It’s All in a Day’s Work

Work, you say! But, you are not employed!

Being unemployed is work!

Looking for work is a full-time job!

In the last few months, I have:

Changed my resume to meet today’s accepted formats several times depending on the position and workshop.	Updated Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
Made friends with my cell phone…..email, text, voicemail.	Found a career advisor.
Added my name to job lists both inside and outside of my industry.	Added volunteer activities.
Researched, researched, researched the job market.	Continued to stay positive.
Taken some online courses.	Increased my vocabulary through Words with Friends.
Joined a job hunt support group.	Stepped out of my comfort zone and asked for help.
Learned about blogs.	Learned to lunch with those who may know someone that knows someone.
Kept abreast of changes in my preferred organizations.	Received a Notary Public commission from the State of California.

Read A Lot of Books!

And

Realized I Could Make Due With Much Less!

Thankfully, there is nothing good on day-time television!

Who has time to watch it!!!

I have also sent out several resumes and, even, had a few interviews.

There is an upside to all of this!

As a result of not having a strict 9-5 schedule, I have made new friends, been able to greet my husband of over thirty years at the door each day, been a bigger part of children’s lives, attended grandparent’s days and awards ceremonies for granchildren and have been able to spend time with an aging parent.

We continue to search for employment.

We will send the resumes, update the profiles, find volunteer opportunities to keep us busy, do our best to keep our heads above water. When in doubt we head to a place where everyone knows our name (no, not the neighborhood bar) and realize that right now,

TODAY,,,,

There is time to stop and smell the flowers

!

posted by Michelle

Chip and a Chair

The story goes that in the 1982 World Series of Poker, Jack Straus, pushed his chips in the pot and then lost the hand. As he got up to leave, he found that he had left a single chip under a napkin on the table. With that one chip he made a comeback and went on to win the Main Event Tournament. Thus the legendary term, “Chip and a Chair” was coined. Today you can hear this phrase in poker rooms throughout the world when a poker player is down to his/her last few chips but not out.

This week at our Tuesdays with Blossom meeting, Patty brought to our attention a segment that aired on 60 Minutes called “Platform to Employment”. The segment was about a Connecticut based organization, that addresses the need for long term unemployed workers to return to work and the need for employers to recruit skilled workers.
Part of the segment tells the stories of several individuals whose unemployment compensation had expired without finding work. Some lost their homes, sold their possessions, moved in with relatives, and worked part time and odd jobs just to survive. The Platform to Employment program helped prepare and match these workers with companies that need their skills. It was evident these people where down, but The WorkPlace program provided them with that one chip to help bring many back to work.

You can read more about this at http://platformtoemployment.com/ and see the 60 Minutes’ segment there.

Last week, I had my first informational interview. The person I was networking with was very generous of her time and her professional assessment of my work history and skills. Her comments caused me to start thinking differently about my core competencies. She proposed I present my experience and abilities in a different format in order to clearly allow a perspective employer to understand me better. She even provided my liaison with names of other professionals for me to seek advice and potential opportunities.

In today’s economic environment looking for work is emotionally challenging to say the least. Personally, I have my good and bad days. On those bad days I certainly feel down and sometimes even out, but then on the good days, I know under my napkin is at least one chip.
Posted by Joanne

Monkey Wisdom

In my search to reach Optimal Discomfort (thank you for that, Joanne, it sums it up perfectly!) during my career transition, I enrolled in Brandman University’s “Advanced Career Strategies” which meets Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this week and next; it only cost $25 and a commitment of my time and effort. Hats off to the Career Center (again) for putting this on my radar; I feel invigorated from attending just one class so far!

The insanity of doing the same things over and over, but expecting different results is something to fight against. We are all susceptible to seeking comfort over challenge but I would like to humbly suggest a different approach to a career/job change…be a creative problem-solver: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBJV56WUDng because if a monkey can figure things out, we humans can rise to our challenges with our gifts of spoken language and opposable thumbs.

One of the homework assignments in my class this week has to do with qualifying and quantifying my dream job/career; I believe that I will have a much better chance by being proactive and having a clear vision. So although I must admit that I never once thought of opening a banana from the bottom (umm, let me go out on a limb here and say I am not alone in this), I am working hard to open my eyes and mind to the vast array of ideas and resources available, some a little to no cost, that can help dramatically shorten this career transition. I challenge all you job seekers and career changers to do the same and let us know about your success.

“Live out of your imagination, not your history.” – Steven Covey

Posted by Patty

Optimum Discomfort

Years ago, I worked for a company that shaped many of my business philosophies such as how companies should treat their employees and customers, and how employees should respect their employers.  I know it is likely old school thinking, but some things in business should not change.

Jim was the owner of the company and he was involved with both the business and the business of his people. We had monthly company meetings.  “UGH”, you say.  I am sure that many of you have dozed through your company meetings, but it was unlikely that anyone every slept through one of Jim’s meetings.  He made them interesting, educational, and fun.

There were two things for sure about every company meeting. The first was that each and every person better know the Mission Statement as Jim would call on people to recite it from memory.  Secondly, Jim’s closing statement was always the same.  He would point his right index finger up and his thumb out (kind of like the “L” for the loser symbol today) and say “The World is a Changing Place”.   Little did we know at the time there was not a truer statement!

After I lost my job last year; I had no idea how unprepared I was to find a new one.  I thought with my experience, education, and exceptional work ethic, I would have a job in a few months.  HA! Creating a resume and responding to ads was how I got a job in the past, but not today.

“The World is a Changing Place”

 I was fortunate to have found out about a class called “Skills for 50+ Job Seekers” being taught at the South Metro Career Center.  Attending those classes and what has followed has been life changing.

How we find a job today has changed more than I could have imagined.  Long gone are the days where resumes are read “cold”.  Networking, LinkedIn, blogging, personal branding, 30 second commercials, volunteering, informational interviews, attitude changes,  Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, researching companies,  and updating or learning new skills are just few of the activities “old dogs” must do.

I am writing this blog today as part of what I call “Optimum Discomfort”.  Learning and growing does not happen if you do not work at it.  Job hunting… is hard; humbling and up lifting at the same time.

“The World is a Changing Place” and now I am part of the change.

Posted by Joanne

Why We Schmooze

How exciting!  On Wednesday Patty, Carolyn and I attended a networking meeting at our South Metro Career Center and the third item on the agenda was our tuesdayswithblossom blog.  It was such a thrill to see our site being presented to the world.

Networking is important for job seekers!

Why?

    Do you remember a week or so ago I talked about Christine? (http://tuesdayswithblossom.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/success-is-for-the-patient/)

Well, she received not one, but two offers.

And both of these offers came about through networking.

    The one she ultimately chose came to her originally as a “Hey, I heard that this organization might have an opening in the future.”  Before she could make the “is it true what I heard” call, she was strolling to her car after having attended the Little Italy Farmer’s Market when she heard her name called from one of the sidewalk restaurants.  It seems that a different friend was having breakfast with the Executive Director of the “might have an opening in the future” company.  One thing led to another and she starts her new job on February 21.

Congratulations Christine!

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE NETWORKING
You never know when that opportunity will present itself!

I am working on my networking skills…not a fan of small talk.  But, I get it and I will get better at it.

I have help!

• Workshops such as South Metro Professional Networking Group may be a way to become comfortable meeting new people.

Leave a comment and tell us how your forays into the world of networking have helped you to:

1. Find a job
2. Feel less isolated
3. Make new friends and influence people
   (Wait, I think Carnegie already talked about that)

Posted by Michelle

One Two Three – TAKEOFF!

This past Friday, Michelle and I attended the “Launch into Social Media – Understanding the Vision of Tomorrow” workshop presented by Linda Cimmino at the San Diego South Metro Career Center. Linda is awesome and really knows her stuff. Those of you who are looking for your next job/career with limited success need to get yourselves to YOUR local career center. Go. Now! The information and assistance available to you at Career Centers is priceless and 100% free. More about the career center in future posts; today I want to share a taste of what we learned about why social media has become the most important tool for your job hunt.

• Check out this you tube video: http://youtu.be/73XjjhGXC4s  as well as this survey: http://recruiting.jobvite.com/resources/social-recruiting-survey.php for a good overview on social media and recruiting.

We must all become proficient with Social Media to job hunt successfully and here is why: Companies and recruiters are utilizing social networks due to the effectiveness and low cost associated with these methods. Job boards are becoming increasingly obsolete and not worth the expense to more and more employers. Why pay thousands of dollars to merely post a job, when you can access Linkedin and find out about a candidate’s job history, skills, references and professional network? Also, social media recruitment allows jobs to be filled with much greater speed; these are just some of the reasons that approximately 90% of employers (and growing) depend upon social media for recruiting.

If you have not already done so, it is essential to get a Linkedin profile and work on it until it is darn close to 100% complete! There has been talk of Linkedin replacing the good ole resume. It’s like the old joke…If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Or if a man speaks in the forest, and no woman is there to hear him, does HE make a sound??? (Oops, sorry, I digress!) If you job hunt without Linkedin, do you exist to employers? Launch yourself into Social Media to be visible to those with the power to hire you. Create or expand your Linkedin profile as soon as possible. That’s all for now, but more on this subject soon. I have things to do, like working on my Linkedin profile.

Posted by Patty

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