Learning from experience can be one of the best ways to make needed changes. Learning from stories is another great way to glean valuable information. I invite you to review my lived experiences and see what insights resonate with you. 

In 2019, for the fifth time in my career, I found myself unexpectedly in a position where I needed to change jobs. The last time around, my position was suddenly eliminated on the day I returned from vacation. That was about two years before, and I was not expecting to have to do this again quite so soon. 

After this layoff, things moved a bit more quickly than they had during previous career transitions. Even so, Keep in mind, too, that about half of the jobs I applied for did not send me any response. In their defense, I was on and off the market pretty quickly. With that, here’s how this job search shaped up: 
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• Total Length of Job Search: 47 days
• Number of jobs applied for: 21
• Jobs where I had an employee referral: 11
• Total number of interviews (phone and in-person): 12
• Total number of interviews for companies where I had a referral: 11
• Total interviews for companies where I had no referral: 1
• Total jobs where I had at least one interview: 8
• Total positions for which I applied where I heard nothing at all back ever: 10
• Total where I withdrew due to salary limitations: 4
• Total where I received rejection emails: 4
• Number of offers received: 2
• Number of jobs accepted: 1

My job search after layoff #4 lasted 147 days. That's right. It was exactly 100 days longer. So what were the differences between these two job searches? What magic did I use this time around to land a great new position so quickly?

Fortunately (as I look at the bright side), I realized it was time to make a job change in late September. I’ve also found that being unemployed over the holidays nearly guarantees an extra month or two of job searching (or, more likely, waiting).

​My two previous job searches included the holiday season, lasting 180 and 147 days, respectively. This time around, when I estimated the possible length of my period of unemployment, I surmised that I would either secure a new position before Thanksgiving or I’d most likely be waiting to start a new role until February or March of the following year. Getting a jump start, even by a couple of weeks, made a big difference.

I started using LinkedIn seriously in 2006, shortly after I started a new job. Since then, I’ve connected with coworkers, members of professional development organizations, colleagues with whom I’ve interacted, and pretty much anyone who I encountered and found interesting. I stay active on social media, share useful content, and attend industry meetings on a regular basis. Having this robust professional network and assisting individuals in my network when they are job searching or exploring new fields of interest has helped me immensely.

​When encountering a position that interested me, I immediately looked to my network to see who might be able to put in a good word for me and help me get pulled out of the initial pile of candidates. I have also had more than one “informal interview” with a possible referrer, so they feel comfortable recommending me for a position. Since people are putting their reputations on the line, I don’t take their assistance for granted.  ​

During this job search, I was also clear on the roles that interested me. I also had relevant degrees, recent job titles well aligned with the roles I was applying for, and current industry knowledge. While having someone refer me for a position definitely helps, I also knew I still needed to be a well-qualified candidate. Those qualifications helped me get from a courtesy phone interview to being considered a viable candidate for an open role.

There is a certain amount of planetary alignment that happens whenever something good manages to happen. In this case, a company in a field that interests me (software) had an opening for which I was qualified, and I had a former coworker willing to refer me for the position. The quote “The harder I work, the luckier I get” comes to mind, as does “luck is preparation meeting opportunity.” Sometimes, timing is everything.

What lessons have you learned from previous job searches? Share your best practices in the comments. 

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

Employers are trying to find someone to solve the unique problems their business has. Recruiters and hiring managers will want to make sure that candidates have the skills and competencies included on their resume. Let's look at a few ways employers might verify candidate abilities during the hiring process.

Depending on the company, the newness of the position, and the level of the role, there may be more to the interview process than talking with all the stakeholders.
Potential employers may want additional assurances that you are able to complete the key functions included in the job posting.

Many employers will verify the information included in your job applicaiton to ensure it is accurate. It is common for a company to confirm your previous employment, certifications, education, and references. It is also common to ask to see previous work samples, often in the form of an online portfolio, for them to get examples of your previous work. For some roles, the organization, or a hiring manager, may ask you to do even more to ensure that you are the best candidate.

These additional steps often include two key components: pre-employment assessments or role-specific projects. 

As someone who works in the field of learning and development, I expect a potential employer to ask to see my portfolio. During the application process, they often ask for a link to an online collection of work samples. Sometimes, during an interview, an employer will ask me to "talk them through" my portfolio and highlight examples of a specific skill that they find particularly relevent. Alternatively, the hiring manager may commit to looking at my work samples later and ask which ones they should focus on to get the best sense of my skills.

Since I often work in roles where I present in front of groups, I am always ready to make a 10 minute presentation to the hiring team. While most interviewers let me know a presentation is expected, I have also had people ask me during the interview if I could "teach them something" right then. 

For higher level roles, I've often been asked to create a "back of the napkin" plan for how I would onboard myself to the new organization. For example, for a Learning & Development Manager role where I would create the learnign function from the ground up, I was asked to create a 30-60-90 day plan outlining what I would do to get to know the organization and prioritize projects. 

I also have a few additional insights from all of these company-specific I have completed for this laundry list of jobs I did not get.
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• By the time I was doing more elaborate company-specific projects, I was in the final round of interviews for these jobs. 
  
  
• Much of the work I completed specifically as a part of these interview processes I now include in my professional portfolio.
  
  
• I often built relationships with people at those organizations which will help me in the future.  
  
  
• I always had lessons learned from each of those experiences about how I now approach conversations about a new role with potential employers. 
  
  
• I found important boundaries that will serve me well in the future. 
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• I identified a few key red flags I now use to evaluate companies, job opportunities, and hiring managers. 

• Decide in advance how much time you are willing to spend completing projects as part of the job application process. For example, would you be okay with 1, 2, or 5 hours of project work to demonstrate your skills? Determine the maximum hours of work you are willing to do before you are in front of a potential employer. This will help you make a better decision when the situation arises. Only you can decide how much unpaid work you’re willing to do for any given job. 
  
  
• Think about how you might communicate your boundaries during the interview process. You might commit to a specific number of hours of work, offer to do paid work for a reduced hourly rate, or decide to withdraw. Thinking about this before an actual situation is presented to you will help you make a better decision when the question comes up for you. 
  

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• Consider having a conversation with the hiring manager. Typically, I've been pretty far along in the hiring process before custom projects became part of the equation. If you are a strong candidate, and know what you are and aren't willing to do, having a frank conversation with a hiring manager could help resolve the issue. 
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• Assess the projected workload against your interest and likelihood of getting the job. You may need to revisit your previously made decision at the time the work is presented.  As you are closer to the final stage in the hiring process, you may be more willing to take part in a project. Know that your decision on what or how much to do will vary with each opportunity.

What are your personal guidelines for how much time you will spend creating custom work samples during the interview process for a given job? Share your thoughts in the comments. 

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

Whether you're searching for a new role or thinking about your professional development, not having the right words to describe your skillset can hinder your progress. Identifying your career keywords will help you create effective messaging for your LinkedIn profile, resume, conversations with colleagues, and other written communications like email and social media posts.

Here is my recommendation for how to begin gathering keywords that align with your chosen profession:

• Identify a job title that interests you.
• On LinkedIn, search for job openings for that job title. Make a note of the specific variations on job titles you see in your search results.
• On LinkedIn, save 5 or more jobs that resonate with you. 
• Make a list of the 10 top skills for 3 or more of those roles you saved. 
• Identify which keywords you saw more than once and look for trends.
• Make special note of keywords that resonate with you. Keep a running list of terms and update it as you encounter new terminology. 

Let me take you through an example.

I searched LinkedIn's Jobs section for Business Partner Organizational Development in the United States. From the results, I selected ten currently open positions to review further (because I'm an overachiever like that). Here are those job titles:
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1. ​Director, People Experience
2. Lead People Business Partner
3. Learning and Development Business Partner
4. Organizational Development Partner
5. Organizational Development Program Manager
6. People Business Partner
7. People Business Partner Director
8. People Partner
9. Principle People Business Partner
10. Senior People Success Partner

Lesson Learned: When you search for a job title, your results will include a variety of titles different companies use. Be sure to review the job description to learn more about what that company expects from that role. The duties for the same job title might vary widely from company to company, as might the terminology they use to describe it.

Total Number of Different Skills Returned for All Ten Jobs
For the 10 jobs I reviewed, 69 different skills were included in the results. For context, if all roles had the exact same skills, this number would be 10. If all of the roles had different skills, this number would be 100. 

Lesson Learned: ​Not only will job titles vary across organizations, but what skills they value can also differ.  Be sure to review the job description to learn more about what skills the company thinks will help make someone in that role successful. 

Specific Skills Returned For More Than One Job
Several skills came up more than once across those ten jobs. Here is the number of times a specific skill appeared for more than one role:
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• Communication: 6
• Human Resources: 6
• Employee Relations: 6
• Employee Engagement: 4
• Problem Solving: 4
• Talent Management: 3
• Confidentiality: 2
• Group Facilitation: 2
• Organizational Development: 2
• Succession Planning: 2
• Teamwork: 2
• Workforce Planning: 2
• Written Communication: 2

Lesson Learned: ​Even if there is not widespread agreement on the terminology used across organizations, some keywords will show up more often. Consider including popular keywords in your skills section on your LinkedIn profile and in your resume.

Different Keywords for Similar Skills 
While specific keywords like "communication" and "problem solving" appeared more than once within the 10 job descriptions, several related terms might be included instead. Here are a few groups of terms that take different approaches to describing similar concepts:
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• Succession Planning, Workforce Planning, Talent Strategy
• Communication, Written Communication, Interpersonal Communication
• Build Strong Relationships, Relationship Building, Relationship Development
• Consultation, Consultative Approach, Influencing Others
• Facilitation, Group Facilitation, Presentations,
• Flexible Approach, Free Thinking, Problem Solving
• Performance Planning, Performance Consulting, Performance Review
• Confidentiality, Sensitive Information, HR Policies

Lesson Learned: When you look at the groupings of keywords, you can see the broader areas where roles like this would operate. Each company may use slightly different terminology regarding the skills that they value. When you talk about the work you do, consider weaving some of these words into your stories. 

How do you identify the right keywords to use to describe what you do? Share your thoughts in the comments.

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

Beginnings and endings often make us think. When relationships, jobs, or projects end, we often reflect on recent events and our desired future state. Taking time to reflect on what went well, areas for improvement, and lessons learned can give us clarity on what matters to us and how to set goals that help us achieve what is most important to us.

It’s human nature to want to keep the past in the past and move boldly into the future. Consequently, we often skip over self-reflection that could help us learn from the past, select the right goals, and identify the why that will help us succeed. We may also want to skip self-reflection to avoid dealing with unpleasant truths or uncomfortable emotions. While pausing to reflect can be hard, it can help prevent you from patterns of behavior that keep you stuck.
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Let’s look at a straightforward self-reflection activity that can help you select the right goals and make the progress you want.

I use Gallup’s Five Elements of Wellbeing model as a starting point. This model identifies and labels five important areas that work together to form our overall wellbeing:

• Career Wellbeing: You like what you do every day.
• Social Wellbeing: You have meaningful friendships in your life.
• Financial Wellbeing: You manage your money well.
• Physical Wellbeing: You have energy to get things done.
• Community Wellbeing: You like where you live.

In short, if you’re struggling in one area of wellbeing, it will harm your overall wellbeing. By reflecting on each area, you will start to see connections between the different areas, how the areas impact one another, and how you could make positive changes to improve your overall wellbeing. 

​Use these questions to reflect on each of those five elements of wellbeing:

• In a sentence or two, what does _______ wellbeing mean to you?
• On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the best, how would you rate your current satisfaction with your ______ wellbeing?
• Over the past few months, list one thing that positively affected your _____ wellbeing.
• Over the past few months, list one thing that may have negatively affected your _____ wellbeing.
• List one way you could improve your ____ wellbeing. 

Here's an example of what this reflection might look like as you think about community wellbeing:

• In a sentence or two, what does community wellbeing mean to you?
  For me, community wellbeing is about being a part of different groups of people that matter to me. That includes relationships with co-workers, professional colleagues, neighbors, and people with similar interests.
  
  
• On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the best, how would you rate your current satisfaction with your community wellbeing?
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• Over the past few months, list one thing that positively affected your community wellbeing.
  I took on a volunteer role within one professional development group.
  
  
• Over the past few months, list one thing that may have negatively affected your community wellbeing.
  When work was hectic, I had less time to dedicate to that volunteer role. 
  
  
• How have the other areas of wellbeing impacted your satisfaction with this area of wellbeing?
  When I was part of a big work project, it required more of my energy than usual. This left me with less energy for social interactions, and I felt stressed out because of work and my community involvement.
  
  
• List one way you could improve your community wellbeing.
  ​Looking at my calendar and making sure I proactively manage my time can help me not overcommit myself to do too many community activities when I have other commitments.
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After reflecting separately on each element of wellbeing, ask yourself the following question about your overall wellbeing:

​Based on your reflection on each element of wellbeing, which area do you want to focus on?​

By going through this activity and evaluating your lived experiences through the lens of each area of wellbeging, you may notice trends. For example:

• You may notice that not having enough energy is a common theme, which may prompt you to focus on areas of your physical wellbeing like getting more sleep, healthier eating, or addressing emotional/mental health concerns. 
• You may notice that your job satisfaction is not where it should be and that you need to focus on your career wellbeing like figuring out your longer term career aspirations, having a conversation about your work future, or considering other employment options. 

Use what you learn from your reflection to inform how you focus your attention and what goals you set.

Do you factor your wellbeing into your overall goal setting? How do you do that? Include your thoughts in the comments.