TOP 10 THINGS JOBS SEEKERS SHOULD BE DOING NOW (Part 1 of 2)

For many people who have lost their jobs, had hours cut, or are at risk of either or both, worries about supporting themselves and their families are paramount among their thoughts. Given this, I thought it would be helpful to provide some tips.

1.     Do Your Best to Stay Calm…

It’s true that this is much easier said than done, but when our emotions kick into high gear, our ability to think clearly suffers. This is because rational thought and emotions emanate from two different areas of the brain and most of us cannot do both well simultaneously. For some, engaging in some form of exercise and breaking a sweat helps them to reduce stress and keep their emotions at bay. For others, purposeful meditation techniques in which they can turn off the emotional “noise” have proven to be very effective. Fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) is very common among us given our world health crisis, however, if you can adopt ways to shut out the noise or at least suppress it for a window of time, it will allow you to formulate an action plan to secure income-generating work.

2.     Take Stock of Your Skills

Many job seekers experience emotional paralysis that causes them to feel helpless, confused, or worse yet, spiral into depression. Also, many may not be fully aware of all the skills they possess― especially ones that may not be as obvious. These are often skills that they have leveraged in their personal lives and in many cases, not been paid for them in a professional context. To help job seekers take an inventory of their skills, I am making a few checklists available on my website at no charge. Please consult the https://employerandcandidateconnection.com/free-job-seeker-tools page on my public website and download these two tools. One of these tools is already posted there but I will scan and add the other soon.

3.     Get Clear and Realistic About Your Short and Long-Term Needs

What do you need in the very near-term to financially remain afloat? How does this dovetail with your long-term career aspirations and needs? In many cases, your short and long-term needs will be at odds. Consider Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in which physiological needs such as food, shelter, and sleep (among others) are of primary importance. Due to the global pandemic, many of us are also focused on the next hierarchy level of safety needs such as employment, shelter (a stable place to continue to live). Among other considerations, for many, our highest concern is our health which is also listed on this hierarchy level. It may be useful to get clear on both short and long-term needs. You can do this by visiting this hierarchy and identifying and comparing those that resonate most and internalizing them once you are clear so that you keep them top-of-mind as you formulate and execute your plan.

Another way to do this is to create a short-term and long-term list of your needs on a tool that I have adapted from my college days that my psychology professor used to call a “Decision Chart.” This chart helps you memorialize and solidify what you are aiming for (e.g., your next job or next home) and it de-emotionalizes the decision by making it about math. 

Remember that the more we can stay calm and keep our cognition flowing optimally, the more clearly and confidently we are able to make better decisions. This exercise takes about 20 minutes initially per goal (multiply by two if you follow my suggestion to do one for your short-term and one for long-term needs/goals). This exercise is no more than a three-column set of lists of REQUIRED (Non-negotiables, deal-breakers), DESIRED (wish list, nice-to-haves), and UNDESIRED (things you don’t want). 

Those things that are Required are all weighted evenly and should truly be deal-breakers. Examples may be a minimum income amount, the ability to work remotely (especially now), length of commute in the future, flexible hours to address the needs of loved ones, etc.). Having these things identified will help you focus, remain on track, and will prevent you from wasting time such as applying for jobs that do not meet your needs. 

The things on your list that are Desired will also help you to focus, but items on this list are not created equally. Instead, they are weighted on a scale of 1-10. Once you document your initial list of Desired items, it is important that you designate a weight alongside each from 1-10. This will shed some light on how important each is (or is not). You will have many items that you have assigned the same weight to once you are done. Examples of Desired items may include the ideal type of boss you would like to have, a company that offers a 401(k) plan and match, a role that manages others, co-workers committed to the greater cause of that employer, etc.). 

Assigning a weight is critical because once you receive an offer, you can compare how it stacks up to your most highly weighted desires. The ability to compare will be even more important if you receive multiple offers. In this case, you can compare how one job option stacks up to another. For instance. if you desire a job with a 401(k) plan, assign it a weight of 10 (for example). If one job provides a 401(k) match and the other does not, you might score the one with the match a 10 out of 10, while scoring the other an 8 out of 10. Once you have options to compare, you should multiply the weight you originally assigned for that listed item by the rating for that job option, and then enter that score. After you add up the scores for each job option, you will see which option produces the highest overall score. Also, only if you do not believe you are in sync with that job option being your best course of action, will you need to examine each item and the weight you assigned. 

As for the Undesired items, make a list of those things you do not want. These may include excessive hours, lack of time-off or work schedule flexibility, a company with a culture that you have learned is not optimal or one that has a reputation for a lot of management changes, etc. The objective of this column is to eliminate it. Your goal is to convert all the don’t want items into do-want items, and determine which of the remaining two columns it belongs in. Is an item a deal-breaker (Required) one or a wish-list (Desired) one?

Most humans are visual, so I will include this tool on my website at no charge, as well.

1.     Create or Update your resume

When you create or update your resume, bear in mind 2. and 3. above. Resumes are an art and a science. Some psychology comes into play when creating your resume. If you ask 10 coaches for our opinions, we may give you 10 different answers, however, there are many best practices that are more black and white than grey. You should be mindful of these things so that you attract the right audience.

In addition, many resume writers are unaware of how to properly format resumes so that they are successfully processed by Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). These are the software programs that parse your resume once it is uploaded. The same holds true of many online resume templates that are formatted in a way that blocks ATS “bots” (robot-like programmed instructions), from finding important information on your resume and placing this data into the correct box on an online application.

If you need additional help with creating a winning resume that will get attention, I have recorded a short video collection (2.5 hours)  that is available for purchase and will get you up and running in no time. The link appears on the landing page of my website for those who need step-by-step guidance, or simply want to be coached through the process to have a comfort level that they are on the right track.

2.     Create a Compelling Cover Letter

According to the last statistic I recall seeing about three years ago on the percentage of cover letters that are read, less than 29% were read. This may have changed. Still, I strongly suggest creating a cover letter template that you can build upon and re-use by deleting bullets that do not apply to a job for which you are applying. 

A cover letter can express enthusiasm and a reason for your interest in a job that a resume does not. It can showcase your key qualifications for a role that will make you stand out. In addition, it will demonstrate your written communication skills and add a bit of polish to your overall submission.

Although a cover letter should never contain key qualifications that do not appear on one’s resume, if it does, it can improve your candidacy for a specific role. Bear in mind that many companies ignore cover letters. I suggest that candidates include a one-page cover letter as the third page of their resume document. In this way, it will always be readily available if those reviewing your credentials choose to read it. Moreover, it is more likely to get in the hands of multiple individuals who are on the selection committee vs. if it is a separate document. In addition, if you included a key term on your cover letter and did not realize it was not also on your resume, you may benefit by scoring higher (than if your resume was inside this document alone). This is because, in such instances in which the ATS system also scores submissions, it will scan the full three-page document. Please note that despite the prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI), in most cases, humans are reviewing your resume first.

Perhaps the most important reason for crafting a cover letter is that in many cases, those reviewing your resume may not fully understand a role and may not correctly evaluate why you are a fit. In such cases, your resume will likely be eliminated from consideration, and you will not move forward in the process. By pointing out the reasons why you are a great match, this will make your suitability apparent. In some cases, the recruiter will use your very words to persuade the hiring manager to consider you. The point here is that no one can advocate for you better than you!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this article.