By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

One of the benefits of having connections on LinkedIn is that you can directly send them messages without having a paid subscription. However, this feature has also been used poorly on several occasions. Let's look at how to use LinkedIn messaging effectively to continue building professional relationships and provide some guidelines for how to use this feature well. 

To have a valuable professional newtork, make sure those relationships are mutually beneficial. Networking is about give and take. Make sure that you are adding value along the way. This includes sharing useful content, congratulating people on their accomplishments, and answering one-off questions when people ask for advice. In short, be a good LinkedIn neighbor. If you give more than you take, your LinkedIn connections will be more likely to help you when you need it.

When directly contacting your LinkedIn connections, make sure you are not overfocused on asking for favors. It is important to provide value first. Here are a few types of messages that give more than they take:

• Wishing them a happy holiday
• Congratulating them on a promotion, job, degree, personal milestone, or accomplishment
• Thanking them for sharing useful content that helped you personally
• Thanking them for helping people in general
• Checking on them to see how they are
• ​Telling them it was nice seeing them at an in-person or online event
• Following up on a previous topic of conversation
• Offering help on one of your areas of expertise
• Sharing a resource, article, or piece of information that would benefit them

Make sure you are not THAT PERSON who only reaches out when they need a favor. 

Asking for help is an art. First, you need to be willing to ask for help. Next, you need to craft your ask in a way that you have a higher likelihood of getting that help.
Here are a few significant issues I’ve seen from people attempting to ask for job search help:

• Connect and pitch
• Making a big ask early on
• Making a vague ask
• Making an ask that is disproportionate to how well you know someone
• Making frequent asks
• Being aggressive in asks
• Re-asking too many times
• Not being able to hear no
• Being angry if they don’t get what they want

Here are a three questions that may not get you much of a response:

1. Can you get me a job at your company?
2. Can you introduce me to people?
3. If you hear of any openings, let me know.

​Why are these not good asks?  For one, these are big requests that require a lot of effort to do well. For example:

1. I’m not going to magically get you a job at my company. Being hired isn't quite as simple as that. 
2. I’m also not going to go through my list of professional contacts, prioritize who I think you should meet, and facilitate multiple introductions.
3. I will also not be your personal job searcher and send you roles—partly because there is no guarantee that my assumptions based on our past experience working together will align with your current job search goals. ​ ​

Here are a few better asks, but may only work with connections who you know very well and who you have helped in the past:
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• Would you review my resume?
• Would you review my LinkedIn profile?
• Would you refer me for a position at your company?
• Would you pass my resume on to your connection, the hiring manager?
• Would you meet with me for 30 minutes to discuss [a professional topic]?

​These requests are specific, which is better, but each is still a sizeable request. The first two may be time intensive. The next two involve your connection putting their reputation on the line to recommend you for a role. The final one requires a block of time on your connection's calendar. Depending on our interactions prior to these requests, their response may vary from “of course!” to no response at all. 

Again, remember to make sure your asks are aligned with how well you know one another. 

Asks are better when they are more specific and less time intensive. It’s also helpful if there is context. Here are a few asks that are more likely to get responses. The requests earlier in this list are more likely to get a response.
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• I just made a job search post on LinkedIn. Would you be willing to visit the post [link here] and like, comment on, or share this post to help me boost my signal?
• I’m considering applying for the Associate Project Manager position with Super Cool Company. How do you like working there? Would you recommend it as a workplace?
• I am working on a career transition from being a software trainer to a project manager. What do you like about your current role as a project manager? What skills would help me in that role?
• I am working on a career transition from being a software trainer to a project manager. I see you’re connected to Alonzo Johnson, a project manager with Super Cool Company. Would you be willing to facilitate an introduction between us on LinkedIn?
• I’m considering applying for the Associate Project Manager position with Super Cool Company. As I get my application materials together, I’d appreciate your insights on the company and how to position myself for success. Would you be willing to have a 15-minute phone call sometime over the next week to talk?
• I’m considering applying for the Associate Project Manager position with Super Cool Company. As I get my application materials together, I’d appreciate your insights on the company and how to position myself for success. Would you be willing to have a 30-minute virtual coffee zoom meeting sometime over the next week?
• I’m considering applying for the Associate Project Manager position with Super Cool Company. As I get my application materials together, I’d appreciate your insights on the company and how to position myself for success. Would you be willing to meet for a coffee at the local coffee shop of your choosing? The first cup is on me!

Remember, when you are asking for help, people will tell you no. More likely than telling you a direct no, they may just not respond. Ever. Keep in mind that job searching, like sales, means that you're going to hear a whole lot of no on the way to that one yes you need. When you need a specific thing, it's useful to ask multiple people for help to give you a better chance of getting a response. It's also not personal. We're each on LinkedIn using it to varying degrees and all trying to accomplish our own goals. 

Making sure that you are making the relationships mutually beneficial will make it much more likely that people will respond to you and want to lend you a hand when you need it. 

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

Contingency planning is not the most upbeat topic. It's all about making a backup plan just in case something terrible happens.

Instead of predicting doom and gloom, let's update our planning approach and focus on opportunity readiness.

Opportunity readiness is about thinking about who you truly are, what you want your work life to be, and living into that future. When you step into that role of being the CEO of you, your focus shifts to what you want to be and positioning yourself for that success.
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If you've done that, you'll be able to identify what an amazing opportunity is for you--and be ready to go for it!

Even when you like your current company, position, or coworkers, sometimes you might hear about an opportunity that could be the right next step for you in your career. Here's what that might look like:

• A former colleague is launching a new company and asks if you would be up for building the marketing presence from the ground up. 
• A recruiter who interviewed you for a previous role just let you know about a job they thought would be perfect for you--and you agree. 
• You learn from an announcement at a professional development meeting that your dream company just posted a role with your dream job title. 

In each of these cases, you weren't actively looking for a new role. However, once you heard about the opening, you realized it might be just the thing you were looking for and found out more!

Opportunity readiness is a part of career resilience that may not always occur to us. When people are not actively job searching, sometimes they neglect to make new networking connections, keep in touch with people they know, update their LinkedIn, or update their resume. However, these are EXACTLY the things to prioritize. 

Knowing what you want, staying in touch with your network, and always evolving your skills will position you to move quickly when the time comes. 

Your resume is the main document potential employers want to see. Even if someone contacts you about an opening, you’ll need an up-to-date resume to be considered. This document needs to summarize who you are as a candidate as well as your most relevant skills, work history, education, professional affiliations, and accomplishments. This is where you can shine!

Keeping your resume current is a crucial first step. Including details on your current role, adding newly earned credentials, and highlighting recently used skills can help you shine. Getting a resume out the door within a couple of hours can improve your chances of being seriously considered. It's also a great way to help the person who connected you with the opportunity feel even more sure that you're a great fit!

LinkedIn is your professional billboard to the working world. It is an all-purpose marketing tool where people can view information beyond your resume, see which other people and companies you may have in common, and read the content you share in your posts.

When people are gainfully employed, they often stop fine-tuning their profiles and interacting with their professional connections. Taking time to polish your LinkedIn profile and posting content on your areas of expertise is a way to remind people of you and your professional value. In fact, continuing to be active on LinkedIn may very well be why someone contacts you about what might be the perfect opportunity for you. 

A great way to remind people of who you are and what you're good at is by posting relevant content. Sharing a picture of you leading a training session, or an article about a great new way to optimize a project will help people associate you even further with your skillset. 

Your work samples, often called your portfolio, are a way to demonstrate the skills you mention in your resume or LinkedIn profile. These work samples should give the hiring team an idea of your process and finished product examples.

Creating a portfolio is not something that most people can quickly throw together. There are several steps, including identifying your overall portfolio goals, developing or selecting work samples, positioning each work sample to showcase your professional capabilities, and determining the technological aspects of how you might set up your portfolio. Since some employers may require a portfolio before seriously considering you for a role, pulling this together and updating it as needed can help make you success-ready. 

As you complete interesting projects,remember to add those to your portfolio It' s nice to have your portfolio grow and change as you evolve your skills.

What do you think would prepare you to move quickly on an opportunity if one presented itself? Include your thoughts in the comments.

It’s amazing how much of the job search process involves waiting to hear back and trying to communicate with the hiring team in a way that adds value. One easy way to strengthen your relationship with the hiring team is by sending a thank you note.  While you could send a paper thank you note, I usually opt for a thank you email message given the prevalence of virtual interactions. 

During the interview process, your main goal is to position yourself as someone who would be an excellent direct report to the hiring manager and an awesome team member for your future coworkers. One easy way to be more likable is to be grateful and appreciative of people and their time. Sending a thank you email is a great way to do just that.

Sending a thank you message is another chance for your interviewers to see your name and have a positive experience with you. Who doesn’t like to be thanked for doing a thing? 

Here are key details to include in your post-interview thank you message:

• Their first name
• Names of other people in your interview
• That you are still interested in the role
• The position for which you applied and when you interviewed
• Your contact information

Here’s the core content to include in a thank you message:

In addition to the basic message, without writing a full-on manifesto, take the time to add a little more relevant information. This is an excellent opportunity to add more details and value to the interaction. This will also help make you more memorable. Here are a few suggested points to cover:

• Include something you discussed during the conversation or detail they mentioned about themselves or the role.
• Send a separate thank you email to each of your interviewers. Add details specific to each person.
• Include a list of skills you bring to the table.
• Include work samples or follow up on any questions they had during your interview.
• Share a resource to follow up on a topic you discussed.

Here's what the message to the hiring manager might look like:

Hi, Peter.

Thanks so much for meeting with me earlier this week to discuss the Super Cool Support Manager position with Best Company Ever. It was great talking with you, Paul, and Mary about the support team and this opportunity. Learning about your new knowledge base and help desk ticket prioritization model was great. I’m excited to join an organization committed to documentation and continuous process improvement.

As we discussed, here are a few relevant skills I bring to the table:

• Technical writing and setting up knowledge base categories and hierarchies
• Implementing informal mentoring programs 
• Leveraging projects as developmental opportunities for call center staff
• A methodology for keeping KB articles current

In addition, here is the link to the article I mentioned entitled “18 Knowledge Base Examples That Get It Right." ​Chapter 9 in this article covers some of the metrics we were discussing:

https://www.helpscout.com/helpu/knowledge-base-examples/

If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact me via email at [email protected] or by text/phone at 555-555-5555.

It was great getting a chance to talk with you—and I hope you have a great time on your fly-fishing trip this weekend!
​
--Brenda

Here's what a message to one of your future coworkers, Mary, might look like:

Hi, Mary.

It was great meeting you earlier this week to discuss the Super Cool Support Manager position with Best Company Ever. I enjoyed talking with you, Paul, and Peter about the support team and this opportunity. My experience working at Not Quite As Cool Company will help me add value to the team.
 
I also hope you have fun on your upcoming trip to Minneapolis. As a fellow coffee lover, I suggest you stop at Dogwood Coffee Company. It’s honestly the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had and well worth the trip. It sounds like you’ll be staying not too far from their Northeast location. Here is the address:

https://www.dogwoodcoffee.com/pages/locations
 
If you have additional questions for me (professional or coffee related), feel free to contact me via email at [email protected] or via text/phone at 555-555-5555.
 
Thanks again!

--Brenda

I used to quickly send thank you messages right after I completed an interview. That way, the message would arrive in each person's inbox within a half hour after our conversation.

​Now, I wait until the next day, or even two days, to send the thank you. This puts time between our initial conversation and when they get this "remember me--I exist, and I'm awesome" message. Much like commercials, ads, or billboards remind you of the existence of a product or service you might want, I used my thank you messages as a second touchpoint with that person. 

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

Career Resilience is all about being ready to deal with what comes. Thinking through scenarios, or contingency planning, is one way to prepare for possible outcomes. By thinking through your next steps before you are in that situation, you can ensure that you are better prepared.

When you’re in a good place at work, it’s hard to believe things would ever be any other way. Your boss supports your professional growth, your work fulfills you, your coworkers are amazing, and you can’t imagine a time when it could be any other way.
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Conversely, there are times at work when you’re less than thrilled about your situation. In these cases, you might be thinking about an exit strategy. Here are a few factors to consider. 

First, here are indications that might prompt you to start to think about leaving your current role:
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• You find yourself consistently dreading your next workday. Maybe you don’t like the work you’re doing. Perhaps the organization is constantly struggling to find solutions to what should be easy-to-solve problems. It may be that the organization’s values don’t align with yours anymore. It could be time for you to look for a job or workplace that feels like a better fit for you.
• You’re not sure if you have a future at the company. Maybe you don’t think you got the raise you deserved. Perhaps the promotion you thought was yours fell through and now you’re left with no good path forward. It may be that the amazing initiative you were excited about was just put on indefinite hold. It could be time for you to find a role with more challenges or a company with additional growth opportunities.
• You are concerned about job stability. Maybe your company is under new leadership and doing a lot of reorganizing, causing talented colleagues to jump ship. Perhaps your previously interesting job is less so because many of your core responsibilities are being distributed to other teams. It may be that there have been layoff rumors or a recent reduction in force. It could be time for you to start looking for a company that is more stable.
• You and your coworkers are at odds. Maybe the new leadership team doesn’t value your contributions. Perhaps your boss is a micromanager who wants you to copy them on every email you send. It may be that you have a coworker who tries to take credit for your work and talks over you in meetings. It could be time for you to seek out a team that is more collaborative.

Once you decide that you need to leave your current job, it’s important to take a look at your financial state. Your ability to pay your bills without the income you receive from that job will be a major factor in your next steps and timeline for leaving your role.
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If you have other streams of income, household members who can cover bills with their income, or savings that you can spend on your core living expenses, you may consider leaving your job right away without a new one lined up.

Be sure to think through the insurance implications of making a job change, too since your healthcare coverage might end with your job. You will need to determine how you will pay for any health-related costs. This could include switching to a family member's plan, finding and paying for other health care coverage, or determining how to handle possible healthcare costs outside of an insurance plan. Each of these options has a different price tag and level of risk.

Know, too, that if your current position is bad enough, you may decide that leaving right away is worth the financial hit you’ll take. 

Be sure to pause and think through the implications of potentially not having a main income stream and how you will cover your basic living expenses in that interim. Maybe you'll get a roommate, sleep on a friend's couch, or just deal with issues as they come. Regardless of what may make sense to others, you get to make the decision that is right for you. 

Many people will choose to stay at their current job until they are able to find another one. This way, you’ll still have a paycheck coming in while you also search for a position that is a better fit. From a purely financial standpoint, this is often the best choice.
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Looking for a job while you’re already employed is a different challenge. You’ll need to get your job search toolkit together so that you’re opportunity ready and can apply for new roles when you see them. You’ll also need to juggle doing your current job while also actively searching for another role. Since finding a new job takes as long as it takes, you may have to live in this state of uncertainty for a while until something new works out. 

When you’re working and also looking for a new position, maintaining your job search momentum can be a challenge. As you face job search rejection, you may be discouraged and not put in as much time looking for a new role. You may apply for roles only sporadically and not make much progress.
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You may also find that you’ll have good days and weeks at that job you’ve decided to leave. You may also have times when things are going well enough at your job that you temporarily slow down your job search activity. Then, you may have a rough week at work and renew your commitment to finding something new.  

What questions do you think you need to focus on as you do your contingency planning? Share your thoughts in the comments.