my interviewing and helping 15 other friends and family with their searches. I accepted 1 of 3 offers for contract work and am now involved in a contract role I believe will bring some long-term marketability to my portfolio.

I have read about others who feared the dreaded "pink slip" or even firing and opened their mind to something they really wanted to do. It is painful because it means having no control and even leaning on others for a time. Results are empowering but you have to have the "go long" mentality. At 49 - I don't plan on retiring until I want so I am willing to change in order adapt to the work environment.

Follow some advice of Dory in Finding Nemo - "relax" and "just keep swimming". Even bad things can bring about good results. We learn and we thrive.

Come find me on Linked In - look at my groups - join them - lots of good career advice and even some jobs.

How To Get A Personal Referral For A Job

http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/personal-referral-job/

this was found through a Linkedin user group I belong to - was too good to pass up. If you're in the job market - read this - if not - pass this along to someone who is. Terri

the blog...

So you’ve figured out what you want to do and where you want to work. That’s remarkable progress. Most people get really stuck on the “figure out what you want to do” part of looking for a job.

Once you have a target in mind, a place you really want to work, the question becomes ‘How do you get in touch with the right people?’ The right people don’t work in HR or the Recruiting Department – they are the managers and executives who lead the operating departments and divisions of the company you hope to work for.

While the rest of the competition is busy searching the job boards or folding and mailing resumes to anonymous ‘To Whom It May Concerns’, what you want to become is a ‘referral’. The conventional wisdom among employers is that candidates who are referred by another employee are of a higher quality. Your goal should be to get to know several insiders well enough to have them forward your resume into the hiring process. The whole idea is to develop a personal relationship with a well placed insider who can lend some credibility to your application.

So how do you figure out who they are and how to get in touch with them?
Start with the company reviews on Glassdoor. It’s a great way to do a reality check on your decision. If the company is one of the more than 74,000 covered by Glassdoor, you’ll find interesting information about the culture, the interview process and salaries.

If the company you want to work for is a public company, you can find key information about their leadership on one of the major financial sites. (Google or Yahoo) For more local operations that are privately owned, the local newspaper is a useful place to start.

If you haven’t registered with LinkedIn, do so. LinkedIn is fast becoming the alternative to a traditional resume. As a result, you can be virtually certain that someone from the company you hope to work for will be in the database. Use their advanced search.

Once you’ve come up with a name or two, go to town on Google. Virtually every working person has some information available through Google. Find out what you can. Consider purchasing their business card online or buying their contact information through one of the search warehouses.
Once you have the name and title of the person you want to reach, start calling the company. Your initial goal should be to schedule a meeting with your target. You should be prepared to listen to your target for several hours over the course of a number of meetings. Your goal is not to sell your services, but rather to try to understand their job, their opportunities and their problems.

With this fundamental research in hand, prepare a plan to solve some or all of your contact’s problems.

Now, after you have made yourself useful and provided real value to the person you are networking with, ask for their help.

The very essence of the job hunt is:

* Figure out where you want to work
* Figure out who you want to work for
* Get their attention
* Give them something of real value in their business
* Ask for their help

It’s politely referred to as ‘employee referrals’. In fact, it’s the hidden job market you hear so much about. It’s easy to get a job once you are a known quantity. The challenge is figuring out how to become one - This is one way.

Guest Blogger John Sumser, a member of the Glassdoor Clearview Collection, is founder and CEO of Two Color Hat, a company that helps the vendors who serve HR and professional recruiters. In addition, John is currently a board director at Salary.com. Sumser believes the employment marketplace should be easy to understand. His experience includes 15 years of Electronics R&D, 15 years of online publishing, including work as an executive editor for Recruiting.com, non-profit management and start-up consulting.

Best Practices

In our modern society we often hear the words "we are building a best in class...", "we are transitioning to best practices operations", "we have enabled scalable solutions so the business can grow their business".

Sometimes I know what this means but as I have experienced growth towards best practices commonly means best practices for that organization. There are standards of operations - but they come at a price. We replace an old "stonehenge" of a transactional order or accounting system with a new ERP or CRM. We enter the business rules into the system and determine that after spending $1MM to deliver it - we can lay off 100 people who used to manually enter all the rules into the system and scan document as graphic representations into the new system. The 100 people are let go - and you hire 25 technical people "off shore" to manage this work from a technical maintenance program. They don't know much about the "on shore" operations and you have put 100 people "on shore" out of work. That's efficiency. We bleed our "on shore" system of operations at the cost of profit. When revenues shrink we find a way to be more efficient with our use of people. There are still human's needed for the organization - but if we could find a way to have all processing "touchless" - we will find a way.

Service providers to this, buyers do this. We are bleeding our system dry. Profit is necessary to buy that new $1MM system that is more accurate. When we discover that we have "outsourced" all of our intelligence - there is a quick fix. A business solution (software and hardware) that enables us to manage all of our processes and maturity on a dashboard that tells us at any point how something is processed.

I am an efficiency expert. I am paid to understand business processes, the rules that define them, the people that own data and systems and processes - and find best practices either with existing resources or with new solutions. Best practices would say that a software program can do away with my job or ship it "off shore" to a less expensive, younger, highly capable person who will be monitored and reported on.

Do we really know what best practices are. With all our evolution - have we dropped something along the way? Another inconvenient truth.

Found - My Next Opportunity

This week I accepted 1 of 2 contract opportunities that came my way.

After applying, posting, networking, studying and certifying, and never giving up - the hunt is over. For me - since contracts must come to an end - I will probably be doing this in about a year - longer if I can keep it going.

Some stats of my accomplishments:

• 191 days after lay-off
• 151 probably really looking for work
• 133 people in my professional network helping me out
• 200+ people in my personal network lifting me up
• 175 jobs applied for
• 2 new certifications under my belt (PMP & SCRUM Master)
• 26 job boards I keep up with weekly
• 21 live interviews - 30+ phone screens
• 1 small contract landed to keep me doing something
• 1 part time job working in a warehouse for a children's clothing designer
• 1 long-term contract doing what I am trained to do
• Endured the flu
• This didn't kill me
• Priceless life lessons learned

While I am now feeling good about my own victory - I have at least 15 friends and family members who continue on this painful journey and I am committed to helping them in any way I can. I am on their list of PEEPS to help them through.

NEVER give up and never let anyone make you feel untalented and unworthy

Get a good job description

I've been contacted by a number of hiring managers and agents (3rd party consulting brokers) about a "great opportunity" for a "name of a role" without actually having a good description of the required skills and experience and responsibilities. Trying to be successful at an interview without a good foundation of their expectations sets the interview to be about a 50/50 success.

I generally do my best but don't expect a good outcome if they want to go through the interview process without setting expectations from the start. This last Friday I had just such an opportunity. My feedback was that I was interested in the role but without knowing their expectations - the outcome is uncertain.

This is a more common issue in consulting than full time or part time regular employment. In the future - I'm going to write down the responsibilities and expectations as we talk about them - then follow up with a list of the responsibilities to demonstrate my understanding of their needs. At the very least - I'm showing initiative to better understand the job.

You can't hit a target with blindfolds on.

Resume "experts"

In 2002 - after a bit of consulting work and lots of waiting - I considered hiring one of those resume experts we find on the job boards.

I had previously used the Resume Doctor and for $50, my resume was reviewed and some very general comments were offered on my resume - nothing specific and nothing that popped out as "yes, that makes so much sense". About the best thing the service offered was to indicate that my "career objective" was either unnecessary or should be somewhat general unless I had pinpointed the exact title and job description I wanted. I have a variety of skills and am suited to several types of jobs.

So, for $250 I asked for the executive package. I submitted my resume and was sent an e-version of some questions about what I did at each of the jobs listed on my sample resume. What was turned around was an over marketed and quite untouchable. After a month without any responses to my job search (I had been receiving at least 5 calls and 2 e-mails of inquiry before that) - I contacted the company (10minuteresumes, a.k.a. pongoresume) and they indicated they would "work with me again" to re-write my resume but would not refund my money. They did not stand by their work and they cannot guarantee the resume they produce for you will improve your chances.

I showed the resume to a few friends and they said it felt over-marketed and out of touch for the mid level management roles or individual contributor roles I was looking for.

I returned to my original version - made some minor modifications and maintained an average level of responses.

Bottom line - if you show your resume to 10 people, you'll get 20 opinions. Most of the job boards give some pretty darn good advice on resume standards. The book I have referenced before - Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters offers some great advice and if you connect with David Perry on LinkedIn - you will get some pretty regular updates on advice, tips, motivational stuff.

here is his website link: http://guerrillajobhunting.typepad.com/

Today's affirmation: I am resilient

I have faith - how do you cope?

Being in the job market just now - particularly after a lay-off, scheduled end of contract, re-org or whatever the word of the day is - can quickly leave you feeling hopeless. There is a lot of good advice how to keep you search up. If you are a natural seller - getting out there to make cold calls, call on friends and neighbors for help - can be draining.

If your search extends for months - as mine was predicted to - you need a lot more than just your own voice saying "yes I can" and "showtime folks" to keep you up beat and positive about your next vine to grab onto.

I happen to be a Christian - and by that I mean I go to church, read scriptures, pray daily and try to follow the teachings of Christ. We are counseled by our church leaders to live within our means - and prepare for these rainy days. So my faith and hope and good cheer comes in part by my spiritual / religious system. If your Islam or Buddhist or Hindu or some other belief system - I imagine that is a major source of your daily strength.

I wonder how others glean strength knowing the news bites indicate that hope should not prevail. Like, what if you're agnostic or even atheist? Forgive my ignorance - can you be a "glass half full" person and that's enough?

I'm going to leave this blog as such and hope for a few comments from others. If you don't have a faith system - how do you cope day to day as the hunt wears on?

Peace my brothers and sisters

Get good information

I've actually been on my hunt this time for 5 months - the first 2 or so, I took some much needed down-time to rest and visit family and friends, and then study for and pass the PMP Certification exam. So for about 2.5 I've been really searching.

I've had some good success at finding jobs I'm interested in on the job boards, LinkedIn, and at company web sites that I know I am interested in. I've enjoyed reading "Guerrilla Marketing for job Hunters" by Jay Conrad Levinson and David E Perry - I've also hooked up with David E Perry's group on LinkedIn - as well as a few other job search forums for particular roles I'm interested in.

The search and "selling" process takes longer now than ever - it can take a month to hear back from some companies and even for consulting - I see companies wanting 2 and 3 rounds. People are shopping - they want a good price but not willing to give up real talent.

I believe the modern search process is quite complicated by: multiple job boards, include job search engines that duplicate your own efforts. It used to be companies hired an HR person to manage the search process - and now the HR department has scaled down - outsourcing much of their efforts (yes, to India and other countries) - and it seems mid to large organizations allow as many as 20 3rd party vendors to offer resume's in a tiered order - much like any other distribution process. You may be contacted by an "agency" of some sort and they may tell you that you are working with a tier 1 vendor of The Very Big Corporation - but that may not be true.

After I've landed an interview - I have a hard time finding out: 1) am I still being considered? 2) if not, what about my skills or talents did they find missing, 3) if I'm still being considered - when will they be making a decision. I've even been clear in an interview "is there anything about my skills or experience that you are not sure of? and where are you in your process - when will I hear about your decision?".

As the applicant - I feel very swept under the rug which means I have to work harder at being clear and moving on with my next steps to find the company who does see the value in me.

Today's Rule: DO NOT take rejection as a "no" - take it as "not this time" and move on. Don't waste another moment on something that doesn't give you new information about yourself or how to be more successful next time. Life is a journey, not a destination.

peace be with you

Interview Experience

I interviewed for a role the week before Christmas.

I'm told by a representative from the company the hiring manager would like to make a decision quickly. We schedule a 1/2 hour phone interview for a job I applied for 2 months before. The discussion goes "ok" - we talk a bit about my background, about the work environment (a bit chaotic, big personalities, tight deadlines), a bit about my strengths and weaknesses. We leave it that the hiring manager would like to make a decision quickly. I let him know I think this would be a great opportunity and that I believe it could be a great fit.

I would say the hiring manager is not a people person - likely intelligent - but not personable.

Week after Christmas I hear nothing.
First week of the new year I hear nothing... I assume I wont be called back.
Second week of the new year, I get a call by a new company rep, does not tell me what job I'm interviewing for but asks if I could be available for a live interview. Yes, we arrange for today at 9:30. I get an e-mail with instructions to their offices and some vague information about how to park in their garage. I will have a half hour with a lead recruiter and a half hour with the hiring manager.

I could have used better instructions on getting to their garage - including where their garage is. I parked in a nearby garage and was 2 minutes late for the interview. The lobby receptionists was on the phone and busy eating gummy bears... she made note that I was 7 minutes late for an interview - 2 minutes from the parking situation - 2 minutes waiting for her to attend to me - 3 minutes for her to get me badged in with 1 typing hand - cause the other was busy moving the gummy bear around in her mouth.

She calls the recruiter who is not available. I have a seat and come back in about 4 minutes - I ask if I can have the recruiters number - so I can call. She calls again and apparently the interviews were pushed out a half hour. I wait in the lobby and call a friend in the same "hunt" mode... we laugh about interviewing. How the rules only apply to the interviewee.

A few moments later - the recruiter arrives and apologizes for the changes and lack of communication. I appreciated that admission of error. I'm at east. Why is it that recruters are alwys so easy to talk to? We have a great talk and she asks me to call her tomorrow (well, maybe she wants me to).

I'm then escorted across the street to meet the hiring manager who is waiting for me. We go to an office and begin to talk. He says he probably forgot what we said 3 weeks ago. I discuss a bit of my background - he asks a few standard questions about my core strengths and weaknesses. He asks what motivates me at work; what demotivates me. He does not understand when I try to explain that I am demotivated by stagnation - but idleness. We move on. We talk about the philosophy of dealing with tight deadlines, difficult people, and the somewhat chaotic pace of most corporate work environments.

Then he asks me if I have any questions. I ask him how he deals with the chaotic pace - he tells me he observes and disconnects. On the one hand - that could mean he is a bit of a robot in those situations. On the other hand - it could mean he doesn't personalize it. I dont know if I want a disconnected boss. He could have used a better word.

I ask him what kind of a manager he is - he explains that he is demanding - his boss is demanding. I try to see if he will explain. Demanding is not the same as expecting a lot. I hope he means that he has high expectations... and that he is not great at presenting his thoughts in a positive way.

I ask him where he is in his hiring process and how he expects the rest of it to go. He will not leave me on a positive note... will not offer that I am a good candidate. I'm not feeling like I want this to be my next manager - although I like the company and the role.

I survived - but even I know this was not the one. This interview drains me for the rest of the day and I will not even allow myself to feel down about it.

How do I feel? Next!

Interview Etiquette

We hear all the time about interview etiquette - it is generally focused on the interview-ee; the candidate. These are generally:

• assume business dress, err on the conservative side (unless you are told different)
• listen more than talk
• pay attention to questions, verbal and non verbal cues
  
• use good eye contact, firm handshake, remember to smile and use a professional but open posture
• have your "elevator pitch" ready as well as 4 or 5 "home run" statements of your key accomplishments that are most relevant to the job
• be prepared for personality / culture match questions
  
• prepare to discuss your strengths and weaknesses
• have questions ready for the interviewer - as they answer the questions in the interview process check them off - only ask for clarification on the ones answered and focus on the questions not answered
• have good closing skills including asking if there is any doubt in their mind about your skills in doing the job. ask where they are in the process and let them know how interested you are at the end of the interview.

This is not an exhaustive list - and the list of all the do's and don'ts of interviewing certainly does seem to be exhaustive.

What about the interviewer? Is there a well known set of rules for interviewers? I've been in some fantastic interviews where the interviewer really gives me a chance to succeed and I've landed the job before I left. I've also been through 5 rounds of interviews with each successive stakeholder and finally bombed with the last person who was pretty sure from the onset that I was the wrong person.... I have been asked lousy questions about my detailed experience in something that was not part of the job description. When I pointed out that this was not part of the description - it was pointed out that it is up to the hiring manager to determine the final skills necessary. I've been invited to interview for whole and half days to meet the entire department - some live and others via phone conference. Each asking the same questions - each having different expectations of what the role should be or what type of person should fit the role. At the end of the day I met with the most important interviewer - I don't know how I made it through the whole day and he asked me several deep questions like "what I saw myself doing in 5 years?" At that moment - I was brain dead - I don't remember what I said nor how I made it 22 miles home in heavy traffic. I was not surprised that I didn't get the job - but I did want to know their reason... was told "the hiring manager felt I showed great inflexibility in mentioning to a couple of the interviewers that the day of interviewing was not made known to me until late the night before". And yet - I cleared my schedule for the day. Was that an important part of the role? Did they show me the same courtesy?

I've also been invited to an interview for a very important director role - met with the VP of worldwide sales - we talked for 30 minutes and he said 15 others had been rejected by the CFO. After 2 weeks - I called this guy's secretary and asked if the position had been filled or if I was still being considered. I was told to call the CFO. I left a message that I was considering 2 other offers - if they were still interested - they should invite me in for a follow up and determine if they would like to make an offer to me. Next day I'm in at 8:30 (actually 8 minutes late) and after a 20 minute interview - I was told I'd hear something by noon. By the time I got home - I had an offer.

It seems then - there may be no common standard of rules for the interviewer. If you want the job - make sure you meet their needs. All the good advice in the "job search" world might or might not get you the job.

I'm currently reading "Guerilla Marketing for Job Hunters v2.o" by ~ Jay Conrad Levinson

Jay Conrad Levinson (Author)

› Visit Amazon's Jay Conrad Levinson Page

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(Author), David E. Perry (Author), Darren Hardy (Foreword). See if the library has this or earlier versions - a great idea book and motivator for the serious job hunter.

Hotjobs had some pretty good, quick advice on some interview myths I'd like to share:
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-interview_myths_that_keep_you_from_landing_the_job-1026

I'd love to hear from anyone who would like to share their thoughts on interview etiquette. Great ideas most appreciated.

Hang in there!

In an instant........

The human psyche can be fooled into feelings of elation or despair. One minute you think you’re fine – then someone tells you something; they don’t love you anymore, you’re fired, or they’d like to talk to you about a new job opportunity, that it turns out you were not qualified for the job, that other candidates were more qualified, or your kid has been accepted into the honors program. Poof – sad or happy as the case may go. What is this? How do we let another person have our power of hope? I do this when I’m not paying attention. Read the news – today’s report from Reuters or Associated Press tells me the job market will not open until the spring. I’ve been waiting 5 months so far (actually – I’ve been darn busy preparing myself for new opportunities, selling myself, studying, getting certified, interviewing & networking).

Some people I have observed online have put themselves on a happiness project of sorts. They decide they will evaluate their own thinking as they respond to the world around them. Isn't this just a personal “PR” effort to put themselves on a program to remain happy regardless the situation? Yes, they establish a goal: I’m going to get a job as a blog writer, I’m going to fight brain cancer and survive, I’m going to focus on communication problems in my marriage, I’m going to be the best parent for a child with autism. Then they track their status, achievements and roadblocks along the way.

We all have a status and a cause… we may not be specific. In your goal setting and status indicating – you should be clear. This goal will take an estimated amount of time: 6 months, a year, 5 years…. So we know when we’ve reached major mile stones. Today's news, good or bad, does not affect your future. It may be a road bump - but it's temporary. You are not.

Who holds the key to your mental happiness? Some doctor who says your prognosis is not good? A hiring manager who used an HR person and a staffing agency to find you, screen you, use a short period of time to determine you wouldn’t be the next technical writer? How can they know? Isn’t your success story just ahead of you? So why do you (and I) put the key’s to our happiness in someone else’s pocket?

We’re human. And so is everyone else.

A valuable book I read that has applicability in just about any endurance setting is “The Survivors Club” by Ben Sherwood. While the book focuses on situations that are life threatening – let’s face it; many of our daily life situations can seem life threatening if we allow our brains to lose hope. I highly recommend you go to the library and read through this book and take note of the skills of survivors inherently have. If you don’t have them – practice.

Choose hope my friend

Beware Of Your Gunless Friend!
The dangerous people are not the ones Who hit you with clubs and rob you with guns! The thief won't attack your character traits Or belittle your abilities to your face! It likely will be a well-meaning friend Who merely crushes your will to win.
No, he doesn't rob you, at point of gun, He simply says, "It can't be done." When pointed to thousands who already are He smiles and says, "They're superior!" Personality-wise, and abilities, too, They're way ahead of what others can do!"
It matters not that his words are untrue For, you feel "others" must know you! So, you're robbed of your hopes, your dreams to succeed. Robbed of the material blessing received, Robbed of your faith that says, "I can." And robbed by an ignorant, gunless friend.
So, the deadliest of men is not he with a gun, But the one who tells you "It can't be done!" For that taken by burglars can be gotten again. But, what can replace your will to win?
~ Author Unknown ~

Terri's prescription for success while hunting

Love yourself:
1) have a daily routine including list of things to do and acknowledge daily accomplishments.
2) get physical, keep active and healthy
3) have a network of your "peeps" to help you through this - those who can encourage you (these people know the news is propaganda)
4) walk the dog - pet the cat - keep your pets happy
5) make a storyboard of your vision for all facets of your life
6) let people know you are looking - have your 60 second elevator pitch of what you do and what you would like to do.


Know your brand:
1) take a personality test and possibly a career aptitude test to discover what scientific evidence points to

2) spend time writing about your core strengths and situations where you have shined. Have a list of 5 major work accomplishments and make sure the action words come out (creative problem solver, idea generator)

3) network with people in your arena who have their skills well defined (search linkedin) and develop your brand "script"



5 Secrets of successful job hunters:
1) visualize: just like a marathon runner, set a goal and imagine yourself achieving it. stay focused on that goal
2) be persistent - be consistent: for every "no" you are one step closer to your "yes"
3) replenish yourself: this is an endurance test, eat healthy, get good rest, love yourself, feed your spiritual self
4) inoculate yourself against negative messages: associate with positive people, don't read the news about the general job situation - focus on yours
5) meditate: take a little time every day to focus on your vision, eliminate all the "white noise" of your search. give yourself the gift of a little quietness.


Cut expenses:

1) find ways to reduce your monthly expenses such as applying for low income rates for utilities and telecom expenses
2) shop around for lower rates on insurance
3) learn to cook and be more frugal when necessary
4) ask for a discount, let people know you are out of work

The Hunt - Let me tell you

This is the second major work outage I have had since 2001 when the dotcom world fell to the earth after the glut of 1997-2000. I should be used to this – but I will never get used to feeling over qualified and under useful. I’d like to think I’m better at keeping busy, keeping fit, reading more and making good use of the time off but so far – not probably.

In late August 2001 - I was given a severance package from Exodus Communications after 18 months of hard work trying to help them (and Global Center, who they acquired) manage their sales process, automate the sales process, offload some of their internal debt with financing partners, deal with angry sales people who went from being full of money to being broke - and manage a staff of 18. Poof - I'm not needed (actually, it was poof, our calculations say we need to drop some expense and you're it).

After this event - I took several months to rest and determine my options - and then tried to build a consulting practice over the next 3 years. I applied to hundreds of jobs, went on many interviews for both full time and contract work - was ignored and poorly treated plenty. Had 3 "we're going to give you an offer", and a few actual abuses of my time including the 8 hour interview where I was told I seemed inflexible to the needs of the company and the 20 hours of interviewing and specific advice giving and then told I was insensitive to an employee who never called while I waited on a Saturday for a special interview. Yes, its me that's insensitive and inflexible. Do you feel like a valued talent while you're looking for work? We're not diseased... just underemployed.


This blog will be my attempt at vocalizing my experiences, insight, advice and thoughts during this time. Chime in if you feel the need - alternate opinions welcome.

Good luck to you compadres - this task is not for the weak. You are a tiger you want the hiring manager to see you clearly.