New Leaf Resumes

Out buying a few groceries yesterday, I decided to pick up the latest issue of The Oprah Magazine. I loved the new "do" she was wearing and couldn't resist the topic, "makeover issue." But I was absolutely gobsmacked (don't you love that British term for flabbergasted, astouded, uber-surprised!?) when I came to the article "Hire Power" that showcased the re-energizing strategies of four women's careers.

My heart, focused as it is on career management, filled with joy when I reached pages 220-221. A Before and After resume, beautifully crafted. The entire feature story is an informative work of career-art!

Nothing on this earth is forever. Oceans change shores over millenia, species become extinct, and certainly no job is secure and guaranteed. Then why do some people stick to jobs they hate, sometimes reaping the reward of a "pink slip"? (Those who hate their jobs rarely perform to expectations.)

I envision these poor folk, shackled to their jobs, enticed with those dangled career-carrots - benefits, good pay - all the while reciting their mantra "I'm a great person: Look at me, I hate my job but I'm sticking it out."

Are you that person? Are those golden handcuffs keeping you in a job you hate? Are you allowing this to kill your very soul, stop you from being the person you were meant to be, stop you from using your talents for a greater good?

If you are reciting that mantra "Look at me, I'm so self-disciplined. I keep going to work as it kills me, cell by painful cell," stop and think about whether the price is worth the (imagined) reward.

I recall, just before I leapt off the precipice, from secure work to launching my own business, trying to convince myself that the job I had was good and that I was "happy enough." Complacency was attempting to sway my conviction; thank goodness that conviction won out. I knew I needed change, and desperately wanted to write for a living.

We've only one life to live, and although I'm not yet near retirement age, I've listened to more than one elderly person rehash a life lived below expectations. I've no desire to mull over "woulda coulda shoulda" scenarios.

Perhaps you are stifling an urge for change? Perhaps you're not in a financial position to entertain change? But surely you can investigate and prepare for change? Don't waste your potential; don't live to regret avoiding the precipice. I jumped and I soared on the wings of talent and determination. But I spent five years preparing for the event!

Apparently, when a newspaper loses 15% of its readers or advertisers, it can go broke; when a tech company increases its sales by 15%, profit doubles! Fifteen percent isn't much. (Stats are borrowed from one of Seth Godin's recent blogs.)

What if you increased your job hunt by 15%? In time devoted each day, in contacts made, resumes shared, effort expended? Who knows, maybe that's all it would take to getting back to work sooner. Give it a try!

Networking is a word that most job-hunters would rather not hear. They would much rather stay firmly planted behind a computer screen, searching for jobs, and attaching their resumes to an email. Their application competes for landing space with the hundreds, if not thousands, of others who send emails while similarly tethered to a chair in front of a computer!

Success, if you agree that a job offer is our measurement of success, comes far more quickly if one targets one's efforts, if one takes the time to search out suitable employers. But, for many and various reasons, people resist getting out and meeting others face to face.

If you'd like to know more about networking - to demystify its meaning and find out how it can work for you, subscribe to my newsletter and request my networking report! It's not as scary as you might envision, and it is a much quicker way to rejoin the working world, or step up a career ladder rung.