Lately, my mind has been consumed with the alphabet….if by chance you have ever written a book containing 850+ one-liners (tweets) that start with A – Z, you will agree that it is all consuming and sometimes, here’s another C word, even a little ‘crazy.” This day, however, I am not thinking of anything but ‘E’ words for you to consider as you pursue that next new opportunity. Feel free to add your own ‘E’ words in the comments and I would be ecstatic! J
Excuses – easy to make and they almost always get in the way of getting on with it.
Expectations – what do you expect of yourself? Whatever it is, scribble it on a piece of paper and carry it around with you. Look at it; remember it; add to it; do it!
Energy – do you come across as vibrant, alive, energized and with it or do you appear tired, sluggish, discombobulated, and in need of a nap?
Effort – how much effort are you willing to put forth toward your job search? 10%, 30%, 50%, 75%, 150%? Only you can decide and choose what’s acceptable to you and in line with your own professional / personal standards.
Entrepreneurial – are you integrating an entrepreneurial spirit into your job hunt, and are you excited about all the possibilities you might imagine?
Extend a helping hand to those who are less fortunate than you...and today, you don’t have far to go to find someone to help.
Errors – are you checking and re-checking all career marketing materials, both online and offline, to deliver an error-free presentation? (One error could cost you your candidacy for an opportunity.)
Erase negative thoughts, images and ideas from your thinking. They will only serve as detractors from your target goal.
Establish boundaries so that people will not take advantage of you and what they may perceive as your 'free time'.
Endorsements – consider inviting at least 10 of your LinkedIn connections to endorse you. Over and above that, consider inviting a supervisor, colleague, client, customer, team member, or professor to endorse you with a written recommendation of one or two lines that can be incorporated into the body of your resume. State their name, title, company, (if permissible) city, state and phone number. (Tip: no need to post a LI recommendation on your resume, as the reader will already view that one if you have provided the LI URL in the contact information on your resume – get a brand new one that aligns specifically with your resume focus / goal and avoid redundancy.)
Embrace – whatever comes at you with a good attitude and a willingness to do whatever it takes to get you from Point A to Point B as you explore new work options.
Easy or not, the job hunt awaits you to decide how it will be managed. Will you manage your career transition project with your best and strongest leadership skills, or will your job search project manage you?
Engage – others to support, guide, direct, help, and challenge you to do your best during this work interval.
Essential – when you are writing or speaking about yourself, do so with brevity. State the most essential information in the least amount of words. Your readers will thank you.
Each new day is a chance to start over.
Enlist the help of a career management professional if you cannot figure things out on your own. Work with someone who knows what they’re doing and charges you a fair and reasonable fee.
Excellence is a habit. In what ways do you reveal your excellence when it comes to the job hunt? What, if any, ways might you improve your commitment of excellence toward your job search?
Everything starts (and ends) with you.
Expertise – freely share yours with others. If you say you don’t have any, rethink this position…I suspect that you know more than you may give yourself credit for knowing. Share what you know, not what you don’t.
Education, a lifelong, never-ending investment. Education is the gift that you keep giving yourself, regardless of age or circumstance or the economy. Keep learning, always.
Enjoy – May you enjoy the journey, the ride, the task, the ups, the downs, the process, the event, and the activity associated with the job hunt.
Extra things that you do to serve others…what’s the extra something that you offer to others – be it a recruiter, a Hiring Manager, a networking connection, a friend, a family member?
Emotional Roller Coaster is what you may feel like you’re on during the first few hours, days and weeks of your career transition. Keep track of how you are doing and if you find that you are struggling day after day, contact your physician and / or speak with a mental health care professional. Do what you need to do to take good care of both your mental and physical health during this period of transition.
Endings – The first place to start your job hunt is with the ending of what was. Make a clean and healthy break, let go of what you need to, celebrate, honor and respect what was, pick up and reassemble the pieces of you, and then keep putting one foot ahead of the other until you find new work, and a new experience.
