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– EXECUTIVE RESUME WRITING –
START BY CONSIDERING YOUR FRAME OF MIND
If you have already
lost your job, you are likely to be experiencing feelings of shock,
disbelief, anger, anxiety, depression, self-doubt and fear. It is
possible that you may experience different mixtures of these emotions at
different times, and they may change or recur without any apparent
reason. On the other hand, you may also feel a sense of relief if
certain aspects of your job had not been to your liking, or if you had
actually anticipated the loss of your job.
To have such feelings
is understandable, and nearly everyone looking for a new position tends
to have some portion of them. To be aware of these emotions is healthy.
It is essential, however, that you take control of your situation and
move forward. If you allow yourself to wallow in these negative emotions
for an extended period of time, they will become counterproductive and
can immobilize you. Even worse, some people attempt to medicate
themselves with food, alcohol or drugs. In job hunting there can be a
very fine line between success and despair.
Throughout your job
search process, a positive, action-oriented frame of mind and a high
degree of energy is essential. You must maintain a sense of purpose and
continue to use your talents and abilities to the fullest in order to
achieve your goal. Several suggestions that will prove useful include:
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Commit yourself totally to your job search and use your
time well. If you are unemployed, you should expect to
invest 50 to 60 hours a week, while 10 to 15 hours may be quite
reasonable if you are still working. Equally important are your
time management skills. For example, make sure you complete
routine tasks such as library and Internet research in the
evenings and on weekends, thereby freeing your precious hours
during the work week for your job search. Business hours should
be action hours, so make sure you also limit personal
errands to non-business hours.
Set aside blocks of time for
specific activities on a daily basis. For example, 9:00 a.m. to
11:00 a.m. for preparing targeted mailings, 11:00 a.m. to noon
on the telephone following up on leads, noon to 1:00 p.m. for
lunch and a stress-relieving walk, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. for
initiating and returning phone calls, 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. for
making cold telephone contacts, following up on leads, talking
to recruiters, etc., and 4:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. for planning.
Obviously, networking meetings and job interviews will require
you to alter your schedule. But, the more you follow an
established schedule for your different tasks, the better you
will stay focused and the faster you will progress. |
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Periodically evaluate yourself. Monitoring your
progress, or lack of it, will help you redirect your energy and
sharpen your skills. Job hunting is an activity that must be
learned through experience. By taking stock of your efforts, you
will continually find ways to improve your techniques and make
better use of your time. Failure to achieve success can lead to
frustration and a steady decline in effort. Evaluate your
successes and failures, and be ready to adjust and
refocus as necessary. |
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Exercise regularly during your campaign. An exercise
program will help improve your energy and relieve stress. This
may be as simple as taking a brisk walk each day or doing some
form of calisthenics or aerobics. Choose a program that is
appropriate to your overall health, and make sure you check with
your family physician before you begin. |
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Undertake a personal or professional improvement project.
While time is going to be at a premium, invest a couple of hours
a week and undertake some sort of project that will help divert
your attention from your job search. This may include
volunteering for a community program, registering for an evening
course at a local college, or taking on a small consulting
project. The key is to enjoy a little diversion without letting
it interfere with your job search. |
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Seek the assistance of support groups or a career coach
to help you through the process. It is essential that you
promote yourself in a positive and forward-moving manner, rather
than making yourself appear like a victim. Organizations such as
Forty Plus can offer substantial networking assistance as well
as support during the period of time where your emotions are at
their lowest point. If you require more intense and
individualized assistance, consider a qualified job coach. Their
focus is likely to be on developing a powerful, high-impact
resume and other written materials, creating an individual
marketing plan, job positioning and image development, and if
necessary the management of your entire job hunting campaign. |
To succeed you must be sufficiently motivated to make the first move
and do it properly. If you spend little time or energy on your job
search, or if you just want to "test the waters" to see what’s out
there, don’t expect much success. You must be committed to achieving
specific goals. Of course, planning and goal setting is almost always
the easiest part of any task. It’s relatively easy to set goals and
outline a course of action divorced from the reality of actually doing
it. This means you must be prepared to put in the effort and take all
the specific actions that are required in order to achieve your expected
results.
The great majority of people seek new positions in a very haphazard
manner. As a result, many fail because they end up wasting so much time
that they lose interest or self-confidence. By taking care of details in
the preliminary stage, and reevaluating your plans and strategies
throughout your campaign, you will avoid many of the problems and
frustrations which plague many job hunters. It will also help you land a
position that you have targeted, rather than simply settling for the
first opportunity that comes along. Understandably, the starting point
in your job campaign involves your believing in yourself. |
