Find Your Dream Job: Insider Tips for Finding Work, Advancing your Career, and Loving Your Job

Losing a job is tough; getting laid off unexpectedly is even harder. It's emotionally devastating when all of the sudden you lose your job, your paycheck, and the vision you had of yourself, all in one fell swoop. Career coach and guest expert, Sherri Thomas, shares her tips on how to bounce back from such professional setbacks. She recommends: Take some time to heal. Process and quiet the negative chatter in your brain before looking for a new job. Feelings of confusion and embarrassment will be noticed by hiring managers, so work through your emotions before embarking on your next job search. Identify areas for improvement. Try writing down what you and your previous manager could have done better. This exercise may highlight opportunities for professional growth. Emphasize the positives. If you are wondering how you should address your departure in conversations, Sherri recommends this recipe: share something you are grateful for from your last position, talk about an impact you made at the organization in quantifiable terms, and then own your story and relay it in a positive way. This Week's Guest: Sherri Thomas Sherri Thomas is Founder and Career Strategist of Career Coaching 360. She helps professionals think differently and proactively about careers. She is the author of two books, The Bounce Back: Personal Stories of Bouncing Back Higher and Faster from a Layoff, Re-org, or Career Setback and Career Smart: 5 Steps to a Powerful Personal Brand. Sherri is also a Huffington Post columnist and keynote speaker. Her career advice has been featured in the WSJ, Time, and other publications. Sherri is offering Mac’s List listeners her video series, 15 Clever Ways to Get More Job Offers free. Ben's Job Search Resource: Unemployment FAQs Ben’s resource this week is FAQ’s about Termination from Employment from the website, The Balance. It consists of clear questions and concise answers to the most common questions you have if you are departing from a job. Find Your Dream Job Listener Question: An Ethical Dilemma Becky, Ben, Jessica, and Mac offer advice to J.L., from Chicago, Illinois. She asks, “Is it appropriate to ask an employer about their ethics during an interview?” Be a part of the Find Your Dream Job podcast! Ask your job-related question! Email it to becky@macslist.org, or leave us a message at 716-JOB-TALK, or tweet us @macs_list. If we use your question on the air, you will receive a copy of our new book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere. Share your best job resource with our listeners! Send your resource to ben@macslist.org, and tell him how it has helped you find your dream job. What do you think of our show? Rate and review our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, FreddyTrujillo.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Your resume is probably the most important document you use when looking for a job. It offers a great opportunity to tell your story and demonstrate what you can offer an employer. Guest expert Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter shares her top 6 list of what’s hot and what’s not in creating a great resume for today’s job market. What’s Hot in Resumes Focus — Make your resume format quick and easy to read and keep it employer focused. What's in it for the Employer — Research pain points the employer has and integrate your strategic insights about the issue. Creative Problem Solving Skills — Use specifics from your background to show how your critical thinking has solved problems. Leadership — Display your ability to help other push forward. Have a Career Portfolio — Have a skimmable resume, a meatier resume, and professional profiles.   Value-Focused Resume — Showcase the core values you would bring to an organization. What’s Not - And How to Fix It Brain Dump — Unless it directly benefits the employer, leave out the wordy details. Me, Me, Me —  Instead of focusing on yourself, look for ways to demonstrate that you work well on a team without minimizing your own accomplishments. Followership — Demonstrate your ability to take on the role of a leader when necessary. One and Done — It’s important to have multiple ways an employer can access desired information about your career. Just the Facts — Instead of listing your history, use storytelling to paint a more interesting picture of your professional career. Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter Bio Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter owns and operates CareerTrend.net. She is one of just 50 master resume writers in the United States. Jacqui has crafted more than 1,500 career stories. She uses her bachelor’s degree in writing and journalism to apply a reporter’s eye to careers. Follow her on Twitter @ValueIntoWords. Jacqui is also in the process of rolling out a do-it-yourself resume starter kit. Ben’s Job Search Resource: Modern Career Economy Ben’s resource this week is Down and Out in the New Economy: How People Find (or Don’t Find) Work Today, by Ilana Gershon, an anthropologist at the University of Indiana. Thanks to Find Your Dream Job listener, Russell Terry. Find Your Dream Job Listener Question: Modern Job Search Strategies Becky, Ben, Jessica, and Mac offer advice to Marcia Callahan from Portland, Oregon. Marcia asks, “Is it worthwhile to drop off your resume at an office where you would like to work, or is there a more modern strategy to get in front of a hiring manager?” These segments are sponsored by Mac’s new book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere. The book offers practical, actionable, and proven tools to help you get clear about your career goals, find hidden jobs, and ace your next interview. Get the first chapter of this useful resource free. Be a part of the Find Your Dream Job podcast! Ask your job-related question! Email it to becky@macslist.org, or leave us a message at 716-JOB-TALK, or tweet us @macs_list. If we use your question on the air, you will receive a copy of our new book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere. Share your best job resource with our listeners! Send your resource to ben@macslist.org, and tell him how it has helped you find your dream job. What do you think of our show? Rate and review our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, FreddyTrujillo.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dressing for work is especially fraught for women. This came to the fore nationally in July when a female journalist in Congress was turned away from the House lobby because her dress didn’t have sleeves. The story reignited our recent discussion about what “professional business attire” really means. For this bonus episode, we bring back Karla Miller, the Work Advice columnist for The Washington Post Magazine to talk about what Washington dress codes mean for the rest of us. How should business leaders address a vague dress code, and is there a tried and true rule for sleeves in the workplace? What do you think of our show? Rate and review our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Informational interviews are a fairly recent strategy in the search for a new career. The application process and job searches of the past were more formal endeavors. As a job seeker, this new adaptation gives you more networking opportunities than were available before. Consider your existing network and divide it into two categories: Your strong ties — People you immediately think of as business connections. Your weak ties — People who are separated from you by a few degrees. Friends of friends, for example, can become a great career resource. When working to build your network, guest expert Kate Gremillion recommends asking your strong ties this question: “Knowing my interests and knowing what I want to be doing in my career, who would you suggest I speak with?” She says people genuinely enjoy helping other people, so this is a great place to start. Checking LinkedIn connections of people who have influence at a company you want to work for is another great tip. These “weak” ties can turn into strong connections if you approach them in a professional manner. Once you’ve landed an informational interview with a contact it’s important to: Allow the other person to chose the method of communication. Prepare 3-5 actions the person could do to help you if they ask. Take a genuine interest in the other person by listening more and talking less. This Week’s Guest: Kate Gremillion Kate Gremillion is Founder & CEO of Mavenly + Co.  Her firm offers group workshops, corporate training courses, and coaching programs. These services give young women the tools, resources and mindset they need to create careers and lifestyles with purpose. Kate also hosts the weekly podcast, Women, Work, and Worth. And her advice has been featured in publications like Forbes, Fortune, Business Insider, and HerAgenda. In her new program, Crafting Your Career, Kate works with clients to make their ideal career path a reality. Ben’s Job Search Resource: Great Networking Emails Ben’s resource this week is from the job research site The Muse. Here Are the Subject Lines That’ll Get Your Networking Emails Opened — Every Time. Find Your Dream Job Listener Question: LinkedIn Signals Becky, Ben, Jessica, and Mac offer advice to Stephen Walden from Salem, Illinois. Stephen asks: “How do you redo your LinkedIn profile to reflect your new interests without drawing the attention of your current employer?” These segments are sponsored by Mac’s new book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere. The book offers practical, actionable, and proven tools to help you get clear about your career goals, find hidden jobs, and ace your next interview. Get the first chapter of this useful resource free. Be a part of the Find Your Dream Job podcast! Ask your job-related question! Email it to becky@macslist.org, or leave us a message at 716-JOB-TALK, or tweet us @macslist. If we use your question on the air, you will receive either a copy of our new book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere. Share your best job resource with our listeners! Send your resource to ben@macslist.org, and tell him how it has helped you find your dream job. What do you think of our show? Rate and review our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, FreddyTrujillo.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Karla Miller, career advice columnist for The Washington Post Magazine, delves into the complexities of workplace fashion. She emphasizes the importance of dressing for the company culture and shares tips for acing interviews by analyzing employee attire. Karla highlights the generational divide in dress expectations and discusses clothing taboos, including tattoos and gender discrepancies. She also introduces the Pregnancy Pause initiative, which aids women re-entering the workforce, stressing the significance of professional appearance in achieving career success.

Do you know what is going to make you happy and fulfilled in your next role? On today’s bonus episode of Find Your Dream Job, Scott Barlow, Founder of Happen to Your Career and host of the Happen to Your Career Podcast, identifies the four key traits that lead to career happiness. Scott also illustrates how clarity in these areas builds a framework for a successful job search. The 4 Key Traits you must have to find happiness and fulfillment in your job are: Helping people — Most people want to know how the work they do helps others. Your basic needs must be met. Your work must be engaging, and you must have a clear understanding of how you are doing. You must have supportive co-workers and a leader. If you approach your career as if you are putting together a puzzle, and start with your strengths as the corner pieces, and then add the outside pieces, which are your wants and values, you will have the framework of your ideal career profile. Scott and his team at Happen to Your Career have put together “The Ultimate Guide to Using Your Strengths to Get Hired.” Find Your Dream Job listeners can download this resource for free at Happentoyourcareer.com/macslist. Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you search online and wait for your dream job to appear? It can be a tedious and unfulfilling task, since up to 80% of available jobs go unadvertised. Most positions today are filled by way of referral. So, get proactive and take control of your job search. Guest expert Katrina Collier encourages people to perform targeted searches and take a direct approach, by making the most of LinkedIn and corporate websites. She says most companies love being approached directly by people who tell them why their skills are a good fit for the organization. Companies benefit from your direct approach by saving recruiter fees and seeing your proactive interest. 5 Steps to Take Control of a Job Search Create a LinkedIn profile that includes your skills and recommendations from your peers. Proactively search for companies in your area that may have a role that fits your specialty. Look beyond recruiters and include department heads or hiring managers. Thoroughly research the company before you reach out to them. Call instead of email, follow up, and make the conversation about the company, not about you. Good old-fashioned networking may be what it takes for you to find your next job, and don’t forget networking includes social networking. Reach out to recruiters on Twitter and start a “get to know you” conversation. Katrina Collier Bio Katrina Collier is a global expert on social recruiting. She teaches people at corporations around the world how to use social media to recruit staff. Katrina is also a keynote speaker and the host of The Social Recruiting Show. You can find out more about Katrina at The Searchologist and follow her on Twitter @KatrinaMCollier. Katrina will be exercising her public speaking skills in the U.S. and London, training recruiters about candidate engagement. Ben’s Job Search Resource: LinkedIn for Veterans  Ben’s resource this week is from LinkedIn for Good Veterans Program and families of veterans. Recent veterans are not always able to do the networking necessary to transition to their next position. LinkedIn for Veterans provides video courses and tools to help veterans translate their military experience into business skills, and includes access to a veterans’ mentor network. Find Your Dream Job Listener Question: Becky, Ben, Jessica, and Mac offer advice to Jason Nieh from Portland. Jason asks: “What matters most to employers when hiring recent graduates?” For a deep dive into the topic, listen to our podcast with Don Raskin, Interview Secrets Every New Graduate Needs to Know.  Don is the author of the invaluable resource, The Dirty Little Secrets to Getting Your Dream Job. The Finance Career Launch Podcast from David Mariano is another great resource. These segments are sponsored by Mac’s new book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere. The book offers practical, actionable, and proven tools to help you get clear about your career goals, find hidden jobs, and ace your next interview. Get the first chapter of this useful resource free. Be a part of the Find Your Dream Job podcast! Here’s how to join in: Ask your job-related question! Email it to becky@macslist.org, or leave us a message at 716-JOB-TALK. If we use your question on the air, you will receive either a copy of our new book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere. Share your best job resource with our listeners! Send your resource to ben@macslist.org, and tell him how it has helped you find your dream job. What do you think of our show? Rate and review our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you are an older job seeker, you have probably wondered if your age has been a factor in not getting an interview or a job offer for a position you wanted.Ageism is a very real thing, but not every rejection is due to age discrimination. Guest Jacob Share says being the right cultural fit for a position is the most important factor in your being invited into an organization. People want to hire people they will enjoy being around on a day-to-day basis.If you are finding it difficult to get an interview, Jacob recommends using LinkedIn as a tool to find other people who have similar characteristics and experience. Observe which companies have hired them and reach out to current and past employees. Ask for a copy of their resume so you know exactly what type of information the company is looking for. Many positions in today’s job market are filled by personal or professional referrals, so networking can be an important aspect of your job search.We discussed tactics you can try to squash common concerns a company may have about your age: Your experience may merit a higher salary than the company has budgeted for. During the interview, state how your experience can add up to cost savings in other areas. They may be looking for a long-term employee and think you could retire soon. Make it known you intend to grow with the company and describe your loyalty to previous companies. You may not be able to work for someone younger than you. Cite examples of how you are already working with younger people. This Week’s Guest: Jacob Share Jacob Share is the founder of JobMob, an award-winning blog that serves a global audience. His site offers straight-talking advice based on Jacob’s own experiences finding jobs in the United States, Canada, France, and Israel. Get Jacob’s resource, The Midlife Job Search Report, for free when you become a JobMob insider. Jacob is working on a new book and a group coaching service. Ben’s Job Search Resource: Comparing Cultures Ben’s resource this week is an alternative to Glassdoor.com and Salary.com. Comparably.com is a tool to help you find salary ranges by job title, location, and by employer. Comparably excels at figuring out the culture of the organization. Find Your Dream Job Listener Question: Getting Unstuck Becky, Ben, Jessica, and Mac offer advice to Michelle Stevens from Portland. Michelle asks, “How do I keep from getting pigeonholed into roles I do well but don’t want to remain in?” These segments are sponsored by Mac’s new book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere. The book offers practical, actionable, and proven tools to help you get clear about your career goals, find hidden jobs, and ace your next interview. Get the first chapter of this useful resource free.  Be a part of the Find Your Dream Job podcast! Join in: Ask your job-related question! Email it to becky@macslist.org, or leave us a message at 716-JOB-TALK. If we use your question on the air, you will receive either a copy of our new book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere. Share your best job resource with our listeners! Send your resource to ben@macslist.org, and tell him how it has helped you find your dream job. What do you think of our show? Rate and review our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Understanding who you are, the way you work, and your beliefs are all key to finding the right career for you. Core competencies and skills are important, but truly understanding what lights you up, and what you love doing, can propel you into your next career. Career coach Kylie Butler says it can also be helpful to look into your limiting beliefs and what may be holding you back. Practical Steps to Understanding Yourself Take the time to ask yourself these personal profiling questions. What do I enjoy? When am I in ‘flow’? What were my unique gifts as a child? Do personality assessment tests. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. DiSC profile assessment. Review your CV or resume with someone you respect Consider what excuses you have been making around reaching your goals. But before you leap onto the job boards you should create and develop a success mindset. It can mean the difference in finding the right job for you and finding it quickly. Key Tools to Help You Mentally Prepare for Success Take time to get a handle on your thinking. Is your mindset focused on success? Visualization — Imagine a situation in which you are successful. Affirmations — Daily mantras can help to keep you motivated. Meditation — To keep yourself calm and composed. Socialize — Hang out with people who inspire and energize you. Once you have captured a good understanding of who you are, and feel mentally prepared for success, you need to do research about the industry you want to work in, using niche industry websites and LinkedIn. This Week’s Guest: Kylie Butler Kylie Butler is a career coach, speaker and the owner of Inspired Careers. Her company helps people with smart job searching strategies, LinkedIn profiles, and career planning. Before starting Inspired Careers, Kylie worked in leadership positions in human resources for companies in Rome, London, and Dublin. Kylie has created online programs to help people get themselves ready for a job or a career change, and she has a LinkedIn profile writing site. For free job searching resources sign up with your email at Inspired Careers. Ben’s Job Search Resource: Virtual Job Shadow Ben’s resource this week is JobShadow.com. The creator of the site has put together over 500+ interviews from people in different careers. The interviewees talk about the likes and dislikes of their job, their salary, etc., to give job seekers an inside perspective of what it might be like to hold that position. Think of it as a try before you buy option. Find Your Dream Job Listener Question: Personal & Professional Beliefs  Becky, Ben, Jessica and Mac offer advice to Marissa Noland Lane from Tigard, Ore. Marissa wants to know: “What are the best ways to find where a company and its leadership stand on issues important to me?”  These segments are sponsored by Mac’s new book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere. The book offers practical, actionable, and proven tools to help you get clear about your career goals, find hidden jobs, and ace your next interview. Get the first chapter of this useful resource free. These segments are sponsored by Mac’s new book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere. The book offers practical, actionable, and proven tools to help you get clear about your career goals, find hidden jobs, and ace your next interview. Get the first chapter of this useful resource free. Be a part of the Find Your Dream Job podcast! Join in:      Ask your job-related question! Email it to becky@macslist.org, or leave us a message at 716-JOB-TALK. If we use your question on the air, you will receive either a copy of our new book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere.      Share your best job resource with our listeners! Send your resource to ben@macslist.org, and tell him how it has helped you find your dream job.      What do you think of our show? Rate and review our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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