2020s
- You’ve spent the last 10 years in middle management in an IT department.
- You’ve been responsible for multiple company-wide initiatives and product deliverables.
- You have personally managed numerous individual contributors.
Lord, thank you for this promise for the new year – that, in Jesus, you are with me. Help me to focus my life on you in the year ahead. - Genesis 1:1-2:17
Action 7: Overcome Your Past
This is an important topic and will require a more thought, but for now, let’s focus on two general areas of focus. First, let’s look at a situation where you were fired. You didn’t get laid-off, and the company didn’t close. You either weren’t performing to the level your company required or did something egregious that caused them to let you go. Maybe you’d been on a performance improvement plan (PIP) for a while and could see it coming. Perhaps you thought you could continue to come in late every day without any consequences, right up until you couldn’t.
Either way, you have an issue to deal with.
Why? Because when you get back in the job market and start looking for new employment, companies you interview with will ask why you left your last company. You need to be ready to talk about it and provide an explanation. Here’s the truth, any good HR rep or hiring manager will be able to read through whatever story you tell them, and they will know you got fired. They will also know you are not being honest with them. Further, you will not get the job.
So, what do you do? You need to be honest and lay it out there. That’s the only option. Tell them what happened and what the outcome was. Let them know that you’ve learned from your mistakes and are looking for an opportunity to prove yourself. Be humble and open. This is the only way to deal with this situation. Lying will catch up with you. Ignoring it will allow others to fill in the blanks. Meet it head-on and deal with it.
The second issue you may need to deal with is your online persona. Have you ever done a Google search for your name? Is everything that shows up accurate? Anything that you’re not so proud of? Social media is your face online. If you have a social media presence, you need to make sure that the image you are putting forward is the one that you want prospective employers to see. I have seen numerous examples where qualified, educated, and high-quality applicants have been ruled out simply because of their online history. Many HR departments have tools that help them uncover your online life; it’s become that important. Think you’re anonymous? You’re not. This can be fixed - to some extent.
Remember, the internet never truly forgets.
You can delete posts that you’ve authored and, in some cases, comments you’ve made. It may be necessary to nuke your entire profile if your content is particularly unfavorable. This will not completely erase your online visibility, but doing so can make the harmful content harder to track down. Is it worth starting over online? Maybe. That’s for you to decide. Just realize they are looking, and it does matter. How bad do you want that new job? What are you willing to do to repair your past?
If you choose to do nothing to fix your online presence, like getting fired, be ready to deal with it. Here too, be honest and open. Don’t attempt to justify your bad online behavior. Instead, look to grow from it and be a better version of yourself. Ask for an opportunity to show them firsthand that you are not the person they see reflected in your online history. Then prove it.
If you’re an American and you’re not angry, you should be.
Action 6: Dress and Groom Yourself for Success
I know the workplace has gotten casual—so you don’t feel there is a need to get a suit. You have no use for a great looking and well-tailored outfit to interview in. Employers have lowered their expectations. This may all be true, but it’s no excuse to look like you just rolled out of bed. Show up overdressed, looking good, and feeling better. By dressing appropriately, you will feel more confident and set the tone for approaching your work. Being clean, smelling good, and having a good haircut is not optional. Being well dressed and well-groomed is essential.
If you’ve done all the work to get a face-to-face interview (or even a Zoom video conference) and fail to make a solid first impression, all your work was for nothing. You need to do everything you can to capitalize on the effort you put into getting in the door. That includes presenting your best self and creating a personal image of success, self-respect, and responsibility. You need your prospective employer to know that you will be someone they can count on to get the job done before talking to you. You have the power to tell them all they need to know just by looking at you.
Finally, while this isn’t directly related to dress or personal grooming, being personable is essential. Maintain good eye contact, use active listening, speak clearly and slowly, shake hands, and smile. If you are staring at your lap, mumbling, and sweating through your shirt, you will not make an excellent first impression.
If you’ve made it to a personal interview, the job is yours to lose. Do everything you can to leverage your best personal attributes and look your best. It’ll all pay off.
Gratitude Journal - December 29, 2020 I am grateful for coaches, doctors, and trainers who dedicate their lives to helping others improve physically.
Action 5: Keep an Open Mind
Today’s job market is tight, with lots of applicants, fewer openings, and no real end in sight. Given this, you must keep an open mind when job hunting. Your perfect job might not be available, but you still need to work. You need to realize that you have a broad and diverse set of skills that, if positioned correctly, could suit a wide variety of positions.
Here’s an example:
You know that middle management has been decimated with cuts in your industry, and companies are restructuring to run leaner. Finding an IT management position may be difficult or might not be what you want to go back to. Restructure your job search to leverage your skillset in a different job title. You could transition to project management or quality assurance, or even a business analyst. Any of these would suit your skills and get you back in the game.
The important take away from this is to open your eyes to the world around you and adapt. You have skills, you have education, you have a great work history. These things do not trap you into one role. They allow freedom to make your own path and take a side road to the career you want.
Gratitude Journal: December 28, 2020 Today I am grateful for time off work to spend with my family.
Action 4: Network Your Ass Off
If you are one of the 12.6 million unemployed people in the United States, nothing is simple in today’s employment climate. This said, a lot of people want nothing more than to help you find a great job. Seriously. These are people you already know, and they already know you. This is not a cold call. These people are friends, family, previous co-workers, neighbors, Facebook friends, or LinkedIn contacts. Have you reached out to each and every one of them? Have you told everyone you know that you are actively looking for work? If you haven’t, how do you expect them to know you need their assistance? They cannot help you (which they really WANT to do) if you don’t tell them you need help.
First, make sure your LinkedIn profile is up to date and looks great. If you don’t have one, get one. Along with this, make sure that you have your profile updated to indicate you are looking for opportunities. LinkedIn is an excellent resource for job seekers; use it to your advantage.
Next, you can do a few quick and straightforward things to make sure the right people see you are actively looking for opportunities. To get started, post a simple note on all of your social platforms. Just post something simple like this:
“After X years with Company Y as a Senior Widget Maker, I’m currently in the position of actively looking for new employment. If you have an opportunity I might be interested in, please drop me a message or an email. If you want to know more about me or my work history, you can check out my LinkedIn profile (provide the URL), or I’d be more than happy to send you a copy of my resume. I’d really love to hear from you. Feel free to share this with anyone you feel might be able to help me. Thanks!”
Add a current professional-looking headshot, and you have a great advertisement to help sell you.
Finally, networking is all about personal contact. Even in today’s COVID-19 world, you can still meet people and talk to them. Wear a mask and be respectful, but get out there. Set up meetings to have coffee with anyone in your field of expertise who is willing to meet with you. Go to them, make it easy. Remember, job seeking is work too. You can’t just sit home and expect results. Sell yourself well and often to anyone that is buying.
Networking will help set you and your skills in front of the people that can help you land the job you want. It’s not what you know. It’s who you know.
Find me on LinkedIn, and let’s network.
Gratitude Journal (12/20/2020) Today I am thankful for people who are willing to share their struggles and successes in an effort to help others learn and grow.
Action 3: Have a High-Quality Resume
Look, there are lots of reasons that you may not be getting interviews or call-backs. It may be a combination of everything on this list, but it may also be that your resume just plain-old sucks. Within every resume, there are a few things that can go dramatically wrong. Here are a few common resume problems you may have and some simple solutions to help you sort things out.
The Outdated Resume If you haven’t looked at your resume since Bush was in office, chances are it’s out of date. And, you know what? Everyone can tell. Submitting outdated resumes shows prospective employers two things about you and your application. First, it shows them you’re too lazy to take the time to properly update your resume. Being deemed lazy is not an excellent start to the job search. Second, an outdated resume also tells employers that you are not too serious about finding a new job. If you can’t even take the time to update a resume before sending it out for a new position, how badly can you want it?
Update your resume. Make it current and use new language and relevant tools. No one cares that you are an expert at FoxPro or Windows XP. Seriously. No one. Don’t do that. Remove the old and outdated crap and add the new shiny stuff you’ve been working on for the past 5 years. This new stuff is the content people reading your resume will most likely be interested in. They are really not excited that, in 1998, you worked with Excel 98. It’s a non-factor. Make sure the relevant and current information is front and center.
A current, updated resume is a must-have.
The Poorly Formatted Resume Like the outdated resume, the poorly formatted resume is problematic and will stop you from getting the calls and opportunities you deserve. Why? Because the reader, either an HR rep or the hiring manager, never finds the content that makes them know you are suitable for the job. All of your greatness gets lost in ill-suited tables, missing headings, and long blocks of text.
An important fact to realize is that, in most cases, when resumes are initially being read, they are not read for detail. They are quickly skimmed, essential or highly-sought-after skills are highlighted, and the resumes are divided into two groups. This first group is where the poorly formatted resume ends up; this is the ‘not moving forward’ group. Typically these resumes are filed in the garbage can. This is not the group you want to be in. The second group is the ‘maybe’ group that includes resumes that possibly have what they are looking for. This latter group is where you want your resume to end up. If your resume ends up in this group, you are getting another more detailed read through. You get another opportunity to be remarkable.
How do you fix this?
Start by keeping it simple. With a few exceptions (marketing, graphic design, artistic positions), the reader will not care if you have lots of colors, graphics, or fancy formatting. You’ll get attention, but it may not be the attention you want. Use typical resume headings: personal summary, education, employment history, skills, awards, and - if there is room - volunteer experience. Keeping it clean and straightforward will fix 98% of the poorly formatted resume problems.
Don’t allow your resume to end up in the trash can. Use neat, concise, and simple formatting to get you the attention you need to get ahead.
The Error Prone Resume I’m going to keep this section pretty short because it is so simple and obvious. If you have errors in your resume, you are not going to get a second look. The implication here is that if you cannot spell correctly or have accurate dates in your resume, what are the chances that you will bring a high level of accuracy and detail to your work? Slim. Who wants to hire someone unable to craft an error-free resume? No one.
The good news is that fixing this is simple. Pay attention and correct your errors. Make sure you have zero spelling errors, grammatical issues, or date inconsistencies in your resume. This is not optional, and there are no excuses for continued problems in this category. It’s just that simple. Fix the issues, move on. If you cannot do this yourself, hire someone to help you sort it out. You won’t get hired, ever, if you don’t fix this stuff.
If you are unemployed, you cannot afford to have any type of error in your resume. Don’t be an example of what not to do.
The Highlighting the Wrong Stuff Resume OK, I get it; you’re proud of the 10 years you spent as a cub scout den leader. And yes, I know it shows that you have leadership and can corral a group of 10 boys. However, unless you are applying for a job as an elementary school teacher, it’s probably not relevant to your job application. It should not be front and center. Don’t take this the wrong way. There is a place for volunteer experience; it’s just not at the start of your resume.
Here is the critical thing to understand, most companies use advanced computerized resume screening to initially find appropriate applications. These software applications make judgments about your suitability for the job by looking for keywords within your resume. These keywords need to match the job description. If you don’t include the proper keywords or have them lower in your resume, you will not get ranked as high as others. Your application may end up in the electronic trash bin. You might have far better skills and may have the best resume in the stack, but you will never get a second look if you do not highlight the right skills and accomplishments.
Don’t let this happen. Highlight the right things in your resume and use keywords that get attention.
The Holy Crap it’s 8 Pages Long Resume After page two, no one is paying attention. I totally understand that the job you had in 1978 is still relevant and essential to your current job search. I also understand that to get to that job from 1978, you need to get through the 1980s, 90s, 2000s, and the 2010s. However, no one cares. This is the truth. What you did 20 years ago is not relevant to what you will be doing today in most cases. Focus on your current skillset and most recent employment. That’s what employers want to see anyhow because, most likely, that is what you will be doing for them. This is as true for skills as it is for previous employment. Trim down that skill list to relevant, current, and applicable skills. Tailor your resume to the job market.
Bottom-line, more is not better. More is just more. In many cases, it’ll never get read and, in the cases where it is read, it could be used to eliminate you as a candidate. Give yourself two solid pages to work with and make every single word count. Make your resume so content-heavy in so little space that employers are dying to talk to you just to see if you are real. Don’t bury all of your useful, applicable, and relevant skills in useless fluff that just fills pages.
Important Note: A resume and a Curriculum Vitae (CV) are two different things, and they need different approaches. Length is not an issue for a CV like it is for a resume. If you are applying for an academic position, different rules apply.
Final Word on Resumes Your resume is the first view of you that a prospective employer gets. If it’s not done correctly, it might be the only view they ever get. Take the time to craft a solid resume. If this is not in your wheelhouse, or if you just don’t know if your resume is working for you, hire someone to help.
Action 2: Improve Your Skills
If you are currently unemployed or even underemployed, there is one thing you have plenty of: time. Use it to your advantage. There are literally dozens of educational websites offering free or very inexpensive career-focused training that can help you get your next job. Further, by improving your skills while looking for work, you might get an even better job.
Learning new, or improving existing skills, will show prospective employers a few essential facts about you that I guarantee they will like. First, this shows you are driven to excel. Employers want their employees to have the drive to be the best at what they do. Second, continuing education shows that you have the aptitude for learning new things. This may allow an employer to see you in a more advanced position than technically qualified. Third, taking the initiative to continue building relevant skills while unemployed shows employers that you are self-motivated. Having self-directed and self-motivated employees means an employer can pay less attention to you and more attention to other critical factors. Finally, working on improving your skills or learning new ones while unemployed is an indicator that you want to work and succeed. What employer doesn’t want that?
Never stop getting better at what you do. Even when you are unemployed. I have a whole additional post coming on free and low-cost employment training that you can take advantage of whether you are employed or not. Keep an eye out for that one.
Action 1: Don't Burn Bridges
I don’t care why you got laid-off or fired from your last job. You shouldn’t care either. No one cares about your “feelings” as to why your previous company let you go. Once it’s done, it’s done. All you can do is move forward. The why or the how or the anger you harbor about your previous employer is really irrelevant to finding new employment. In fact, all of these things can actually stop you from finding a new job.
You need the company that laid you off to support you in finding a new job. You need them to be your ally and champion. With a reliable reference from a previous employer, getting your next gig becomes much more manageable. If you bad mouth your previous company publicly (regardless of if it is warranted or not), two things are going to happen. First, your former company will find out about your unkind words and refuse to provide a reference for you. Second, the prospective company you want to work for will find out and not want to take a chance that you’ll do the same to them. It’s a lose-lose situation.
Don’t burn bridges. You never know when you’ll need help getting across the river.
6 Actions to Get You Employed
Between COVID-19, riots and social unrest, and an uncertain political future in the United States, unemployment is becoming more the norm than the exception. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, at the end of July 2020, the United States had more than 10% unemployment, accounting for 16.3 million people. Even more, people are often underemployed or working jobs just to get by. People are out of work, struggling to find employment, and the job market is not looking bright.
If you are one of those statistics, it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. You can set yourself apart from the masses, get the attention of employers you deserve, and land the job you want. There are jobs out there that employers are filling. Interviews are happening. People are getting hired. Yes, there is more competition, but there is also an opportunity for you to shine.
Keep in mind, in a recent blog post on avoiding career complacency (https://jonsrennie.com/2020/08/05/career-complacency/), author and leadership expert Jon S. Rennie (Twitter: @jonsrennie) states, “You need to understand that your company doesn’t care about you or your career.” Think about it, if this sentiment is accurate for a company that currently employs you, I guarantee that it’s also true for a company that hasn’t even hired you yet. To get your foot in the door and keep a job today, you’re going to have to do more.
It takes effort.
You cannot expect to get the results you want if you are unwilling to put in the effort to achieve those results. Nothing is free. This is as true in job hunting as it is in health and fitness. The bodybuilder didn’t get that fantastic physique by sitting on the couch. He got it through hard work, dedication, and personal drive. Likewise, getting the job you want will require all of that and more. You will need to stay positive when things seem bleak, motivated when you want to quit and learn to accept feedback and criticism.
Today’s job hunters cannot afford to be weak or complacent.
If you have been out of work for some time, or even just since the pandemic hit, and the job search is not going well, maybe it’s time to accept that you need to make a change. If you aren’t getting interviews or getting interviews but not getting offers, you may need to consider that it’s you, not them. Now is the time to objectively look at the prospective employee package you have created and assess if it needs updating. You most likely need to evaluate the product you are trying to sell (yourself) and determine if it’s something employers would want to buy in its current state. You need to understand that hiring a new employee is very expensive. In today’s constricted, frugal, and conservative job market, you need to provide a perceived long-term value that overcomes that expense.
Bottom-line, you need to show that you are worth it.
Over the next week, I will layout six high-quality actions you can take right away to get the job you want as quickly as possible.
Communicate Negative News
This seems counter-intuitive, right? Tell your supervisor that you screwed up? Yes, tell everyone that you screwed up. Tell them each time it happens, be honest, and be open about the mistake you made. Don’t try to hide it or blame it on someone else. Attack it head-on and take ownership. Even with bad news, being honest will serve you as a net positive in the long run. For starters, you are working on building trust; this does that. Taking ownership of failures shows management that you understand the mistake. Also, it reinforces that you communicate the good and the bad.
In the end, your mistake would have been found anyhow. Someone would have figured out what went wrong and who was responsible. Heading it off by open communication allows you to navigate the problem from the offensive side. Any other route puts you on the defensive, makes you look like you were covering something up, and breaks down trust.
Openly communicate negative news to build your career.
Be a Problem Solver
Don’t be the guy that comes to every meeting with a dozen problems to solve and no solutions. No one likes that guy, and while it may seem like raising issues is a net positive, really, it just causes problems for your boss. If your boss ignores the issues and does nothing, he positioning himself for a possible future failure. Conversely, suppose he tries to get them all resolved. In that case, his management might ask why there are a significant number of issues to solve. It’s a no-win situation.
How do you fix this?
Make things easy on your boss. Bring solutions to the problems you find. Then, and this is the most important part, go and actually solve the problems. This is what makes this so powerful; you are not just bringing problems. You are finding solutions. Perhaps most importantly, you are tackling issues that solve problems for your boss. This is a win for you and a win for your boss. These solutions make everything better. You solve problems, your boss looks excellent, and you get recognition as being awesome.
Bring solutions to build your career.
Find Ways to Excel: Never Stop Learning
No matter what your career path looks like, it is critically important that you are continually learning and finding ways to be better at your job. I happen to work in IT, where finding training and education is relatively straightforward. Even the most obscure IT specialties have opportunities to learn more and new skills. Not every career is this simple, but everyone has opportunities to learn more and excel. This might be as simple as reading a book on leadership or finding a course that applies to your career. Go back to school and get an additional degree or certificate. Join a professional group associated with your job. Professional conferences are excellent opportunities to learn something new and improve your expertise.
The idea here is that you never stop learning. If you are consistently learning new skills, expanding, and improving yourself, you will become immeasurably more valuable as an employee. In the end, this is what you want. You want your employer to see that you will continue to improve and continue to provide value to them if they stick with you. The time you spend improving yourself will be paid back with promotions, better pay, and more respect. But, like everything else, the onus is on you to make this happen. Do not expect your employer to find training or education for you; it will not happen. Go out and get after it. Learn something new today, and then communicate what you have learned.
Never stop learning new things to build your career.
Manage your Manager
Your boss is busy. Too busy to have to worry about following up with you about every deliverable you are working on. Remember, your boss has 6 or 7 other people and many critical projects that all demand his attention. Your job is to make his or her job more manageable. If you do this, you will be successful, and so will your boss.
What’s the best way to do this?
Focus on doing things that specifically make your boss’s life better. Find ways to do more with less, improve your team’s effectiveness, or fix problems. Whatever you do, make sure it’s making things better for your boss. Don’t wait for your supervisor to set up one-on-one meetings with you. Find the time, and schedule the discussions yourself. Then, when you meet, come prepared with a plan and corresponding information. Don’t waste your supervisor’s valuable time. Keep it as brief as possible and provide them the information you need them to know. Make it short, useful, and positive. When you are done, follow up with an email recapping what you covered.
Manage your manager to build your career.
Do What You Say
Trust is not freely given. Trust is earned. The quickest and best way to earn supervisor’s or managers' trust is to simply do what you say you will do. Make no mistake; if you consistently fail to follow through on your work commitments, your career progress will suffer. Further, this doesn’t have to be failing to finish significant work projects on time or being consistently late for work. Doing what you say goes far deeper than this.
Think about this, if you let your manager know you are going to lunch and you’ll be back in 30 minutes but don’t get back for 60 minutes, what is the message you are sending? Two things: first, you do not do what you say you are going to do, and second, you don’t think your job is important enough to be on time. Neither are good messages. This is an elementary example, but it still holds true. The bottom line is if you don’t follow through on the small things (being punctual, submitting your timesheet on-time, or showing up on time), no one will have any faith in you. You will not get the priority work, the high-visibility projects that help you set yourself apart, or the critical tasks that allow you to shine. They will be given to others who do what they say they will do, those who have built trust, and their career will move forward while your career stalls.
If you are not doing what you say at work or in life, you cannot expect good things to happen. You will languish with the untrusted, be passed over for promotions, and not be given positive lateral move opportunities. You will stagnate, and it will be your fault.
Build trust to build your career.
Communicate Everything
You cannot over-communicate when it comes to your job. Your boss cannot be excited and thankful for things that you don’t share. Without proper communication, even if you are doing all the right things, no one will ever know. Even worse, your great work might be attributed to someone else. Don’t think for a second that your coworker will correct a misunderstanding about who completed what. Have no doubt, they will take credit for your hard work faster than you can say, “It was ME!”
If you are not communicating your successes, you miss an excellent opportunity to set yourself apart from your coworkers. I share most everything I do with my team, including my manager, and they do the same. This not only allows everyone to know what I have been working on, but it also provides an excellent trail of information for annual reviews. Writing my self-evaluation becomes more effortless, and I have proof to back up my claims. When I complete a task that saves time or effort or makes processes more straightforward, I call out those time savings to the team. When you do this, keep in mind to do it in a manner that is informational, not braggadocious.
Because of the current COVID-19 situation, many are working remotely. In fact, many jobs that weren’t considered remote work just 6 months ago are now working off-site. This means many people who are not accustomed to working from home have been forced into a different work paradigm. This makes communication even more critical.
Speak up, or you’ll never be heard.
Communicate everything you do to build your career.
Change Starts With You
If you wake up without any fire in your belly and head out the door dreading the day ahead of you, you have a problem. While your job or career doesn’t define you, your job satisfaction can certainly impact how you feel about yourself. Considering the amount of time you spend working, finding a way to enjoy your career and achieve success is critical to your overall well-being. There is simply too much to lose by being passive and letting your career happen to you rather than taking action and making your career successful.
I consider myself very lucky. I’m on the backside of my career. I have been fortunate to build a stable career with a company that I am very proud to be a part of. I’ve spent the last 18 years of my nearly 30-year career helping build a company I love. At the same time, I have worked on expanding my own skills, making friendships, and educating myself. I’m happy with the career I’ve built and proud of the work I have done.
Even with this great career, I recognize that I’ve made many miss-steps and mistakes along the way. Like many things in life, if I knew then what I know now, I may have done things differently. One of the key realizations I have had over the past 3 decades is that I am the only one who cares about my career. If you can take away any one thing from this and apply it to your career planning process, this is by far the most crucial action you can take: Own your career.
No one else cares if you succeed or fail.
No one else cares if you are promoted or get a pay increase.
Your career and your success or failure are on you, no one else.
It’s not your supervisors' job to make sure you are moving in the right direction. The company you work for does not owe you a promotion. Your career path and progress are your responsibility. If you take this to heart and start applying this idea to your decisions and the things you do in your career, you will find that things will start changing. You’ll no longer feel stuck in a job. You will go to work happy and excited for the day to come. You’ll no longer dread Monday. You will start building a career you can be proud of.
