Briefcase Coach's Career Briefs: Job Search Smarter

5 steps to successfully pivot your career

Changing careers is becoming more common. It is said that the average person will change jobs 12 times during their lifetime. If you are considering a change in career, this article from Fast Company gives 5 simple steps to help make the transition more successful. One of the best things I think you can do as a job seeker if you aren’t clear on where you want to land next is to take a strengths assessment such as StrengthFinder (around $20). It can be valuable to know the intensity of your strengths and know how to best articulate your value to the world.

Three important career lessons from EY’s global chairman and CEO

Carmine Di Sibio has been the global chairman and CEO of EY since 2019. He has an impressive 38-year tenure with the company and has announced his retirement, with the transition set for 2024. Di Sibio spoke to Business Insider and shared the three biggest lessons he has learned throughout his career. He encourages everyone, from new graduates to veteran business people to remain flexible, collaborate, don’t compete, and keep asking questions. “You should never stop being a student and learn from everything – good and bad – that life throws at you,” Di Sibio says.

Knowing your “why” can lead to career happiness

Do you or someone you know have a “dream job” that doesn’t seem fulfilled? I find a lot of clients are trying to “shoot for the stars” and land a job that on paper, seems to be perfect. However, once they dig deeper, or in some cases, get into the job, they aren’t as happy as they anticipated. I think due diligence is crucial to any job search, but jobseekers also need to spend time introspectively.

This recent article published by Forbes looks at the link between knowing your “why” and career happiness. The author provides areas of reflection that will help create your personal mission statement. Work will become more fulfilling and meaningful with that statement as your guide. (PAYWALL

Increase your chances of being hired with one-on-one custom interview coaching

Ever thought, "I'd love to do a mock interview with a real corporate recruiter" before a high-stakes meeting? Briefcase Coach offers custom coaching sessions to help our clients gain confidence in their responses and learn how to present their story better. We help unearth your value proposition, help you nail the dreaded “tell me about yourself”, and other common interview questions. We will help you think beyond cookie-cutter answers and tell impactful STAR stories.

We are not here to sell you an expensive package with all the bells and whistles you don’t need. We sell interview coaching is individualized for each client and charged by the hour à la carte. We are passionate about helping jobseekers put their best foot forward when trying to land their next job. We would love to help you! For the remainder of July, my team and I are offering 25% off interview coaching sessions.

Interested in learning more or booking a session? Visit our website here.

Find more connections and increase responses on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great way to network and research during a job search but many jobseekers aren’t using it to its full potential. Career Coach, Jessica Hernandez just published an excellent guide to help jobseekers use LinkedIn more efficiently and effectively. The article does a great job sharing tips for “how to find helpful connections—whether someone in a similar industry, a key decision-maker, or a recruiter—and how to get responses to your messages so they don’t go unanswered.”

Attracting top talent through employees’ LinkedIn presence

Cisco, digital communications technology conglomerate, has been trying a new stream of recruiting top talent. Chief People Officer, Kelly Jones, says Cisco is encouraging and training their team regularly share on LinkedIn about what they're doing in the organization to attract new talent. According to Jones, “Our recruiting organization does this training with teams. It’s popular, particularly in emerging functions like security, the cloud, and areas where our engineers know how difficult it is to find, attract, and retain top talent.”

New law in New York puts limitations on the use of AI in the hiring process.

Last week a new law, one of the first of its kind in the US, passed in New York. Companies will now be required to disclose the use of AI in its hiring processes. “US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission chair Charlotte Burrows said in a meeting in January that as many as four out of five companies use automation to make employment decisions.”

NYC's Automated Employment Decision Tool law says that employers who use AI in their hiring processes will now have to tell candidates they are doing so and submit to annual independent audits. Many experts, both AI and HR are skeptical about the new law. It is expected that New York’s law will have a ripple effect into other states.

The MTV generation’s unemployment problem

“Workers born between 1964 and 1980 — those currently aged 44 to 59 — represent “effectively all of the increase” in America’s unemployed population over the last half year, according to research by Glassdoor’s Chief Economist Aaron Terrazas.” In this Politico article, the time Generation X is taking to find a new job after being laid off is scrutinized and analyzed. With jobs being created, Generation X is remaining out of work at staggering numbers, causing further economical problems.

The importance of building a target company list

Did you miss it too?

I was distracted by the sheer volume of shells that I completely missed the shark's tooth buried below the surface level.

My daughter, on the other hand, felt like she uncovered Blackbeard's famous missing treasure.

She took the time to sift through the sand, below broken shells.

Ya know what they say, "If you want something different, you have to DO something different." Most of us look at the surface & keep on walking.

The same is true in a job search.

The majority of people do not take the time to do thorough target company research and miss out on GREAT employers and opportunities.

If you like fake statistics, here's one: 87% of executive job seekers don't have a thorough knowledge of their prospective future employers.

I recommend taking a step back and thinking about your company list. Build out a list of 25-35 companies.

Where do you want to work?
What companies have you admired?
Who could use your skill set?
Who in your region is growing? Just got funding? Or announced major leadership changes?

I advise my clients to have a balanced target company list with a mix of sizes. Sometimes, you may think you want the big corporate experience, but you’d actually be happier and more successful working for a midsized and/or private organization.

I asked my LinkedIn connection a few years ago for their best advice on how to find companies. I got some great ideas:
-LoRen 🚀 recommended corp (dot) owler
- Jennifer recommended checking the B-Corp website for businesses that balance both profit and purpose.
- Laura shared that the Angel List email newsletter is a gold mine for startup opportunities
- Azucena shared the site StartupBlink for research
Don Harkness gave an out-of-the-box idea. He said:
"Look for companies in trouble, tip-toeing around bankruptcy, cutbacks, in chaos, There is opportunity in chaos, and even in the worst of times, hiring doesn't totally stop. People bail and needs arise, and job competition will be minimal"

𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓: 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.

Use LinkedIn to find out who you would be your boss if you had the job that you want.

I created a simple video a million years ago on how to find just about anyone using LinkedIn PLUS how to find their emails. How-to-video here.

STEP 3:

Once you build out your target company list and identify decision makers, your GOAL is to land meetings with these key individuals.

How you might ask?
- Your network. Who do you know that might know someone on this list?
- Do you have any former colleagues working at that company who you would feel comfortable asking for an introduction?
- Consider a very personalized approach to cold messaging. Believe it or not, my last two corporate jobs (at competitive employers!) I landed through a cold email strategy

If you were inspired by this post to build out a targeted company list-- let me know!

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