I know we are recovering from a busy holiday season, and we have one more big weekend coming up…
I’m already thinking about this next year.
As a job seeker, I remember feeling hopelessness and helplessness. Others could celebrate the time, and look forward with vigor and excitement, but when there is no light at the end of the tunnel it seemed that was a luxury we couldn’t afford.
In a couple of weeks I’ll celebrate my 6 year anniversary of getting laid off.
When I got laid off I had all kinds of emotions run through my body. I was excited to be done with something that should have ended earlier. I was scared to death of what the future would hold. I was anxious to move on to the next phase. I was hopeful that my next gig would be much, much better than my last gig.
It was all unknown.
I know have the benefit of looking back on the past. I chose an untraditional route… that of business ownership and entrepreneur.
I went through my life savings, and borrowed money from family, to get this dream up. I surrounded myself with amazing people, and moved forward, rarely looking back.
It was hard at first. Not knowing where money was coming from, not knowing how long I could continue before I had to go to Plan B or C or D or E. Relying on others for funding was weird, especially since it was family. Not being able to count on a regular income creating new budgeting issues. Learning how to get my business up and running was not easy.
There were plenty of 15+ hour days, as well as sleepless nights.
And then, one day, I was able to call my two investors and say “I think we don’t need any more investment money for a while… I’ll let you know if that changes.” And once or twice I called on them, but for the most part the business has been self-sustaining.
We had done it. We pulled out of the dark hole, of being hopeless and helpless, and were able to do it on our own. We went from red to black, from no money and tons of time to descent money and not much time.
Looking back is lot easier and funner now than it was to look forward 6 years ago.
And that, my friends, is what I think about when I write to you. I know you are in a dark, lonely, self-doubting place. The future is dark and cloudy, with lots of question marks.
Let ME tell you, from this end of it, that you will do fine. It will be hard, and you’ll sacrifice more, and it will be scary, but there will be a time when you look back and think “wow, we’re done with that period in our lives. I’m glad we landed okay.”
You will land. Some of you will land in a traditional job. Others will land in your own business. But you will be okay. You have to be okay. That is our human nature – to fight, to live, to survive, and to be okay.
Keep fighting, even if it just feels like baby steps, one foot in front of the other. And one day you’ll look back, like I can, and say “whew! I did it!”
You will do it!
Posted by Jason Alba on December 29th, 2011 | 1 Comment
Check out this brilliant (and short) post on Recruiting Blogs from Emily Gordon. Seriously, brilliant! It is titled I wouldn’t hire you as my recruiter…and neither would you!
I love the main points she underlined:
1. Your attitude is everything. People don’t want to talk to you, or refer you, until your attitude is good enough. Most job seekers need to work on this. It’s not enough to put on a smiley face when you network, and appear positive… you must internalize the right attitude, because even when you think you are sending the right message, if you are hurt and angry and scared-to-death (what job seeker isn’t any of those three??), your message will come out different than what you think it is.
2. Communicate “why you left your last job” well. Emily says she doesn’t want to hear excuses. No one wants to hear any train-wreck stories of what went wrong, and why your boss is an idiot. They ask because they want to know if you are high risk, and will be a problem at the next job. How do you answer this question? ”are you high risk, and will you be a problem at your next job?” That’s what they are really asking… if you tell them how idiotic your boss was, you aren’t addressing their concern!
3. Emily says “Somebody will fill that position!” That’s right. Someone will. Put in the effort, do this the right way, and it might be you. Be normal and average and employ the same strategies as everyone else and… well, you won’t have much of a competitive advantage!
Check out Emily’s brilliant post here…!
Posted by Jason Alba on December 27th, 2011 | No Comments
In two days much of the world, and your audience, will shut down to celebrate Christmas.
Some celebrate Christmas, some don’t. Whether you celebrate or not, you are impacted by this holiday season. The world seems to shut down.
So what do you do as a job seeker?
You can do all kinds of stuff … you can network (in a different way) with family and friends, or at church. You could take some time and work on your communication (written, verbal, etc.). You could clean your office, regroup for the new year, go over your goals for the year and make a game plan for next year.
All of these things are great things to do.
I’d like to share something I learned in my job search… something I wish I would have done more:
ENJOY.
Seriously.
I know as a job seeker it’s hard to fathom you have as much to enjoy as you have had in years past… but if you honestly ask yourself what blessings you have, you should be able to list a few things. And if you are honest, you might be able to list a few more.
I remember seeing people who had a job (aka, steady paycheck, and no worries about where money was going to come from next month) and being jealous. It’s easier for them, I thought, because they didn’t have to worry about the simplest financial problems a job seeker worries about.
That was wrong, and toxic, thinking.
It’s so easy to get into that toxic place, with envy and comparisons.
I challenge you to spend the rest of this year listing ways you are blessed.
Who knows, maybe this exercise will help how others perceive you, your attitude will change, your strategies and tactics might change, and best of all, the results might change.
I dare you to try it 
Posted by Jason Alba on December 23rd, 2011 | No Comments
As I’ve spoken over the last few years to professionals in transition, I’ve convinced myself that the job search is 99% communication.
And we do it wrong (or poorly)…. almost all the time.
Can you communicate just a little bit better? Communication in your job search is key.
It’s why job seekers spend hours working on their “elevator pitch.”
It’s why people pay to have a professional resume writer hone their 2 page resume (aka, marketing tool).
It’s why people pay to have an image consultant help them with their body image, clothes, etc.
It’s why people pay to have an interview coach help prepare them nail the interview.
It’s why people tell you to have a better handshake.
It’s why people do mock interviews, record them, and critique them.
Think about it – in your job search, most everything you do is communicating in one form or another.
How’s your communication? Can it be improved? I’d suggest looking for marginal improvements, one step-at-a-time. Communicate better on purpose, and you’ll be a better, more successful job seeker!
Posted by Jason Alba on December 22nd, 2011 | No Comments
My 14 year old daughter recently finished two hard years of intense Shakespeare studies. I remember the first few months wondering if she would keep up with it… she did, and by the end she had excelled beyond anything I ever learned about Shakespeare.
A huge lesson she learned is that she can “do hard things.” With time, persistance, dedication, the right tools, the right peers, the right mentors, she did it. She did hard things. That is a lesson she’ll take with her the rest of her life.
I am writing this from an airport (Phoenix) after what might have been the hardest week of speaking of my speaking career. It was fun, and rewarding, and exciting, but it was HARD. I gave 13 keynote presentations in 4 days. Some of them were new. Two of them were with a copresenter who I hadn’t even met before this trip. I didn’t have internet access, and I had other pressing business with other parts of my business. It was hard, but I did it.
My job search was hard. Networking, communicating (30 second pitch), creating the right job search documents, was HARD. I wasn’t good at it, but I did it.
You HAVE TO do the hard stuff in your job search. It isn’t meant to be a “fun” time, but it can be a rewarding time, and a time that you can look back on and say “I proved I can do hard things.” This can be a great experience for you, like it was for my daughter.
Do not shy away from the hard things – meet them head-on, and do them!
Posted by Jason Alba on December 16th, 2011 | No Comments
There is a lot of talk about whether someone who has been self employed can successfully enter the workforce again.
Because of my raw blog posts over the years, I’ve said I was “unemployable.” That is, if a potential employer saw stuff I have written, they might think I wasn’t going to be a good team player (or something like that). I’ve been very outspoken on workplace and hiring issues.
If you came to me and said “I’ve been working for myself for 15 years, but want to settle down into your company,” what am I to think? I am quick to judge, like pretty much everyone (even you)… I might think:
Wasn’t good enough to make it on your own?
Is your business dying, and how much of the blame falls on you?
Are you looking for less responsibility, and to slow down? Because we are ramping up!
What are you hiding from me?
As someone who’s gone from corporate to self-employed, I feel that a self-employed person has “tasted of the forbidden fruit,” and going back to a cubicle day job would be almost impossible, if they were successful on their own. There might be scheduling issues (”but I’m used to being able to go to my daughter’s dance recitals whenever I want!!”) to money issues (”I just made this huge sale and all I get is a $200 bonus?? Before, I would get all of the profit!!”) to working-with-others issues.
Am I right? Perhaps not! Those assumptions are judgmental, and might not be accurate at all.
BUT THAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH STEREOTYPES, JUDGEMENTS, ETC.
They happen based on a lack of information.
So, let’s go back to the “can you go from self-employed to hired” idea.
Can you do it? YES YOU CAN!
But you have to help the interviewer/hiring manager understand you can, and get through their own preconceived ideas (which may or may not look like my issues above).
Want a second opinion, and some meat? Go check out Ask the Headhunter’s post on this. Nick Corcodilos puts it very plainly, and the comments below are very, very interesting. His post is titled: You’ll never get hired if you’re self-employed
Posted by Jason Alba on December 12th, 2011 | No Comments
I got a business degree and an MBA. I’ve taken a few marketing classes, and read a few marketing books. If you have spent 20 minutes in marketing, you’ve heard about the Four Ps of Marketing:
- Place
- Position
- Price
- Product
Every marketer can define those four Ps, and they play a significant role in their marketing strategy.
Chris Russell, of Secrets of the Job Hunt, wrote a brilliant post about the Four Ps of the Job Search. Chris says your four Ps are:
- Personal (who you are, your brand, etc.)
- Positioning
- Promotion
- Persistence
I love the play on the Four Ps… read Chris’s post so you can see how he describes each of the Ps. And there’s a great story about a 58 year old job seeker, Gina, who landed the job she wanted with those four Ps. I love it!
Posted by Jason Alba on December 7th, 2011 | No Comments
Job seekers tend to have a fear of the phone.
It weighs too much, so they can’t pick it up and make a call. Or, pushing ALL the numbers to dial out is too tiring, so they don’t do the last 1 or 2, and the call doesn’t go through. Or, there’s a powerful magnet that makes you slam the receiver down before the person answers.
I’m joking, of course, but that’s what it can feel like!
What are we afraid of? The person saying “Hell0?” Are we afraid of having a meaningful conversation? Are we afraid of what they will think of us if we fumble?
Whatever it is, get over it, or work through it, because the phone might be the most powerful job search tool you use.
Networking involves communication… start to master this, enjoy it, and your job search will do a 180.
Posted by Jason Alba on December 5th, 2011 | No Comments
One of the easiest things to do right on your Profile is to have a good Profile picture.
Why then do so many people do it wrong?
LinkedIn wants a headshot.
I want a CLOSEUP of the headshot.
You might have a great, professional picture, but if your head takes up less than 50% of the picture, I’ll tell you to zoom in!
I often see Profile pictures where the person’s head is 1/6th or 1/12th of the entire image. The image is already small, people! ZOOM IN! I want to see facial characteristics. I don’t care who cool the background is!
Aside from that, here are some turnoffs I’ve seen on Profile pictures:
- ZERO facial details. When the picture is more than just your body, like you in front of a building or a tree, and I can’t make out anything from your face. I’ve seen this more than once!
- Casual clothing. The worst was a sweaty t-shirt that looks like the person just got done running a race. On LinkedIn? Really?
- Distracting backgrounds. I recently saw one where there was a bright light in the background, which was very distracting and didn’t allow me to see your face well.
- Bad coloring. Make sure you get good lighting and a good background, and where the right clothes… I’m no expert in color and contrast, but I’ve seen pictures where there are really hardly any features because of a bad choice of color.
- No personality. Smile. It’s really as easy as that. Look like you are a nice, approachable person.
The list could go on and on… the one easy fix for most of them is to ZOOM IN!
Posted by Jason Alba on November 30th, 2011 | No Comments
Two weeks ago I fly to New York to speak to a bunch of Executive MBA candidates at a prestigious university.
At least three people asked me about the connection strategy they should have. Two of them had strong opinions already formed and just wanted to see what I thought.
I explained in my LinkedIn book I have a chapter about connection strategies, where I explain there is a spectrum with open networkers on one side (those who connect with anyone) and closed networkers on another side (those who have very strict requirements before they connect with you).
The bottom line is this: I can’t tell you what is right for you, or anyone else. You have to decide where on the connection spectrum you feel comfortable. You might be in the middle, or lean towards open, or lean towards closed… I don’t know what your comfort level is.
I also recognize that your circumstances now might push you towards one strategy, but when the circumstances change, your strategy might change.
What’s right for you? I don’t know.
What’s right for the person next to you? You might not be the best person to decide what’s right for them (as I see so often!).
I do know this: everyone has different objectives with their networking efforts… choose what’s best for you, for now, and go with that. Adjust as necessary.
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Posted by Jason Alba on November 28th, 2011 | No Comments
