Restless but had a nice glass of Zinfandel

Once again another restless night,  but I did have a wonderful glass of Zinfandel.  2009 Zen of Zin old vine California  - yummy!  Nice and rich.  I don't dream about wine, not sure why but  I did think about how I am putting my new found extended vacation to use.

First, I am rediscovering the art of canning.  I used to can way back when the kids were little. We would go out and pick strawberries then make tons of jam.  My cupboards are now full of bread and butter pickles, relish, sweet pickle chips, corn relish, pickled beets, strawberry jam, blueberry jam. and peach jam.  My next adventure starts when I get my pressure canner and I can can Boston Baked Beans!

Secondly, I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason - sometimes we don't get to find out the reason, sometimes we lay awake at night trying to figure it out!  My other nugget is that I always learn from every experience.  So what have I learned so far from losing my job?

1. Life is too short to be stressed out.  I have been stressed for years now climbing up the corporate ladder.  What I have discovered is that success does not equal stress! You can be very successful but deal with the stress in a positive way.  My leadership coach has taught me that.  (Shout out to Dave Stoddard from Leaders Legacy, my coach)
2. You can't change how other people act, but you can change how you act towards them.
3. Life is an ever changing sport, there are winners and there are losers.  How you prepare for the race determines how you will do at the finish line.  However, you need to lose some races to figure out what you have to do to win.  I really should have compared this to football, my favorite sport. Okay, rephrase:  Life is an ever running football game......you need to prepare for each and every game. When you lose a game look at it as a learning experience, what do I need to do next time to come out on top?
4. Finding a job is hard work!  But I have done a lot of research on how to go about it. I will share some of what I have learned each day.

Ok, expanding on number 4, finding a  job is hard and there are things that you should be doing TODAY even when you are employed that will make it easier.  "Why should I be doing anything about finding a job when I am still employed?" you ask. Here's why:

• Companies don't have a sense of loyalty to their employees like they did 25 years ago and employees don't feel loyal to their companies either.  There is a great article by Jeremy Kingsly, in "The Conference Room" published March 11, 2013 regarding the issue. See link below.

By Jeremy Kingsley

The Conference Room

Published March 11, 2013

FOXBusiness

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/2013/03/11/is-loyalty-just-thing-past/#ixzz2c8hYUzl9

• If you are ready and the perfect opportunity arises then you can act quickly.

So what should you do now to prepare  yourself? The first thing to do is get your resume ready!

• If you already have a resume, update it with current information.
• If you don't have a resume create one. There are lots of sites online that you refer to for starting templates. 
• I have several versions of my resume -
• I have a long resume that lists every job I have had since 1990.  
• I  have my short resume that only goes back 10 years.  Most want to only see 10 years and sooner of experience; however I have been asked for a complete resume so it is easy to give when I already have it done.
• I also have resumes that I have customized for particular jobs I am applying for.  Example, if a company highlights several times in an ad that they are looking for a specific skill I make sure that I have it listed in my resume. I also pull keywords from the ad and make sure I reference those in my resume. That way when the hiring manager is reviewing my resume they can clearly see that I have the experience that they are looking for (that is if they ever get to read it).
• Tip - how to name your resume so you know what it is. First create a folder called "Resumes".  Always save your resume starting with your last name, that way employers always know whose it is. I can't tell you how many times people have sent me resumes and their name is not in the file name and I have to open it to figure out who it is.  You want to make it easy for an employer to hire you.  
• Here are examples of how I name my resume:
• SheridanResume-2013long
• SheridanResume-2013short
• SheridanResume-project management
• SheridanResume-consulting
• What do you put on your resume, what order, how much etc?
• Most sites recommend only a 2 page resume so that means you have to be very concise with your words.  Again, I have a long resume that has all my jobs back to 1990.  I can cut and paste from my long resume when I need to customize a resume to a job. That  way all the information is consistent.  (As I get older I forget a lot of the details.  Do it once and you don't have to remember it)
• Do not put your graduation dates from college.  Just list where you went and what your major was.   A lot of companies wean out applicants by the graduation dates on resumes. They can't legally not hire you because of your age but they can wean you out from the process to begin with.  Not putting the dates on gives them one less reason to drop you from the pile.
• Don't put a lot of fancy formatting on your resume (unless you are an artist, graphic designer, etc and that is part of the application).  Most employers load your resume into a database and search from this database. If you have a lot of fancy formatting it can mess up how it gets loaded into a database.  You want to make sure that everyone can find you.   

Well, enough for today.  I am waiting for the vet to call me when Smokey comes out of surgery.  The little thing  has eye cancer and is having her eye removed today to prevent the spread of the cancer, poor baby.  Mama is going to give her lots of loving tonight.

Hunting for the perfect night's sleep and bottle of wine

August 15, 2013.
Last night I lay awake trying to run job hunt strategies through my head. Should I use this search or that search, should I pay the $7,500 to a career guide, am I saying the right things during interviews, yada, yada, yada. So at about 3 am I decided in my mind that I needed to write about my experience for several reasons:

1. I can document my experience and get it out of my dreams
2. I can share all the information that I have gathered with others
3. I can get a good laugh now and then (you will see later)
4. My cats were getting annoyed that I kept tossing and turning, I could let them sleep, God only knows they need it more than me!
5. Lastly, I can sleep!!

Maybe I should say that I am recently unemployed (June 2013) which is new for me and I have embarked on journey to find the last great job of my career.

So the story starts way back before Jesus was a boy.   Back when Monster.Com had just started in the 1990's.  I am the typical Type A personality (and yes anal retentive as well).  I have always had a resume handy, I always have it updated and ready to go.  So when the guy I was dating sold his company and needed to find a job I said lets try Monster.Com.  He didn't have a resume handy, but I did so I used my information to show him how to set up an account and how easy it was. Well, guess what? I got a call not two days later from a company who I eventually went to work for!  Wow.  I learned a valuable lesson that day - if you have your resume out on the web people will come to you for jobs.

I have always kept my resume up to date, I even keep a "project tracker" for all the projects I have been part of (remember anal retentive).  This allows me to respond to prospective employers with detailed answers to questions quickly.  Anyone who wants to progress should consider keeping a project tracker not only to keep track of your projects but to let you know where you have gaps in your experience.

So back to sleeping.......  I mean job hunting

I have determined that the best way to job  hunt is to treat it like a job. I get up and go to my computer and spend at least 4 hours a day job hunting, researching or networking.  Ah, the elusive networking.  Yes it does work and it pays off.  I have never burned a bridge no matter how mad or upset I have been, it does not pay off to show it.  I have always taken the higher road.

Now the all important question:   What do I want for my perfect last job?  Geez, I wish I knew.  I think that is why I am restless and fidgety.  I have absolutely loved my past positions and companies.  I have been in healthcare for the past twenty years either in consulting or direct line management.  I have towed the line, wore the suit, dressed the part, played the part, followed all the rules.  But something is missing.

In June this summer a bunch of women from the office got together for a style party. What is a style party you ask? You get  a group of professional women who have nothing better to do on a weekend to come over to someone's house where you have snacks and wine (yes, I love wine, have I said that yet? I am a certified wino) and you bring  your favorite accessory that you never wear.  I brought my scarf that I purchased while in Paris. It is blue and turquoise and very "impressionist" inspired.  I also had on white capri pants and similar styled tank top.

We were all asked to gather around an easel, bring our wine and snacks and have a seat.  The setting was beautiful, we were out side in a pool area with gorgeous landscaping; it was very serene, well except for the neighbor mowing the lawn and the dog barking.

The style consultant, Sola, asked who wanted to go first.  Me, being such a shy person, raised my hand and said "I will".  Now let me clear, I had an ulterior motive.  I was thinking to myself, if this is really a silly exercise, I can get my part over with and sit back and drink wine and watch everyone else make a fool of themselves  as I would be done first.  I could also sneak out  if it got really boring. However, quite to the contrary it was pretty cool!  The first thing that happens is that Sola took my scarf and held it up to the group and asked them, when you see this what does it say to you about Linda?  The responses were spot on of who I felt I was: artistic, happy, free flowing ,fun, approachable etc.

The next question was "how does this differ from what you know and see of Linda at work?" Well, you could have stabbed me in the eye with a stick when I heard the responses.  One woman, who I hardly knew at all, said "she seems cold, unapproachable, very rigid, business like (aren't' I supposed to be business like as a VP?).  She then stated "I was floored when she came in dressed like she is. I expected her to come in wearing a suit".  Really? A suit on a Sunday at a party with wine?  I was floored, deflated, embarrassed, and so much more.  Glass of wine, heck no give me the bottle!  But, Sola brought it back to the scarf and reason why we were asked to bring our favorite accessory that we never wore.  What we look like at work is not always what and who we are. But people see what we wear and base their assumptions on that.   There are ways to bring my creative artistic side into my wardrobe Sola stated.

I was sold, I needed to hear more as I have felt that way for years.  If I had my way I would wear a turquoise suit to work with a yellow floral blouse but I didn't think that would not go over too well.  As it is, I try to  show my artistic creative side in my shoes and handbags  (did I tell you I have shoe and handbag fetish?).   I am getting to the point, trust me!  So this all ties back to "What do I want to do for my last great job?"

Trouble is I don't know quite yet but I do know that it has to allow me to be who I am, not be afraid of wearing my suit with colorful accessories.

Tomorrow I will opine on my search and how I have approached it so far.