Episode 14 - Seven “Must Do” Actions for Job Hunters
In this podcast episode, I focus on 7 habits you must create not only to help you find your next job but also for you to have great confidence and success in your career.
Together with episodes 12 and 13, this episode is a companion to my 31 Days of Actions to Reset your Career, a project I've created to help professionals make the most out of this month of January and take 1 day at a time in creating new habits and taking actions that will have a positive effect in their career advancement and job hunting prospects. This can be use throughout your career; year, it's not a January-only strategy. It's an opportunity for you to press the reset button whenever you feel ready and incorporate these actions into your life. At least give them a try!
1. Go for a 30-minute walk before or after work.
It resets your mind: if you've been sitting all day or will be sitting all day, you need a breather.
It allows you to rest from work and worries: listen to your fun podcast (see my post for Day 8!) or music, call your friend or meditate.
It allows you to review your plans and make new ones: listen to your sector or professional development podcast (again, see a post from Day 8!), think about your achievements for the day, or what you plan to do today.
2. Post an article on LinkedIn aligned to your expertise.
If you follow the 31 Days of Actions to Reset Your Career, you are now ready to start networking online and sharing some knowledge with your network. You have it all together. Please don't be reluctant to start posting on LinkedIn; it is a great way to get noticed by people who can directly hire you or advocate for you. To find a great article you have read recently - about your sector, professional interest – and share on LinkedIn:
Add your own words: a couple of sentences to explain why this article is a great read.
Add some hashtags to make your post reach out to those interested in the topic – LinkedIn is excellent at providing you with hashtags. 2 or 3 is all you need.
Watch out for comments: if someone comments, you reply. Please don't leave them hanging. This is about establishing new connections.
And if no one comments, don't feel bad! Establish a routine of posting every week, and you will learn how to establish better connections, and your network will understand the shift and start engaging more over time.
3. Connect with all your professional connections on LinkedIn.
We are in constant transition and have to rethink how we keep tabs on technology and the simplest possible way to do things these days. So if essential connections are sitting in your contacts, which you are not yet linked to on LinkedIn, use this upcoming weekend to send them a connection invitation.
4. Envision what your career might be like. Please write it down.
Writing down your goals and dreams is essential:
It helps clarify your objectives, what you want to achieve.
It motivates you to take action.
Doing this "brain dump" exercise will clear your head; clear all the noise and confusion your thoughts tend to create, especially on a Sunday evening!
You will start your week with a massive weight off your back and a newfound inspiration to put your plans into action.
5. Follow 3 people on LinkedIn with profiles and careers you admire.
The difference between Following and Connecting on LinkedIn:
You should "connect" with people you know.
You should "follow" people you do not know, but you want to see what they post and enjoy their posts to appear on your feed.
Following is essential because it allows you to:
have a LinkedIn feed of posts from top leaders in your profession;
follow recruiters and headhunters without adding them as connections;
follow companies that you are interested in.
Sometimes people Follow when they should Connect.
I always think it's strange when I meet someone and the next thing I know, they are "following" me. I'd rather they "connect" with me instead!
If you went to a conference or event and saw a senior leader speak and it inspired you, you can write to them on LinkedIn, explain how much you enjoyed their speech/presentation, and invite them to connect with you.
Sometimes people Connect when they should Follow:
If you have never met a professional, you should follow.
Even if you share 100 connections with someone, you should follow.
If you heard them speak at a conference or event, but you haven't met them, AND you don't want to write anything to them, you should follow.
6. Download a list of Action Verbs and keep it easy to access.
Actions verbs are verbs that demonstrate action. Opposite of Action verbs are Linking/Being verbs. See the difference below:
I am the general manager – being verb; versus
I manage a team of 15 professional staff - action verb.
Employers like to see action verbs in your resume. I'd extend that to not only your resume but all your written job-hunting communication. In a limited amount of "real estate," action verbs maximize impact. Note the difference between the two statements below:
I worked in fundraising for 10 years.
I created a fundraising campaign that generated $350,000 in donations during 2019.
As you can see above, action verbs are strong action words that help define your experience, skills, and career accomplishments. If you don't use them to explain your career, you are not emphasizing your strengths well enough.
Recruiter's preferred action verbs are: achieved, improved, trained, mentored, managed, created.
Download Now a complete list of career-related action verbs, organized by type of work/task completed:
What do you need to do?
✔️Keep the list of action verbs always close to you and easily accessible.
✔️Go through your resume and replace the boring verbs with action verbs.
✔️Be mindful of future communication and continue to strive and use action verbs whenever possible.
7. Read a career development article or blog.
There's so much noise these days, so much distraction it's easy to spend time with things that add nothing to our lives, wellbeing, and knowledge. It's not so much that we spend too much time on our phones; it's that we do, and we can't even remember what we were looking at! So have the right triggers in place to help you use that time well. Find great podcasts to listen to, download good apps with news and articles that add value to your life. You can even learn a few foreign words, a new recipe, or update your knowledge on your favorite topic while driving, walking, or cooking.
Reading career-related articles should be a must for professionals going through career transitions who are job searching at the moment or thinking and strategizing about their next steps. Find someone you trust and follow them. It could be sector-specific, general leadership skills, or career advancement advice
Transcript of this episode
About the Host
Hello, I’m Renata Bernarde, the Host of The Job Hunting Podcast. I’m also an executive coach, job hunting expert, and career strategist. I teach professionals (corporate, non-profit, and public) the steps and frameworks to help them find great jobs, change, and advance their careers with confidence and less stress.
If you are an ambitious professional who is keen to develop a robust career plan, if you are looking to find your next job or promotion, or if you want to keep a finger on the pulse of the job market so that when you are ready, and an opportunity arises, you can hit the ground running, then this podcast is for you.
In addition to The Job Hunting Podcast, on my website, I have developed a range of courses and services for professionals in career or job transition. And, of course, I also coach private clients.
Contact Renata Bernarde
I’m determined to help you! I want you to feel empowered, nail your next job, and have the career you want.
My free resources for job hunters: The Optimized Job Search: Weekly Schedule & Masterclass.
Learn more about my services, courses, and group coaching: RenataBernarde.com