Yes, my friends, I did land. It wasn't till a lot later than my last blog though. I was unemployed, out of work, displaced - my particular farvorite, NOT - or looking for my dream for two years and three months. So my point is that if I can do it, you all can too.
I had dinner with a friend the other night, who is still looking. She shared a thought with me, that we have all thought during this time; she doesn't really want to go back to work. I mean, who does? But that's not the point, unless you're independently wealthy - and that's up for interpretation - we all have to work. One just had to find that piece of inspiration that works for you. You can equate this to quitting smoking.
I have to say that it was nearly as hard for me to land a job and go back to work, as it was to quit smoking 25 years ago. I think I may have used the same techniques in a way, that I used back then. There's the old "one day at a time", which has worked for me in all kinds of situations. Then there is the finding something to take it's place. Instead of chewing gum, I sat here at this computer every day and made looking for a job, my new job. Then there is the reason; I guess that's what I'm really trying to get at. Anyone who manages to quit smoking has to have a very good personal reason for doing so. The same goes for landing a job.
Reasons for landing a job can go from "I need a fn job - benefits" to "I can't stand being by myself all day" to "I miss the sense of accomplishment" to "I really need to take care of my family". All are valid, but do they resonate with you? I know that I personally "shot myself in the foot" with several jobs because I just couldn't stand the thought of working there. There was the job on Long Island where I thought driving back that I would rather live out of my car, than take that job. But, there were other jobs, that really weren't that bad, I just couldn't face doing it. That, my friends, wasn't a really good idea. I only bring this up so that if you see yourself doing it, think again. All jobs will be pretty much the same. The money may differ, the people really don't.
My personal focus was on getting a job that made me interested; where I would learn something. That was my trigger. What really happened though, was that when I interviewed for this job, I was praticing for another. I had always dreamed of joining the State Deopartment. When it finally came down to it, I was so excited to go to Washington and be interviewed, and I used my interviews at my current job to practice my answers and asking the right questions. How funny, I got to DC and reallized I really didn't like these people and that I would never fit in. I'm a corporate kind of girl, not a bureaucrat. Oh well, then I came home to a new job. TA fn DA!
It really was a bit of a miracle wasn't it? I can't help but feel that way. However the one thing I never did was give up. You just keep trying different things. If other people are giving up the hunt, let them. If they aren't close to you, it reduces the competition. I have no time for people that just give up. That accomplishes nothing.
My final words are; enjoy every moment of being out of work and keep working it. You will find something. I promise you.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Are Things Looking Up?
Was just speaking with a friend and saying that things seemed to be looking up a bit, and she answered not in her industry. Oh well, but I do think it also has to do with perception and whether one has a positive outlook or not. We had just had a half hour conversation on whether to worry or not. I was the one saying I figure out if I can do anything about it or not and only worry if there is room to do something. Obviously my friend didn’t agree, but that’s OK.
As to my positive outlook, in the last couple of weeks practically everyone I know has gotten interviews, including myself. I actually had a response to one of the applications I sent in on-line. Go figure, sure shocked me. When the guy called to set up the interview, I was confused as to what he wanted. Thought he might be a telemarketer. Just goes to show how few calls like that I’ve received in the last couple of months. I have to say, having been doing this for over a year; the last few months have been the absolute worst for getting interviews. It started to make me think all kinds of negative things, a long the lines of “what’s wrong with me”. It just goes to show, that it can get to any of us at times, even Miss Pollyanna here.
At my Friday networking group we were talking about those dreaded milestones that unfortunately are part of the process. So, this weekend, when I was feeling a definite lack of energy, I started to think about what milestone I might be facing. That was the “Ah Hah” moment for me. My Cobra benefits are running out this summer. Now a friend mentioned that due to the stimulus package, there may be an 18 month extension. I wasn’t able to find anything to definitive on-line yesterday, but today I’m going to call my Cobra provider and see what they say. I’ll definitely report back here what ever I find out. If any of you out there knows anymore, I would really appreciate it if you would put it in the comment section on this blog. Last week I renegotiated my car insurance premium and this week it’s Cobra and the whole cable/internet/phone thing that also is going up and needs to be negotiated. Hey, it’s gives me something to do, while I’m trying to find a job. Really cool feeling when you do negotiate a good deal as well. If I can’t get the extension on Cobra, I’m really going to have to drag my head out of the sand and find a new Health Insurance policy. You know things are pretty sad, when I envy people who are old enough for Medicare. Hey, here’s a piece of good news! It looks like, for those of us who live in New York, we’re going to get another 13 weeks extension of our Unemployment benefits. I’m not really sure if that falls into the “things are looking up” category or not, but hey I’ll take any news of getting money as good news.
Want to hear something funny? I started writing this on Monday, but thought it was way too negative. Therefore, I put off posting until today since my mood definitely matches the weather in it sunnyness. (Is that a word?). When I went back to edit what I’d written on Monday, I wondered what I was worried about. See, all about perception isn’t it? Meanwhile, not only have I already applied for twelve jobs this week, I found another seven this morning that I’m going to apply to right after I finish posting this. Just checked my list and the last time I found that many jobs to apply for was the first week in January. Maybe things really are looking up. They very well may be. In addition, a recruiter called me Tuesday. Now it was only for a contractor position, but what a cool job it was, making use of my project management skills and my French. We’ll see, but hopefully it’s just the promise of good things to come.
Before I forget, I did check with company that manages my Cobra and as far as I can tell, there is no extension in months we are able to be under that program. Sorry folks. Now I’ll start pursuing other avenues and will report back what I find out.
Here are a few suggestions for all of you out there. If you are looking for networking meetings go to a website www.meetup.org. Key in unemployed or other interests and your zip and it will pull up a bunch of meetings in your area. It’s pretty cool. I used it to see what was around me before I started my own networking group. Did you know that you can get forty business cards printed free, on the spot, at Staples? That’s right, but I’m not sure how long it will last. I know you can get free business cares from Vista Print, but if you are running to a meeting and have forgotten your cards, you can drop into a Staples and get some printed. How cool is that? Finally, here is something amusing. If you go to http://www.laidoffneedajob.com/ you can order wristbands to promote yourself. You know the whole Lance Armstrong thing except for yourself. What the heck no? How about that study in the UK that says during the recession more women are splurging in retail therapy. Woo Hoo!
Well in the words of Elmer Fud or Raskally Rabit, “That’s all folks”. Oh except, that for the first time in months I was actually day dreaming again on the treadmill. Things are getting better. It really will be OK. Honestly, it will be just fine. Get out there and enjoy the sunshine. Hey maybe we can all go to the zoo!
As to my positive outlook, in the last couple of weeks practically everyone I know has gotten interviews, including myself. I actually had a response to one of the applications I sent in on-line. Go figure, sure shocked me. When the guy called to set up the interview, I was confused as to what he wanted. Thought he might be a telemarketer. Just goes to show how few calls like that I’ve received in the last couple of months. I have to say, having been doing this for over a year; the last few months have been the absolute worst for getting interviews. It started to make me think all kinds of negative things, a long the lines of “what’s wrong with me”. It just goes to show, that it can get to any of us at times, even Miss Pollyanna here.
At my Friday networking group we were talking about those dreaded milestones that unfortunately are part of the process. So, this weekend, when I was feeling a definite lack of energy, I started to think about what milestone I might be facing. That was the “Ah Hah” moment for me. My Cobra benefits are running out this summer. Now a friend mentioned that due to the stimulus package, there may be an 18 month extension. I wasn’t able to find anything to definitive on-line yesterday, but today I’m going to call my Cobra provider and see what they say. I’ll definitely report back here what ever I find out. If any of you out there knows anymore, I would really appreciate it if you would put it in the comment section on this blog. Last week I renegotiated my car insurance premium and this week it’s Cobra and the whole cable/internet/phone thing that also is going up and needs to be negotiated. Hey, it’s gives me something to do, while I’m trying to find a job. Really cool feeling when you do negotiate a good deal as well. If I can’t get the extension on Cobra, I’m really going to have to drag my head out of the sand and find a new Health Insurance policy. You know things are pretty sad, when I envy people who are old enough for Medicare. Hey, here’s a piece of good news! It looks like, for those of us who live in New York, we’re going to get another 13 weeks extension of our Unemployment benefits. I’m not really sure if that falls into the “things are looking up” category or not, but hey I’ll take any news of getting money as good news.
Want to hear something funny? I started writing this on Monday, but thought it was way too negative. Therefore, I put off posting until today since my mood definitely matches the weather in it sunnyness. (Is that a word?). When I went back to edit what I’d written on Monday, I wondered what I was worried about. See, all about perception isn’t it? Meanwhile, not only have I already applied for twelve jobs this week, I found another seven this morning that I’m going to apply to right after I finish posting this. Just checked my list and the last time I found that many jobs to apply for was the first week in January. Maybe things really are looking up. They very well may be. In addition, a recruiter called me Tuesday. Now it was only for a contractor position, but what a cool job it was, making use of my project management skills and my French. We’ll see, but hopefully it’s just the promise of good things to come.
Before I forget, I did check with company that manages my Cobra and as far as I can tell, there is no extension in months we are able to be under that program. Sorry folks. Now I’ll start pursuing other avenues and will report back what I find out.
Here are a few suggestions for all of you out there. If you are looking for networking meetings go to a website www.meetup.org. Key in unemployed or other interests and your zip and it will pull up a bunch of meetings in your area. It’s pretty cool. I used it to see what was around me before I started my own networking group. Did you know that you can get forty business cards printed free, on the spot, at Staples? That’s right, but I’m not sure how long it will last. I know you can get free business cares from Vista Print, but if you are running to a meeting and have forgotten your cards, you can drop into a Staples and get some printed. How cool is that? Finally, here is something amusing. If you go to http://www.laidoffneedajob.com/ you can order wristbands to promote yourself. You know the whole Lance Armstrong thing except for yourself. What the heck no? How about that study in the UK that says during the recession more women are splurging in retail therapy. Woo Hoo!
Well in the words of Elmer Fud or Raskally Rabit, “That’s all folks”. Oh except, that for the first time in months I was actually day dreaming again on the treadmill. Things are getting better. It really will be OK. Honestly, it will be just fine. Get out there and enjoy the sunshine. Hey maybe we can all go to the zoo!
Friday, May 8, 2009
Heads Up People!
I don’t think it’s just me. There is a sense of positive feeling in the air. And, no, it’s not the cherry blossoms. I think we’d all have to agree, as pretty as they are, we are all affected one way or the other by tree pollen. I’m going out of town, but I had to post this. For the past week or so, all I’ve heard is that more people are calling or more opportunities seem to be presenting themselves. Mind you this could just be Spring or something, but it you live in the North East as I do, then that can so not be the case. We’ve just had five days of solid rainy dreary weather, that could clearly only make the Grinch happy. Even the people in my various networking meetings who I wouldn’t describe as positive Pollyanna’s like moi, have been saying this. Over the past two weeks I’ve hear the same line from quite a few different people. These people are all in different industries, no not just health care and education. Their specialties range from IT to marketing, to advertising and so on. They are all saying with a pinch of disbelief, that they are getting calls for interviews. Believe me, I am one of the biggest skeptics out there and don’t believe a thing I read in the papers. So, why the head’s up?
I know I’ve talked about this before. This is the time we've all been waiting for. This is the time when you should be sprucing up your resume and networking like mad. Where you are and what you’re doing somewhat depends on how long you’ve been out of work. We’re all in different phases. For instance, me, I’ve been out for a long time. I was at the beginning of the way. I tell you, for those of you who are like me, depending on your circumstances, this was not a good thing. My experience was that I got tons of interviews and very close to landing a ton of jobs. But, just when they were ready to make me an offer, blam…they’d lay people off and close off the open requisitions. For myself, I haven’t been that unhappy. I have to tell you that most of these jobs I really didn’t want anyway and was kind of hoping they didn’t make me an offer. That being said, I do want to go back to work. I don’t want to be self employed like a lot of you out there. Here’s where my plan be seems to be helping.
My plan B is made up of several parts: 1. A job search support group. 2. Consulting for a private consulting group on a 1099 basis. 3. Volunteering in a campaign for a candidate that lives in my building. 4. Belonging to another organization and starting up another kind of support group. All these things keep me very busy and yes, I do keep applying for jobs and reaching out to network. As a matter of fact, these various activities lead me to network more than I usually would. More than that though, they lend me the opportunity to interact with people and to gain a sense of self worth that would generally be part of what I got from my job. Now when employers ask me what I’ve been doing “all this time” (you all know what I mean), I have something to say. In addition, I have something to update my resume with, that may put me towards the top of the pile.
The reason I am writing this, is not to toot my own horn. God no! This is the time, in marketing parlance, to position yourself well. You and I are the product. We need to get a sense of the market place and work on our “creatives’ read resume, to best sell ourselves into the jobs we want. We need to start working on it NOW! We all want to be ahead of the curve. I believe it is happening. It may be happening slowly, but if what happened was a result of a crisis of confidence, then now is a time to take advantage of a surplus of hope/positivism. You know, that’s all it takes for CEO’s to say “hey we’ve got to start hiring.”
I know this is brief. I’m going on a short trip, but I wanted to make this point because it is so important.
Let’s pump up our resumes. Start working the phones. Let’s keep feeding treats to that positive wolf. Enjoy your weak. IT WILL HAPPEN! We will all soon be back to work and whining about how little free time we have to enjoy.
I know I’ve talked about this before. This is the time we've all been waiting for. This is the time when you should be sprucing up your resume and networking like mad. Where you are and what you’re doing somewhat depends on how long you’ve been out of work. We’re all in different phases. For instance, me, I’ve been out for a long time. I was at the beginning of the way. I tell you, for those of you who are like me, depending on your circumstances, this was not a good thing. My experience was that I got tons of interviews and very close to landing a ton of jobs. But, just when they were ready to make me an offer, blam…they’d lay people off and close off the open requisitions. For myself, I haven’t been that unhappy. I have to tell you that most of these jobs I really didn’t want anyway and was kind of hoping they didn’t make me an offer. That being said, I do want to go back to work. I don’t want to be self employed like a lot of you out there. Here’s where my plan be seems to be helping.
My plan B is made up of several parts: 1. A job search support group. 2. Consulting for a private consulting group on a 1099 basis. 3. Volunteering in a campaign for a candidate that lives in my building. 4. Belonging to another organization and starting up another kind of support group. All these things keep me very busy and yes, I do keep applying for jobs and reaching out to network. As a matter of fact, these various activities lead me to network more than I usually would. More than that though, they lend me the opportunity to interact with people and to gain a sense of self worth that would generally be part of what I got from my job. Now when employers ask me what I’ve been doing “all this time” (you all know what I mean), I have something to say. In addition, I have something to update my resume with, that may put me towards the top of the pile.
The reason I am writing this, is not to toot my own horn. God no! This is the time, in marketing parlance, to position yourself well. You and I are the product. We need to get a sense of the market place and work on our “creatives’ read resume, to best sell ourselves into the jobs we want. We need to start working on it NOW! We all want to be ahead of the curve. I believe it is happening. It may be happening slowly, but if what happened was a result of a crisis of confidence, then now is a time to take advantage of a surplus of hope/positivism. You know, that’s all it takes for CEO’s to say “hey we’ve got to start hiring.”
I know this is brief. I’m going on a short trip, but I wanted to make this point because it is so important.
Let’s pump up our resumes. Start working the phones. Let’s keep feeding treats to that positive wolf. Enjoy your weak. IT WILL HAPPEN! We will all soon be back to work and whining about how little free time we have to enjoy.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Self Employed, W2 Contractor, 1099 Consultant vs. Employee
In the last few weeks I’ve been doing a lot of thinking around Plan B and career choices. I thought it might be a good idea to share those thoughts in this weeks post. In the past, and I’m talking about three years ago, I thought consultant was simply a term for someone who couldn’t find a full time job with a company. Now, mainly over the past year, I’ve come to realize that it might indeed be a well thought out choice. Let’s think about this.
Actually most of my friends are consultants now. Originally they may have gone that path as a means to land a full time job with an employer, but I think they’ve come to enjoy being their own boss. As most of you know, when you agree to work for an employer you not only agree to do the job assigned to you, but to also follow their rules, and work within their culture and belief system. Sometimes this is a good thing, and if it is a good match, oftentimes it is a good thing for a long time. I know one of my previous employers had this culture where you were encouraged to always speak up and definitely to call out if you saw a foul taking place. However, also within that culture, it was very difficult to get ahead, especially after a certain age. I flourished there for years and did get ahead until I hit that age barrier. Then I switched to the next employer. The culture there was very different. You were not encouraged to speak out, ever, which was very difficult for me. On the other hand, one was given tremendous freedom to do whatever you thought would be good for the business. So I flourished there too. Until, the culture changed. I am so sure that a lot of you reading this have gone through something similar. I stayed at the last company for a long time after it changed. There is a lot of comfort in being paid well, not having to do much for it, and have all the other support benefits like insurance. So, I’m not saying that going to work for an employer is a bad thing, not at all. What I am saying is why I am starting to think about the whole self employed thing.
A friend of mine told me he really wants to be a 1099. Of course at first I was thinking what the fudge is that? I believe what it represents is this surge in people wanting to be their own boss. To work out of your home, in your own time, according to your values is not such a bad thing. Being a 1099 consultant means that basically you bill for your services. It also means you can have a whole bunch of clients you are working with and the fees that you receive aren’t shared with any one you don’t want to. The 1099 refers to the tax statement you receive from your clients so you can pay income tax on these fees. As to the W2 contractor, that’s a little different I believe. Besides the fact that they actually give you a paycheck (hence the W2), you are actually employed by someone, just not getting other benefits and I guess it’s usually for a specified contracted term. You’re still your own boss to a great degree. I guess if your getting paid mainly by commission, it’s really only different from the 1099 because of tax status. Ultimately, if you have a service to offer and like a lot of freedom, and aren’t tied so much to the security of that check coming in whether you do much or not, then you might want to think about doing this type of thing. It can range from contacting old clients and partners to do work for them, to contacting an agency like Adecco or Olsten Temps to contract out your services. A lot of people are doing this quite successfully. Plus, there is the added benefit of keeping your skills up to date and adding something current to your resume, so that when you do find that job you’ve been looking for, you’re ready to go.
Now tell you something else I’ve run across recently. Oh please, I know some of you are going to think “where has she been?” That being said, it just caught my eye, thoughts or imagination recently. Reading different job adds for Business Development jobs I had come across the terminology, “hunter”. Now being somewhat analytical, I could kind of figure it out. Then I read about or heard a recruiter refer to a hunter vs. a farmer. OK, I guess that the difference between business development and account management. Business development goes out and cold calls and creates relationship and closes sales and account management nurtures those relationships and grows the business. Pretty good huh? Well, Monday a friend said something to me that really nailed it for me. She was talking about how in the investment world, or part of it, nowadays it’s all commission based with no base salary. She looked at me and said, “You know. You eat what you kill.” Oh my God! The concept finally landed. Then yesterday, I was speaking to a recruiter for a W2 contractor job. As she described the position and how it would be compensated, I knew it was a mighty hunter job. Privately thinking, I’d rather live out of my car, or as one of my friends calls it; my four door apartment. So I said to her, I’m not going to waste your time. I am much more of a farmer and would not do well in this position but I know and respect and actually and am in awe of people that do this well. It’s true. There are those of you out there who get a charge out of going out there and nailing the sale and want to be compensated for doing just that. Me, I’d rather eat what I grow.
On that note, I hope you all have found this somewhat helpful. It just brings out the fact that even though there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot out there right now, there are other options. It’s all about knowing that there are other options and keep exploring them. You just never know where they’ll lead.
Actually most of my friends are consultants now. Originally they may have gone that path as a means to land a full time job with an employer, but I think they’ve come to enjoy being their own boss. As most of you know, when you agree to work for an employer you not only agree to do the job assigned to you, but to also follow their rules, and work within their culture and belief system. Sometimes this is a good thing, and if it is a good match, oftentimes it is a good thing for a long time. I know one of my previous employers had this culture where you were encouraged to always speak up and definitely to call out if you saw a foul taking place. However, also within that culture, it was very difficult to get ahead, especially after a certain age. I flourished there for years and did get ahead until I hit that age barrier. Then I switched to the next employer. The culture there was very different. You were not encouraged to speak out, ever, which was very difficult for me. On the other hand, one was given tremendous freedom to do whatever you thought would be good for the business. So I flourished there too. Until, the culture changed. I am so sure that a lot of you reading this have gone through something similar. I stayed at the last company for a long time after it changed. There is a lot of comfort in being paid well, not having to do much for it, and have all the other support benefits like insurance. So, I’m not saying that going to work for an employer is a bad thing, not at all. What I am saying is why I am starting to think about the whole self employed thing.
A friend of mine told me he really wants to be a 1099. Of course at first I was thinking what the fudge is that? I believe what it represents is this surge in people wanting to be their own boss. To work out of your home, in your own time, according to your values is not such a bad thing. Being a 1099 consultant means that basically you bill for your services. It also means you can have a whole bunch of clients you are working with and the fees that you receive aren’t shared with any one you don’t want to. The 1099 refers to the tax statement you receive from your clients so you can pay income tax on these fees. As to the W2 contractor, that’s a little different I believe. Besides the fact that they actually give you a paycheck (hence the W2), you are actually employed by someone, just not getting other benefits and I guess it’s usually for a specified contracted term. You’re still your own boss to a great degree. I guess if your getting paid mainly by commission, it’s really only different from the 1099 because of tax status. Ultimately, if you have a service to offer and like a lot of freedom, and aren’t tied so much to the security of that check coming in whether you do much or not, then you might want to think about doing this type of thing. It can range from contacting old clients and partners to do work for them, to contacting an agency like Adecco or Olsten Temps to contract out your services. A lot of people are doing this quite successfully. Plus, there is the added benefit of keeping your skills up to date and adding something current to your resume, so that when you do find that job you’ve been looking for, you’re ready to go.
Now tell you something else I’ve run across recently. Oh please, I know some of you are going to think “where has she been?” That being said, it just caught my eye, thoughts or imagination recently. Reading different job adds for Business Development jobs I had come across the terminology, “hunter”. Now being somewhat analytical, I could kind of figure it out. Then I read about or heard a recruiter refer to a hunter vs. a farmer. OK, I guess that the difference between business development and account management. Business development goes out and cold calls and creates relationship and closes sales and account management nurtures those relationships and grows the business. Pretty good huh? Well, Monday a friend said something to me that really nailed it for me. She was talking about how in the investment world, or part of it, nowadays it’s all commission based with no base salary. She looked at me and said, “You know. You eat what you kill.” Oh my God! The concept finally landed. Then yesterday, I was speaking to a recruiter for a W2 contractor job. As she described the position and how it would be compensated, I knew it was a mighty hunter job. Privately thinking, I’d rather live out of my car, or as one of my friends calls it; my four door apartment. So I said to her, I’m not going to waste your time. I am much more of a farmer and would not do well in this position but I know and respect and actually and am in awe of people that do this well. It’s true. There are those of you out there who get a charge out of going out there and nailing the sale and want to be compensated for doing just that. Me, I’d rather eat what I grow.
On that note, I hope you all have found this somewhat helpful. It just brings out the fact that even though there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot out there right now, there are other options. It’s all about knowing that there are other options and keep exploring them. You just never know where they’ll lead.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
OK So I Took Some Time Off
Some of you may have noticed, but I haven’t posted anything to this blog for a couple of weeks. I had just hit that wall we all run into at different times in our own internal timeline expectations. You know what I’m talking about? This internal clock that just keeps ticking through the times when you thought you’d be back to work long before this time ever hit. Anyway, so I took some time, a couple days at least, just for me. I didn’t do anything, eat anything, or talk to anyone, unless I really felt like it. I’m telling you, it really did wonders for my new occupation campaign. But on that note, aren’t there days when you’d really like to have that first drink at 2:00, the heck with tea and cookies. I was starting to think today was one of those days, and then I managed to fix my kitchen light. I have those long florescent light bulbs in my kitchen and I changed one the other day. Well it’s been flickering for days; sometimes dim and other times real bright. I was at the point of asking my super to come up and look at it, but not only am I feeling too cheap for that, I also felt it was kind of like one of those jokes. You know what I mean, how many whatever’s does it take to change a light bulb? Well I went to Target and bought new bulbs, came home and tried again and voila, everything is fine. Ahhhh, the little victories. Anyway, I do digress don’t I?
It may have appeared before in this blog how I am always amazed that people think I am handling things so well. But, you know, yesterday I “got” it. Finally, I gave myself credit for surviving relatively sane. However, before I get to that, you all need to believe that people are looking at you the very same way. We are all surviving. When you are home alone with your PC/Mac you may not feel that way, but it is all part of the process. Of course it also helps if you can appreciate, like I do, that it wasn’t always so happy times while working and at least now when you get frustrated, you can retire with tea and cookies to your comfy place to read a book, watch TV or whatever it is that makes you happy. That’s how I either keep my spirits up, or drag them up when they get really down.
You know, I started this posting yesterday, but realized I was having a real writers block. One of my original intentions for writing this blog was to recognize the humor, because there usually is always something to laugh about in every situation. Well in the last couple of months there didn’t seem to be anything to laugh about. Now, this all a perception mind you. I for one, can find something to laugh about in pretty much anything. Speaking of which, a friend of mine told me the best story about the day he was laid off as we drove home. I really wish he would share the story in comments. That was the hardest I’ve laughed in a very long time. And darlin, I wasn’t laughing at you, but more laughing with you at the irony of things that happen in our lives. I could so relate and I think you know that. This was an instance of good sympathetic influence. However, that being said, we all need to keep an eye on who is influencing us and in what way.
One of the ways we do survive or thrive in the process is to recognize and deal with appropriately, those negative influences that come and go through our lives and times. We can all succeed at focusing on the positive and diminishing the negative, but if there are people who we let close to us and who are really negative, this can have a very bad impact to our confidence, our hopes and ultimately to our future success. I’m not talking about the give and take of support in our various networks of friends and family. I’m talking about that person who always sends you or calls you with negative stories, never positive ones. The person who when you reach out to and say your in some need of support, says, no you're never that way, that you are always positive, and then changes the subject to talk about their problems. Listen to your own inner feelings. Do you think “uck” when you read one of the emails or feel that way after you get off the phone? Do you dread when you hear from them? Well it may be kind of cold of me, but in order to survive, we may need to distance ourselves from these vampires that suck the positive energy right out of you.
And, on a more positive note, the job boards may be thin and interviews even thinner, but people are using this difficult time to follow their dreams. That’s one heck of a segue isn’t it. Yesterday, at one of my network meetings, it struck me that a lot of us in a normal market would have simply moved on to another job, similar to the one we left when we were laid off. Because it is so darn difficult to get a job, we have to be more creative. There are only so many creative ways of searching for a job that you can come up with but, once you start thinking about what you would love to do, then the creativity can really kick in. In normal times, family members, friends etc. might respond with “stop wasting your time”. Now, since what you have most of is time, this type of creativity is encouraged and it can work. This colleague of mine was an IT maven and is now pursuing his dream in cooking and broadcasting and managing his daughter’s career. I am just in awe. Another person I met though another networking meeting, is pursuing her dream to make quilts as a business. Personally, I am spending some of my free time volunteering for my neighbor’s political campaign. I don’t know if it will lead anywhere, but I’ve always wanted to get involved in politics so we’ll see where it goes. I do believe these things can be a path that leads to another. More importantly, I think we all need to recognize that this awful recession may be an opportunity for us to explore things that for some reason we would never have given ourselves permission to pursue in the past.
To end, I’d like to add these links that I found on LinkedIn.com to articles we have an interest in:
Generation B, They Feel Your Losses
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/fashion/19generationb.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=boomer%20temp&st=cse
Stupid Interview Questions
http://www.businessweek.com/careers/content/sep2005/ca20050921_1099_ca009.htm?campaign_id=topStories_ssi_5
You know, now that I have that negative influence out of my life, I am starting to find things to laugh about again. Isn’t that grand? I’ll leave it at that and perhaps next week I’ll be able to share some with you. The one I’m thinking about, you really had to be there to appreciate it.
Keep feeding the positive wolf and keep those hungry negative wolves at bay.
It may have appeared before in this blog how I am always amazed that people think I am handling things so well. But, you know, yesterday I “got” it. Finally, I gave myself credit for surviving relatively sane. However, before I get to that, you all need to believe that people are looking at you the very same way. We are all surviving. When you are home alone with your PC/Mac you may not feel that way, but it is all part of the process. Of course it also helps if you can appreciate, like I do, that it wasn’t always so happy times while working and at least now when you get frustrated, you can retire with tea and cookies to your comfy place to read a book, watch TV or whatever it is that makes you happy. That’s how I either keep my spirits up, or drag them up when they get really down.
You know, I started this posting yesterday, but realized I was having a real writers block. One of my original intentions for writing this blog was to recognize the humor, because there usually is always something to laugh about in every situation. Well in the last couple of months there didn’t seem to be anything to laugh about. Now, this all a perception mind you. I for one, can find something to laugh about in pretty much anything. Speaking of which, a friend of mine told me the best story about the day he was laid off as we drove home. I really wish he would share the story in comments. That was the hardest I’ve laughed in a very long time. And darlin, I wasn’t laughing at you, but more laughing with you at the irony of things that happen in our lives. I could so relate and I think you know that. This was an instance of good sympathetic influence. However, that being said, we all need to keep an eye on who is influencing us and in what way.
One of the ways we do survive or thrive in the process is to recognize and deal with appropriately, those negative influences that come and go through our lives and times. We can all succeed at focusing on the positive and diminishing the negative, but if there are people who we let close to us and who are really negative, this can have a very bad impact to our confidence, our hopes and ultimately to our future success. I’m not talking about the give and take of support in our various networks of friends and family. I’m talking about that person who always sends you or calls you with negative stories, never positive ones. The person who when you reach out to and say your in some need of support, says, no you're never that way, that you are always positive, and then changes the subject to talk about their problems. Listen to your own inner feelings. Do you think “uck” when you read one of the emails or feel that way after you get off the phone? Do you dread when you hear from them? Well it may be kind of cold of me, but in order to survive, we may need to distance ourselves from these vampires that suck the positive energy right out of you.
And, on a more positive note, the job boards may be thin and interviews even thinner, but people are using this difficult time to follow their dreams. That’s one heck of a segue isn’t it. Yesterday, at one of my network meetings, it struck me that a lot of us in a normal market would have simply moved on to another job, similar to the one we left when we were laid off. Because it is so darn difficult to get a job, we have to be more creative. There are only so many creative ways of searching for a job that you can come up with but, once you start thinking about what you would love to do, then the creativity can really kick in. In normal times, family members, friends etc. might respond with “stop wasting your time”. Now, since what you have most of is time, this type of creativity is encouraged and it can work. This colleague of mine was an IT maven and is now pursuing his dream in cooking and broadcasting and managing his daughter’s career. I am just in awe. Another person I met though another networking meeting, is pursuing her dream to make quilts as a business. Personally, I am spending some of my free time volunteering for my neighbor’s political campaign. I don’t know if it will lead anywhere, but I’ve always wanted to get involved in politics so we’ll see where it goes. I do believe these things can be a path that leads to another. More importantly, I think we all need to recognize that this awful recession may be an opportunity for us to explore things that for some reason we would never have given ourselves permission to pursue in the past.
To end, I’d like to add these links that I found on LinkedIn.com to articles we have an interest in:
Generation B, They Feel Your Losses
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/fashion/19generationb.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=boomer%20temp&st=cse
Stupid Interview Questions
http://www.businessweek.com/careers/content/sep2005/ca20050921_1099_ca009.htm?campaign_id=topStories_ssi_5
You know, now that I have that negative influence out of my life, I am starting to find things to laugh about again. Isn’t that grand? I’ll leave it at that and perhaps next week I’ll be able to share some with you. The one I’m thinking about, you really had to be there to appreciate it.
Keep feeding the positive wolf and keep those hungry negative wolves at bay.
Monday, April 6, 2009
You Take Your Successes Wherever You Can Find Them
Don’t know about the rest of you, but there’s been a slew of “you know what” kind of days and weeks lately. I was IM’ing a friend earlier and I was whining about not having anything good or positive to say. So, I took my own advice and went for a walk. Do you know that I ran into this guy that I’ve been trying to contact, in the crosswalk of all places! Mind you I want to do some volunteer work for him, but you never know where that may lead. After that, I decided to indulge myself. Heh heh. Nah, nothing big. Just bought myself a trashy novel and a magazine. I have always believed, for as long as I can remember, that it’s a good idea to reward oneself when something good happens. It tends to get you focused on what you might consider something good. Most of you probably know by now, and if you don’t I’m sorry to put a damper on things, but it is very difficult to volunteer these days. Volunteering is a great way to network. It gets you out and about talking to people, meeting and making new friends. Plus you’re doing something for a cause, so you get some good karma points as well. For myself I have sent in applications to volunteer for the botanical gardens and the Friends of the Library. I’m having as much success with them as I have with the gazillion applications I’ve sent out in the last couple months. Therefore, when I ran into the candidate and he was pleased that I wanted to volunteer, I claimed that as my success for the day. That and the fact that I’ve lost 26 lbs since I’ve been out of work makes me feel very successful indeed today.
I want to bring something up and I’m not sure how this is going to land with most of you. Several of my friends have found jobs in the last couple weeks. The reason I mention the fact of how it might affect people is because I know I faced this news with the same ambivalence I had with news of huge layoffs. You know what I mean? With the layoffs, one can say hey there’s a reason I can’t find a job, but at the same time it’s really scary because you don’t know how you are ever going to find a job. However, when people start getting jobs, you start to wonder what’s wrong with you, even though, at the same time, you are really happy for them and would love to share in the excitement, but just have a little problem with it. Am I just projecting or does anyone else feel that way? No really, I am truly glad for my friends and am looking to learn from them what they did differently from me and from what I’ve done so I can improve my search. Just so you all know I believe they got their jobs through networking! That’s right folks; everyone I’ve known who has landed a job in the last six months got it through networking. Why do you think I’m out there volunteering and oh yeah, I’m joining Toastmasters too. The reason I am emphasizing all this is because in this current job market, it may be easy to apply for jobs on-line, but it’s not working. If there’s anyone out there who has a different take on this, I would love to hear it. So here are the different things I’ve done in the last few weeks to improve my outreach: 1. Volunteer, 2. Join a club, 3. Start a group of my own. Oh and finally, I have also reached out to a contact in LinkedIn.com for an information interview that may lead to something. Finding a job is really a lot of work. It is! It’s also hard. You have to constantly come up with new ways to approach it. But please stick with it. There are people finding jobs, and good jobs at that. We will all go back to work and probably look back on these times as “the good old days”.
Hopefully, this information is of help to you all. I am really not saying anything new, but I think, I myself, need to revisit the basics from time to time. Oh another idea that a colleague brought up at lunch, was having a task list. If you are really and truly looking for something to say you’ve accomplished something, have a task list every day. I have one and do it religiously. Mind you, control is a key factor, both in having the list, and in drafting the list. You need to keep it to an amount of items that you can reasonably accomplish that day and still leave you time to get out and about and make contacts. Whenever you are facing a huge project, and finding a job in this market is certainly a huge project, it is always a good idea to break it down into tasks. Looking towards the future can be daunting, therefore if you can just start breaking it down, you allow yourself to build momentum, find new directions to go in, and to give yourself a reason for a pat on the back.
There now that I’ve finished my blog, I can check off the final item on my list. Isn’t that great? Woo Hoo! I know I’m being silly, but it’s raining outside and I think it’s a very good thing to be silly at the end of the day if it makes you smile. I’m feeding the positive wolf with all my heart.
Good luck every body. Please feel free to comment. I would love to hear from you.
I want to bring something up and I’m not sure how this is going to land with most of you. Several of my friends have found jobs in the last couple weeks. The reason I mention the fact of how it might affect people is because I know I faced this news with the same ambivalence I had with news of huge layoffs. You know what I mean? With the layoffs, one can say hey there’s a reason I can’t find a job, but at the same time it’s really scary because you don’t know how you are ever going to find a job. However, when people start getting jobs, you start to wonder what’s wrong with you, even though, at the same time, you are really happy for them and would love to share in the excitement, but just have a little problem with it. Am I just projecting or does anyone else feel that way? No really, I am truly glad for my friends and am looking to learn from them what they did differently from me and from what I’ve done so I can improve my search. Just so you all know I believe they got their jobs through networking! That’s right folks; everyone I’ve known who has landed a job in the last six months got it through networking. Why do you think I’m out there volunteering and oh yeah, I’m joining Toastmasters too. The reason I am emphasizing all this is because in this current job market, it may be easy to apply for jobs on-line, but it’s not working. If there’s anyone out there who has a different take on this, I would love to hear it. So here are the different things I’ve done in the last few weeks to improve my outreach: 1. Volunteer, 2. Join a club, 3. Start a group of my own. Oh and finally, I have also reached out to a contact in LinkedIn.com for an information interview that may lead to something. Finding a job is really a lot of work. It is! It’s also hard. You have to constantly come up with new ways to approach it. But please stick with it. There are people finding jobs, and good jobs at that. We will all go back to work and probably look back on these times as “the good old days”.
Hopefully, this information is of help to you all. I am really not saying anything new, but I think, I myself, need to revisit the basics from time to time. Oh another idea that a colleague brought up at lunch, was having a task list. If you are really and truly looking for something to say you’ve accomplished something, have a task list every day. I have one and do it religiously. Mind you, control is a key factor, both in having the list, and in drafting the list. You need to keep it to an amount of items that you can reasonably accomplish that day and still leave you time to get out and about and make contacts. Whenever you are facing a huge project, and finding a job in this market is certainly a huge project, it is always a good idea to break it down into tasks. Looking towards the future can be daunting, therefore if you can just start breaking it down, you allow yourself to build momentum, find new directions to go in, and to give yourself a reason for a pat on the back.
There now that I’ve finished my blog, I can check off the final item on my list. Isn’t that great? Woo Hoo! I know I’m being silly, but it’s raining outside and I think it’s a very good thing to be silly at the end of the day if it makes you smile. I’m feeding the positive wolf with all my heart.
Good luck every body. Please feel free to comment. I would love to hear from you.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
In Pursuit of Plan B
Today is Sunday as you’ve probably already figured out. Can I tell you how busy I’ve been and how I wasn’t able to get through my “to do” list. For me that’s a real first, especially for a Sunday when my “to do” list is usually somewhat abbreviated. I believe it has a lot to do with my pursuit of my Plan B. Later I will go into a little more detail as to what Plan B for me actually entails. For now, I would like to define it as something that is different from what you actually thought you’d be doing. Or, how about, something that gets you thinking and moving, that is constantly evolving towards putting you in the job you love and deserve? How’s that?
Well that’s what it represents to me. People have asked me what it is that I want to accomplish. Typically we all think of leading to job making X amount of dollars. In this economy/environment I believe it is a challenge just to talk to people to see how you might fit in or grow something. If I might digress for a moment, I applied for a job with a major bank today. It took me two hours to complete the application. This is me, ya’ll, the woman who can fill out applications in 10 seconds flat. Part of the application was to take an aptitude test which included many of those dreaded word problems. You know what I’m talking about; if Suzy was running x miles per hour and Johnny was running Y, when would they crash into each other? But this was more in the lending business. Anyway, on top of that, I received a questionnaire from another company I applied to asking me to document a marketing plan I had put in place. This, mind you, was only one of seven questions in the questionnaire. I’m telling you this to point out how darn hard it is getting. Have you tried to volunteer lately? There are waiting lists with most organizations, at least in my part of the country. Therefore, I’ve included in my Plan B as a reason for me to talk to people. Plus, my plan B is something I believe in.
OK so what’s my plan B? All I’ll tell you is that in alignment with creating this blog and posting to it each week, I want to continue to help other unemployed people out there. I am especially concerned with those individuals that are not getting help from outplacement firms and/or who are living alone and are at risk. There are a lot of people out there who are at risk, because if you don’t get out and talk to people or reach out in some way, you may get caught up in your own internal soundtrack, which not be a comedy or action flick. What I’m trying to do is to set up a support group/networking group in my home town, so that people can get together and go over job search strategies, trends, stress busting methods, and just laugh a little. It’s not as easy as you might think. Now this is good for me, because it has gotten my creative juices flowing and I’m talking to more and more people. Before I forget, this wonderful woman at my local library suggested two websites to look for local meetings; www.craigslist.com and www.meetup.com. I haven’t been to craigslist but I did go to meetup. Just type in unemployed in topic or interest and your zip code and voila, it will bring up the meetings close to you. What’s funny is there is a lot of truth to it being harder to give something away than to sell it.
So far, I’ve received lots of good advice and I’ve met some interesting people. I continue to move forward. Everyday, through this Plan, brings up other things I haven’t thought of which I continue to pursue. Then that leads to something else, which leads to something else. Who know’s where I’ll end up? All I know is that the search or journey is leading me to a lot more places than sitting in front of my computer for hours ever has. I finally “get” what networking is all about. It is a journey that keeps your mind active and your options open. By the way, I do continue to search for jobs every day, and so should you. Just think about adding a little something else to the day OK?
Once again, continue to feed the positive wolf and let’s give a big hoorah for the extra dollars in our unemployment checks. I know the people in my state have a smile on their faces today. Yes, the deposits went in on Friday! Check your account!
Good bye for now and lot’s of luck in your search.
Well that’s what it represents to me. People have asked me what it is that I want to accomplish. Typically we all think of leading to job making X amount of dollars. In this economy/environment I believe it is a challenge just to talk to people to see how you might fit in or grow something. If I might digress for a moment, I applied for a job with a major bank today. It took me two hours to complete the application. This is me, ya’ll, the woman who can fill out applications in 10 seconds flat. Part of the application was to take an aptitude test which included many of those dreaded word problems. You know what I’m talking about; if Suzy was running x miles per hour and Johnny was running Y, when would they crash into each other? But this was more in the lending business. Anyway, on top of that, I received a questionnaire from another company I applied to asking me to document a marketing plan I had put in place. This, mind you, was only one of seven questions in the questionnaire. I’m telling you this to point out how darn hard it is getting. Have you tried to volunteer lately? There are waiting lists with most organizations, at least in my part of the country. Therefore, I’ve included in my Plan B as a reason for me to talk to people. Plus, my plan B is something I believe in.
OK so what’s my plan B? All I’ll tell you is that in alignment with creating this blog and posting to it each week, I want to continue to help other unemployed people out there. I am especially concerned with those individuals that are not getting help from outplacement firms and/or who are living alone and are at risk. There are a lot of people out there who are at risk, because if you don’t get out and talk to people or reach out in some way, you may get caught up in your own internal soundtrack, which not be a comedy or action flick. What I’m trying to do is to set up a support group/networking group in my home town, so that people can get together and go over job search strategies, trends, stress busting methods, and just laugh a little. It’s not as easy as you might think. Now this is good for me, because it has gotten my creative juices flowing and I’m talking to more and more people. Before I forget, this wonderful woman at my local library suggested two websites to look for local meetings; www.craigslist.com and www.meetup.com. I haven’t been to craigslist but I did go to meetup. Just type in unemployed in topic or interest and your zip code and voila, it will bring up the meetings close to you. What’s funny is there is a lot of truth to it being harder to give something away than to sell it.
So far, I’ve received lots of good advice and I’ve met some interesting people. I continue to move forward. Everyday, through this Plan, brings up other things I haven’t thought of which I continue to pursue. Then that leads to something else, which leads to something else. Who know’s where I’ll end up? All I know is that the search or journey is leading me to a lot more places than sitting in front of my computer for hours ever has. I finally “get” what networking is all about. It is a journey that keeps your mind active and your options open. By the way, I do continue to search for jobs every day, and so should you. Just think about adding a little something else to the day OK?
Once again, continue to feed the positive wolf and let’s give a big hoorah for the extra dollars in our unemployment checks. I know the people in my state have a smile on their faces today. Yes, the deposits went in on Friday! Check your account!
Good bye for now and lot’s of luck in your search.
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