Maybe you’ve been a caretaker for a while or maybe you’ve been traveling or doing service work. Maybe life circumstances have kept you from the workforce longer than you anticipated.
Either way, you’re looking for your next gig, but feeling the anxiety that comes with not knowing if:
- You have the most current skills needed to work.
- If your resume looks like it would have been marketable….a while ago.
This and many more are reasons that leave people feeling stuck or even worse, paralyzed about doing a job search at all.
If you’re looking for places to start (or start again after some time), here are some suggestions to help you ease back into career planning and your job search:
- Start Your (Pre-job) Interviews
While it’s important to maintain a sense of self, it’s valuable to get an objective lens about yourself from others. We can assess, discuss, and explore all day but we still have blind spots. These blind spots keep us from either developing specific skills or not taking advantage of the ones we have. In our minds we might aspire to be an expert in something while completely disregarding other talents that have been influential for you, and/or the lives of those around you. Find people you trust, and who’s insights you value, such as peers, family, community members, and former colleagues. Here’s a timeless piece on the topic with suggestions of questions to ask. You never know what you might discover.
- Learn Something New
Very popular for some time now, if time is limited during the week (and let’s be honest, most likely it is) podcasts are great ways to pick up gems throughout the week that will help with networking, applications and interviews. You might recall the question I asked Emerson alumna Amy Wicks about her podcast in the 6.26.18 Tuesday Tips and their increasing popularity. There are also plenty of blogs, books and sites out there dedicated to helping folks find work they love.
Need to dedicate more time to learning? There are several programs, even right here at Emerson that are designed to accommodate the work and life of folks who want continue their education.
- Build a Pitch
There isn’t a motivational piece out there that doesn’t suggest stepping out of your comfort zone. Whether you’re looking to get back into film production, want to publish a novel, or considering teaching, at some point you have to embrace the vulnerability that comes with re-imagining your career, and new ways to promote yourself. Before those interviews begin, you’ll be prepping for networking, and looking at ways to tell your story. Keep asking yourself and others questions, take stock of your talents, and get ready for your next chapter.
