Maintain the Leverage of Being Employed Without Having a Job

It is a lot easier to obtain a good job offer, for a new position, when you are already employed. Due to layoffs and terminations, we sometimes don’t have that luxury. Don’t panic! Here are some solid ways that you can take back the advantage you need to land fair and competitive job offers.

1. Have the Right Attitude – Being “unemployed” simply means you now have a new job, Career Improvement Professional. For 8 or more hours a day, all your energy should be poured into bettering your career by finding the right opportunity. Not only will you make strong progress in finding a new job, but the activity itself will promote a feeling of accomplishment, and provide a boost to your overall self-confidence, a much needed trait throughout this process. Languishing around your home and submitting resumes on the Internet between commercials is a surefire way to increase your feelings of desperation and uselessness, severely impeding your path to career success.
2. Contract work through an agency – Some companies specialize in assigning professionals to contract (temporary) positions. Corporations have projects that need to be completed but they sometimes aren’t ready to hire someone permanently to their staff. This makes contract work an appealing and practical alternative. I have worked with professionals who begrudgingly started working on contract positions and now they wouldn’t have it any other way. The rate of pay is higher and the work-life balance tends to be more reasonable.
3. Start your own business – In the state of Ohio, you can register a new corporation for $125. Having your own business allows you to employ yourself and, in-turn, show it as current employment on a resume. If your name is Bill Johnson, avoid calling it Johnson’s Engineering Consulting. If it is initially obvious to an employer the company is yours, the desired effect of showing consistent employment is lost. You can explain it to them in the interview when you are asked. The goal here is to get your foot in the door.
4. Suck it up – You might have to accept a position that isn’t exactly what you had in mind; however, it serves the purpose of getting you back to work. That doesn’t mean a CFO should take a job as a filing clerk. There is a point when a position’s skill requirement is too far below your typical responsibilities can diminish future earning potential. The CFO should consider a position as an Accounting Manager or Director of Finance. While the money might not be as good, it is better than $0 and allows you to leverage yourself to bigger and better offers at a fair competitive salary, ideally within that company.
5. Good work references will increase an employer’s desire to hire you. Make sure the references are telling potential employers they would rehire you or, if your termination was the result of a layoff, to have them explain that they would have kept you if it was economically feasible. This demonstrates that you are a wanted candidate and it will elicit a strong offer of employment.
6. If you were fired for cause – First, be sure to understand your previous employer’s policy on references. Make sure the company is only permitted to provide dates of employment and that your contact listed is someone in Human Resources. You always want to be up front and honest as to why you are out of work, but definitely want to avoid using a reference from a company with loose policies, ready to throw you under the bus without thinking twice. If this is the case, attempt to contact customers or suppliers you worked with who can vouch for their positive experience working with you as long as it doesn’t violate any previously signed employee agreements.

How to Sell Yourself Without Selling Out

How to Sell Yourself Without Selling Out

For most people, the word sales conjures up images of slick hucksters with painted-on smiles and polyester suits, tactless and saccharine in their approach. Therefore it isn’t too surprising when talented job seekers recoil at the prospect of having to “sell themselves” in an interview. Here are some ideas on how to convey your value to an employer without being overbearing and overconfident.
The main difference between the stereotypical salesperson described above and a top-end sales executive is one thing...the ability to listen. The majority of clients I have helped with their career-transition over the years, whether they are an industry newbie or a seasoned veteran, have had a misconception of what it means to sell their selves during an interview. The common perception of “selling yourself” has been to communicate each task accomplished in every position they have had to an employer, while simultaneously conveying their strong work ethic and ability to “pick things up quickly.” This, however, is a recipe for disaster that often leads to a perception that you are more focused on yourself. The goal of a successful interview should be to create enough rapport with the hiring manager so, to put it simply, they like you. Regardless of whether or not you have the top skills in an area, an employer will not hire you without feeling a personal connection. As a point of reference, a candidate should reach the level of rapport with a hiring manager that equates to being the type of person the boss wouldn’t be embarrassed having over for dinner with his family.
Here are some ways you can sell yourself in an interview without feeling like you are selling-out:
1. Ask questions – Be an investigator. Learning more about the position by asking questions not only shows your legitimate interest in the position but also functions to transform the interview into more of a conversation. More often than not, when candidates ask an employer to tell them more about the position, other job aspects that were not on the ‘official’ posted job description will arise.
2. Make sure you understand exactly what you are being asked – If you attempt responding to broad statements such as, “Tell me about your work history,” the odds of your answer being shorter than 5 minutes is slim. Counter something like this by stating, “I would be happy to. Would you like me to tell you about my most recent role at XYZ Company?” Provide an answer that is detailed but concise and then STOP TALKING! Don’t fear the silence. That is your cue to ask the first question and begin the conversation that will lead to the positive rapport you need.
3. Ask why the position is open. Find out which strengths the previous person in the role had that were viewed as valuable. If the person was terminated, ask what his/her weaknesses were and what led them to initially hire them. Having this information allows you to better understand which aspects of your background to focus on or which to ignore. If the employee’s strength was in tying his/her shoes, then it would be wise to bring up the fact that at XYZ Company, you won an award for shoe tying. If the employee was terminated for attendance, it would be a good idea to mention that you didn’t miss one day of scheduled work all year.
4. Don’t say ‘No’ – Saying ‘No’ implies you have absolutely zero knowledge of what the employer is asking you about. Make sure you relate your similar experience to what it is they are asking so they have enough ammunition to hire you when the time comes. Without any related experience, no matter how much an employer likes you, they won’t be able to justify the hire to themselves or their superiors.
5. Is there anything else I can tell you about myself to assure you that I am the right person for the job? – Many times, employers make decisions based on assumptions they have made about you. Whether it is the content of your resume or the type of companies you previously worked for, an employer might think you lack a certain skill that in fact you have. This question will give an employer more confidence to ask a question that might have been tough for them to ask for one reason or another. Even if you lack direct experience with an area of concern, using the strategy explained in #4 should help you navigate through any objections presented to you.