Coaching Mature Workers

Today's workshop was quite inspiring and reignited my job search focus. The woman who moderated the workshop, Jean Bunke, was AWESOME . . . she spoke to us as though we were sitting down for coffee; not over our heads or beneath us, just plain stuff. She in our age bracket (mature) and feels our pain. The job search of today is not what is was five years ago or even a year ago. We need to market and sell ourselves just to get in the door and this mainly done using nothing more than technology -- if we fit their perfect profile then we've got a chance. However, she told us not to dismiss those job descriptions in which we don't fit all the qualifications. She told us to think about if we were looking for the perfect mate; what are our chances of finding him or her? If I'm looking for someone who's tall, dark, handsome, rich, fun to be with, witty, etc. would I settle for fun to be with and witty? Probably (mmm, I think I did). Anyway, employers are much the same -- they want the perfect match but will settle for someone close to ideal. So, back to Marketing 101 -- get a foot in the door and wow them with how wonderful I am.

So with this new bit of knowledge under my belt, next week I'm going to concentrate on:

1. Revamping my resume . . . use more action words . . . emphasize my awesome work ethic . . . all the computer programs I'm proficient in . . . my success rates, etc.
2. Studying open positions and modify my resume to best fit each position (I've been blasting the openings with my generic one)
3. Doing same for my cover letter
4. Updating my Linkedin profile
5. Getting out and walking to clear my head, energize, and build focus

Wish me luck :-)