I was talking with a gentleman that has been out of work for 13 months. 13 months. A year and a month. He attends my weekly meeting for job seekers. One of my favorite parts of the meeting is where we discuss what everyone learned this week and where were the wins. Learnings. Winnings. In the previous meeting, we discussed LinkedIn. This guy had done little more than piddle around in it at that point.
He goes home last week and completes his profile. He applied what he learned. So back to this week – his time to share. He shares with us that he completed his profile. Picture and all. Great. I was glad he shared that.
We move to Wins and he speaks up again. His win? He has an interview this week. 13 months out and he has an interview. Someone had found him on LinkedIn. No job posting, no ad to reply to, just someone saying “I’d like to talk with you.” Imagine that. Do I think it happens that fast? It certainly can.
I followed up with him after the meeting with an email – here is an excerpt:
________, if I may, make sure they understand you have put this time off in to perspective. You know - ”it is part of the plan” stuff. I think employers want to know you are in the game and have examined this. Hope that makes sense.
He responded with a thank you and “he would address it.” I clarified with:
HR professionals hear people complain all day long about this kind of stuff. To get their attention you should come in with a fresh perspective on YOUR experience. Don’t draw attention to it, or have a monologue about it; just know if you can convince them you have gained some understanding of the benefit of having this time – you are better than the rest. And ..of course you are.
My point here is that employers are tired of hearing the complaining of candidates in interviews. Interviews are not family counseling. I know this sounds insensitive but you have to shed the “woe is me – I never saw it coming” mentality or interviews can turn in to therapy sessions. HR quickly goes from “Human Resources” to “Has Reservations” – we don’t want that.
Unemployment is no fun. It can be devastating and can have an impact on every facet of your life. I understand. The good news is that you have time to reinvent yourself. You have time to take a look, examine the situation and make peace with your new found perspective. During this time, take note of learnings and winnings. Write them down. Record them. Journal.
As far as LinkedIn goes – you gotta get on there. A MUST along with your professional resume. Here is the takeaway - he knew he needed a resume because he was looking. He never really got the fact that people were looking for him. They found him. And, THAT is a learning and a winning.
Tags: Andy Gregory, career transition, cgp network, LinkedIn
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