Communication While in Transition

Disclaimer: My professional background is not in the field of communication, but I still have some opinions.

Certainly, the cliché “It’s not what you know but whom you know” is often true. However, when people are in transition, I would add “but while in transition, who knows you is more important” because you are the one who needs a job, and if people cannot find you, your job search will be unnecessarily prolonged.

I categorize communication in general to occur on three levels: The lowest level is daily chitchat. We chitchat with people we know: family members, friends, and perhaps others we communicate with occasionally such as other job seekers. Communication with job seekers is superficial, though, because its only objective is to get connected.

The second level of communication involves passing or receiving relevant—or sometimes less relevant—information. For example, the news on television. This type of information is intended to inform and is often given a spin to dramatize it and keep viewers glued to the TV, but when the excitement is at its peak, we hear, ”And now this commercial.” Of course, that’s how television stations—which, after all, are businesses—generate revenues. In most cases, though, we commit this type of information only to short-term memory. Nobody remembers news from two weeks ago.

The third level of communication has to do with ideas. This is what attracts me. I’m interested in other prominent people’s or experts’ ideas. It’s where we can learn about and understand the Big Picture.

So, how is all of this relevant to people in transition? Well, you want to be viewed as an expert, and you want people to be attracted to you. When they check you out, you want potential employers to consider you an expert in your own professional field. The way to project that image is to communicate—sporadically—with those connected to you. Be aware, though, that every time you do communicate, your writing had better be of value to them. Given a little time, your connections will learn that when you send them a piece of communication, it is indeed worth their while to spend the time to read it.

A good communicator while in transition knows to use social media to advantage. On one hand, certainly you should connect with many people; on the other hand, you must connect with prospects who could help you into your next job. Remember: What’s important when you connect with others is that they be willing to share their networks with you. The power of networking is not vested in the person you communicate with so much as it is in the person’s connections. You never know whom they know!

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Are You Looking for a Job? or Are You [Properly] Competing for One?

At times, I am amazed at people in transition who approach the job search the way we used to in the past. Looking for a job nowadays puts job seekers into extremely tough competitions unlike those of the past, and job seekers who do not both understand and apply the rules of the game will be waiting a long time for anything good to happen to them.

Everything starts with your résumé. The résumé is, however, only marketing collateral and not a legal document even though many still think it is the latter. The résumé is tantamount to an entry ticket. It rarely provides information about personality traits but, rather, contains a list of skills and accomplishments.

Many people today still take responsibility for writing their own résumés, often receiving help from others who may be quasi qualified by virtue of being executives or being in the human resources field. What a mistake! In my opinion, producing an outstanding résumé—one that really stands out, hands down, and that is attractive, appealing, and intriguing and has the right keywords for Internet queries—is not to be approached like a hobby. This is the job of a certified professional résumé writer with years of experience and expertise.

Once that’s done, the résumé provides sufficient material to create an equally effective LinkedIn profile. Don’t make the mistake of thinking they’re one and the same. A résumé should be tailored and tweaked specifically for the particular position one is applying for; the LinkedIn profile is more generic and should have the right keywords so that the profile gets found. If your LinkedIn profile doesn’t get found, you are irrelevant and nonexistent to prospective employers and job recruiters. The computer software that does candidate searches is rigid, exacting, and unforgiving.

So, once you’re armed with the right tools and the right knowledge to compete, you’ll notice that instead of your having to call people, they’ll start calling you! Be aware that for recruiters, job candidates are merely inventory to be sold. Recruiters are not typically open for chitchat, because time is money. They need to quickly evaluate your candidacy in light of the position they’re trying to fill. And your good communication and interviewing skills are essential at this point: Do you know what you’re selling? Can you clearly and succinctly recite success stories from your past? Can you convince the person at the other end of the telephone line or the other side of the interviewing desk that you’re the ideal candidate for the position that needs to be filled? Good! Keep practicing, because practice makes perfect. Good luck to you.

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Do You Know Whom to Network With?

By far the most effective way of getting a new job is by networking. When making presentations to large groups, I often test that tenet, and invariably it proves to be true. Therefore, networking is how people in transition should spend most of their time. For many, though, networking is a challenging task because they are introverts or they don’t know with whom to connect and network.

If we took a quick look at all the possibilities, we’d see there are two broad groups: a group with which we have strong ties such as friends, family, or coworkers and a group with which we have weak ties. When asked, most people say that if necessary, they would work on improving their relationships with those in the group with which they already have strong ties. However, sociologists specializing in the field of social interactions have found certain interesting information: (1) although counterintuitive, networking with that other group—the one with which people have weak ties—is more beneficial; (2) more-novel information goes to individuals through weak rather than strong ties; (3) the reason for that is that because our close friends tend to move in the same circles we do, the information they receive overlaps considerably with what we already know; and (4) the quality or strength of interpersonal ties is based on a combination of several things such as amount of time that the people know each other, the level of emotional intensity between them, the level of intimacy between them, the level at which they confide in each other, and reciprocal favors or services they perform for each other.

The sociologists’ research revealed that most jobs were found through weak acquaintances. In fact, one study found that more than half of people who found jobs received the leading information via people with whom they had only occasional contact. This is both interesting and informative, because logic would seem to favor that such information would come rather from those with whom one has frequent contact.

To support the empirical evidence, I’m reminded of an article I read that said two total strangers sitting next to each other in an airplane might end up disclosing to each other certain information that under normal circumstances would be discussed with only very close friends or family.

So, the next time you go networking, don’t cling to your buddies, but start a conversation with a stranger. Who knows? It could lead to a new job.

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The Job Interview-Morphed into Something Else

Not too long ago, much-respected blogger Tim Tyrell-Smith of Tim’s Strategy conducted a survey, clearly finding that interviewers’ number one concern is “fit with the company’s culture.” From other articles on that subject, too, it seems as if the old-fashioned “Tell me about yourself” and “What are your key accomplishments?” questions—even when answered well—are apparently less important than newer questions such as, “What movie did you see lately?” or “What apps have you uploaded lately on your smartphone?” Another article compared job interviewing to a first date, when you’re trying to find out the other person’s more-general likes and dislikes and not assessing skills.

Years ago, I attended a one-day workshop held by the Disney organization; and the only sentence I remember about the company’s hiring policy was, “We hire for personality and train for skills.” It’s such a simple and yet profound philosophy, and in fact, it obviously works well, because Disney is among the most admired employers.

Glassdoor, a jobs and career community Web site, emphasizes that a pleasant and homogeneous work environment is almost as important to employees as compensation is. Sometimes I ask job seekers the question, Which would you prefer: an intolerable and toxic boss? or $20,000 less and a pleasant work environment? Invariably, the answer is less money and a great boss.

Work environment is a very important commodity. And that’s precisely the reason interviewers are paying more and more attention to whether new hires would fit into their organizations. Unfortunately, in most cases employees cannot change their bosses; but bosses can at least try to hire people who would work well together. And how very logical that is when today’s work environment is so stressful and every employee is expected to perform outstandingly. Additionally, nowadays many company and department goals are being accomplished via teams. And if a team member is not well liked—for whatever reason—the team’s output in its entirety will suffer.

In practical terms, the word fit—when it involves the hiring process—covers such concepts as, Do I like you, and would I enjoy working with you in the future? Would your future peers tell me how much they enjoy having you as part of the team, or is the opposite true? Is my boss going to compliment me for selecting you, or will I hear negative comments about my choice?

So, with the understanding of the importance of fit—in the hiring manager’s mind—how can a job candidate tilt the pendulum favorably? First, appear congenial. Next, stay away from controversy and ambiguity to the extent possible. Next, actively engage the interviewer from your own perspective. In other words, don’t let yourself be positioned as an “accused” in an interrogation wherein you are there to just answer questions; ask questions of your own. And above all, smile. Smile a lot!

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How to Deal with Your Stress While in Transition

Physicians and psychiatrists have proved that there is a positive correlation between stress and illness. People in transition experience various and variable levels of stress. And such stress is not a stand-alone issue but is compounded by other stressors. One study identified three types of life stresses: chemical, physical, and attitudinal. All together there are 43 sources of stress that can cause about 80 symptoms. Of course people have in their lives multiple sources that cause manifestations of compound symptoms.

With regard to chemical impact on the body, the study found coffee drinking, excessive consumption of sugar and salt, regular consumption of various prescription drugs, nicotine alcoholic beverages, air pollution, and even quality of water to be offenders. Physical stressors might be overweight, lack of exercise, excessive commuting, and sedentary lifestyle.

For the sake of this blog, I want to focus on the attitudinal and, more specifically, the emotional stressors and associated symptoms. Examples of stressors associated with being in transition are problems with sleep, inability to relax, heightened levels of frustration, potential for affecting relationship with spouse, adverse effect on mood, and feelings of hopeless and depression. And most people have a combination of such stressors. In terms of symptoms, people in transition might feel depressed or moody, get angry easily, gain or lose significant amounts of weight, go through bouts of insomnia, feel overcome with fatigue, lose ability to concentrate, and experience anxiety, worry, shyness, and isolation. So the question is, how to deal with all of those?

Clearly, ignoring the symptoms is not the answer. Hoping they’ll go away is only wishful thinking. Moreover, doing nothing can cause severe and long-lasting medical consequences. Unfortunately, there is no one answer that fits everybody. Women, for example, like spas, massages, and yoga more than men do. Theater, a movie, or dinner with friends or family may appeal to others. Some would even go for acupuncture and find in that a source for reducing stress. I like walking, which I do almost seven days a week. I walk outdoors when weather permits, and indoors on a treadmill otherwise. Occasionally, I also benefit from a Japanese healing art for stress reduction called Jin Shin Jyutsu. And I have an advantage when it comes to that, for my wife has been a practitioner for over a dozen years. Visit www.jsjmonica.com to see more about it.

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Can't Find a Job? Do You Know Why?

Growth, evolution, changes. Technology may be a wonderful thing, but it has negative elements—especially if you’re in transition and looking for a job. Why? Perhaps you don’t know how to conduct a contemporary job search. Well, that may not be true, and don’t blame yourself.

The résumé

Two decades ago, applicants would submit their IBM Selectric–typewritten résumés to companies’ personnel offices when applying for jobs. Today, applicants modify and tailor their word-processed résumés to include many of the keywords they pick up from job descriptions themselves because applicants know that companies’ applicant tracking system softwares rate those keywords high when hiring managers make queries. Regrettably, in the current economy, the job market is literally flooded with résumés to the point that résumés are clogging up the system and overwhelming the people making searches. One study pointed out that a company’s applicant/candidate search surfaces way too many very qualified applicants because all of the applicants’ résumés have the right keywords—which causes yet another problem: yes, the computer mechanically selects résumés based on skills and keywords, but the hiring manager is looking also for a good fit into the company’s culture. And that’s the reason companies conduct multiple interviews.

The interview

If you’re asked to come in for an interview, it means you had sufficient keywords to convince the hiring manager that you have the skills to do the job. But now comes the second test, which for some is more difficult. In the next hour or so, during that interview, you have to convince the interviewer(s) that in addition to a skill set, you have the personality traits to make you a welcome employee in their organization. For example, you show your passion and excitement for the job and the work; you’re an excellent communicator; you have a pleasant demeanor; you’re not argumentative, opinionated, or abrasive; and you possess all the qualities of the ideal candidate. It is hoped that the interviewer’s boss would comment favorably on your selection and that your future peers and subordinates would praise you in your absence. This is a tall order, because all of the other candidates of course have good skills too; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been selected for interviews.

So, what’s the key to success? There are two answers: (1) prepare for the interview by practicing, practicing, practicing mock interviewing with an experienced interview coach, and (2) learn how to be an actor. In fact, while interviewing, you are an actor onstage, and those interviewing you are watching you perform and judging you based on that performance. With proper and adequate preparation, you should be able to outshine your competition. Good luck with the offer—and congratulations on being a good student and open for new and helpful ideas.

Posted via email from The Landing Expert

Can't Find a Job? Do You Know Why?

Growth, evolution, changes. Technology may be a wonderful thing, but it has negative elements—especially if you’re in transition and looking for a job. Why? Perhaps you don’t know how to conduct a contemporary job search. Well, that may not be true, and don’t blame yourself.

The résumé

Two decades ago, applicants would submit their IBM Selectric–typewritten résumés to companies’ personnel offices when applying for jobs. Today, applicants modify and tailor their word-processed résumés to include many of the keywords they pick up from job descriptions themselves because applicants know that companies’ applicant tracking system softwares rate those keywords high when hiring managers make queries. Regrettably, in the current economy, the job market is literally flooded with résumés to the point that résumés are clogging up the system and overwhelming the people making searches. One study pointed out that a company’s applicant/candidate search surfaces way too many very qualified applicants because all of the applicants’ résumés have the right keywords—which causes yet another problem: yes, the computer mechanically selects résumés based on skills and keywords, but the hiring manager is looking also for a good fit into the company’s culture. And that’s the reason companies conduct multiple interviews.

The interview

If you’re asked to come in for an interview, it means you had sufficient keywords to convince the hiring manager that you have the skills to do the job. But now comes the second test, which for some is more difficult. In the next hour or so, during that interview, you have to convince the interviewer(s) that in addition to a skill set, you have the personality traits to make you a welcome employee in their organization. For example, you show your passion and excitement for the job and the work; you’re an excellent communicator; you have a pleasant demeanor; you’re not argumentative, opinionated, or abrasive; and you possess all the qualities of the ideal candidate. It is hoped that the interviewer’s boss would comment favorably on your selection and that your future peers and subordinates would praise you in your absence. This is a tall order, because all of the other candidates of course have good skills too; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been selected for interviews.

So, what’s the key to success? There are two answers: (1) prepare for the interview by practicing, practicing, practicing mock interviewing with an experienced interview coach, and (2) learn how to be an actor. In fact, while interviewing, you are an actor onstage, and those interviewing you are watching you perform and judging you based on that performance. With proper and adequate preparation, you should be able to outshine your competition. Good luck with the offer—and congratulations on being a good student and open for new and helpful ideas.

Posted via email from The Landing Expert