BELIEVE!

"We are what we believe we are." ~ C.S. Lewis

Every day I am fortunate to talk with someone who is still unemployed and share job seeking ideas. There is a common thread that runs between those who have been unemployed for a long while. The thread is a diminished belief in themselves.

I want to encourage each of you to try and defeat the urge to stop believing in your passion, talent, ability, experience and expertise. You need to empower yourself to see your future as successful.

When doubt comes knocking, DON'T OPEN THE DOOR!

Each of you contributed some great things to your last employer. Don't lose sight of those accomplishments and capabilities. Remind yourself what projects, programs, creative successes you once had and keep your eye on the goal to return to a position where you can once again make a difference. While you are waiting for the right opportunity to seize, volunteer in one of the many organizations in our area who need people with your gifts, talents and compassion.

Not only will this give you a different perspective, it will help you resuscitate your belief in yourself. An additional by-product of volunteering is that your resume will be filled with something to discuss in the interview of what you have been doing to keep yourself busy during your unemployment.

Just pick a mantra to repeat each morning (good to do as you look at yourself in the mirror) and remind yourself: "I am amazing. I will be a treasure to an organization. They will be fortunate to have me. I BELIEVE IN MYSELF"

"Don't feed your mind with negative thoughts. If you do, you will come to believe them." ~Catherine Pulsifer

GOOD NEWS: According to TopJobsUSA.com, as of today there are: 168,081 overall jobs in California, 24,742 jobs within 50 miles of Temecula, and 1,499 jobs within 25 miles of Temecula. These figures are up beyond any other week since I've been tracking (24 months). Be encouraged!

CONGRATULATIONS: Michelle G. just accepted a position with Hemet Unified School District. Glad to see the local school districts are still hiring!

BACTS FACT: "Wear a suit of confidence to your next interview. It will indicate to the recruiter that you believe in yourself and you will appear remarkable and memorable."

THAT'S IT: Unemployment benefits were finally extended which, no doubt, has helped many of you this week. You need to step up your game in terms of job searching as there are now many workers who are voluntarily leaving their jobs to seek other employment. This puts you in competition with others who have been working. That's why I suggest to fill up your time with volunteering (during your job search), so you resume will remain competitive. Look again at the numbers of jobs within a half an hour from Temecula. Go after these jobs and believe that YOU ARE THE CANDIDATE OF CHOICE.

"Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble, but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy." ~Norman Vincent Peale.

Have a good week everyone,

Jan

Jan M. Smith
Inland Management Group
Human Resource Consulting & Support to the Service Industry
(951) 302-6483
www.inlandmgtgroup.com
www.janmsmith.com
Twitter: @temecula_hr
Facebook: http://facebook.com/#!/InlandManagementGroup
LinkedIn: http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/janmsmith

CHANCE

"The successful man is the one who had the chance and took it." ~ Roger Babson

A “chance” may be defined as an opportunity; a possibility that comes due to a favorable combination of circumstances. It may also be defined as luck; an unpredictable and unknown phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another. It may also be defined as the possibility of taking a risk in lieu of some sort of a positive outcome.

Regardless of its definition, those who recognize they have been handed a chance need to take hold of it and see where it leads. If you remember from my "Networking" seminar, I mentioned that over 80% of you will find your next job via networking (or a chance meeting....remember my story of meeting someone in the post office line which resulted in a consulting assignment?)

Let me share with you a story of how powerful chance is...
Weeks ago, I took a chance and put out a call to action in one of the BACTS Updates asking if any of you were interested in participating in a new reality TV show, Life911. The basic concept of the show is to provide assistance to a deserving family. In my message, I asked you to respond if you were interested.

A couple of you did.

Actually, one response was from the wife of BACTS participant, Ken S. He must have felt compelled to share my message with his wife, who works for the American Heart Association. Ken lives near a family with two young children who, along with the mother, have severe life threatening heart conditions. Ken's wife took a chance and shared their story with the show's producer, and before long, the family she recommended was selected to be a potential for the pilot show.

Additionally, this family has already been a recipient of a recent Temecula fundraiser and will most likely be spotlighted on the new TV show. I want to thank Ken and his wife for grabbing the chance to make a difference in someone's life.

A response. A chance. A result.

"I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time." ~ Ecclesiastes 9:11

Please believe that your chance for a new job will come. Maybe it's this week or the next, but it WILL come!

GOOD NEWS: There are new jobs continually being posted on all of the major sites and aggregate sites. Keep searching out opportunities and responding to job postings.

CONGRATULATIONS: Heard from a few of you that you are getting call backs from initial interviews. Keep up the great work, and don't forget to let me know if you accept an offer!

BACTS FACT: "Consider every single person you come in contact with this week as a lucky encounter. You never know who they may know, and the person they might connect you with could be the lead to your next job."

THAT'S IT: Think back to all the opportunities you have had in the past. How did you get your last job? How about your last promotion? How did you meet your spouse? How did you find out about the BACTS program? All of these required a part chance, a part luck, and part preparation.

Just remember, there is no time in the history of the world, where there was a storm that didn't end. Be ready for your rainbow. If you really want to find work, be open to, and ready for, your chance.

"I will prepare and some day my chance will come." ~ Abraham Lincoln

Have a great week everyone,

Jan

Jan M. Smith
Inland Management Group
Human Resource Consulting & Support to the Service Industry
(951) 302-6483
www.inlandmgtgroup.com
www.janmsmith.com
Twitter: @temecula_hr
Facebook: http://facebook.com/#!/InlandManagementGroup
LinkedIn: http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/janmsmith

Brand Yourself 4 Success

"Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own company: 'Me Inc.' To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You." - Tom Peters

I recently met with a friend at our local Coffee Bean to discuss her interest to re-enter the job market after years of raising her daughter. I pointed to the cup in my hand and used the analogy of how getting a job requires an individual to brand themselves like coffee houses brand their to-go cups .

As a major tea lover, I'm hitting up the majority of the coffee/tea houses wherever I go, and I see a lot of different cups. I often wonder why some of these places chose to use cups without any branding. Plain, vanilla, uninteresting, and often not memorable.

It's the logo, or cup design that we often identify with a particular organization. This is how it needs to be for you as a job seeker. You should be working on branding yourself for success. In this job market you have to stand out, and you can't be like the plain coffee cup, you must have a presence with the following:

• Appearance: Do you have what it takes to present yourself with an attractive and interesting resume? Have you invested in your own professional appearance for the interview?
  
• Personality: Can you "turn it on" in an interview to appear interesting and engaging, enough to be remarkable and memorable?
  
• Offerings: Have you figured out how to communicate in the resume and interview what you can do differently than your competitor?
  
• Definition: Why will a recruiter remember you after the interview? Will you be like a non-descript coffee cup or one with an interesting logo?

Stand out as a unique product. Your goal is to get the attention of the recruiter and get them to perceive your value to their organization.

CONGRATULATIONS: Heard from a few of you that you are getting call backs from initial interviews. Keep up the great work, and don't forget to let me know if you accept an offer!

BACTS FACT: "You can’t be ‘vanilla or plain’ as a job seeker today. You must find a way to stand out with an interesting brand that will allow decision makers in the company to remember who you are long after the interview."

THAT'S IT: What’s all this talk about the logo on a coffee cup and what does that have to do with me, the job seeker? Ask yourself, this question about your personal brand: “Why should anybody want to hire me?” Every day ask, “How can I communicate my unique value message today? “ This is about stepping up your game in this job seeking market.

Go out this week and make an impact on the job seeking world! You can do it. You each have something unique to share. Work on the few things that you need to pay attention to and you'll head in the right direction.

"When you brand yourself properly, the competition becomes irrelevant.” Dan Schawbel

Good luck everyone!
Jan

Jan M. Smith
Inland Management Group
Human Resource Consulting & Support to the Service Industry
(951) 302-6483
www.inlandmgtgroup.com
www.janmsmith.com
Twitter: @temecula_hr
Facebook: http://facebook.com/#!/InlandManagementGroup
LinkedIn: http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/janmsmith

FREEDOM

"Freedom is the oxygen of the soul." ~Moshe Dayan



I hope all of you enjoyed a break from job-seeking yesterday and had a chance to just be in the moment on the July 4th Independence Day holiday. It's amazing how this day can remind us how important freedom is to us.

Today is a new day and we are officially halfway through 2010. I always like to look at the month of July as a second "New Year". Most of us wake up on January 1st, make goals and commitments, and six months later realize our goals have not been met.

If you have been unemployed since January 1st, look at this month as a second chance for financial freedom. Figure out what you have been doing which has proven to be productive and that which have not, in your job search. Set new goals to reach with regard to your job search.

A few things to do differently this "New Year"...

• Spend a minimum of 1 hour each day on your job search. Do not let a day go by without doing something toward finding your next position.
• Get on LinkedIn TODAY. Prepare your profile, and join the BACTS Group.
• Attend a networking event this month.
• Select 10 companies you want to work for, and look on their website. Find out if they are hiring. Look at LinkedIn to see if you are connected to anyone in these companies and make an introduction via LinkedIn.
• Think of 5 other jobs other than what you have done in the past, and conduct a search for opportunities in these alternate positions.
• Sign up for "Alerts" in www.simplyhired.com to get notifications of new jobs posted each day within selected criteria.
• Obtain business cards and make a commitment to hand out 2 cards EVERY day to someone new.
• Look at the job posting you are applying to and make sure key words appear on your submitted resume.
• Look into training for technology you need to be up to speed in the job market.
• Explore going back to school and find out if there is grant money available.

GOOD NEWS: Automobile Club of Southern California is holding a Direct Sales Agent Trainee Job Fair. Thursday, July 8th, 4:00pm – 7:00pm3333 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 (Enter from South Coast Drive)Priority will be given to pre-registered applicants. To pre-register, please submit your resume at the Job Fair posting on our Website at https://autoclub.tms.hrdepartment.com/cgi-bin/a/highlightjob.cgi?jobid=7159&lcid=en-US . Orange County Job Fair coming up on Tuesday, July 13th, 10:30am - 2:00pm, Raddison Hotel, John Wayne Airport, Orange County. More information: http://www.choicecareerfairs.com/employers/.

I know many of you have attended these with mixed reviews, but it only takes one good contact at one of these "networking" events to strike gold! Remember, financial freedom is what you are seeking, and the first step is finding a job! Consider attending one or both of these "networking" events this month.

CONGRATULATIONS: To everyone who has persevered the first half of the year. To those of you who had interviews last week and this week: Good luck to you! Please let me know if you find a new position.


BACTS FACT: "Don't appear negative during the interview about the length of your job search. Any appearance of negativity will not be well received by Hiring Manager."

THAT'S IT: Freedom....we all want it...we all strive for the ability to have enough to pay our bills, to be able to something out of the ordinary and not worry about how to pay for it, to not be afraid of the mail in the mailbox, to feel productive, and to feel good about ourselves again. It's still within reach for all of you. You've come this far so don't give up. You are in the second half of this year and things are beginning to look up. Stay on track and keep freedom in eye sight. Please do not feel isolated or alone.

There are over 275 BACTS participants to reach out to via the BACTS LinkedIn Group or through my Facebook Fan Page, http://facebook.com/#!/InlandManagementGroup. I'm working on a BACTS "Meet Up" to be held at a local business in August. Details to follow...If you are interested in more information on this networking event, please send me an email.

"I know but one freedom and that is the freedom of the mind. " ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I hope this new beginning of the second half of 2010 brings you much independence and freedom with a new job offer!

Jan