ShareThisIan Christie, head career strategist at BoldCareer.com wrote a very helpful article for monster.com. I'd like to share some of Ian's ideas.
"If you've been laid off recently or think you might lose your job in the near future, you need to respond strategically and massively. Here are eight tips to ensure your response to a layoff is focused and effective:"
1. "Breathe. Find your center. You will get through this! Focus on what you offer and take massive action.
2. "Get out the contact list. Make a record of the people you worked with and dealt with. Contact people using your own personal email address.
3. "Inventory what you offer. Develop a sound understanding of your abilities, skills, experience and fit. Really analyze your professional background to identify stories, evidence and data about your job performance that you can use to market yourself and prove your candidacy.
4. "Define your targets. You are not equally valuable everywhere. Define A, B and C target groups. A is the perfect home for you, B is acceptable, and C will pay the bills.
5. "Cultivate multiple channels. Work more than one channel to find those target opportunities. Develop a multichannel strategy including recruitment agencies, professional associations, online job postings, and of course, networking.
6. "Create channels for people to find you. Nothing is better than receiving a call about an opportunity. It puts you in the driver's seat. Ensure your network contacts know what you're looking for so you are top of mind when they can make a referral. Use social networking sites as another way to accomplish this, like Facebook and LinkedIn.
7. "Follow the 80/20 rule. Analyze your network for the people who are hubs of contacts and information. Who do you know who can hire or refer you? Get in touch with them, and remember, the actions you might resist are usually the most valuable, high-impact ones. Successful job searches are often the result of that one, right call!
8. "Get out and talk to people. The worst place to conduct a job search is in your pajamas at your family computer. Use your computer for research, but you must get out there - every day!"
(Marvin Walberg is a job search coach. Contact him at mwalberg(at)bellsouth.net, marvinwalberg.blogspot.com, or PO Box 43056, Birmingham, AL 35243.)
GETTING HIRED
