by Angela Copeland | Aug 29, 2016 | Advice, Newsletter, Unemployment
It seems that every week there’s another rumor. Some big corporation is going to lay off its employees. A company’s going to relocate to another city. A department is going to be restructured.
Whatever rumor you’re hearing, it can make you nervous. It can even keep you up at night. You may wonder how long it will take to find another job – or worse, if you’ll find one at all. What if you have to move? What if you can’t sell your house? Most of all, you may worry about how the situation could impact your family’s future.
If you find yourself in this boat, you’re not alone. Whether or not a layoff ever occurs, the thought can be daunting. The best thing you can do is be prepared. In fact, this even goes for when there are no rumors at all. It’s better to start early than late.
First, ensure that you have a personal household budget established. If worst ever came to worst, you’d want to know just how much you could scale back. Separate fixed expenses, like your mortgage, from variable expenses, like fancy dinners out. Consider cutting back now, in order to build up a cushion in the event that something did happen.
Next, start cleaning up your resume. Be sure that it contains all the pertinent facts about your job, and your special accomplishments. A good place to look for these is in your annual performance evaluation. Many employees are given measurable goals each year. These are great to show on your resume.
Update your LinkedIn profile and ensure that social media sites like Facebook are locked down. The last thing you want to do right now is send a negative or inappropriate message about who you are.
Begin networking. Go to social events. Spend time with friends. Seek out professional organizations. Whatever you enjoy most, put time into building your network. And keep backup copies of your contacts’ phone and email addresses handy in case you need them. Many jobs are found through networking rather than through Internet job sites.
Start applying for jobs. It can take months to find a new job, especially if you’re in a unique field or if you’re highly compensated. It’s better to start now when you don’t need a job than when you have no choice.
Finally, check to ensure you have at least one interview-ready look. If you were called tomorrow for the perfect job, would you have something to wear to the interview? You don’t need a wardrobe overall; one simple black suit and polished black shoes will do.
Layoff rumors can make anyone nervous, but the worst thing you can do is not be prepared. Whether or not you’re hearing rumors at your work, it’s always a good idea to be ready for anything. Today’s economy is tough, and the job market is more competitive than ever. Following these steps will keep you covered and will help you to conquer any rumors you’re hearing.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Also, be sure to subscribe to my Copeland Coaching Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher where I discuss career advice every Tuesday! If you’ve already heard the podcast and enjoy it, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
@CopelandCoach
by Angela Copeland | Aug 29, 2016 | Job Posting
Hilton Worldwide is seeking a Project Manager of Implementation. This job is remotely based!
The Implementation Project Manager will be responsible for the offsite management and delivery of a detailed implementation plan including tasks such as delivering a kick off call, hosting weekly calls, liaising with relevant stakeholders and the onsite implementation team to ensure that the system implementation delivers the intended business benefits, causes minimal disruption to the operation in each property and is carried out to the highest satisfaction of internal and external clients.
To learn more, or to apply online, visit the Hilton website.
by Angela Copeland | Aug 29, 2016 | Job Posting
McKinsey Solutions is seeking a Head of Engineering – Office of the CTO.
You will be responsible for building a world-class Engineering capability for our Solution builders to tap into, both within the firm and through a network of carefully selected software development partners.
You’ll leverage your deep, hands-on experience in leading development teams and your market connections to attract top talent to your team. You’ll establish current and long-range engineering objectives, plans, and policies for McKinsey New Ventures and you’ll grow and manage our portfolio of external development partners to assist and augment our Engineering team.
Additionally, you’ll create technical budgets and resource allocation and resource acquisition plans to align with the functional and business goals and objectives. You’ll also collaborate with our Solution leaders to develop a suitable Engineering approach to delivering their products, and individual Engineering plans that ensure timely ongoing software releases and new product builds in order to meet overall business growth, revenue and cost targets.
To learn more, or to apply online, visit the McKinsey website.
by Angela Copeland | Aug 28, 2016 | Job Posting
Apple is seeking an Evangelist of App Frameworks and Graphics.
As a member of Apple’s Technology Evangelism team, you’ll work closely with strategic app developers to help them understand how to prototype and build modern, state-of-the-art apps for iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS. To qualify for this role, you must possess a passion for software development, demonstrate aptitude with iOS app development, and live and breathe Apple. This role offers the chance of a lifetime to directly impact the architecture of apps used by countless people everyday around the world.
To learn more, or to apply online, visit the Apple website.
by Angela Copeland | Aug 27, 2016 | Job Posting
Woodford Reserve is seeking a VIP Trade Media Manager.
Responsible for coordinating, orchestrating and booking the trade, VIP, media groups (including Single Barrel program bookings) visiting the Woodford Reserve Homeplace. In addition, support Master Distiller with tastings, private tours and flavor wheel tastings. Work closely with Brown-Forman meeting planning staff, sales and marketing organizations as well as other Woodford Reserve Homeplace staff members.
To learn more, or to apply online, visit the Woodford Reserve website.
by Angela Copeland | Aug 26, 2016 | Job Posting
Texas Instruments is seeking a Digital Design Engineer.
Responsibilities:
• Work with analog and systems teams in developing system/chip specs
• Create micro architectures from chip spec
• RTL development and verification (RTL and Gate level)
• Static timing constraint generation and analysis/signoff
• Proactively identify risks and drive solutions to mitigate them.
• Lab eval and silicon debug on new designs
• Contribute to RTL design and verification flow improvement strategies.
• Detailed documentation
To learn more, or to apply online, visit the Texas Instruments website.
by Angela Copeland | Aug 26, 2016 | Job Posting
EMC is seeking a Technology Evangelist.
The Technical Evangelist will work with a global team of evangelists responsible for representing Virtustream at EMC Executive Briefing Center (EBC) meetings, thought leadership events and social media outreach and content generation. This customer-facing team will provide a crucial feedback loop between the market and Virtustream product leadership, built credibility for, and awareness of, our unique solutions, and be the face of the company at EMC-led EBC prospect and customer meetings. The team will initially be comprised of a leader and two technical evangelists, each aligned to a specific EMC EBC – Hopkinton, Santa Clara and London. The team is expected to expand further over time.
To learn more, or to apply online, visit the EMC website.
by Angela Copeland | Aug 25, 2016 | Job Posting
Salesforce is seeking a Director of Community.
Responsibilities:
- Engage with the passionate community – listen, respond, delight, gain trust and connect.
- Leads engagement programs to encourage members to participate and to empower users to become super users and MVPs.
- Provides a pulse of the community internally; Be the eyes and ears of the Community to key departments such as Product, Support and Marketing
- Gather and identify trending/hot topics on the community and present it to the Product Teams.
- Leads our IdeaExchange and all customer innovation efforts, ensuring customer ideas are integrated into the product planning cycle and into the roadmap.
- Creates content to highlight and demonstrate Success Community’s leadership; provides thought leadership content to the press and blogs
- Curates community knowledge to be used by key stakeholders (marketing, customer stories, marketing, social media, support)
- Builds community programs into internal and external events
- Proactively work with customers and product teams to ensure that unstructured feedback and conversations are gathered in the form of: user research, events, advisory boards, etc.
- Works actively with the Communities product team to maximize use of the platform as well as provide valuable feedback on the product
- Works with website team to ensure consistent and constant presence of Success Community on the homepage
- Participate in the Community Management network to stay fresh and relevant
- Measure, analyze, track, report, measure, analyze, track, report – repeat.
To learn more, or to apply online, visit the Salesforce website.
by Angela Copeland | Aug 25, 2016 | Job Posting
WhatsApp (part of Facebook) is seeking a Public Policy Manager.
Responsibilities:
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Develop and execute WhatsApp’s global policy strategy
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Identify, monitor, and analyze policy issues affecting WhatsApp at the international, federal, and state level
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Represent WhatsApp in meetings with government officials and elected members
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Develop policy positions on global Internet policy issues affecting WhatsApp
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Build coalitions with other organizations to advance WhatsApp’s policy goals
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Help to create innovative programs for outreach to policy makers
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Articulate WhatsApp policy positions in briefing papers, consultation responses and internal policy meetings
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Advise WhatsApp teams on public policy matters to guide development of products, services and policies
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Communicate WhatsApp’s positions at public events and with media
To learn more, or to apply online, visit the Facebook website.
by Angela Copeland | Aug 24, 2016 | Career Corner Column, Media, Networking
Have you ever wondered where you can make the biggest investment into your career? At first glance, another advanced degree might make sense. Or, perhaps an online certification course would be beneficial. Although these things will help to beef up your resume, there’s a cheaper alternative that very well may be more impactful: networking.
Unfortunately, networking can be a foreign (and potentially scary) concept. People often say, “I don’t want to be a bother” or “Why would that person want to talk to me?” It can be hard to know where to begin.
When I was a child, I thought of networking as a grown up way of making new friends. In a certain regard, that’s exactly what it is. When you are in high school or college, you often make friends with your classmates, your scout group, or your sports team. Friends are readily available in a way we rarely experience as adults.
Although networking contacts don’t fill the gap of long term friendships, thinking of networking as making new friends can often help to get started and to stay committed. Similar to friendships, networking is a long term commitment that requires nurturing. It’s an investment in the future. It’s not a one-time event.
Many people try to network only when they’re looking for a job. And, it makes sense. We’re all busy with work and our personal lives. Networking is just another chore to do. But, think of it from another perspective. Should a networking contact recommend someone for a job that they don’t know? It’s hard for a networking contact to speak about your character if they don’t really know you or have never worked with you.
When you’re ready to begin networking, start by looking for local professional events. There are many groups designed for certain ages or industries that can be found on websites such as Meetup.com. These events are often open to guests and are an easy way to get started. An even better way to grow your network is through existing friends and family. And, if you’re feeling adventurous, try introducing yourself to someone you don’t know on LinkedIn.
If you start to have self-doubt, and wonder if you’re going to bother other people, just remember this. The most senior executives at a company rarely got there on smarts alone. They’ve honed their own people skills, and spent years networking over coffees and lunches. In the same way that you’re looking to have networking meetings now, they have in the past.
Not everyone will have time to network, but it’s rarely a reflection on you. The person may be going through a difficult time at home, or may be extra busy at work. If someone declines your invitation, or doesn’t respond at all, move on to the next person.
Even a handful of high quality contacts can make all the difference when you’re growing your career. And, like anything else, it takes practice. With enough time and experience, you’ll be networking with no fear.
Angela Copeland is CEO and founder of Copeland Coaching and can be reached at CopelandCoaching.com or on Twitter at @CopelandCoach.
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