re - Energising your career move or job search (Part 1)

This is the first of a series of four posts looking at ways to re - Energise your career move or job search. Today's environment creates a challenge to all job seekers, it is now an employers market, turn around times are incredibly slow and the competition for positions is fierce. Getting into the game requires new levels of thinking and a creative approach. In today's post I want to look at the area of self marketing. Self marketing is essentially getting your name out there and getting noticed, first things first you have get to work on the "self" piece and this boils down to confidence. Here are three things I believe you can do to help build your self confidence;

1) Self talk- do you notice how you talk to yourself from one end the day to next? (for the sceptics if you just said no! hmmm something to think about). Do you listen to what you are saying? In order to create the right frame of mind your self talk must be positive, "I have a lot to offer", "this is a great opportunity for me", you need to actively work hard to remove the negative words in your current vocabulary and create a positive story.

Tip: try taking some time each day and writing down your thoughts and then reflecting on them, this will give you a picture or your current story. 

There is an old saying "the quality of ones thinking determines the quality of ones life" 

2) Personal Brand - it is all about image, who you are and the statement you make to the world. It is very easy to slip into casual mode if you are not working and that's fine, however if you do have to go somewhere, say into town, dress for the occasion, wear something nice who knows who you may meet! I would also add if you do have some redundancy money, invest in a new suit (ladies and gents), shirts, blouse, shoes and accessories. They must look and feel expensive and be of the highest quality, this will not alone make you feel good, it will also make a statement about who you are. Now is a good time to invest, there are sales on everywhere and I might add it is not about spending riduculous money, it is however about quality! For the guys go see Gerry Magee in the Baumler shop on Dawson street and tell him I sent you. 

3) Breathing - yes breathing! that old process where we get some oxygen into the lungs. Believe it or not breathing is quite an under rated process, you may not think it is not all that important when it comes to building self confidence, however get it right and see how your performance may improve. Have you ever wondered why you sometimes get sweaty palms or butterflies in your stomach? ever wondered why that tingle appears in the back of your throat just as you are about to speak? Well, when we are faced with stressful situations are levels of adrenaline increase are internal functions begin to speed up, what is required during these stressful times is.... yes you guessed it OXYGEN!!! and lots of it. So how do you make sure you are getting enough oxygen? Follow this simple exercise http://cas.umkc.edu/casww/brethexr.htm

Now the marketing piece, in advance of discussing networking, job search and interviews there are a couple of things you need to do to get the marketing piece right. This will require some quality relfection time, a pen/pencil and some blank pages. You will need to create a number of lists; Your skills, your values, your achievements, your competencies, your value added proposition, your strengths, your weaknesses, your beliefs, your plans, your goals, your mission in life, your purpose, what you have to offer the world or an employer. Ask a lot of questions and right down everything that comes into your head.

When you have this completed, put it aside and go out and do something exciting, when you come back add to it. When you have a final version you can then begin to create your marketing material. 

Your CV - 1000 words, two pages, lots of white space, simple, clear and concise. Always asking yourself "so what"

Your 2 minute networking speech - who you are, what you do, who you would like to talk too, what you have to offer

Your 30 sec elevator speech - who you are, what you do, how big an asset you are to someones business

Your linked in profile - similar to CV

Remember in today's environment opportunities are presenting themselves in the most unlikely ways, you must be prepared for all eventualities, meeting someone in a coffee shop, in a pub or on the street. Think of it like this, if you meet someone on Grafton Street you have not seen in a few years, guaranteed the question "so what are you up to?" will come up. Instead of saying "I was made redundant last month" what about "Up until a couple of weeks ago I was working in a really exciting area of IT, what I am doing now is looking for opportunities in cloud computing, it's the next big think, what about you? You never know their Dad's, sister in law's, brother could own a company and is looking for someone.......

Next time Networking - if you are not on linked in go there now http://www.linkedin.com/in/aarondownes30