Jason Alba, a blogging friend over at JibberJobber, reassures that jobs are out there for those willing to be creative.
In his post, How To Find A Job In A Recession, he offers 8 compelling tips to push you forward if you’re having difficulty connecting with a job:
1. Get introduced. Same thing as “networking” really, but it sounds better. This is the only way to circumvent the gatekeepers and get to insiders.
2. Be creative. Get a copy of Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters and read it. As he did to move JibberJobber forward, you need to get yourself in front of more people and be more memorable than your competition.
3. Volunteer, a lot, and at more than one place. Contributing to others in a meaningful way will keep you pumped up, keep your skills sharp, and open your network to new people and possibilities.
4. Be patient. Executive job search will likely take many months. You can’t avoid feeling stressed about this, but try to take breaks from stress and negative thoughts. You don’t have to think about it constantly. Find ways to divert your thoughts away from being unemployed to decrease stress.
5. Help others in their job search. After even a month in a job search, you’ll become a seasoned veteran and can help those new to a daunting situation. Bring them into your network, share your ideas and lessons learned, boost your feeling of self-worth, and calm your own stress by doing for others. Check out my post, Co-Mentoring in Executive Job Search.
6. Be thankful. Take the time to regular mail thank you notes to those who do favors for you. So few people do this anymore, that it will really make you stand out.
7. Consider changing your profession or industry. This may be scary, but certainly something to consider. Your career path was not set in stone when you first started out. I’ve heard that most people shift careers 10 to 12 times during their working lives. There may be plenty of golden opportunities moving in a different direction. See my post, Recession-Proof Your Executive Job Search and Career.
8. Take a step job. Something to bring in money and get you out of the house. If it’s a step down, but moving toward the career direction you’re hoping to go, so much the better. But certainly don’t feel embarrassed by whatever the job is.
Thanks for stopping by, TY Notes Girl. I really appreciate your thoughtful comments.
Like many of my colleagues these days, I’m becoming increasingly concerned about my clients’ emotional states. It’s not easy to suddenly have the rug pulled out from underneath you. I do what I can to be positive and ease their stress.
Jason Alba provided the impetus and ideas for my post. If you’re not a regular visitor to his blog, you should be:
http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/
I hope you come by again.
-Meg
Great advice, and set forth in a very positive and hopeful way. So many people get fearful during job searches, and it creates a snowball effect of negativity. Kudos for mentioning the power of gratitude via thank you notes and volunteer work. It really does keep spirits up and skills sharp and positively effects one’s entire life. Be what you want to receive. If you want to be appreciated and fulfilled professionally–thank people and fulfill the needs of others. It works every time.
Thank you for such a great post.
Thanks for such helpful advice, Jason.
So many of the executives who come to me now are very shaky. They need positive steps to take, like those you offered.
Ciao!
Meg
Thanks for the plug Meg – I hope your readers get value out of these 8 things 🙂