Career coach in a box
March 12, 2024 7:53 AM Subscribe
What websites, books and advice would you recommend to someone who is about to embark on a job search who's been in the same place for a while, has been a bit coasting and not super confident about new job finding ability based on prior experience? Snowflake details below fold.
I've worked at the same place roughly for 13 years, and have had two semi-serious bouts (1 month of searching each) of looking for new jobs. In those periods, I have have four total screening interviews, and one 2nd round, nothing close to offers (these were in times where economy was booming). In college, I had lots of first round interviews (30?) but only three offers. The job I got here was more of a "why do you want to work here?" interview when I was fairly early in my career which was extremely low key.
I feel like getting to where I've been (financially, I've made more than 7 figures over the last 6 years and people like working with me) hasn't been that difficult, I'm not passionate about it, so I have discounted a lot of what I've worked on because I feel like 1) it's not really that hard 2)I've lived a privileged life to get to where I'm doing (Born on 3rd base, etc), 3) it's all bs jobs that best case are just making people more money, but don't really even do that. Having this attitude is obviously bad when you're trying to sell yourself in job interviews.
Right now I've been on the "bench" for 2 and a half months(I work in consulting, which means I'm not billing client work but still getting paid while I'm supposed to get staffed or look for a job internally) again, sort of doing the minimum until I get a 6.5 month severance or go on paternity leave (which comes first), so I have a considerable amount of time to study, rearrange my thoughts about my career.
Generally I'm very positive, have a great life, family, friends, in good health, pretty financially secure so this lack of confidence here is quite a bit of an outlier
I've worked at the same place roughly for 13 years, and have had two semi-serious bouts (1 month of searching each) of looking for new jobs. In those periods, I have have four total screening interviews, and one 2nd round, nothing close to offers (these were in times where economy was booming). In college, I had lots of first round interviews (30?) but only three offers. The job I got here was more of a "why do you want to work here?" interview when I was fairly early in my career which was extremely low key.
I feel like getting to where I've been (financially, I've made more than 7 figures over the last 6 years and people like working with me) hasn't been that difficult, I'm not passionate about it, so I have discounted a lot of what I've worked on because I feel like 1) it's not really that hard 2)I've lived a privileged life to get to where I'm doing (Born on 3rd base, etc), 3) it's all bs jobs that best case are just making people more money, but don't really even do that. Having this attitude is obviously bad when you're trying to sell yourself in job interviews.
Right now I've been on the "bench" for 2 and a half months(I work in consulting, which means I'm not billing client work but still getting paid while I'm supposed to get staffed or look for a job internally) again, sort of doing the minimum until I get a 6.5 month severance or go on paternity leave (which comes first), so I have a considerable amount of time to study, rearrange my thoughts about my career.
Generally I'm very positive, have a great life, family, friends, in good health, pretty financially secure so this lack of confidence here is quite a bit of an outlier
Askamanager.org is the place to go
posted by Enid Lareg at 9:28 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
posted by Enid Lareg at 9:28 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
Best answer: See if your local library provides access to JobNow. You can get help with creating and formatting your new resume, get online coaching, interview prep, take skills assessment tests...lots of great resources. If your library subscribes, you can access everything for free with your library card.
posted by WithWildAbandon at 9:32 AM on March 12
posted by WithWildAbandon at 9:32 AM on March 12
Best answer: Expanding on the Ask a Manager recommendation, she has some great resources specifically for job seekers. This page has links to two ebooks, one free and one paid, titled “How To Get a Job: Secrets of a Hiring Manager” and “How to Prepare for an Interview: Boost Your Confidence, Impress Your Interviewer, and Get a Job”. I used both when I was last job hunting a few years ago (more so the interview prep one) to great success.
Here’s a link to posts with relevant tags: job searching, job searching: following up, resumes, phone interviews, and Friday good news (to help keep your spirits up). I also strongly recommend reading the comments sections; AAM has a huge and diverse readership, and they often provide further information that I find useful. I seriously can’t say enough good things about AAM, and am constantly recommending it for all things work/career.
posted by bluloo at 12:57 PM on March 12 [3 favorites]
Here’s a link to posts with relevant tags: job searching, job searching: following up, resumes, phone interviews, and Friday good news (to help keep your spirits up). I also strongly recommend reading the comments sections; AAM has a huge and diverse readership, and they often provide further information that I find useful. I seriously can’t say enough good things about AAM, and am constantly recommending it for all things work/career.
posted by bluloo at 12:57 PM on March 12 [3 favorites]
+1000 for Ask a manager
Check if your alumni association has any networking/career events happening - or consider whether you would want to do a presentation for an alumni event as a profile raising exercise
Ditto for professional associations - conferences etc
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 2:39 PM on March 12
Check if your alumni association has any networking/career events happening - or consider whether you would want to do a presentation for an alumni event as a profile raising exercise
Ditto for professional associations - conferences etc
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 2:39 PM on March 12
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Some people feel like they got lucky and their job isn't that hard when it's actually a great fit for their skills. Interviewing well is a skill that can be learned. Finding your direction or passion is the difficult part - so good you've got some time.
I'd suggest you look at in turn: 1) the skills you have demonstrated in your role 2) which of those skills you actually enjoy doing 3) if you have other skills you might like to use in a professional setting but haven't had the chance 4) which jobs can you get with 2) that might help you work on the skills in 3). This part is where a network (or a green place with many people to ask!) can help you crowdsource new ideas and sectors you won't have thought of.
Possibly the part that is missing for you right now is meaning - why are you doing this job? what (other than money) do you get out of it? what would you like to get out of work? what would align with your personal values/ethics/goals/etc. Being able to align your skills and your meaning in a job role I think would naturally make you more enthusiastic at interview.
posted by london explorer girl at 9:18 AM on March 12