A New Year’s Birthday Gift to You

Happy New Year, everyone!! I know yesterday was the official start of 2019, but it also happens to be my birthday…no, I’m not telling you which birthday. Instead of receiving gifts, I am so excited to be giving a BIG gift this year.

I’ve been a career coach since the dinosaurs roamed the earth, and every January I am bombarded with new clients seeking to change careers, start a new career, look for a bigger or better job, open a business, get a promotion, or resolve a major issue at the office.

The bottom line is that career-related issues are at the top of so many New Year’s resolution lists…specifically, resolutions about how this is going to be the year you finally find your Dream Job!!

My gift is to help make that dream come true. In addition to my Top 5 Job Seeking Tips below, I am offering my proven, online 7-Step Job Search Success System (Self-Starter Package) for only $197 to the first 10 people who sign up using the “NEWYEARSGIFT” special code. That’s a $500 savings!

Another way to look at it is it’s a $500 gift to yourself to pull on those big-girl panties and take control of your career in 2019. You don’t want to wait and think about it too long…this is the time to be proactive and take action. Take a quick peek at what you get (link to the page).

In the meantime, here are my Top 5 Job Seeking Tips.

1. Create a Customized Rockstar Resume – the goal of a resume is to get the coveted face-to-face interview, and your resume is never going to achieve that goal if it reads like a boring job description. Hiring managers don’t only want to know what you have done, they want to know how well you did it. Highlight your successes, accomplishments, achievements, awards, recognitions, results, and outcomes and customize the resume for each opportunity. Remember, everyone wants a Rockstar who can positively impact an organization’s bottom line.
2. Optimize Your Online Presence – your online presence has the power to either catapult or kill your job search. Make sure you Google yourself and know what potential hiring managers are seeing and reading about you. LinkedIn is also a job seeker’s best friend. Have a professional headshot, a complete and accurate profile, multiple recommendations, more than 500 connections, and include plenty of buzz words. You want to be easily found and you can increase your SEO (search engine optimization) by being active on LinkedIn every day.
3. Practice Your Pitch & Presentation – in order to be able to turn any conversation into an interview, you need to practice. Just because you’re witty at a cocktail party or have the “gift of gab” doesn’t mean your Elevator Pitch and interviewing answers are ready to go. Literally script out what you want to say and practice saying the words out loud. Most people stumble and struggle when it comes to talking about themselves, and your goal is to reduce the regrets and increase your confidence. Time to grab the horn and start tooting!!
4. Do Your Homework – today there is no excuse for not being a fully informed job seeker. Put on your Sherlock Holmes hat, turn on your computer and research the position, the company, the industry, and the people interviewing you. This critical information will also help inform the questions you ask during the interviewing process.
5. Network Like a Ninja – it is true that your network is your network, and that networking is still the #1 most successful job search strategy with a 75-80% success rate and 90% for executives. Not only can the people in your network be stellar references, but they can also make recommendations, forward your resume to the prime decision-makers, and alert you to new opportunities coming down the pipeline otherwise known as the “hidden job market.” Remember that 80% of job opening are never listed or posted on the major job sites. You need inside information and people advocating for you in order to compete in today’s job market.

I understand that January 2^nd can be jarring. There are still hangovers to recover from, trees to throw away, presents to return, kids to get back to school, and other competing priorities. The focus now needs to shift to YOUR priorities and what goals you’re trying to achieve this year. This is the time to think about yourself, treat yourself, and Woman UP!

Happy New Year and I sincerely hope this is YOUR year to Woman UP! Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help your professional dreams come true.

Thank you!