My random thoughts.
Muhammad Ali was truly the greatest ever. He has always inspired greatness with his confidence, his precision in the ring, his courage to stick up for what he believed in, and his compassion.
He was so great. It was as if he was almost immortal — that is why his death is somewhat of a shock because of his public persona. However, his death last week helped me reflect on a few things happening in my life, including my struggle to find a job. After attending a couple of free provincially-funded government sessions — provided by BGS Career and Corporate Services — to help me succeed in my job search, I am learning I lack one thing that Ali was so good at: confidence.
It has been a massive struggle for me to talk about what I have accomplished for my past employers in order to convince someone to hire me, or to show my passion on why I enjoy what I do, which is essentially to share and tell stories.
It’s been frustrating to say the least, but looking back at all the old footage of Ali’s press conferences and fights on YouTube, it has given me a new outlook on my search. For starters, I am terrible at talking about how great I really am, or why I can help an organization succeed, or what I can bring to the table.
You almost need to bring that Ali-champion-like attitude to your job search by pretending you are a champion (yes, my eyes rolled after writing that sentence too). You need to have that mindset. And to help you maintain that kind of attitude, think about all of the great things — big or small — that you accomplished for your past employers.
For me, I had to think long and hard about everything that I accomplished at all of the positions I held. During my time at the Edmonton Sun as a night city editor, I never directly won an award or anything, but during a big news day when four armoured guards were shot — including three killed — at the University of Alberta’s HUB Mall June 15, 2012, I played a role in that coverage that helped the newsroom win an award among all Sun Media newspapers for best spot news coverage that year. What I did was a small effort, but looking back, it was huge. I was on vacation that day and I was struggling with some sort of infection or allergic reaction. My boss called me for help, and I — without hesitation — came in to the newsroom that day to help out, even with my arms being so swollen and me looking like I had ebola. Realizing this, along with other accomplishments, it has given me the need to overhaul this website to reflect my successes, along with changing how I write my resumé, cover letters, or how I approach another job interview. With that said, rest in peace Muhammad Ali; you’ve already inspired me to be great.
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One thing I’m finding out about my struggle to land a new job isn’t the fact that I can land a job interview — it’s the fact that I sometimes drop the ball during the nerve-wracking event. Since my layoff May 13 I’ve had three job interviews. Two of those interviews were from potential employers who called me the same day I applied to the position. I will research the employer’s website to learn more about the organization at least a day before the interview, followed by jotting down some specific question-scenarios the employer may ask me during the interview to help me prepare. Basically, I am well prepared going into an interview. During the interview, however, that is a completely different story. I find that I am grossly underselling myself. I don’t make myself standout among the dozens of other candidates who are contending for the same position. I found this out the hard way after a potential employer informed me they had to chose among a lot of “excellent candidates.” It’s a tough grind, to say the least. But after attending a provincial-government-funded workshop — offered by BGS Career & Corporate Development — this week, I learned five things: 1. Show the potential employer that you are passionate about the work that you do or the work that you may be doing once your hired.This was the biggest lesson for me, as I found out during the workshop. I always describe myself as a storyteller and a journalist. But to an employer, I’m probably not going to get hired by just saying I am a journalist and a storyteller — especially if I’m among a handful of candidates with journalism backgrounds. You need to show why you love the work that you do, or how the new job you are applying for will help fuel your passion. For me, I love the fact that my storytelling raised awareness for the charity that employed me during my last job. It was gratifying — I was able to raise awareness about medical research and about the struggles patients have for certain diseases like asthma and COPD. 2. Be confident.After losing my job, it’s hard to be confident, especially when I’m among a handful of candidates with similar backgrounds looking for the same work. Also, I’m not one to brag, but as BGS pointed out during the workshop, you almost have to. As Canadians, we’re too reserved. We’re not ones to boast about ourselves, but to an employer, you have to showcase how good your skills are. You can’t undersell yourself. And to add to that, you have to show how your so-called awesomeness helped a supervisor or your previous employer in the past. 3. A mission and vision statement says a lot about the organizationA mission statement says a lot about the organization you’re applying for. It’s a must-thing to pay attention to before an interview. A mission and vision statement speaks about the work culture and the organization’s expectations for its staff. During one interview I had this week I found out the organization didn’t have a mission or vision statement. So I asked about it. I felt it helped me during the interview as the potential employer told me his company values integrity, which is practised by its entire team. 4. Just be yourself.An organization that is interviewing you is determining if you and your personality are good fits for the organization — along with figuring out if your values are aligned with the organization’s values. It’s more than just skills and qualifications. Sometimes getting a rejection from a potential employer has nothing to do with your skills, experience or qualifications. This a good reason why you should never try to pretend to be someone else during an interview just so you can win the job. Just be yourself. Getting a “no” sometimes could be a good thing for you if the potential employer explains that you weren’t the right fit. 5. Plan to say everything you want to share to win the job.As BGS Career & Corporate Development pointed out, it’s always important to prepare for an interview. It will help you share everything that you want to tell to a potential employer.
With that said, there have been a lot of times where I’ve left an interview feeling that I forgot to tell an employer something that would have added to my proof of my skills and qualifications for the job. BGS recommends preparing for a closing by jotting down some notes highlighting the things that you would like to share during the interview. Make sure you’ve said everything on that list before the interview ends. There’s no secret here. I am looking for work.
I was laid off from my social media/communications position May 13, 2016 after working there for more than 2.5 years. And I get it. Working for a health-based charity in Alberta’s current economic climate, the writing was pretty much on the wall for my termination. However, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t bitter about it. It’s a job loss and after I found out about the decision by my employer, I felt like I was punched in the stomach. I know my employer’s decision was out of my control and I get that it has no reflection of my skills or on-the-job performance, but I was always of the opinion that I should always work hard to get to a position within my organization where I am too valuable to lose my job — even when it goes through times or challenges. I guess I’m a little old school by that way. Since I found out about my dismissal — when my manager wept as she gave me the bad news notifying me that I would lose my job in two weeks — I had troubles sleeping until my final day at work. It was tough. I was laying in bed each night trying to figure out what’s next, my financial situation, my future, etc., etc., etc.. However, once I was finished at my position, I never slept so well. I was in bed for most of the morning, every morning. I also spent some time working on this website in hopes to get a new job, along with looking for new opportunities. I have had a couple of interviews followed by a couple of rejections, followed by me beating myself up for not landing those jobs. It’s been a roller-coaster ride to say the least, but the biggest thing I have learned through all of this — and this search to land a new job — is to take time for yourself. Put the job search aside for one day, or a week, even — along with the need to give your social media job portfolios endless facelifts. Recharge by doing something you enjoy like a hobby, go on a camping trip, visit your out-of-town family. Don’t let your frustrations about losing your job — or being jobless — overwhelm you. Taking time away from the search may actually help you refocus on landing a new opportunity to your liking. This blog is one way to help me recharge. Going forward, I hope to update this blog once a week to share my successes and failures in my job search. I hope I can help others who are in the same boat as I am, or at the very least, have those who are jobless share their successes with me. Archives
February 2017
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Jeff Cummings
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