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Shary Raske

Beat the Odds by Connecting the Career Transition Dots

March 2009

You are a job hunter.  What do job hunters do?  They look for jobs.  And they can’t find a job because they are looking for a job.  Confused?  Where do you find job openings?  Online?  Want ads?  Recruiters?  And if you apply what is your competition?  200 people, 500 people, 1000 people?  Recently a St. Louis based organization posted a job opening where 14,000 people applied.  What are your odds of being the one person who is hired?  Is there a way to get around this discouragement?  Yes!

A job search is tough enough without making it worse by only looking for and applying to job openings. Take a deep breath, step back and ask yourself, “If I couldn’t look for job openings, how would I find a great career?”  Answer:  Creativity, Connectivity, and Connecting the Dots.

Creativity is about co-creating work that blends your deepest purpose with intention.  If your deepest purpose is to provide for your family, you will do anything to make that happen whether it’s delivering pizzas in the short-run or taking tickets at a movie theater, or working three part-time jobs.  If your deepest purpose is to bring people out of poverty while making a good living, you will do anything to make that happen, too.  My friend Dusty’s deepest purpose is to bring beauty and relaxation to the world through her salon.  Her intention is to raise an extra $500 - $1000 a month selling Mary Kay to offset her skyrocketing health insurance premiums.  That’s a creative solution. Her intention is so clear that it’s easy for me to want to help her.  So I bought this stuff that keeps your eye shadow on all day.  Now, I have to ask you, how are you being that clear so others can help you?

Connectivity is about creating reciprocal relationships.  Get off the computer and go meet some people.  I don’t care if that means going to the coffee shop everyday, and getting a glass of water and reading a book.  Professionals who isolate take longer to find work.  Professionals who isolate get cranky, depressed, and self-centered, and they unwittingly set themselves up for failure.  People find work faster when they tell one person a day face-to-face who they are, what they want to accomplish in their career, and what organizations they admire.  If that isn’t defined, you won’t connect well to others.

Connecting the Dots is about building a case that your ideas for career success are sound.  It’s about visibility, helping others, asking for and receiving help yourself.  If you haven’t had 25 face-to-face meetings with people within a four month time period, you won’t have enough dots to connect and you may be ASSUMING where you fit in today’s market without checking it out first.  That’s called barking up the wrong tree.

If you stop looking for job openings, what role(s) will you play?  How about investigative reporter looking for unmet needs?  How about market researcher verifying your hypothesis?  How about consultant who has gathered enough information to position yourself as a solution to an employer’s need?  When you create more value, you will make more money.  If you connect the dots correctly, your future employer will consider you and only you.

Want to Network Better and Gain Greater Visibility?   Train people within your immediate sphere of influence on what you are good at, what occupations you are targeting and what industries.  Ask them to keep you in mind if they hear anything. Better yet, give them a list of companies that range in $20,000,000 to $150,000,000 in revenues.  Why?  This is where the growth is right now, and it’s easier to access decision makers than going after billion dollar organizations.  Target $5,000,000 - $20,000,000 organziations if it's okay with you to make slightly less income.

One Secret for a Successful Career Transition
One of the secrets of a successful career transition is to have a sense of humor, particularly if you have suffered a job search disaster.  I remember working with a woman who worked eight weeks to get in front of an executive at Maritz.  A week before her interview she came down with a horrible cold.  Undaunted, she dressed in her black power suit with a crisp French blue shirt, and white pearls.  She arrived twenty minutes early, settled in, stood up to put a magazine away and heard a ping!  The elastic of her slip broke and fell around her ankles.  She had two choices, to pull it up or step out of it.  She made the wrong choice.  She pulled it up, just as the executive came out of her office.  So my client continued to clasp her skirt with one hand to keep her slip up through the entire meeting.  Now she only had one hand to manage her runny nose.  You can imagine the rest of the story.  In short, a disaster.  As she re-told the story to me, I said, “You got to write this down”  The next week she brought her written story in and read it to me and we both fell off our seats laughing.  Humor is a great tool to re-set and keep going.

Do you know someone whose career needs CPR?   I work with career changers who want to get to where they want to be faster and easier!  If you know someone who is unhappy or stuck in their career, a Career Planning Readiness, this  two-hour diagnostic will evaluate the best way to move forward.  Leave with a preliminary plan on how to fix your career situation.  Available nationally through tele-coaching or one-on-one in the St. Louis region.  Call today for details (314) 560-1088.

Next issue:  When Multiple Streams of Income Just Makes Sense

Congratulations to Gary who just landed a great new job!  Here’s what he said:  “It happened!  I have accepted a position in a regional management role.  I continue to think about your message, strength, and the support you gave outside of your normal duties.  It will always be remembered, as will you. Thank you.”

Congratulations to David who used me for salary negotiation coaching.  Here’s what he said:  “I could have saved myself two weeks of suffering, had I called you first.  Thanks for clarifying the right next steps for me.”

Special thanks to
Kevin D. and Rosemary W. for referring great clients to me this month.

Shary Raske, Career Strategist,
Courage to Change Enterprises
shary@courageouschange.net
(314) 560-1088

We offer career transition coaching, designed to get smarter, more effective results. Enjoy reading, and feel free to forward this to others, particularly those who are job searching.  If you've enjoyed this newsletter, please forward it to others.  Together we can wipe out ineffective career searches. If you received this in error, our apologies; see column on your left for options.