I Lost More Than My Job 2 Years Ago

I Lost More Than My Job 2 Years Ago They say losing your job is one of the top three major life stresses, up there with divorce and death. You only die once and most people probably wont divorce more then two or three times in their life but we can all lose our job over a dozen times in our career. If we change jobs every five years, and we start at age 20 and retire at age 65, well change jobs 9 times.If we change jobs every three years, and we start at age 20 and retire at age 66, well change jobs 15 times. I met a guy last year who had been laid off 26 times. Imagine, 26 pink slips and he wasnt retired yet! Why is this so stressful? Why does it rank up there with death and divorce? Here are some things I lost when I lost my job: The ability to pay my own way. Im quite independent, as Im guessing you are. I like to pay for my own stuff, from a movie ticket to my car payment to my house payment The security I feel with insurance. Life insurance, and health insurance. I felt extremely naked as I lost these two things, which added to the stress in a big way. Respect. I lost respect from others, who judged me because I lost my job (just as I had judged others what a dork was to judge). Worse, I started to lose respect for myself. My identity. I went from Jason the General Manager to Jason the ???. That was hard. In a society where we identify ourselves with our titles, losing the title was pretty devastating and left me in a state of confusion for a while. My place in society. I was no longer able to contribute time or money the way that I had before, and felt more like a leach than someone who was adding value to the world. My confidence. I was pretty self-confident before I got let go. I was even confident during the first couple of weeks, but as my job search stretched through the weeks and months I questioned whether I really had what it took to be an employee. Should I start from the beginning, and get an entry-level job? Some of my friends. This was weird to be quite chummy with the guys at the office, sharing personal experiences, enjoying personal successes, developing personal relationships. And then, with the pink slip, comes the fine print that almost says you cant communicate with the guys from the office anymore. I didnt expect that to be a side-effect, but it was. And losing friends like that hurt. Yes, its stressful, and painful. We should be prepared for this recurring event, though, and with that preparation it doesnt have to be so despairing! What did YOU lose when you lost your job? I Lost More Than My Job 2 Years Ago They say losing your job is one of the top three major life stresses, up there with divorce and death. You only die once and most people probably wont divorce more then two or three times in their life but we can all lose our job over a dozen times in our career. If we change jobs every five years, and we start at age 20 and retire at age 65, well change jobs 9 times.If we change jobs every three years, and we start at age 20 and retire at age 66, well change jobs 15 times. I met a guy last year who had been laid off 26 times. Imagine, 26 pink slips and he wasnt retired yet! Why is this so stressful? Why does it rank up there with death and divorce? Here are some things I lost when I lost my job: The ability to pay my own way. Im quite independent, as Im guessing you are. I like to pay for my own stuff, from a movie ticket to my car payment to my house payment The security I feel with insurance. Life insurance, and health insurance. I felt extremely naked as I lost these two things, which added to the stress in a big way. Respect. I lost respect from others, who judged me because I lost my job (just as I had judged others what a dork was to judge). Worse, I started to lose respect for myself. My identity. I went from Jason the General Manager to Jason the ???. That was hard. In a society where we identify ourselves with our titles, losing the title was pretty devastating and left me in a state of confusion for a while. My place in society. I was no longer able to contribute time or money the way that I had before, and felt more like a leach than someone who was adding value to the world. My confidence. I was pretty self-confident before I got let go. I was even confident during the first couple of weeks, but as my job search stretched through the weeks and months I questioned whether I really had what it took to be an employee. Should I start from the beginning, and get an entry-level job? Some of my friends. This was weird to be quite chummy with the guys at the office, sharing personal experiences, enjoying personal successes, developing personal relationships. And then, with the pink slip, comes the fine print that almost says you cant communicate with the guys from the office anymore. I didnt expect that to be a side-effect, but it was. And losing friends like that hurt. Yes, its stressful, and painful. We should be prepared for this recurring event, though, and with that preparation it doesnt have to be so despairing! What did YOU lose when you lost your job? I Lost More Than My Job 2 Years Ago They say losing your job is one of the top three major life stresses, up there with divorce and death. You only die once and most people probably wont divorce more then two or three times in their life but we can all lose our job over a dozen times in our career. If we change jobs every five years, and we start at age 20 and retire at age 65, well change jobs 9 times.If we change jobs every three years, and we start at age 20 and retire at age 66, well change jobs 15 times. I met a guy last year who had been laid off 26 times. Imagine, 26 pink slips and he wasnt retired yet! Why is this so stressful? Why does it rank up there with death and divorce? Here are some things I lost when I lost my job: The ability to pay my own way. Im quite independent, as Im guessing you are. I like to pay for my own stuff, from a movie ticket to my car payment to my house payment The security I feel with insurance. Life insurance, and health insurance. I felt extremely naked as I lost these two things, which added to the stress in a big way. Respect. I lost respect from others, who judged me because I lost my job (just as I had judged others what a dork was to judge). Worse, I started to lose respect for myself. My identity. I went from Jason the General Manager to Jason the ???. That was hard. In a society where we identify ourselves with our titles, losing the title was pretty devastating and left me in a state of confusion for a while. My place in society. I was no longer able to contribute time or money the way that I had before, and felt more like a leach than someone who was adding value to the world. My confidence. I was pretty self-confident before I got let go. I was even confident during the first couple of weeks, but as my job search stretched through the weeks and months I questioned whether I really had what it took to be an employee. Should I start from the beginning, and get an entry-level job? Some of my friends. This was weird to be quite chummy with the guys at the office, sharing personal experiences, enjoying personal successes, developing personal relationships. And then, with the pink slip, comes the fine print that almost says you cant communicate with the guys from the office anymore. I didnt expect that to be a side-effect, but it was. And losing friends like that hurt. Yes, its stressful, and painful. We should be prepared for this recurring event, though, and with that preparation it doesnt have to be so despairing! What did YOU lose when you lost your job? I Lost More Than My Job 2 Years Ago They say losing your job is one of the top three major life stresses, up there with divorce and death. You only die once and most people probably wont divorce more then two or three times in their life but we can all lose our job over a dozen times in our career. If we change jobs every five years, and we start at age 20 and retire at age 65, well change jobs 9 times.If we change jobs every three years, and we start at age 20 and retire at age 66, well change jobs 15 times. I met a guy last year who had been laid off 26 times. Imagine, 26 pink slips and he wasnt retired yet! Why is this so stressful? Why does it rank up there with death and divorce? Here are some things I lost when I lost my job: The ability to pay my own way. Im quite independent, as Im guessing you are. I like to pay for my own stuff, from a movie ticket to my car payment to my house payment The security I feel with insurance. Life insurance, and health insurance. I felt extremely naked as I lost these two things, which added to the stress in a big way. Respect. I lost respect from others, who judged me because I lost my job (just as I had judged others what a dork was to judge). Worse, I started to lose respect for myself. My identity. I went from Jason the General Manager to Jason the ???. That was hard. In a society where we identify ourselves with our titles, losing the title was pretty devastating and left me in a state of confusion for a while. My place in society. I was no longer able to contribute time or money the way that I had before, and felt more like a leach than someone who was adding value to the world. My confidence. I was pretty self-confident before I got let go. I was even confident during the first couple of weeks, but as my job search stretched through the weeks and months I questioned whether I really had what it took to be an employee. Should I start from the beginning, and get an entry-level job? Some of my friends. This was weird to be quite chummy with the guys at the office, sharing personal experiences, enjoying personal successes, developing personal relationships. And then, with the pink slip, comes the fine print that almost says you cant communicate with the guys from the office anymore. I didnt expect that to be a side-effect, but it was. And losing friends like that hurt. Yes, its stressful, and painful. We should be prepared for this recurring event, though, and with that preparation it doesnt have to be so despairing! What did YOU lose when you lost your job?

Fake Amazon Page is the Best Resume Stunt Ever

Fake Amazon Page is the Best Resume Stunt Ever Since this terrible recession started, we’ve been hearing about clever gimmicks that desperate jobseekers are trying to get themselves noticed.  We’ve heard about people standing at a busy intersection with a “Job Wanted” sign and the guy in Seattle who took out a sign on the side of a city bus. People have tried to stand out by delivering pizzas and baked goods to recruiters (with their resume pasted inside the box cover.)  Theres even a guy who offered two plane tickets to Hawaii for whoever found him his next job. So do these gimmicks work? Probably not, in most cases. And please don’t try this at home.   You have to be very clever and very bold to attempt a stunt and take the fallout from the publicity and attention (negative as well as positive) you may attract. Having said that, I am free to rave about what I consider to be the best of the stunts I’ve heard about. Philippe Dubost is a web product manager currently based in Paris.   He painstakingly created a fake Amazon.com page to present himself as a product. The reason that this stunt works is that Philippe has created the perfect blend of wit, skill and attention to detail that would attract someone who wanted to hire a web developer. If he brings this much energy to his work projects, I would want him on my team. That brings up the bigger point: sometimes, you are the product and the delivery mechanism.   I have met a number of unemployed sales professionals who bemoan their inability to get an appointment with a hiring manager. I worry about their chances for employment, because getting appointments is supposed to be what they do best. If they can’t get past the gatekeeper for themselves, how will they do it on behalf of a product? If the medium is the message for your skill set, how important is packaging?  And how does your packaging stand out from the crowd? Would you ever try a gimmick like this?  Leave a comment.

Bloggers Are Not Born This Way - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Bloggers Are Not Born This Way - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Blogging continues to be an excellent way to engage with people. By offering unique and relevant content that interests your audience, you can stimulate conversation around your brand and help spread the news about your expertise, your drive and what your unique brand offers. Due to the rising popularity of social media, so many people claiming to be social media experts have popped up. Many are branding themselves as expert bloggers, expert social marketers, and even expert Facebook users. There was a very popular thought-leader who once advised everyone that if they didn’t understand social media, they could simply get a person in their 20’s or one of their grandchildren to teach them how it works. A real social media expert But utilizing social media as your personal brand communication channel isn’t as simple as knowing how to post updates and pictures on Facebook. And even if you’ve been blogging for ages, it doesn’t mean you’re necessarily a good blogger. Social media may be easy for most people, but it takes marketing and communication training to get the results you want. Simply being “of a certain age” doesn’t make you a social media expert. How do you find the real social media experts and bloggers? What are the things you should look for? 1. They understand your brand message First of all, it’s important that any person you assign to be your social media marketer must understand your brand message. They need to know how to align the use of different social media platforms with your business and objectives. You want your message to be at the forefront of your social media campaign, since this is what defines your brand and makes you unique. 2. They understand your brand voice The voice of your brand is uniquely yours and your social media person needs to understand it so that they can adequately represent you in social media. You need to have a consistent voice across the board so that people can recall you and not get confused. Let’s say your company has a blog but numerous people are posting on it. Monitoring their posts ensures that what they’re posting continues to be relevant to your industry, and that a similar theme and voice is maintained in every post. This is why it can be an advantage if only one person manages your blog, to ensure that your brand voice remains consistent and relevant. 3. They have ways to measure progress and success Though it can be argued that true brand awareness and user engagement is practically impossible to measure, still your social media expert should know different social monitoring tools that can help you measure the progress and success of your campaign. If they say it’s impossible, then you’d be better off finding another person for the job. Real social media experts should have specific metrics set in place in order to measure the success of your social media reach. 4. They know how to manage your reputation well When it comes to branding, your reputation is everything â€" it can make or break your brand. The person or people you hire to manage your social media accounts should know how to manage your reputation as well. They need to know how to monitor any mentions of your brand, and be able to respond in a timely and efficient manner. Your brand reputation is invaluable and can be ruined in a single click. So make sure that your social media representative knows how to manage it well. 5. Be updated about the current trends Since social media continues to evolve continuously today, it’s essential that the person who manages your social media campaign is able to stay on top of what’s currently trending and where most of your audience can be found. They shouldn’t just rely on old methods that are tried and tested. Are they willing to take risks and keep up to date on what’s happening? For example, bloggers today don’t reply simply on their blog to promote their content. They also utilize different social networking sites in order to get their voice heard. 6. There’s no right age for social media experts Even if a person was seemingly born with a mouse glued to their hands, it still takes social media training, skills and knowledge to be a true social media expert. So don’t rely on a kid who knows how to post status updates and pictures on Facebook to manage your campaign. Your business reputation hangs in the balance with every interaction you have whether it’s online or offline. Do you trust that in the hands of someone whose qualifications merely are that they are “of that age” that seems to understand all these new technological advances? Author: Maria Elena Duron, is managing editor of the Personal Branding Blog, CEO (chief engagement officer) of  buzz2bucks.com  â€"  a word of mouth marketing firm.   She helps create connection, credibility, community and cha-ching through mobile marketing and social commerce around your brand. She is co-founder of  #brandchat   a weekly Twitter chat focused on every aspect of branding.

Unwind After A Long Working Day

Unwind After A Long Working Day If you’re like most women, all you want after a long working day is to relax. Sometimes, it can be hard to find the right way to unwind, but here are some tips to help you find the best way to let go of your troubles from the day. Write It Down Writing down your work-related thoughts can help tremendously if you’re trying hard not to forget something or need a purge from the day. Whether your boss was a jerk or you just NEED to remember a small detail for tomorrow, putting everything to the paper and leaving it there makes more room for you to focus on unwinding. Take It Off Changing from your work clothes and kicking off those heels can provide a physical reminder that it’s time to transform your mindset and stop focusing on everything that happened at work. Make sure your new clothes are comfortable and cozy for maximum relaxation. Forget About It Do something that takes your mind off of work. Reading your favorite book or playing online games.  Go ahead and entertain yourself! Scents It Lighting candles or incense or having a relaxing scent near you is a great way to unwind. Make sure you have calming scents like lavender, sandalwood, or rose that provide the biggest boost in tranquility for mind and body. Schedule It If you feel like you have a mountain of chores at home and it’s making you anxious, schedule the chores for different nights. That way you can slowly chip away at them but not feel so overwhelmed and spend all your time doing housework rather than relaxing. Hear It Listening to music can diminish your worries and distract your mind. Preferably, you should choose something soothing and quiet, but ultimately, it’s your musical taste and whatever you feel like will help you decompress from the day. Hopefully, these tips will lead you to a more serene state of being after a long working day. Everyone is different, so don’t feel like you need to do all of these. Find what works for you and go with it!

Volunteering to Get a Job - Guest Post - Career Pivot

Volunteering to Get a Job - Guest Post - Career Pivot Volunteering to Get a Job The advice to “volunteer to get a job” when you’re looking for employment shows up everywhere. It’s one of those pieces of advice that sounds easy when it’s on paper, but job seekers who have actually tried to follow the advice discover that it’s anything but. Often, the non-profits you’d like to volunteer for, don’t have volunteer positions. Even if they do, they’re often for low-level jobs like envelope stuffing that wouldn’t help you even if you did put it on your resume. In this post, I’d like to show you what those other books and articles simply don’t talk about: The nitty-gritty of how to actually get resume relevant work through volunteering, using a process I call the skill-bridge technique. Step 1: Decide What Skills You’d like to Develop The first step to getting resume relevant work is to figure out what skills you’d like on your resume. Make a list of all the skills needed for your desired job title, and find the weak points on your resume. What skills are critical for the job but for which you don’t have much (if any) experience? Step 2: Figure out what the organization needs The next step is to do a bit of networking. This can be through volunteering at the organization in the low-level jobs mentioned earlier, or through going to events that people from the non-profit will be at in high attendance. The goal is to have conversations with people who work there and figure out two or three issues that are on everybody’s mind. What are the top problems, challenges, and opportunities that the organization is facing? Step 3: Show the organization how your skills can solve their problems. The final step takes a little bit of creativity. The goal is to figure out how you can use your desired skills to tangibly affect the problems, challenges, and opportunities that you identified. Then, ask one of your contacts at the company for the email address of a decision maker. Send them a short email saying that your contact gave you their information, and create a crisp, clear proposal showing how you can help solve their problem using your skill (for free). Conclusion If all goes well, you’ll take on a relevant project that will not only fill in the gaps on your resume, but also give you passionate advocates and connections who know you can solve problems, and will assist you in your job search. Interested in seeing how a real life job-seeker used this strategy to go from administrative assistant to business analyst? Listen to the original interview here! About The Author: Matt Goldenberg is the creator of the Skill Bridge Technique and the founder of Self-Made Renegade, a website for liberal arts grads and career changers who’d like to get their dream jobs. Listen to the most recent episode Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...