To Find a Job, It's Hard Work

Today I'm sharing the article of my friend Massimo Brebbia on a topic I know you will find helpful and relevant.

In the ’90s a young girl, that we’ll call Alice was sitting on a bar in Athens, Greece drawing her ideas on a notebook while talking her thoughts out loud, the waitress was serving a hot fragrant coffee. Their sight crossed for a second.

Another customer moved by curiosity approached Alice. Hi, I’m Gregory, I couldn’t avoid listening to your mumbling and I am intrigued by your ideas, tell me more about it. Alice explained she had a plan to start a company with a great vision, but lacking funds and expertise’; frustration was growing.?

Gregory did really like the vision and being an entrepreneur, offered to fund her project.?

It is at this point Alina, the waitress, said: I am an engineer, and I lost my job due a retrench and I am waiting for the right opportunity; I really like your vision and I will be happy to work with you offering my technical competencies.

In this?very magic moment, a company was founded. An individual with an idea, an investor and an employee, all moved by the same vision, joined their efforts. The recipe for success.

I have been running the business for over 25 years and interviewed hundreds of candidates.?The most successful people?I have employed had in common the same approach.?

You are now looking at graduation as a milestone in your life and this is correct. But what is next?

Find a job.

First, acknowledge the fact that?finding a job is a job in itself?that requires some skills and understanding.?

You chose your friends; you bond with people that share your values and believes and you spend good time making experiences and growing as a human being. How long would you stay with someone does not like what you do, does not share your ideas and act in conflict with your vision?

Work is the same, how long will you survive in a company where you are isolated? There are some steps you have to take before you start this journey.

1.????Identify the dream job - What you would do as an occupation, if the salary was not a problem,?what you decide now will have a great impact on your life.

2.????What compromises are you prepared to accept - Maybe for some of you the right company does not exist, you may have to accept a compromise or?start up your own company.

3.????List your Visions and most important what changes you would like to make with your work, that will?improve the community.

Now the fun begins, you have clear in mind your field of expertise and so you start to look for companies that are on the same field. It is important you take track of your search, an excel file will do.

List the name of the company, the website address and the Vision and values proposition, every company in the main page mentions their vision. There are two boxes you want to tick, this company operate in the field I want to work, this company vision overlaps with mine partially or in full.

Set your comparison’ terms:

The list can be as long it is necessary to be until you have clearly identified at least three suitable options.

Next step is to?connect with people?already working there, LinkedIn is one of the tools you can use, surely the company you have selected have a presence, search for the company name and you will also find people. Connect and?start to interact, ask about their job, about the company culture.?You want to understand?if what you have read on the organization website is reflected in the day-by-day company life. You can also contact former employees to have the other side of the coin view. That information should add to your score column.

Now you have to?approach the company. The research work you have done before is the key to open the door. Using one of the connections you made, or directly approaching the HR department, you have to explain what you did to come to the conclusion this company is the place you want to be.?

In doing so, you are telling the employer?you are not looking for a salary, but you are looking for a career.

I am a decision-maker and like many like me, we want to employ people that are looking for a career and they can show us why they want to work with our organization?sharing the same vision.?

We are Alice, Gregory and Alina.

LinkedIn Tip #15: How do you search for a Coach on LinkedIn????

LinkedIn is the only Social Media platform that makes it super easy to search for whomever.

1)?????Click inside the search bar and type what you are searching: Example – type Career Coach and hit Enter

2)?????Select the PEOPLE tab

3)?????You now can learn for location if you wish but everyone is working remotely now so that just might not be a factor.

4)?????I would suggest clicking on the CONNECTIONS tab – click on 1st and 2nd degree connections and click on Show Results

If you have a large network, you will find a list of Career Coaches that maybe have 2nd degree by their name. This means that you have at least one mutual connection with them.

Clink on their profile and now you can see how many mutual connections you have with them and who they are. Reach out and ask that common connection what they can tell you about them.

2nd degree connections on LinkedIn are GOLD because they allow for a much easier conversation with that person. Clink on the photo above to Download my FREE "How to Network on LinkedIn" and start building that valuable network.

Resume Tip #15: Mentoring and Coaching belong on your resume.?

What traits, skills, and abilities help you demonstrate strong mentoring and training skills on your resume?

• Be an expert: relevant expertise or knowledge backed by your own experience is a must if you want to be a good mentor. No matter how good you are with people, if you do not know what you are talking about, you could cause harm.
• Be open and enthusiastic: if you withhold some bits of information or anything at all, you will confuse the trainee and the results will be average. It is also very important to be enthusiastic and to pass it on.
• Be a good listener, give feedback and follow up: to help the mentee reach full capacity you need to find self-imposed roadblocks and crippling beliefs, and you do this by listening. During the process, make sure to give feedback to keep the trainee on track and follow up with him or her on a regular basis.
• Be a good host: a good mentor is able to create a comfortable physical and psychological environment for his mentee. The environment is very important for the learning process. It is proven that a good or bad environment makes a huge difference. A warm and comfortable environment nurtures the mentor-mentee connection and encourages the mentee to open for change.
• Be respectful: show a respectful attitude because if you look down on the mentee or show a patronizing behavior, the mentee instinctively becomes more careful and starts to filter what he or she shares with you. This leads to flaws in the process. You may lose her or his trust.
• Analytical thinking: During the exchange of information, you need to be aware and identify any self-imposed roadblocks and limitations that prevent the mentee to reach her or his full potential.
• Be a long-term investor: mentoring is like long-term investing; you need patience to see results. Every day, you need to make efforts in order to see results in the future. Have patience. Of course, in some cases, the mentoring process could be geared toward a short-term goal, but the mentoring relationship needs to be established long before that, and it takes time.

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How to demonstrate strong mentoring and training skills on your resume...

• Think of using specific keywords such as “mentored”, “counseled”, “supported”, “guided”, “encouraged”, “helped”. Note what language is used in the job posting and try to adopt any keywords related to mentoring
• In specific cases, you may mention the successes of your mentees if you are able to maintain their privacy
• List any courses that help you be a good mentor
• Include any mentoring courses or programs that you established within the organization or in general
• List any data that help you prove your mentoring skills such as lower employee turnover, higher satisfaction, lower number of job-related accidents, higher level of internal promotions, etc. Try to use comparisons “before” and “now” and give specific percentages.