? Food

?‍?‍? Friends

? Football

? Funny Commercials

For me, the best part of the Super Bowl is the commercials.  I’d risk a bladder infection hoping to see a hilarious ad  

When we are networking with people in our job search, it is like running a commercial for ourselves.  When the message is garbled or unclear, it is like airing a bad commercial.  And just  like advertisers who spent a lot of money getting their spot in front of as many people as possible, so is the job seeker who is staying very busy networking but with a poor message.  

I call this “netwasting”

If you lack clarity in the role you’re looking for, how you add value, and a list of target companies, the best course of action is to go off-air and get your message right first.  

I can’t emphasize this point enough – Until you know what you are looking for and can clearly express that to someone else in a way they understand and can act on, you shouldn’t be actively networking.  It is the exact same thing as airing a bad commercial.  You are only hurting your brand and turning off people who otherwise want to help you.  

The Junk Drawer

Another common and costly mistake job seekers make is to try and “keep their options open” by identifying as many roles, functions, and industries as possible that they might be suited for.  The logic is that by having a broad array of places where they might be a fit, they increase their odds of finding an opportunity. 

Unfortunately, the exact opposite consequence is the result.  Failure to be reasonably specific dooms you to going in the junk drawer of people’s minds.  If you’re familiar with Daniel Kahneman’s bestseller Thinking, Fast and Slow, you will recognize his finding that our brains need a way to classify information (in this case, your job search specifics). When your job search focus is left too wide open, our brain doesn’t know where to “put you” and just like with things in our homes, stuff that doesn’t naturally go in a predetermined place goes in the junk drawer.  Not where you want to be.  

A key concept here is that all of your messaging needs to be consistent, focused, and integrated.  Whether we are talking about networking, your resume, your LinkedIn profile, how you present yourself in an interview – whatever the forum or medium, you need to be “on message”.

Summary

Clarity is a beautiful thing because it frees your mind from confusion.  If you’re confused about your core convictions, then you’re like a pinball machine, reacting to the last thing someone told you was important in your job search. This is why so many job seekers are constantly tweaking their resumes and making them a cluttered mess. 

Conversely, when you have nailed down your convictions, you are liberated from trying to be all things to all potential employers (and staying out of the junk drawer). You are free from faking it in the hopes of convincing someone of something you’re not even convinced of yourself. One of the hallmarks of having established clarity is the ability to say, “No, that’s not a good fit for me.” Clarity will unlock your ability to convey your brand in an articulate, unambiguous, and compelling way.

The post Clarity – Being “On Message” appeared first on Career Club.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned since March 2020, it’s that a huge swath of workers don’t love what they’ve been doing, hence the Great Resignation. One major reason for this is that Work From Home (WFH) has allowed people the time and space to really assess what’s important to them. Plus, the pandemic has been life or death. People are dying from this tragedy and that is pretty sobering.

So, as we take stock of what really matters to us, we have a few questions to ask ourselves like:

• Since I have a finite number of days on this Earth, what percent of them do I want to spend in a car /train /plane for work?
• Do I end my work day feeling energized or just exhausted?
• Would you tell your child to manage their career the way you’re managing yours currently?
• Are the people and issues you most care about getting the best of your time and talent?

If these kinds of questions get your attention – then today is a great day! The esteemed English academic and theologian C.S.Lewis once said, “if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.”

The points above focus mainly on where does work fit into your broader life. Next, we’ll drill down on this a bit with respect to the actual work you’re doing and who you’re doing it with and for.

Many folks engaged in a job search want a job, any job. Depending on how long one has been in transition, the feeling of desperation can be overwhelming. To hell with my convictions man, I just need a job!

For others who are currently working, there is an overwhelming sense of meh. It’s not awesome, it’s not terrible, it just is what it is.

Or maybe it actually does suck because you have a toxic boss or a culture that doesn’t treat people with the respect they deserve.

But wouldn’t you really rather be working on something that aligns with your skills, values, and passions? Too often we compromise because we don’t take the time to see uninspiring work for what it is. Or, we’re like a prisoner who doesn’t know the cell door key is just outside the door. We don’t leave because we don’t know how.

You have choices, you always have choices.

So, having considered our convictions as they relate to 1) where does work fit into my life and 2) do I actually care about my work. Now, let’s look at staying true to our convictions even in the heat of an interview. As we said, depending on how long you’ve been in a job search or how disheartened you might feel about your employment prospects, one might have the tendency to say or agree to most anything.

• Are you open to traveling 50% of the time?
• Do you mind commuting into the city 3 days a week?
• Can you WFH and just Zoom with your colleagues 100% of the time?
• Are you OK with making 70% of your last role’s compensation?
• Do you think you can tolerate your new boss’s brash tone?
• Is it a problem if you don’t have much influence on how decisions get made here?
• Do you mind being a one-woman Marketing department?

I could go on but you get the idea. The problem with not being honest with yourself is that you have to live with the consequences. Either you suck it up and grind it out, or in a few months you burn out and find yourself looking for a job all over again.

So what do you do?

It is far better to keep a firm grasp of your non-negotiables than to compromise. The more real opportunities you are working on (i.e., not merely applying for roles online), the less susceptible you will be to say Yes to a situation that doesn’t align with your needs. Thankfully, the balance of power is shifting from Employers to Talent. Companies are becoming more flexible as they realize that to attract great candidates like you, they need to be more accommodating. If you encounter an “opportunity” that doesn’t mesh well with your convictions, move on. Like in any good relationship, when you find the right one, you’ll know it.

The post How Do Your Convictions Direct Your Career? appeared first on Career Club.