Workforce 55+

As an older job seeker, have you considered Title V of the Older Americans Act?  This program, established in 1965 offers older job seekers as opportunity to participate in part time work.  It is described as a program offering "part-time opportunities in community service activities for unemployed low-income persons who are fifty-five years or older and who have poor employment prospects."  New Jersey unemployed job seekers can find more information at Workforce 55+.

Creating A File of Your Accomplishemnts

I used to save everything but luckily over the years I've managed to purge books, clothing, shoes, old toys and so many other things.  I think the television show "Hoarders" scared me!  One of the things I never threw out though were my old performance appraisals. 

Back when I was a corporate trainer I taught managers and non-managers the art of performance management.  That included goal setting, coaching, performance appraisal and development planning.  One tip I passed to every person who walked through the training room door was this, "Create a "Me" File, or a file of your accomplishments and add to it weekly. A physical or electronic Me File is a tool that contains all of your measurable accomplishments, or results.

The point of the Me File is to remind you of your many accomplishments during the yearly performance cycle.  Back then, I suggested that as soon as you sat down with your manager to review your goals, you needed to prepare your new file.  It should contain a copy of your goal statements and any notes and accomplishments that relate to these. As the performance cycle spins on, you might include emails from clients, managers or peers, thank you letters, specific reasons why a goal couldn't be met, or specific reasons why a goal was met or ahead of target. It should also include your final appraisal and development plans. I would suggest that people take about 15 minutes before the close of the workday on the last day of the work week to add notes to the file.  Of course people would use the file however they liked just as long as they kept one.  No one can remember their day to day work activities and having a file like this is a refreshing reminder of all that you do.

How is all this related to your job search? If you get notice of an impending reduction in workforce (and you may be part of that reduction), gather up your Me Files and take them home.  Much of the data and detail will allow you to note your job accomplishments and this  is the fuel for your resume.  If your performance appraisal was written correctly (and sadly many/most) aren't, you will have a wonderful record of your specific job accomplishments.  You'll be able to capture how many, how much, with whom, why and why not. 

If you never saved this information you'll have to recreate it.  You can start with a chart listing your specific job tasks and then add your accomplishments as they relate to these.  Also add any training or development activities that you attended. It's harder to remember a year or two down the road.

Unfortunately, many companies don't have any performance planning systems in place. That's a shame. Still, if this is the case for you, you can still create a Me File. Fill it with everyting that relates to your job and be sure to include all the notes and comments relating to your performance.  It will help you in so many ways, including your self confidence!

Career Resources Are Out There

Last night I gave a class in one our public libraries on career assessment.  As usual it was a great group of people all eager to learn something new to apply to their job searches.    One of the things I noticed again (and I see it in every class) is that most people aren’t aware of the rich resources that are around them.  Now I spend much of my time looking for these resources so that I can pass them along; it’s my job but some people aren’t aware of what’s out there.  Here are some of the more obvious resources:

1  Free career assessments – look to the government sites such as O*Net or Oprah Winfrey's great tools.

2. Free personality assessments. 

3. Free training- look at your libraries, community colleges, adult schools

4. Networking and Professional groups

5. Job descriptions- look at the Occupational Handbook and job boards and compare the wording of these positions to your skill set.

6. Salary calculators

7. Low cost business cards such as those from VistaPrint

8. Volunteer opportunities (remember networking and skill set development)

9. How-To articles and resume samples on major job boards

10.LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook

There are so many more, what have you found that has been helpful in your job search?

Your Resume Again - A Work in Progess

When I first lost my job, I blew the dust off my resume.  I tweaked it, shared it with a few co-workers for critique and started submitting it.  Then I sat back and waited for the phone to ring. The phone never rang.  How could that be? How could a company not see the value, enthusiasm and well, just ME that I could bring to their workplace? What was wrong with them?  What was wrong with me?  It stung. 

I then brought it to the attention of a career counselor at the outplacement office that my former company so graciously offered (by the way, if your company offers this, swallow your pride and use it).  He diplomatically pointed out to me that my resume, “ah um, aged me.”  He was right!

That was two years ago and since then I have learned a lot about creating a resume.  This may seem like old news to some long term unemployed but if it helps and you take a second look at your resume, then my job is done.  Here’s what I know:

1.    The resume you create today is a template only.  It needs to be adjusted for every position for which you apply. Seriously. For some reason, many people skip this step.

a.    Align your resume with the key words in the position.  Look at the job description and requirements and use this wording as guidance.

b.    Support your resume statements with measurable results (money saved, processes improved, and percentages of whatever great things you did).  ***

c.    Your resume is not a job description so stop writing it like one.

2.    Format your resume for electronic submission. Review the submission requirements (Plaintext, pdf.) and submit your resume as requested.

3.    Dump the Objective and refresh your resume with a Personal Branding Statement.

4.    Toss the “References Available upon Request” statement. Prepare them on a separate document.

5.    Capture the last 10 – 15 years of employment only. The position you had 16+ years ago is not relevant. The exception to this is if you are applying for a job similar to what you had back then.

These are the top five issues that I see again and again in my Resume Preparation classes.  I know that it is extra work to tailor your resume for each position but if it is going to make you and your hard work stand out from the rest of the hundreds of application, isn’t it worth it?

NOTE

** I heard a great tip the other day.  Someone in class said that tailoring a resume to every position can be a recipe for disaster (i.e. pain in the butt) because you may leave yourself open to typos, grammar and spelling mistakes etc.  Another class participant provided this tip:

Prepare a Word document containing ALL of your job accomplishments. Put these measurable accomplishments under various headings.  This man's Word document is over 25 pages long!  This document should be spell and grammar checked by software and people.  When it is time to prepare a tailored resume for a job, go through the document and choose the appropriate wording/measurements to copy and paste into your resume template.  Ah, priceless advice.  I liked it because it is also a good way to review your past and validate your wonderful accomplishments.

UPDATE 1/30/11: Here is an article about the same thing.

Job Search for Moms

Job Search for Moms is available for a limited time at a 15% discount.  Just enter coupon code OPENBOOK305 at checkout.  Sale ends Monday January 31, 2011.

Are Your Happy?

Losing your job, being snowed in, eating for comfort, no one to talk to, facing the same chores, noticing that the format of your favorite newspaper or website has changed...fill in the blank.  Change is uncomfortable and whatever the source, it may make us feel anxious, depressed, moody, lonely or unhappy.
 
I heard a statistic the other day from Dan Buettner, author of Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way who said that people need several hours of interpersonal contact a day in order to feel content. As I listened, I thought of the job seeker, especially the person who has been looking for a long while.

If you lose your job, especially in the winter months, you may feel very isolated and lonely.  At least in the summer, it is easier to get out of the house. We talked about a similar issue the other day in the blog, How Do You Get Over the Job Search Blahs.  It’s tough to hit the wall in your job search.  I have several suggestions but would love to hear your suggestions.

1. Call your doctor or another health care professional if you notice that you feel out of sorts for a while.
2. Get out of the house and join a networking, walking, singing, exercise group.
3. Go to a class.  There are plenty of free classes and your library may be a good resource.
4. If snowed in, turn off the television and listen to some music, dance, read, etc.
5. Call a friend.
6. Volunteer.
7. Journal your feelings.

Please add to the list.  One other thing, if you have a friend who has lost his or her job, please reach out to him or her.  Your friendship can make a big difference.

January 27, 2011 Snow

Another snow storm, another opportunity to see the beauty of the season. Shovel, worry, complain... I prefer to view it in silence for just a minute and let it restore me.