Support is the Key to Success!

I'm training for my first half-marathon right now. Our coach had us form success groups: 4 to 6 people in each group, to encourage each other through the week, run together on our training days, and be there for each other. A support group. My group is the "Back of the Packers". We walk more than we run, but we still compete and we finish races!

Having a support group is critical in a lot of areas of life, especially in a job search. There are lots of ways to find or get support, and it doesn't matter what kind of support group you join or form. But it is important to have.

At the networking mixers that I have attended, I have met a lot of people who participate in job clubs. A Job Club is rather structured in that you are given certain tasks to complete and must report back at the next meeting. They usually meet weekly.

I wasn't interested in that much support. I am highly motivated on my own. I'm a social media guru. I'm outgoing. But I still need support because even I can't be on task 24/7! Instead, I have formed a loose-knit support network with a few friends who are in the same boat. Let's face it, in this economy, everyone has at least one friend who is also a job seeker.

One of my friends was a former co-worker. We lost our jobs at the same company about 2 months apart. We also live near each other and were quite social outside of work so we naturally spend a lot of time together. We decided to work out together three days a week during the day. During our workouts, we would share job leads, bounce ideas off each other, practice answers to interview questions, etc. Oddly enough, we have both accepted long-term temporary assignments recently and we begin our new jobs on the same day!

Another friend I know through volunteering. We discovered that we were both unemployed via Facebook. We decided to attend a mixer together to catch up and network at the same time. Since then, we have formed an informal club. I showed her my blog, my Twitter account and how I use both. She shared tips she gleaned from webinars. The next mixer we attended together, she was doing the presentation on how to use Social Media! We stay in touch mostly by email, but sometimes by phone and in person. She's a great sounding board for me and I love being one of the folks she chooses to proofread her blog posts. I feel like I'm getting the inside scoop!

Lastly, I have another friend and former co-worker who just lost her job. I am probably more support to her than she is to me at this point, but I love the insight that I am gaining from talking to her. Her approach is fresh, and the questions she is asking me are inspiring me with new ideas. I hope that we continue to meet for lunch or via email even as my new assignment begins.

So I encourage you to find or form a support network of your own. We all need a little help from our friends!

Job Shower? Maybe...Maybe not...

I just read an interesting blog post on how to throw yourself a job shower.

Throw Yourself A Job Shower

The author has some good points that reflect back on my earlier post on tips for making the most of a networking mixer. If people attend networking mixers with the intention of only what's in it for them, then nobody gets anything out of it, and the whole event is a drain.

But if people attend thinking about how they can help others, then everyone gets something out of it.

The last mixer that I attended, I met several people who I could really help with job leads. Not all of them had cards, but I gave all of them my card and told them to contact me after the mixer so that I could give them more details about leads that I have, contacts that I have, etc. The surprising thing is that none of these people contacted me afterward to follow through.

So my last additional tip for successful networking is just that - follow through on your leads. If you find that you can't remember who the people were, make notes on the back of their cards while you're talking to them. And if someone tells you that they have leads for you, don't blow them off.

Unless, of course, you have your ideal job all picked out. In that case, by all means, throw yourself a Job Shower.

Networking Mixers - Here's How Do It Right

I have attended several different kinds of networking mixers lately from PinkSlipMixers.com events to LinkedIn events to alumni events. I've made a lot of good connections and I've had a chance to observe lots of different kinds of people and it occurred to me that networking at a mixer is a lot like the bar scene for dating. A lot of the same rules apply. So here are my tips for successful networking at mixers.

Dress appropriately. Not all of these events will be attended by recruiters or hiring managers, but some of them might and you should always make a good impression. Business Casual should be the minimum. No Jeans, No Crocs, No Flip Flops, No logo T-shirts. You don't want to look like you were just gardening or washing the car and then turned up at the mixer.

Arrive early. This is especially important if you are somewhat introverted. It will be an instant icebreaker that you were one of the first to arrive. You can greet the host and warm up your small talk before the room is packed and more intimidating.

Have good body language. Even if chairs are provided, it's better to remain standing. You will seem more approachable. If you are holding a drink, set it down once in a while and talk with your hands. You will appear interesting. If you are standing alone, don't cross your arms in front of your body or put your hands on your hips. Keep your head up and look around the room and try to make eye contact with someone that you would like to come over to you. Raising your eyebrows or tilting your head signals that you are approachable. The hardest thing to do is to walk up to a group of people already engaged in conversation. So look for a smaller group of two or three people, hover nearby and at a lull in their conversation, introduce yourself.

Be a giver, not a taker. Networking is not just about what's in it for you. It's about sharing your contacts and job leads with others. So be a giver. Listen to what the people you meet are saying and think about how you can help them. Give them a reason to want to help you. This also goes for your contacts who are employed. Don't just ask them for help when you are unemployed. Keep in touch throughout the year, even if it's just for coffee or a quick email. They'll be much more likely to help you if you aren't a drain.

Learn to take suggestions. People will offer you all kinds of advice if they are in the "giving" mood. Some of it will be good, some of it won't, but learn how to take all of their suggestions gracefully. Even if some of what they suggest isn't really for you, it might spark a thought that hadn't occurred to you before. It also may be good advice that you can pass on to someone else.

Make sure you circle the room at least twice. This will give you the opportunity to see if anyone new has come in or if someone who was busy in a large group is now available to chat. You can also walk up to groups that include people you met earlier and meet the new people they are chatting with.

After the event, make sure to keep in touch with the people that you met that are quality contacts. Add them to your LinkedIn network and follow them on Twitter.

As you grow your network, you will make new friends, find mentors and support, and maybe, just maybe, find that dream job you've been looking for.

Bon chance!

One is All You Need

A friend of mine was laid off in February when her company went through a major downsizing/restructuring. Her department was decimated but several of her co-workers were picked up by a competitor company within a few weeks. After about a month or so, another position came open at that company. My friend interviewed for it but was disappointed to learn that, between the time she applied and the time she interviewed, the position had been moved to another plant quite distant from where she is living. She told them that she hadn't planned on relocating. They later told her that they went with another candidate.

In most instances, that would have been the end of the story. It would serve as a cautionary tale to be open to relocation or another position when you go in to interview. But that's not what happened here.

Instead, many weeks later, the recruiter called and offered my friend a contract position at the plant close to her home. She offered a very competitive salary and the possibility that the position could be contract-to-hire if they could find a way to keep it at that location. My friend took the job! Of course, she did. Who wouldn't?

Instead of being a cautionary tale, instead I think this story serves to illustrate something entirely different: One job offer is really all you need - if it's the right one.

I'm inspired.

Can you really find a job using Social Media?

Today a friend & I met to network/support each other in the job hunt.

We reviewed each other's resumes and shared some job hunting stories.

One question arose from that: Has anyone out there actually found a job using social media? Both of us have heard conflicting things about the use of blogs or Twitter or LinkedIn to find a job as opposed to traditional forms of job hunting or networking.

So I pose this question: How did you get your last job? Were you recruited from the job before that? Was it a personal "live" connection? Or did you find your job in the virtual world of social media?

We want to hear your stories! Please comment on this blog or DM me on Twitter.

A Writing Sample? Certainly!

I applied for a job today and in the advertisement, I was instructed to send a writing sample of about half a page on any subject.

I thought for a moment and then realized that I have a writing sample. It's right here. It's my blog. So instead of writing something new, I included the URL for this blog in my cover email and invited them to read it.

I began blogging a couple of years ago when two writer friends suggested it as a way to keep my creative juices going after moving away from the more creative side of the entertainment industry into finance. I started this blog just to focus on my job search stories. I do have to say that they were absolutely right about blogging. I love having a place to write about whatever I want. I do feel that it gives me the chance to be creative whenever I choose.

Blogging has also helped me feel more comfortable about using social media like Facebook and Twitter. Twitter is nothing if not microblogging. The challenge with Twitter is being able to say something in 140 characters. Sometimes, I have to run over into a second tweet, but I am improving.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my friends (they know who they are) for encouraging me to begin blogging. Without them, I wouldn't have had so much writing to sample!

Professionalism is a Two Way Street

I'm always reading tips online and in the paper for people who are looking for a job. What to wear, what to say, how early to arrive, how to follow up. All of these topics are readily available to the job seeker who wants to improve their interviewing style. The bottom line from all the tipsters is that the job seeker must show courtesy and respect to the interviewer who has given his or her time to meet with you. In other words, be professional.

I think professionalism is a two-way street. I think the interviewer also must show courtesy and respect to the interviewee. After all, the impression I get of a company and its culture is largely due to my interaction with the staff I meet on interview day.

In this current job search, I have been on four interviews. Four very different companies, three of whom were the hallmark of professionalism and one which was not.

Here's what the three did right:
One was a small not-for-profit, one was a large international entertainment firm, and one was a large national staffing firm. Despite the differences in size, all three made sure that we were making good use of our time. They had clear job descriptions in their advertisements. One did a lengthy phone interview first but all had a basic pre-interview. All needed me to meet with multiple people and arranged the interviews so that I would only need to come once and I could meet with everyone. Though I arrived a bit early for each interview (to show respect for their time, I am always 10 minutes early), they had someone to greet me, ask if I wanted a glass of water, etc. Each meeting was kept to 30ish minutes which also showed respect for my time.

I have not heard a final decision from all of these companies, but I have heard from one in the negative. That is fine. The interview process is about seeing if you are a good fit for them and I wasn't. But I would encourage friends to apply to any of these companies whether or not they hire me. That's because my sense is that each of them values their employees and my friends who may end up working there will be treated with respect.

Now for company number 4, a small hospitality company, and what it could have done better:
First, the advertisement simply said "Accountant wanted". That's all. No job duties or degrees or certifications that would be required. I found this odd, but I applied for the job anyway. I figured that my resume would speak for itself and if I wasn't what they were looking for, that would be that. As it turns out, I wasn't what they were looking for and I would have known that if they had written a clear job description in the posting. Unprofessional.

Next, they sent me a letter asking me to come in to interview. After reading my resume, they should have known that I wasn't what they were looking for, but they asked me to come in all the same. I phoned them upon receipt of the letter and reached voicemail so I left a message with my number and the days and times I was available in the coming week. This was Saturday. On Wednesday, they phoned me just before noon and said they had an appointment available that afternoon. I'm sorry, but unless you are a temp agency, you shouldn't expect people to be available to interview within two hours of your phone call, especially when that wasn't one of the days they told you they were available. Unprofessional.

They were able to offer me an appointment two weeks in the future. I found this odd, but I took it and figured if I found something else first, I could always phone and cancel. Fast forward to interview day. I arrived at the appointed address 10 minutes early and the office was locked! No one was there. I'm sorry, but if you have someone coming to interview, you should be present. Unprofessional.

I phoned the woman who made the appointment and she said she would have to call me back. While I was waiting, a gentleman showed up. He was also there to interview at the EXACT same time as I was. This is the most unprofessional thing of all. No employer should ever schedule two interviews at the same time.

Eventually, someone showed up. We were ushered into the small waiting room and handed accounting tests to take before we met with the interviewer. It wasn't a temp agency or a staffing firm so why were they handing us accounting tests? The gentleman left. I sat there in the waiting room doing the test while they listened to loud music and spoke in a language not English. This is also unprofessional. It is rude in the workplace to listen to music at a volume that others can hear. While people often speak other languages in the workplace, when someone is waiting to interview and within earshot, it gives the impression that you are discussing that person or else you would be speaking in English.

After my test was scored, I was ushered in to meet with the interviewer. She looked at my test results, asked me my salary range and then said that I wasn't what they were looking for. Well, good, because they weren't what I was looking for. I want to work for a company that treats its employees with courtesy.

I don't know if the gentleman will go back or if he will be hired. I kind of hope that he won't be hired there because he was a nice man and I think he deserves to work at a nice company. Like Numbers 1-3.

Avocation vs. Vocation

Since I've been on this current Job Search, I've really given a lot of thought to what direction I would like my career to go in. To that end, I have been looking at different kinds of jobs than I might have considered in the past when I was strictly focused on the entertainment industry.



I have been particularly interested in checking out the non-profit sector. Last week, I was writing cover letters for two jobs at non-profits. One of these could really be a dream job for me, allowing me to unite my background with not only my love of community service, but also my passion for science. I took advantage of the opportunity which the cover letter affords to shine a spotlight on skills that are hidden in my resume. Here are the highlights:

• I am currently Treasurer of the Hillsides Volunteer Network. I have been a member of HVN for 12 years and have held every office except Children's Activities Chair - serving a three-year term as Executive Chair (including a non-voting seat on the Board of Directors), two-year terms as Membership Chair, Communications Chair, and now as Treasurer, and a one-year term as Social Events & Fundraising Co-Chair. I have worked closely with Hillsides Outreach & Development Departments, assisting in updating the membership database, promoting communication via social networking sites, and supporting fundraising events.


• I worked for Disney for over 15 years. In that time, I was very involved with Disney VoluntEARS, serving a three-year term on their Steering Committee (now called Leadership Council). I also served one term on the Cast Community Fund Grant review committee which awards grants to local non-profits.


• After leaving Disney, I was hired by Disney Worldwide Outreach to develop a volunteer database so that they could target emails to volunteers with specific interests rather than blasting all the volunteers Company-wide each week.

As the saying goes "Do something you love and you will never work a day in your life". I think I may be on to something...

Rainy Days & Mondays

Today is the first rainy day that we have had since I have been unemployed. I don't know about you but I love the rain. That is, as long as I don't have to go out in it.

I commute by public transit. This is by choice. I have been car-free for 6 years. Most of the time I love it, except when it rains. When it rains, the streets flood and all the vehicles splash you as you wait for the light to change and it's virtually impossible to stay warm, let alone dry.

Of course, this being Southern California, it really doesn't rain all that often. In the past 6 years, I have only had to call out from work once due to rain. I was living in Valley Glen and I couldn't cross the street without going literally knee-deep in water. So I phoned my supervisor, explained the situation, and asked to be transferred to the co-workers who lived near me. They agreed to pick me up if it happened in the future. It never did, but I was ready!

So today, I am taking a rain day. I didn't have to go out, I only wanted to go out. I am going to enjoy NOT going out to its fullest because the next time it rains, I hope to be working!

Pink Slip Mixers

Last week I went to my first Pink Slip Mixer. Another friend who is unemployed had told me about pinkslipmixers.com so I checked it out. I even told another friend who is unemployed and we agreed to meet there. The one last week was in Pasadena. Many of the folks had been unemployed so long that I, at 6 weeks, was definitely the "newbie".

I am reflecting on last week's mixer because the next event is tomorrow night at the ESPN Zone at LA Live downtown. Here are the reasons that I, and I think you, should go:

1) Edwin, the organizer, is himself unemployed and doing this all on the "pay it forward" principle. He gets the venue to donate the space, everyone comes and brings their friends and buys drinks &/or food.

2) It's nice to have the support of other people who are unemployed when you are looking. You know there are more people out there just like you. And that is a great morale booster.

3)Plus, while you're job hunting for yourself, you often find jobs that might interest others. I myself have found several jobs for some of the folks I met last week.

4)Recruiters or hiring managers can come and find a wealth of different people with different skills for whatever positions they might need to fill. At last week's mixer, we had a CEO, an Executive Assistant, an IT person, an HR person, a sales person, two marketing people, two PR people, an accountant, a business development person, and a banker. Practically a whole staff for a small company!

So, I'm going to check my schedule tomorrow and see if I can fit in the event at ESPN Zone LA Live 6-9pm.

Maybe I will see you there!

The Pros & Cons of Skills Tests

The agency that I interviewed with on Friday, as well as the temp agency that I am registered with, requires some skills testing prior to sending people out on jobs. That makes sense in some respects because they have to have some quantitative way of measuring the skills of all the applicants. But do these tests really measure the skills accurately? I'm not so sure.

First, I did all of the testing at home on my laptop in my bedroom. Some on Saturday and some earlier today. This is great for convenience, but there are a lot of distractions that I didn't even think about beforehand. During Saturday's testing period, the doorbell rang (mailman), the phone rang (aunt) and my email notifier rang constantly with notices that friends had sent me things on Facebook. During today's testing period, my wireless connection went out! Fortunately, it went out just as I completed a test. But what a pain, right?

So I think there is a benefit to doing the testing at the agency on their computers because the distractions of home aren't present.

But there could be a downside there as well. Their computer network may also go down. There may also be a built in sense of nervousness from being in a strange environment and using strange equipment.

And I'm just wondering how accurate a test of practical knowledge these tests really are. I learned all of my skills "on the job". I do not have the degrees most people have in my line of work. But I have never had any difficulty in performing my job on a daily basis. These tests asked me to define terms I had never heard used on the job. It's a good thing I have an excellent command of English or I would have been in real trouble.

I was also asked to perform tasks that I had never done before on some of the software tests. If I have nearly 20 years experience and I've never needed to do these things, how reliable is my score on the test?

There is some benefit to having these tests as a baseline, but I don't believe they should be the sole basis on whether or not a potential employee is hired.

Your thoughts?

Strengths & Weaknesses

I had an interview this morning with an agency that places contract employees. Part of the interview was an opportunity to go over my resume and also some typical interview questions that their clients may ask.

First, I have to give a shout out to Rick Hernandez at DBM because they loved my resume! Thanks Rick! Rick helped me write my resume when I was laid off in 2007 and my company paid for out-placement services. I'm still using the tips he gave me when updating my resume and it's working.

After looking at my resume (which didn't need any work, thanks to Rick), the recruiter asked me the dreaded "What are your strengths & weaknesses?" question. Now I don't know about you but this is the question that I like least in an interview. I always feel that I am boasting if I talk about my strengths and I'm always nervous to talk about my weaknesses. Today's recruiter had some really good advice which I am going to share with you.

Strengths:

• Don't be afraid to talk about your strengths. This is a time when it is okay to boast a bit about yourself. Be prepared for this question. Review the job description carefully and if you are proficient in an area that they mention, then you should definitely mention that when discussing your strengths - even if it's usually way down on your list of things to mention.
• Remember that you are promoting yourself and the company you are interviewing with doesn't know anything about you. If good stuff is buried in your resume, bring it up during the interview. If you don't point it out, you can't be sure that they will notice it.

Weaknesses:

• Don't be negative when discussing your weaknesses. Give a positive spin whenever you can. You want them to think "That weakness is really a growth opportunity". Again, it's very important to review job descriptions carefully.
• If you are under-qualified, or lack something that they require, it's polite to decline the interview. You want to respect the interviewer's time as well as your own.
• If you have some experience in a required area, but it's not a strength, you want to avoid mentioning that as a weakness. Here's an example, if you are in Southern California and applying for a position dealing with the public, you might say "I wish that I spoke better Spanish." For myself, I might say "I wish that I had more opportunities to use some of the Excel skills that I learned in class." My resume states that I am a certified Excel Expert. That is true, but I have never had to do some of the things in the real world that I learned how to do in the classroom and I know those skills will get rusty without use.

Good luck on your next interview!

Welcome to my new blog!

In my quest for my next career adventure, I keep hearing "You've got to have a blog".

This was even a topic at the Pink Slip Mixer I went to last night. Everyone was saying it was a great idea, but what should we write about. The funny thing was that we all had great stories and insights to share so why not blog?

So that's my plan. I am going to share my insights and my stories. Fasten your seat belts, folks!