Bounce Back After a Layoff: 9 Key Tips

Lori Cole (00:05):

All right, let’s go ahead and get started here. I’d like to welcome everybody to this session of Bounce Back after a layoff. Key tips, nine key tips. Actually, I’m Lori Cole. I am a certified career coach and advisor here with iHire, and it’s my pleasure to have you in this session and to be presenting today with Brian McAllister. So before we dive into this, I want to show you some really cool things about our webinar platform that put you in control. So with the widgets, a couple of you have already found on the screen, you can resize and move windows around and explore content related to today’s presentation. Don’t forget to ask or I always do this. I always mess this one up. Don’t forget to find the ask a question widget and submit your questions at any time during this talk, and we will address as many of those as possible after the webinar when you submit a question, only our producer Alexia will see those questions.

(01:15):

Just make sure that you do that in the ask a question widget. And then one last thing, keep an eye on your inbox tomorrow because you will get a recording of this. So everybody give a round of applause to Brian McAllister. He is co-presenting with me today. Brian is a customer success manager here at iHire and he leads the team that helps with our large businesses and he helps them to meet their recruiting needs. His expertise is in the hospitality industry before he came to iHire, but that has really helped him and given him some valuable insight into customer service, relationship building and collaborative problem solving. So welcome Brian. It’s good to have you again.

Brian McAllister (02:07):

Thank you, Lori. I’m happy to be here and thank everybody else for being here today. We appreciate you all making the time. And as Lori mentioned, we’re looking really forward to providing you with some nine great tips as we call it. But really the vital takeaways I think we want to really try to get to you today are what is that vital first step to take after you’re laid off, why you should set some smart goals in your job search, maybe some tips and tricks on how to update your resume, your social media profiles, the right way to talk about being laid off, especially like in an interview, and then how to easily reactivate your network, the people that are around you. I think that’s a really important thing we are going to share with you today too. So where do you want to start, Lori?

Lori Cole (02:55):

Let’s start with making sure that you read everything your employer gives you. If you’ve just been laid off, read through all of the documents that you get during that meeting. If they only give you information verbally, ask them to put everything in writing so you make sure you have a clear understanding of what’s happening. Make sure that you know all of the details about any severance pay or compensation that you’re entitled to, and this would include any unused paid time off that you have. We just don’t want you to leave any money on the table. Be sure to check in with your employer about your health insurance benefits. This is super important. You won’t be covered anymore, but you need to know when your coverage stops. Look into COBRA or other temporary options to avoid any gap coverage. Figure out when you’ll receive your last paycheck and make sure you review your 401k and your pension plans.

(04:06):

It’s really important to understand that, and it’s not that you’re going to lose anything, but you may have to move that somewhere else at some point down the road. So make sure you don’t just leave your money there. And with that information in hand, you can start the process of registering with the unemployment office, but keep in mind that your eligibility and your payout amounts and the amount of time that you’ll be covered can really vary, and that depends on your location and your circumstances. So just because your brother-in-law knows a guy that didn’t qualify for unemployment, doesn’t mean that you won’t qualify for unemployment. So everybody’s situation is different. I just want you to make sure that you get to the unemployment office, have all your ducks in a row, bring your documentation in, and the sooner that you can get that ball rolling, the better off that you’re going to be and because it does take a little while to get things started.

Brian McAllister (05:16):

Yep, I agree. And those logistics are really important and I know you’re probably not in the mood to do it, but those are great first steps I think. Then after you do get that, it’s okay to just stop for a moment and want to talk a little bit about just processing your emotions and it’s okay, right? You’ve got an understanding of your situation. So now just take time and process it a little bit. It’s a major event, so it’s okay to stop and regroup, recenter yourself a little bit. You’re going to go through a whole bunch of emotions, anger, grief, anxiety after losing your job, but you can work through them. I think he is just really staying positive. You need to a way to express yourself. You can do that in all kinds of ways to your family and your friends. People that care about you want to help you through this. So lean on them. You can explore other outlets in your life, hiking and camping or hobbies, volunteers. It’s an opportunity if you really think about it. It’s an opportunity to reconnect yourself a little bit with yourself. So journaling is not uncommon. Just finding other folks who are in the same boat as you that you can talk to I think are really, really important steps.

(06:33):

You really want to try to find a calmness and get it into a good positive mindset as you kind of start your job search and focus on moving forward. So it’s really easy in conversations. Maybe you want to badmouth your employer or burn some bridges, but at the end of the day, that’s just really not worth it and you never know who’s going to come back around into your circle, so you don’t want to damage any of those relationships. So just really focus on you and your mental health. Yoga, exercise apps like Headspace are great. I always kind of made fun of that app and then I got ahold of it and I kind of rely on it now. But again, just feeling good about yourself. I think if you see it as an opportunity and you’re positive and you’re strong, that will come across in your demeanor as you start interviewing and start figuring out what you want to do and where you want to go.

Lori Cole (07:33):

And I don’t think that people understand that it is a grieving process. You go through all of the stages of grief just like you would if you had any other major loss in your life. So understand that you’ll go through, like you said, the anger, depression, acceptance. You finally do get to the acceptance. And then the other key point that you made was don’t burn any bridges. Don’t bad mouth your employer because if you’re laid off and business picks back up, you may have an opportunity to go back. So you want to keep that door open if you can.

Brian McAllister (08:13):

Great point.

Lori Cole (08:16):

And then as you’re ready to start getting back out there, set some job search goals because the goals will be very important to carry you through when you start talking about goals and thinking about making these goals. Smart goals are always the way to go, and the smart method means that they’re specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound. So these are good examples of smart goals. Apply to five jobs in one week, spend two hours updating your resume, find and register for three networking events in the next month and comment in at least one online discussion in your industry every day. So those are really good smart goals because you’re giving yourself a deadline, a task, and a deadline. On the other hand, if you start to make goals like, well, I’m going to find a job by next week, that is really not a smart goal and you’re probably setting yourself up for some disappointment and some failure because even though getting a job by next week would be awesome, it’s unrealistic in most cases. So just want to make sure that you are on track and setting those realistic goals because this is a marathon, it’s not a sprint.

Brian McAllister (09:50):

Yeah, I love that point. I mean, the other part about a smart goal to me is as you do knock those things off, you’re building yourself back up a little bit. You can feel good that, Hey, I did spend two hours doing my resume today, or I did get five applications completed. And those help you feel good and that’s where you’re ultimately trying to get to a good positive spot. So I love that.

Lori Cole (10:10):

Absolutely.

Brian McAllister (10:12):

Yeah. Now that you’re feeling good and you’re ready to start searching, how do you go about it? I mean, obviously even when you’re employed, you might occasionally get out onto the search engines and see what’s going on out there and those are really good places to start. But I also like to point folks towards job boards for specific companies. Specific companies are now doing much more on their career pages than just saying, Hey, here’s a job, please apply. They’re really selling their organizations. They’re sharing more about their culture and who they are and trying to give you as a candidate the reasons why they want you to work for them, not just we have an opening piece applied. So there’s a lot of good information on these pages about social responsibility, DEI, things that might be important to you. And as we’ve said now that this is an opportunity for you, it’s a good chance to focus on some other things that you might not have been happy about in your last jobs. So always consider those job boards. If you are considering a career change, which I think is a neat idea during a layoff, start making a note of all the skills you have and that would apply to these other industries or jobs that you’re looking for. Don’t sell yourself short here. The skills you have, don’t take ‘em for granted. Don’t think that everybody else has the same skills you have no matter what they are. Just start documenting because you’ll find as you interview with different jobs, different parts of those things might become more important.

(11:49):

Even if you’re in a great job, there are probably aspects of your job that you didn’t like before and this is a good chance to reset that and think, what do I want in my new job? I remember in my last interview, for me, travel was something I just didn’t want to do. In my last job, I traveled a lot, maybe six months a year. So when I started looking for a new job, it was important that there wasn’t this huge travel requirement. So things like that, I think everything is on the table I think at this point. So make a list of companies you want to work for, see what they have available. Dream a little bit what’s important to where you work. There’s a lot of tools in the iHire account, your iHire candidate account that you can be taken advantage of. You can be saving jobs in your job tracker, making sure the preferences on your iHire account are updated. You can sign up for job alert emails. We have a great career explorer tool and we even have various resources and education like the Career Clarity workbook too. That can be really helpful to you. I think there’s a link. Could we put a link to the workbook here? Lord,

Lori Cole (13:06):

I believe so. I believe there’s a link in your related content widget. And to Brian’s point, it’s such a good opportunity to reinvent yourself. You don’t get that opportunity very many times in your career, so take your time, really consider what you want to do, and now is the time to explore those other industries. All right, so let’s do a poll here. How often do you update your resume? Every month, several times a year, once a year or only when I’m actively applying to jobs. So we’ll give you just a little bit of time to look at this. Thank goodness. Well, I don’t keep my resume up to date because I’m not looking, but I guess if I were in a job where I was unhappy about it, I would at least be keeping a list of things that I’ve done maybe in the last quarter or projects that I’ve completed because that time goes by so quickly and you just forget about those things.

Brian McAllister (14:23):

Yeah, that’s a good tip.

Lori Cole (14:26):

Only when I’m actively looking for jobs. Well, bless the heart of people that say that they’re updating it once a month because that is a little bit of work there for you, but that’s wonderful that you’re doing that and you’re being proactive in that. So let’s talk a little bit about updating your resume. It is a crucial step in your job search, but it’s not something that you have to dread. I know that that’s always a big hurdle when I’m coaching candidates is that they’re like, oh, I’ve got to redo my resume. And it seems like it’s a difficult task sometimes, but it doesn’t have to be. So here are some things that you should do to get started. Update your most recent position and don’t worry about mentioning in the resume that you were laid off. It happens to the best of us. Brian and I have both been laid off at different points in our career, so it happens to almost everyone, and it probably isn’t something that you have to put in your resume. It’s something you could explain in a cover letter, double check and make sure all your dates of your past jobs are correct and in past tense. So one of the things that I always tell people is to only use the year when you’re putting the dates on your resume. You don’t have to use the month and the year, just the year will suffice.

(16:03):

Always make sure that your jobs are in past tense. So if you’re no longer there, make sure it doesn’t read that I’m actively doing this. These things, make sure it reads in the past tense. Also, make sure that your contact information is still correct. I can’t tell you how many resumes I’ll be looking at on the screen with the person and we’re just kind of working through some of the job issues on the resume and they’ll be like, oh my gosh, that’s my old phone number, or that’s my old email address. So they didn’t notice it until we were just kind of talking through it. So make sure those are all up to date. Also, take a look at your skills section. Do you have any new skills that would impress a potential employer? Or on the flip side, do you have any old skills that are no longer relevant or in demand, like being able to use a fax machine?

(17:04):

I think the only industry where that would still be a thing would be in the healthcare industry. I know they still fax quite a bit of stuff. Have you earned any new degrees or certifications since your last resume update if you have. Make sure to include those. And finally, have you joined any new professional or community organizations? Don’t forget to add those to your resume, especially those community organizations because if you’re doing volunteering on after you’ve been laid off, it’s important for employers to see that you’re keeping busy. And it’s always a good check mark when somebody’s looking at your resume and says, oh look, they are involved in the community and they are doing some outreach. And if you feel overwhelmed about updating your resume, you don’t have to worry about that. IHI has a great portfolio tool. We have a lot of modern templates that you can use and you can even upload your old resume into our system and we do a lot of the heavy lifting for you.

(18:12):

We will copy a lot of the old information out of your resume, put it in the portfolio tool and make it really easy for you to get started. And I’m also going to give our professional resume writers a shout out here. If this is just all sounding way too overwhelming, you can always hire this done. And actually if you’re not getting calls and interviews, that is an option that you should seriously consider because it takes that weight off of your shoulder and it puts it on to somebody who will work with you and make sure your resume’s just right.

Brian McAllister (19:00):

Yep. And I love the point about keeping your phone number and email addresses up to date as well. That’s a good one. I always think you should maybe create your own a unique email address so you can kind of filter things easily and they’re not getting lost in your other ones. And then consider too everybody that more and more employers and companies like IHI are starting to allow text communication with potential between employers and candidates too. So if you want to take advantage of that, make sure you’ve got your mobile phone number on there. And that’s just another good tip too.

Lori Cole (19:36):

Yeah,

Brian McAllister (19:38):

So the resume, like Lori said, can be intimidating, but rest assured nowadays it’s more than just your resume that is involved in reviewing you as a candidate. So we want to talk a little bit about your social media accounts and how to focus on those and get those updated a little bit. Obviously, LinkedIn is a space you want to be in. If you’re not, get signed up, get going in there, get your network built up, get as many contacts and friends in there as you can if you haven’t done that already, but you want to make sure LinkedIn has your latest and greatest information. Even think about getting a headshot taken if necessary. I know I shared with Lori that I once went to a CVS where they take passport photos to get a headshot taken just to share it as a tip. But Lori, you had a good idea too, and that just go out with friends and take pictures, right,

Lori Cole (20:34):

Right, right. Just dress business casual and go find a location inside or outside and just start. Take 50 pictures. I mean, it doesn’t cost you anything to do that on your smartphone. And some of these smartphones can really take magnificent photos now.

Brian McAllister (20:54):

Yep. I mean the idea really remember on LinkedIn is that you want to be engaged. This is where you’re starting to build your network out. And there could be people that you don’t even know that engage with you on social media. And that’s the nice thing about LinkedIn is you can trust those people are looking. They might see your resume and go, man, we’re looking exactly what you have. And it’s almost they’re being proactive on your behalf. So if you do get on LinkedIn between encourage, make sure you’re engaged on LinkedIn as well, follow companies that you like, comment on their posts and really don’t just like comment, give some insight, share experiences. That’s what people want to see on there. Also, remember, it’s not uncommon once you’re out there that employers are going to Google you as well. So make sure that these websites or your social media sites are professional and cleaned up. Doesn’t mean you can’t have pictures of the kids and things like that, but just remember that people are looking at you the same way you’re looking for them.

(21:59):

There’s other ways you can do this. It stay in contact with the people who you are friends with on social media. Let them know that you’re looking and let them be a resource for you. They can keep their eyes and ears open for you. Opportunity is everywhere, folks. It really is Even keeping back, like Laurie said, not burning bridges on your past employers, former coworkers who’s still at your company may hear of other opportunities even with the customers from your last company. So hopefully you’ve had a good relationship there and you’ve left a good relationship there. Even your manager can provide, your past manager might be able to provide some leads or coaching and mentoring in their private time. But like we said, the big thing is just don’t bad mouth your employer even in JI know it’s easy to do or think about, but just try to avoid that and stay focused and keep moving forward.

Lori Cole (22:57):

Yes, and employers do check your social media accounts. You might not think they do, but it’s the first place some people go to. So you want to make sure that you don’t have anything that might be misinterpreted or that just shouldn’t be out there available for everyone to look at.

Brian McAllister (23:23):

In some ways, it’s the first impression you’re going to make and it’s maybe a little unfair, but it is the first impression somebody can get of you.

Lori Cole (23:34):

And then when you do get called for an interview, we want to make sure that you’re super prepared for this interview. You don’t want to get rusty, you should grab a friend, you should grab a family member and practice answering some interview questions. In our resource center, we have a list of, I believe a hundred of the most common interview questions. And that’s the bad thing about an interview is that you don’t know. No two interviews are alike. So you have to prepare for all of these different eventualities and all of these different questions and at least thought through your answers in your mind. You also want to make sure that you are practiced in talking about the reasons you were laid off. I know sometimes if it hasn’t been much time between that layoff and your first interview, those emotions can be a little bit raw.

(24:41):

So we want you to just be comfortable, be practiced, and just give short honest answers. Keep it positive. You can say something like we have here on the slide. My company went through a downsizing recently and the majority of my team’s positions were the first to go. I’m grateful for the experience I gained while I work there and I’m now excited to have the opportunity to take my career in a new direction. And that is, that’s perfect because you’re not badmouthing your employer and you’re saying that you’re using this as an opportunity and you’re excited about it. Before you go on the interview, there are some key things that you need to do. So first is make that you have researched the company and the position that you’re applying for and also the person or the group of people who you will be interviewing with.

(25:45):

Don’t forget to brush up on your interview basics, so give yourself plenty of time to find the location in park if you’re going for an in-person interview right now, a lot of interviews are virtual still. I mean, that’s one of the things that happened after COVID is that employers decided that virtual interviews were the way to go, especially for the first round sometimes, but make sure that you practice that interview software and that you’re familiar with it. Find out about the dress code at the company before you show up and try to dress just one notch above that. I recently talked to somebody who went to an interview at a tech company. He said he walked in full on suit, tie everything. It was in a very hot location down south and he said he walked in and everybody there, the people that were interviewing him were in flip flops and cargo shorts.

(26:45):

So he felt super out of place, still got the job, but just felt super out of place. So you can always check that out, look at the company’s website, look at pictures that they might have on their website about things that they’ve done for team building or things that, the events that they’ve had. And just go for that one notch above. Make sure you bring copies of your resume and your references and your work portfolio. Prepare a list of questions to ask. Again, we have something in the resource center that is, I think the top 25 questions you can ask at the end of the interview. I will be very disappointed if you go in for the interview and they ask you, do you have any questions for us? And you say, Nope, I think you covered everything. That’s always a sign that maybe somebody didn’t do their research.

(27:41):

There is always one question you should ask at the end of the interview, and that is what are the next steps you need to make sure that you understand what the next steps are that enables the employer to talk through that process with you. And then you have an idea about when you’re going to follow up. And then I want you to dig out those thank you notes that have been sitting in a drawer someplace because you should send a regular meal, thank you note within 24 hours of the end of the interview. So a written thank you note goes a long way, would highly recommend it, but if you don’t feel comfortable doing that or can’t do that, at least send an email. Thank you note. So I know I’m a big believer in the handwritten thank you notes. How do you feel about it, Brian?

Brian McAllister (28:38):

Absolutely. To this day, I still have a box of thank you notes here on my desks because you never know when you just want to send that personal touch. And this is the perfect time to do it. It will set you apart, I believe, because I don’t think a lot of folks do it anymore.

Lori Cole (28:53):

I remember during COVID, someone from our company just sent handwritten notes to people that they worked with and it was so nice, just like a little note card. So I think that those handwritten little cards make a very good impression.

Brian McAllister (29:13):

Let’s

Lori Cole (29:14):

Do

Brian McAllister (29:14):

Another, go ahead.

Lori Cole (29:17):

Oh, I was going to say let’s do another poll and then I’ll have you finish your thought while we’re doing this poll. Do you prefer to? I

Brian McAllister (29:23):

Can work into the next slide.

Lori Cole (29:25):

Okay. Okay. That’s good. So do people prefer to network online or in person or a little bit of both? Do you have a preference, Brian?

Brian McAllister (29:38):

Yeah, I’m old school. I do it in person. I

Lori Cole (29:43):

Like to do a little bit of both. I really enjoy my LinkedIn connections, but there’s nothing like a good conference or a good chamber of commerce meeting where you get to see people that maybe you haven’t seen in a while or get to meet some new people. Alright, looks like a little bit of both. That’s a good thing.

Brian McAllister (30:09):

Perfect.

Lori Cole (30:11):

So tell us why we should activate our network.

Brian McAllister (30:16):

Yeah, I think we talked about social media and we touched a little bit on your friends and your family, but like I said earlier, opportunity is everywhere. So reaching out to your friends or your networks to help look for new opportunities. Don’t be shy. Your network of friends and family, you really might be surprised at what a friend’s network is. I played trivia every week with the same seven guys. We’ve been doing it for 10 years. When I was laid off, my team all knew it and we talked about it almost every week. They were kind of my support group, but one of the guys on our team was the editor of our local magazine here in town. And once he started throwing feelers out there, it was pretty overwhelming to me honestly. But what I was going to say is actually works into this is, so you were talking about the interview process.

(31:13):

I’m a big believer in take any interview you can get, even if you don’t think you’re going to take that job, take the interview. It gives you practice, it does expose you to the company. You might be surprised they come back to you and say, well, we know we interviewed you for X, but we really think you’d be good at Y. And we’ve got an opening for Y. So I’m a big fan of taking the interviews. Informational interviews are another good resource that all helps continue to expand your personal network. You want to make impressions on people and you want people to know you’re serious about getting a job. So back to that interview thing I think is great. Your friends themselves, a lot of companies, the hiring managers of those companies, they do offer little incentives for referrals. So your friends might be a little more likely to put a good word for you in or if they can find a fit for you, they can pass yearly along and that might incentivize them a little bit. I think that’s a nice little tip.

(32:16):

But we mentioned too earlier that you do have a lot of resources not only at iHeart, but you’ll find that in your community as well. There’s unemployment workforces, webpage from your county, your city, your state, all those can help. You just activate contact with people. That’s what you’re really trying to do and that’s what’s really important at this time. It’s a good idea. You just don’t know who has what and who knows what. So reaching out to them will be a really big help. The other thing I think is important, I know I got one out of order here a little bit, but it’s really important to offer help as well. So if you find that you’re participating in sessions or things online, share your job tips, share what you’ve been doing, share advice, all of that stuff helps build relationships and trust with others. And you never know, somebody in your work group who you’re working with might get a job offer and all of a sudden they come back and say, Hey, I knew you were in my group. I really liked the way we talked to each other and hit it off. This company I just took a job for has another opening as well, and I think it applied to it. So it’s really just getting out there and letting people know what you’re doing and that you’re looking for a job.

Lori Cole (33:35):

And during our last webinar we said that a networking event is the only place where it’s okay to talk to strangers. It’s actually encouraged. It’s okay to do that, don’t be a wallflower. And then to your point about take any interview you can get, couldn’t agree with that more. There is nothing like that practice. And the more you do it, the more comfortable you’ll feel. I’ve called those burner interviews in the past where you go in for a job that you know you’re pretty sure you’re probably not going to take, but you’re there for the experience of the interview. Not that you want to waste anybody’s time because I’ve also had people that think they’re going on a burner interview that are just like, I know that I’m not going to take this job, but in the last five minutes the interviewer says something like, well, this doesn’t sound like it might be the job for you, but we’ve got this other job we haven’t posted yet, or we have this other job coming up and then you’ve got your foot in the door and that interview was well worth it. So don’t be afraid to take those interviews.

(34:57):

And then the other thing, this is another good part about being laid off. You have an opportunity to learn some new skills. There are so many courses that you can take. There are free and low cost online courses that will really pump up your resume and help you to update your skills. These courses are from major universities and they will cover any topic. So it would be great if you did a resume building skill, but you could also do just a hobby building skill. If you’re interested in photography or if you’re interested in interior design, you can take advantage of learning something new. If you complete a course that is something to do with your resume, make sure you put that on your resume. A lot of the courses will give you certificates of completion, and that is a great way to showcase those new skills that you have.

(36:03):

We actually have a list of online courses on the website. We have a directory and it’s good for all 57 of our talent communities. You just have to log into your account and click the online course button on the left hand side to get started. And the other great thing about taking a course while you’re off is that the employer potential employers will see that you weren’t sitting stagnant. You spent that three months or six months doing something valuable. Whether it was improving your skills or volunteering someplace or becoming part of organizations, just those are great things to put on your resume because employers like to see that you’ve been active and busy and not just sitting around while you’ve been laid off

Brian McAllister (37:03):

And volunteering. Another great way to build your social network, right? Who do you meet when you’re volunteering and things like that. Absolutely.

Lori Cole (37:11):

Yeah. Alright, so we’re at the q and a section now. If you have not put any questions in yet. Oh, I see. We’ve got a bunch of questions so I don’t need to ask you again. So we’re good here. Alright. How do I determine what type of compensation I’m entitled to after being laid off? I can take that or if you want to take it, Brian,

Brian McAllister (37:39):

Go ahead. You can take that one.

Lori Cole (37:40):

Okay. So we have another great tool. I’m promoting the iHire site. We have a salary research tool. Again, it’s on the left hand side as you log into the website, the salary research tool, it goes by industry and by job title. And it will give you the low median and high ranges for the salaries that are out there for that job title. So you’ll know that you’re in the right ballpark if you’re asking for a salary within that range. I always tell people to ask for a range, not just give one specific amount. You want to ask for a range of around 10 or $15,000 around your desired salary. And then another good way be if you are looking at jobs online, some states require employers to put the salary in now. So you’ll be able to very quickly see if you’re in one of those states where the employers are putting that salary in, if you’re in the right ballpark. And they’re going to also post a range. Their range will be between 10 and 15,000. How can I stand? Oh, go ahead. I’m sorry Brian. I

Brian McAllister (39:04):

Say that salary research tool, and I’m sorry if I missed it, is also, it can be regional. So you can say a specific city there is the likelihood that salaries range from geographical location to geographical location. So you can make that salary research to be very specific to the place you’re looking for a job.

Lori Cole (39:26):

Okay. How can I stay motivated during the job search process after a layoff?

Brian McAllister (39:36):

Yeah. Well I think we talked a little bit about this, right? I think to me, I love the idea of the goals. There’s smart goals. I think making the ability to check off something that you’ve accomplished is an important thing. It builds you up, it makes you feel good and makes you confirms that you’re on the right path. And then I think also here, staying connected, finding a good support system of your friends and family. They can encourage you, they can motivate you, maybe even inspire you. And the other personal thing I feel is like Laurie said, this is an opportunity. So dream big, you’ve got an opportunity in front of you that you might not have had for a number of years and it’s a good chance to just really get out of a rut or get into something new or explore something that you’ve never even really you’ve considered, but always thought was impossible. Being positive I think is the biggest way to be motivated.

Lori Cole (40:34):

Alright, well I’ll handle this next one because I’ve had a minute to look at it and think about it. How do I navigate the job market and stay competitive after being out of work for an extended period of time? So what I would do is make sure you have a great cover letter that explains why you are out of work. A lot of times people are out of work for an extended period of time anymore because maybe they were taking care of a sick family member or they had responsibilities at home that they needed to take care of and it just made sense for that person to stay home with the kids. But if you have any question about what you should be doing, reach out to an I hire career advisor. It’s part of your premium package. We have career advisors on staff that you can set up a 15 minute appointment with and we can kind of walk you through your specific situation and tell you what the right thing to do in your situation is. This is probably not a one size fits all type of an answer for people. Should your resume include the different types of software that you have experience with?

Brian McAllister (41:59):

Yeah, I would say absolutely. Yeah. As everyone knows, I mean if you’re a victim of it or you’re just aware of it, that we are seeing layoffs now in some of these big tech companies. So I think really letting people know exactly what your specialty is is a great idea. And I can tell you from working with employers, some employers are only looking for certain kinds of software users. So stay ahead of that and get those on there. Absolutely

Lori Cole (42:26):

Right. And check out the job. Use our iCore tool, make sure that the skills on the job description are skills. If you have them that you’re putting into your resume, that iCore tool is magic and will tell you exactly what you need to match that employer’s job description. Alright. I’ve been laid off more than most. Does this emotional processing still apply? I think it does. I think that you still have to go through those emotions, although you may be a little bit more skilled in dealing with those at this point. If you’ve been through it several times, this person says, maybe it is my fault. I keep getting laid off. No, probably not. You’re just in it. A lot of times it is last in first out doesn’t have anything to do with you personally, and how do I process that the same way that you process all the rest of it.

(43:34):

You can’t take this personally because it is almost like you’re speaking your destiny that I don’t know why I’m going to go take this job because I am probably going to get laid off. Again, you don’t want to be there. You have to be on the more confident side of this and say, Hey, I’m going to go into this and I am going to give this job everything I have and I’m going to do my best to be one of the people that they say, Hey, we got to keep that person around because they are a human dynamo.

Brian McAllister (44:09):

Yeah. I love the point of don’t take it personally. A layoff is not a personal thing at all of, I love that.

Lori Cole (44:20):

If you want to change career paths, do you revise your resume to adapt to this? Absolutely. So I really encourage people to have a couple of different resumes. If you are pursuing a job in your current industry, you should have an industry, or I’m sorry, you should have a resume that has a career objective and the, I’m sorry, not objective. We don’t do objectives anymore. We do job titles and summaries at the top of the resume. So you should have a summary statement about where you are and what you’ve done in that current industry. If you’re trying to explore other opportunities, then you’re going to want another resume that targets your transferable skills and the things that you’re trying to do in that industry. So yeah, absolutely. I know people that end up with three, four or five different versions of their resume and depending on what that job is looking for, that’s the resume that they’ll use to apply to. I also recommend that you customize your resume for every job you apply to that portfolio tool that we talked about. Go watch our videos on it. It is so slick. And you can customize a resume in a matter of just a few minutes to the job that you see on I hire and it will pull in all of the keywords that you need. So check that out. We’ve got some great tutorial videos on it, but yeah, make sure that you’re checking that out.

Brian McAllister (46:02):

Yeah, I love the idea of the functional resume For someone, especially if you’re considering a career change, it just helps you get a little better handle on your skills and matching those to the skills that you kind of see in the job ad as opposed to focused on, I did this from here to here, I did this from here to here, I did this from here to here. You’re delivering a message to the employer that says, I’ve got what you’re looking for, and it’s putting that right at the top of your resume as your functional skills.

Lori Cole (46:30):

Right. Alright, well that’s all the time we have for today. Thank you for being such an engaged audience. I love all of these questions. If we did not get to your question, and I saw a lot of things happening in chat, so if we didn’t get to your question, you can reach out to our customer success department, it’s customer [email protected] and we will connect you with the right person. I would also encourage you to make an appointment with your career advisor. You can find their picture and their calendar link on the homepage of the website and it will show you the next convenient open time that you can talk to somebody. Brian, thank you so much for being with us today and co-hosting this with me. You are just a gem. We really appreciate you.

Brian McAllister (47:21):

Thank you for having me, Lori, and good luck everybody.

Lori Cole (47:25):

Yeah,

Brian McAllister (47:25):

Stay positive.

Lori Cole (47:26):

That’s right. That’s right. Don’t forget to check your inbox tomorrow for a on-demand recording of this webinar and you can revisit it at any time and look at it at your convenience. And then thank you all again for joining us today. We hope you have a fantastic rest of your day. Keep rocking that job search like the superstars you are.