Between the Trapezes - On Job Search! | August 2020
Between the Trapezes

Help for when you’re between two career certainties
August 2020

The number of job hunters out there is high right now. How do you maintain your motivation, not to mention your actual search, when you hear how many people have filed for Unemployment this week?

For one, stop listening to or reading the news so much, especially about layoffs and numbers of unemployed. Focus instead on YOUR search, YOUR goals, YOUR numbers (numbers of networking meetings you're doing each week, numbers of resumes you're sending out, posts on LinkedIn). In other words, be selfish about how you use your time for you.

You deserve it, and your job search will benefit immensely by it!

Want to know how to get ready to network? Scroll down for this month's feature article.

Joanne

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Be ready to tell your success stories, and every phase of your job search will benefit!
Joanne Meehl
"Your career is the treasury of your life" -
Joanne Meehl
Resume expert who hopes you never need to actually use your resume. "The Resume Queen"®
LinkedIn profile creator if you want yours to be an employer magnet.
Networking guru who coaches you in elegant (not needy, gimme gimme) networking, finding hidden leads.
Interview prep that puts you at ease matching what they need and describing why they need you.

BA, MS, IJCDC
Photos in this Between the Trapezes courtesy of Shutterstock.com
unless it's flowers or memes, which are by Joanne

Your Career Is The Treasury of Your Life ©
Your Anti-COVID-19
job search weapon!

Right now, there's no charge for
Joanne’s 20-minute 1:1 consult -
usually it’s $87,
but right now it's free, Joanne's way of helping those in job search

Ask your question:
  • "I lost my job due to COVID - how do I talk about this?"
  • "My new manager and I didn’t get along, so I left - how to explain?"
  • "How do I phrase _ on my resume?"
Reward yourself in your search by taking some time off. How? Plan for it. On the Sunday before your job search week starts, look at your calendar, and build in your breaks, times to be away from the screen, time off in the hammock.

Doing so will pay you back with a boost in energy.


Are you really ready to network?
Are you ready to network for your job search?

So often, in the first week of a job search, a candidate will mention to me that in a mere few days they'll be attending a networking meeting, or meeting with their parents’ best friends who are super well connected into an array of amazing companies.

I usually tell them, “You’re not ready yet.” They’re surprised at that statement until I run them through this checklist.

I first wrote this in "normal" times, when networking could take place "in person", unlike now when most of us are using Zoom or similar video technology. Apply the same principles, either way.

You’re ready to network 1:1 with an important contact or at a networking group if:

  • If you can introduce yourself with clarity and confidence
  • If you can answer the question, “What are you looking for?”, very specifically
  • If you can answer these questions in an upbeat way: “How long have you been looking?” and “How’s it been going?”
  • If you can tell at least 3 “success stories” (achievements) that illustrate how you’d be great at your next job
  • If you can name 5-10 companies you’d love to work for, and WHY, and WHO there you want to talk with
  • If you are ready to ask, “What companies do you know of out there that have ____ problems? I love solving those problems”, then give an example of a problem you’ve solved and how in the process you saved/made money or time
  • If you can approach at least 3 people during group events, to introduce yourself
  • If you can switch the focus of the conversation to the other person
  • If you can actually listen to the other person
  • If you can ably introduce the other person to someone else in the room or in your network
  • If you can ask in a genuine manner, “How can I help you?” and you’re prepared to follow up on commitments you make
  • If you have a fully up-to-date and vibrant LinkedIn profile you can direct contacts to
  • If you have professionally-printed (not homemade) business cards with your name, phone number, email address, LinkedIn address, and your target title(s)


As you can see, the new job hunter has some homework to do before that first networking coffee meeting.

The old saying, “You have only one chance to make a great first impression” is never more true than when you’re networking. Be truly ready, don’t rush. When you can answer these 12 questions, you’re ready.

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In a 1:1 Zoom video session,
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ace your interviewing -- you see yourself improve!

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This month’s Tip from Joanne:

Know that your gift to your networking contact is your offer
to share your network with them. So, never wonder "What can I 'give' them for helping me?"

Connecting with them on LinkedIn, which gives them access to your other contacts, is a powerful first step. Then saying "Check out my contacts, and if there's anyone you'd like me to introduce you to, just let me know", is one of the most generous ways to "thank" the contact.
Stones assortment

Thought for the Month

People who work hard and legitimately do everything that they can --
they tend to be luckier.
— Julian Edelman, NFL player
Joanne Meehl Career Services LLC | 612.440.6765 (new) | Joanne@TheJobSearchQueen.com