I have put in 15+ years climbing the corporate ladder in search of work that is fulfilling, meaningful, and pays well. There were days I never thought it would come and I would eventually have to ………..dare I say it………settle. I spent days drifting away at my desk thinking about landing a job I would be proud to retire from. Finally, at 37 years old, after endless days and sleepless nights a little blood a lot of sweat and more tears shed than I care to remember………..I did it. I’m working a job that I love. My work is meaningful, its fulfilling, and most of all……….the pay is providing a life I never thought I would be able to live.
I want to share with you five key “must do’s” that helped open up more doors for me than I can count.
Online Presence
LinkedIn is the best place to paint a portrait of who you are professionally and personally. Its the place to list your career accomplishments and goals. Its a huge hub for recruiters who spend countless hours searching for talent. LinkedIn is the Instagram / Facebook for professionals. Once you create your profile, start connecting with people you’ve worked with or friends you went to school with. Follow companies you have an interest in and brands you like supporting. Most importantly, use the search feature to find open positions in companies you’ve dreamt of working for. Do a job search and read those job descriptions because they’re going to come in hand later! Just keep reading….
Credentials
Credentials mean a lot of things but when searching for a job you love, they have to be relevant and meaningful. College education and relative work experience are great, but what about what you can do right now, while you’re searching. What makes you more valuable? LinkedIn offers a ton of free courses and training on all kinds of topics. Also, check the free and paid courses that are available at your local library and community college. There may even be courses available online. You want to show the employer that you are in a constant state of learning, engaging, and growing. Sure, graduate school is a huge accomplishment, and it looks great on a resume, but it can be costly. Truth be told, college isn’t for everyone either. However, college shouldn’t be the end all be all of your professional and personal development.
A great way to become, and remain, dynamic with a competitive edge is by constantly working on yourself. Want to be a Project Manager? Become PMP certified. Want to become a VP, take courses on leadership and corporate structure. Want to become a botanist? Sign up with your local gardening club or nursery and volunteer a few hours a week. ABL. Always Be Learning. (Grammatically it sounds hysterical but I think its a great piece of advice and homage to the best “work” movie of all time…………..Boiler Room).
Resume
A resume is a great place to showcase who you are and outline all those awesome credentials we talked about. What is crucial to ensuring you get the right eyes on YOU is creating a resume that stands out. You want employers to say “WOW, this resume is fantastic” and not just because you used a couple fancy words. Ancient resume etiquette would say to keep your headshot off your resume. Well, some rules were made to be broken and this one I’ve broken for the last 3 jobs I interviewed for and landed.
Another way to make your resume stand out is color, graphics, and columns. My two all time favorite apps to use for resume building are Canva and Enhancv . Both of these apps let you add standout colors and fonts to your resume. You can also add great graphics to really grab the employer’s attention. Below are some snapshots of sample resumes that are very similar to mine. Notice how different they are from our standard one page black and white full of text resume.
Last tip, when it comes to your resume, is key words! Remember when I said to pay attention to those job descriptions. Many companies use an automated tool or app to weed out people that have applied for a position that don’t meet the search/job criteria. This tool or app will read your resume and search for “key words” that are also used in the job description. If your resume does not possess any of these “key words” your resume will likely be auto rejected and you will receive that dreaded declination email.
Try and pull actual words and phrases from the job description and find ways to make them relative to your work history and experience. Then tweak your wording and plug those key words into your email. It will help you to get spotted quickly in a recruiter search and prevent you from receiving that decline email.
The Right Attitude
Of course confidence is great. Anyone will tell you its imperative that you have confidence when you’re interviewing for a job. What I mean by the “right attitude” is a positive attitude. I look at everything as an opportunity. A learning opportunity. An opportunity to grow as a person and as a professional. If I don’t land a job, I ask the employer or recruiter what additional qualities or experience they would liked to have seen, and I make note of it. Then that feedback becomes an opportunity for me to grow. The right attitude means you cannot curl into a ball because you didn’t get the job. Apply for multiple jobs. Make a practice out of it. You are a free agent and if you apply to enough companies, they will be competing for your talents.
However, if that one job is the one job you absolutely want. patience is key. Sometimes all the experience and education in the world isn’t enough if the timing isn’t right. Granted you cannot control time, but if you pay attention, doors open up at company’s for a reason. You may not have gotten that one job with that one company you wanted, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get your foot in the door. Sacrifice and take whatever open positions they have so you get exposure and first hand experience. Key word there…..sacrifice. That brings me to my last “must do”…..
Flexibility
You must have flexibility when it comes to landing the job you really want. In all my wildest dreams I never would have imagined settling down in Utah! I’m a city girl…not a mountain girl……………..but if the right job was going to call me, long distance or not, I’m picking up the phone.
Staying in my hometown was never a non-negotiable for me. Yes, even with family still living there….I had to be ok with putting myself first. My life had to have meaning to me. It had to fulfill me. Nobody else. The only way to do that was by answering any door that opportunity knocked on. From Chicago to Cleveland to Phoenix to Portland and now Salt Lake City…..every window that closed, opened an even greater door.
If you don’t want to settle for yourself, why would you settle on behalf of others? Moving away from home is exciting. It opens you up to so many great opportunities you never knew existed. More importantly, it shows you that you’re capable of things you never thought you could be. New chapters in new places are a great way to build confidence and really get to know yourself. So if a great opportunity knocks, and you are starving for change and growth………..you may want to consider answering……even if that means you have to pack your bags once you do.