When I lost my job I was tempted to curtail all spending outside of my basic budget. The only computer I owned was a family computer that was ten years old. It had an operating system and software dating to 1995. I thought I could get by with using this setup to do my Internet job search. I quickly found out that I was wrong. It was maddeningly slow.
My wife wisely urged me to invest in myself and buy a new laptop with wireless Internet capability. I hated to spend $1,200 dollars for the system and software but I am glad I did.
The ease and speed at which I could work was well worth the outlay. I could perform tasks that would normally freeze up my old machine.
The portability allowed me to type documents or check email while I waited in the car to pick up my daughter from school. I could take my computer and use it at the local coffee shop or library when I needed to get out of the house.
Having my own computer freed up the family computer. My wife and girls were used to using it for homework and correspondence. It was not fair to them for me to be using it all the time.
A fast computer with up-to-date software and good Internet capability is a necessity not a luxury.
If you just cannot afford to buy a new computer and pay the monthly fee for Internet service there is a temporary solution. Go to the library, the local worksource center or nearby community college and use their computers. You have limited access but at least you can accomplish some essential job search work online.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Day 5 Invest in a good computer to make a career transition
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Day 4 Don’t rely on old knowledge and skills to find a new job
The last time I began a new job search was in 2003. But when I started looking again three years later in 2006 I quickly discovered that the rules and methods for finding a job and applying for it have radically changed.
The first change I noticed is that most job postings today are being done electronically. I used to rely on (for a subscription fee) a monthly mailing from my old alumni placement office for a listing of a few dozen jobs. A posting could be nearly a month old before I received it.
Today job seekers subscribe to Internet job boards. I fill out a free profile and request personalized job alerts to be sent to my email address daily or even hourly. I get a steady stream of job postings sent to me every day from several electronic job boards. The upside is that I am getting very fresh job postings. The downside is that most alerts do a very poor job of identifying useful leads.
The Internet allows me to do a much broader search for job postings than the old ways of finding job leads. Another downside is that I am often overwhelmed with dozens and even hundreds of worthless job postings.
The second change I noticed is that most companies want you to submit an electronic resume and not a paper one. It was not that long ago that you typed your resume and cover letter and mailed it to a potential employer. Today you submit it over the Internet via Email or you fill out an online application and upload your resume and cover letter and submit it on the company website.
The upside to this change is that you speed up the process of getting your resume to the employer. The downside is that you need to learn how to fill out and submit online applications. This is an essential skill you must learn. With many companies, the only way you can apply for a position is by doing it online. They no longer accept paper resumes.
Today you have to learn how to search for jobs on the Internet and you have to learn how to apply for them online. It is essential to learn how to do both. Learn and change how you look for work if you hope to make a successful job or career transition at this stage of your life.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Day 3 Plan you work (job search) and work your plan
When I began my search for a new career I discovered that I could easily get lost doing job searches on the Internet. Job sites like Monster and Career Builder listed hundred of jobs and offered dozens of articles to read about various careers. If I was not focused on what career trail I was on I could waste hours following interesting job leads but have nothing productive to show for my time.
After several experiences wasting hours wandering around aimlessly searching for job postings and reading about different careers I decided to change my approach. I began to start each day or computer session by writing down in a notebook what my job search objective would be before I got on the computer.
I found that I needed to write out a job search goal or an objective for myself each day or I would get lost in the Internet and forget what I was looking for. Since I wanted to make a career change I decided that I needed to explore various industries but only one at a time. What I would do is limit my career search to something like Training and Development. I might spend several days or even weeks exploring this one career.
When I came across a related career that interested me like Organizational Development I would write the name down and bookmark its website or link but I would not explore that career path right then. I found that this practice kept me focused and kept me from getting distracted and overwhelmed with the information I was learning.
To help me manage the information I gained about each career I investigated I started a career file. I created a new folder for each career category that interested me. Clearly identifying and limiting the scope of my search to one career at a time helped me to stay focused and productive.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Day 2 I started my new career search by identifying my transferable skills
The first thing I did to find work in a new career was identify my transferable skills. Over the years I have taken several types of skill and personality assessments-DISC, Myers-Briggs, Strengthfinder 2.0 and so forth. They are all good and helpful tools. They confirmed and clarified what I saw in myself and what friends and co-workers observed in me.
There was a second benefit to taking standardized assessment tests. It allowed me to describe myself in terms that employers understood since they were familiar with the same assessments.
Knowing my skill sets helped me decide what success stories to put in my resume. Over time I learned that employers are looking for more than a list of skill sets in a resume. They wanted to see how I put those skill sets to work to achieve results.
Looking back after a year's time, I did the right thing by identifying my transferable skills early in the process of making a career transition.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Day 1 The journey begins sooner than I thought
I planned to make a career change after my last daughter graduated from high school. I planned to leave on my timetable. Unexpectantly my employer terminated me and I found my self suddenly looking for work a year sooner than I anticipated.
Before I could even think about looking for new work I had to first constructively deal with the shock and the onslaught of thoughts and feelings that rose up in me. I went through a wide range of raw emotion.
I replayed and analyzed events and conversations I had with key people at work over the past six months to figure out why this termination happened and why I didn't see it coming.
I wrestled with myself and with God about how I would respond to the news that I was being let go. Fortunately I had been studying and teaching biblical Peacemaker principles for the past four months. God gave me the strength and the wisdom to see and take responsibility for my words and actions that contributed to my termination.
After much thought, prayer and wise counsel I went back to key leaders and co-workers with a mutually respected third party observer. My goal was to get closure for myself and for those involved in this decision. I was able to model what biblical conflict resolution looks like. The result was that all of us learned how to better relate to others and how to deal with conflict rather than avoid it until it is too late.
I was still suddenly out of work with no immediate prospect of a new job but I at least constructively dealt with my thoughts and feelings and made peace with those at my former workplace. This freed me up to look ahead and not focus on the past.