Why quicksand?
Well, the more you wriggle, squirm or rush about, the more you’re likely to sink. Staying calm, focussed and considering your moves carefully is the best way to not only stay above the surface but to rise up out of the potential abyss.
Finding a job is a project and like all projects it requires planning and it requires a clear understanding of where you are; where you want to get to and how you’re going to get there.
No-one wats to be in the position of reaching out randomly, grasping at straws taking whatever is offered and being grateful just to get work. If you don’t want that to be the outcome and you want to be able to pick and choose, build your approach carefully, Think it through.
Start with where you. This means, from the job seeking perspective, understanding why it is you’re looking for a job, where your experience and skills lie and what you have to offer a potential employer.
The main purpose of analysing where you are is to build carefully your profile, your message of who you are and to define your offering – construct your personal brand.
I’ve heard people say they want to start in a new direction – strike out in a new field, That’s a great sentiment, but remember employers look for people with proven experience, not those who want to “have a go at something new”! Stick to what you’re good at, stay in your field of expertise so you can hit the ground running and demonstrate your value. Then, when you’ve proved yourself, develop a strategy to get your employer to move you to the field you’re aspiring to.
I’ll talk more about building your brand in future blogs, but remember that the way you are seen by others may not align with how you see yourself. Those two must be aligned. More often than not we underestimate our value. We are too aware of our shortfalls and weaknesses, We are our own worst critics and we’re highly conscious of the mistakes we’ve made.
Remember that others do not necessarily have the same view of you. They do not know your history. Even if they do, they may well accept that as contributor to your growth and learning. Take the time to talk to others about how you come across, and listen to what they say! Accept what you see as your failures as beneficial aspects of your training, as contributors to your development and the building blocks of who you are now.
A good way to begin is to describe your strengths – professional and personal. Look at all aspects, from your appearance and the way you present yourself, to your experience an specific skills, to the way you engage and interact with others and to your style of management and personal behaviours. They are all relevant and they are all constituent elements of your personal brand. Bounce them off someone you’re close to and adjust them until they really does reflect you. Then list where you think your career or experience is lacking, where are the gaps. But examine those gaps very carefully and look at them as occasions of learning. What did you learn from yur mistakes and what aspects of your life can be considered to negate those “gaps”. W.
For example, I started my Executive Search Agency after leaving formal industry. My biggest gap was that I didn’t know how the executive search industry works! I’d done plenty of recruiting but never as an agent, always as an employer.
So I joined forces with a friend who is an HR professional and had built a well-developed recruitment agency. I worked with him and his team for almost two years and learnt a lot!
see what aspect of your experieince or make u countrs your belief about sich a gap. For example you may be applying fr a plant manager position but you haven’t done that before.
Finding a job is a project and like all projects it requires planning and it requires a clear understanding of where you are; where you want to get to and how you’re going to get there.
No-one wats to be in the position of reaching out randomly, grasping at straws taking whatever is offered and being grateful just to get work. If you don’t want that to be the outcome and you want to be able to pick and choose, build your approach carefully, Think it through.
Start with where you. This means, from the job seeking perspective, understanding why it is you’re looking for a job, where your experience and skills lie and what you have to offer a potential employer.
The main purpose of analysing where you are is to build carefully your profile, your message of who you are and to define your offering – construct your personal brand.
I’ve heard people say they want to start in a new direction – strike out in a new field, That’s a great sentiment, but remember employers look for people with proven experience, not those who want to “have a go at something new”! Stick to what you’re good at, stay in your field of expertise so you can hit the ground running and demonstrate your value. Then, when you’ve proved yourself, develop a strategy to get your employer to move you to the field you’re aspiring to.
I’ll talk more about building your brand in future blogs, but remember that the way you are seen by others may not align with how you see yourself. Those two must be aligned. More often than not we underestimate our value. We are too aware of our shortfalls and weaknesses, We are our own worst critics and we’re highly conscious of the mistakes we’ve made.
Remember that others do not necessarily have the same view of you. They do not know your history. Even if they do, they may well accept that as contributor to your growth and learning. Take the time to talk to others about how you come across, and listen to what they say! Accept what you see as your failures as beneficial aspects of your training, as contributors to your development and the building blocks of who you are now.
A good way to begin is to describe your strengths – professional and personal. Look at all aspects, from your appearance and the way you present yourself, to your experience an specific skills, to the way you engage and interact with others and to your style of management and personal behaviours. They are all relevant and they are all constituent elements of your personal brand. Bounce them off someone you’re close to and adjust them until they really does reflect you. Then list where you think your career or experience is lacking, where are the gaps. But examine those gaps very carefully and look at them as occasions of learning. What did you learn from yur mistakes and what aspects of your life can be considered to negate those “gaps”. W.
For example, I started my Executive Search Agency after leaving formal industry. My biggest gap was that I didn’t know how the executive search industry works! I’d done plenty of recruiting but never as an agent, always as an employer.
So I joined forces with a friend who is an HR professional and had built a well-developed recruitment agency. I worked with him and his team for almost two years and learnt a lot!
see what aspect of your experieince or make u countrs your belief about sich a gap. For example you may be applying fr a plant manager position but you haven’t done that before.
