personal branding

Written by Susan Lamphiear

Ever had anxiety over having to change one of your many passwords that have become a part of life in our high tech lives? Ever worry about your kids, your spouse, and your bills?  Ever get nervous when the boss invites you into the office at the end of the day? Ever get anxious when you think you’ve lost data off your computer?  All reminders that anxiety, stress, worry, fear, have become part of our modern day life. So, is it any wonder that a job hunt or job transition provokes anxiety?

But there is hope for managing high anxiety which is often part of that job hunt.

Keynote

“I’ve been on four interviews only to hear nada, crickets, zilch feedback.” Keynote speaker Andy Gray admits he’s “been there.”

“One of the great conundrums of job hunting. You feel  lousy after a bad interview.” Then after a good interview you feel upbeat, even great, and start making plans.

“And then the rejection (or the no-contact) makes you feel lousy. So just in general, you feel lousy all the time.” You feel anxiety.

Andy Gray, who has been on both sides of the interview, is here to remind job searchers that even though anxiety is almost certainly a part of any career search or job transition, if we’ve worked at other careers, other jobs, then we’ve experienced our share of anxiety there, too.

Andy wants to give job searchers hope by offering tips on handling the anxiety and stress inherent in job searches and compares that anxiety to handling anxiety on the job—they’re similar and they are controllable. With over 35 years of experience working in marketing and communications, Andy’s expertise has helped him mentor and guide people seeking career change.

Andy broke into his current career in coaching and mentoring when he helped one of his sons who was just getting out of college to manage his job search. Andy helped his son with the process involved in landing a job.  Based on his own career experiences, and his background in marketing, Andy advises job candidates at all levels to think of themselves as their own product they’re marketing.

Think of your last job and how much time and effort you spent. Apply that same concept in your job search. Be prepared to write down your goals and strategies, not just think about them. There’s power in writing it down. When Andy learned famed Dallas football star Emmett Smith wrote down his goals in football every year, Andy started writing his goals every year, too.

Andy’s Advice to Manage Job Search Anxiety

The entire process of the job hunt strategy — including preparation, practice, positive attitude and respect for the job search —  will help reduce anxiety during the job search.

Preparation

Devote as much time and work as the projects you managed or participated in –projects that went well and that you were proud of. Didn’t these positive outcomes give you confidence?

• Identify your purpose.
• Write down your value. Andy wrote, “Senior executive who has directed, centralized and strengthened how customers are acquired and retained.”
• What is your goal? Andy wrote,  “My goal is to present myself as someone who is accomplished and skilled in the Marketing discipline and as someone who is very experienced in structuring, organizing and demonstrating the value of marketing to companies.”
• Write your introduction and background.
• Write down your strategy.
• Create your personal brand. Personal branding is the practice of people marketing themselves and their careers as brands. Personal branding is the ongoing process of establishing a prescribed image or impression in the mind of others about you. You’re being judged every day in your job hunt, so you need to be in A game all the time, just as you would adopt that attitude in any paid job or project.
• Prepare to talk about tangible experiences, strengths, and areas of improvement you desire (aka “weaknesses”), presenting areas desired for improvement in the best possible light.

Practice

• Don’t just think about what you’re going to say, practice it, whether it’s online, with your cell phone, with a friend, or in front of a mirror.  Practice 30 and 60 second messages. Prepare for information meetings, not just interviews.
• Practice dressing the part and practice stance, walk and sitting. Even on the phone, dress up! Videotape yourself.
• Ask yourself how much work and time did you devote to projects you’ve managed? Replicate that effort in your job hunt.

Maintain Correct Attitude

• Manage your own expectations
• “You can’t control the process, but you can influence it.” Marty Neumeier, The Brand Gap
• Make a list of who and what you can influence
• Use LinkedIn to your advantage
• Shore up a required skill or learn new skills
• Volunteer
• Stay healthy

Respect the job search process

• Nothing happens easily.  Plus consider the other side of the job hunt—the hiring manager. What you think isn’t necessarily what the other person thinks.
• Be positive through research. Get to know more that just the company culture before applying. What’s their hiring process and interview questions, who will you be meeting, latest industry and regulatory trends, and the latest company trends and SWOTS (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, four elements of an organization, project, or business venture).
• Do your homework, adopting the mantra to underestimate and over deliver.
• Remember your resume will face a lot of competition.
• 1000 individuals will see a job post.
• 200 will begin the application process.
• 100 will complete the application.
• 75 of those 100 resumes will be screened out by either the TS or a recruiter. Tip: Many ATS systems may not be able to scan and read PDF files.
• Only 200 seconds to receive the 1^st resume after a position is posted, only 17% of recruiters read cover letters, 61% of recruiters reject resumes with typos, and unprofessional email addresses will be rejected 76% of the time.
• Consider this: Deloitte, a top accounting firm, brags it only hires 3.5% of applicants. And Google gets over 1M applicants per year. During its robust hiring periods, they hire 4000 people 4/10 of 1%.

Remember, in life and in the job hunt, some days don’t go well. It happens. So, move on. But move on confident you know how better to handle anxiety of the hunt.

Hiring Companies

Waste Management

Sam Mobley, Talent Acquisition Advisor & Cesar Retamal, Director of Inside Sales

Waste Management, located at I-17 and Bell, employs 1500 people and boasts 25 million customers. Concerned with sustainability, the company is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America, providing services ranging from collection and disposal to recycling and renewable energy generation. The company maintains a low attrition rate and attracts qualified talent, including their leaders.  They strive to keep their existing customers while continuing to bringing in new business.

Career areas include transitioning military, programs for college grads, experienced professionals, front line operations, and internships. Specific openings include Inside Sales Rep, Account Manager, Collector and Customer Service Rep. Advantages of working at WM include laptop, cellphone, vehicle reimbursement, plus comprehensive health care benefits, 401K and more. To learn more about the company and specific positions available, and to apply, visit their website.

The Hartford

Ted Williams, Sr. Staffing Coordinator and Chet Joshi, Sr. Talent Acquisition Consultant

The Hartford is a leader in property and casualty insurance, group benefits and mutual funds.  Employing 18000 employees, the Phoenix site employs 500 people who handle personal lines operations, groups benefits operations, auto claims, property claims, workers compensation claims, general liability claims, auto bodily injury claims and commercial claims. Voted the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere Institute for the ninth time, they’re also among the top 100 companies for remote work, at 35%; other awards include diversity innovation, best employer for healthy lifestyles, military ties best for vets and corporation of the year by Latinas & Power Leadership.

Service center job opportunities include customer payment associates, customer service consultants, and customer sales representatives. It’s not a call center but instead a very professional service center where the focus is not on how long you’re on the phone but instead the quality of the service. The company offers fulltime, part time and flex schedules. Benefits include comprehensive healthcare starting on day one, 19 PTO days per year plus 8 company paid holidays, health savings account, tuition reimbursement, wellness initiatives to decrease healthcare premiums, and life insurance. To learn more about The Hartford, visit their website.

NESCO Resource

Kelli Perkins, Area Manager

NESCO Resource, a temporary staffing company since 1956, has gradually grown from IT to service a wide range of industries through a branch network and national recruiting centers, and supports Engineering, IT, Administrative, Industrial, and Accounting & Finance specialties.

Winning a number of awards, its parent company NESCO, is a Fortune 1000 company. Ranked as one of the fastest growing US staffing firms, they have over 90 branch offices including Peoria and Tempe.

Current NESCO Hot Openings including professional, clerical and industrial. If you see an opportunity, call to speak with a recruiter and they will schedule an appointment. Keep your resume updated including volunteering but be prepared to customize. NESCO benefits include the chance to test out the culture of companies, health/welfare benefits and benefits specific to the assignment.

To apply call for an appointment, or visit their website.

State Farm

DeAnne Prigmore, Recruiter

State Farm, a stable insurance company in business for 95 years, has a mission to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected, and realize their dreams. Not just about selling insurance,  the company offers jobs in many areas including immediate and ongoing opportunities of claim associate, CCC sales rep, CCC service rep, State Farm Bank, and Systems/IT. Experience, including legal, is needed in the area of claims, property, total loss and injury.

Benefits of working at the Tempe location include their Marina Heights facility — a two million square feet area, 8000 employees, with retail space including Starbucks, Matt’s Big Breakfast, Mountainside Fitness, Honor Health, Grab-n Go, with more on the way.

Job opportunities include accounting, administrative support, claims and investigation, customer service, facilities management and administrative services, legal, compliance and risk management, human resources, marketing, research and analytics, sales support, technology and sales experience, and underwriting and actuarial.

Feel free to visit the Tempe site which is open to the public. For more information or to apply, visit their website. You may also apply online to open positions, and you may apply using LinkedIn.

Resources

Coder Camps

Jason Jones, Senior Admissions Advisor

Coder Camps prepares individuals to become web developers. Coder Camps has campuses in Scottsdale and Seattle. It’s a fast-growing, understaffed field. They teach  full-stack web development and partner with their students to find work within the field. With training and five years’ experience a coder can earn $100,000.

Coders are so needed that it’s also been impossible to keep up with the need for trainers for these camps. Currently 223,000 coder jobs are available that go unfilled because there are not enough people trained for this field. You need little or no training in coding to attend a boot camp. Currently, there’s also a huge push for women in this technological field so $2000 scholarships are available for women.  A 12-week coder camp completion also means free ongoing training for life.

For more information or to apply, go to their website.

Closing

Executive Director of Career Connectors Jessica Pierce closed the formal part of the meeting. She thanked volunteers and the beautiful facility, Highlands Church, for hosting the event. Attendees were invited to fill out forms to apply for gift cards, available based on income, courtesy of Highlands, for individuals in career transition. Jessica reminded everyone that they are all eligible to take the DISC assessment free through the Career Connectors website. During breakout sessions, all in attendance have a chance to obtain assistance in LinkedIn and resume writing; to have a professional head shot taken; and to speak with hiring company representatives.

Please note: Because of church scheduling, the next Scottsdale event of Career Connectors will be held on the third Thursday of June – June 22, 2017 — rather than the second Thursday. Keynote speaker will be Jean Briese, speaking on the topic of Discover and Unleash Your SuperPower.

For details about times, dates and topics for upcoming events, click here.

Parting Thought:  Check out on You Tube So Much Anxiety by Standup comedian Aparna Nancheria.