4Sight Coaching

Job seekers, your time is NOW: Q1 through Q2.

You often see us posting about taking care of yourself throughout the grind of today's job search. We still will.

But today, the message is to THROW DOWN THE HAMMER - as much as you can, and in as balanced way as possible - over the next few months.

With the exception of certain seasonal industries, many employers operate on a calendar fiscal year. Budgets renew and allocate for hiring. (Not all, but enough to create a pattern and feed into a general strategy).

Here's our suggestion...

JANUARY: "NO POSTINGS" NETWORKING.

As leaders return after the holidays to catch-up, tackle performance reviews & appraisals, review year-end data, etc. they are often not (quite yet) focusing on hiring. This is the ideal time to get on the radar of your target employers. Connect, message, initiate slow, GENUINE, HUMAN (NOT AI) conversations. The timing here is such that you'll be getting ahead of the upcoming job postings, which is the strategy.

FEBRUARY: SAME AS JANUARY.

But start to keep an eye out for a first wave of postings. Continue lightly, authentically and collaboratively nurturing new connections. (View them as real humans with whom you can interact and add value to and learn about each other... not just as a potential job contact).

MARCH through MAY: 1-2 COMBO.

Steer any new connections towards open job focus as you see fit/if you see a posting. View this as helping each other; job opportunity AND business impact discussion.

Apply to open jobs as you see fit, but first target where you've built relationships and created familiarity prior to the posting. Keep looking for new postings, and following up to cold applications with swift, genuine and value-focused direct networking.

Continue building relationships to get on peoples' radars early... always.

We don't have a crystal ball - we don't know what Q1/Q2 hiring will be like in such a challenging outlier of market dynamic. This is simply what's typical. Maybe in this current market, we'll see a similar pattern but just softer.

Now, we know you may already be tired from the grind of last year. It's heavy. And the weight of the world makes it heavier. So go as hard as you feel that you can.

But in general, NOW IS THE TIME. Hit it hard, but pace yourself and exert as much focus on self-care as you can.

The silence. This is often the 2nd thing people experience after a layoff, behind the initial feelings of shock.

You are not alone in this. The silence is deafening after you spend 40+ hours/week alongside your team & collaborators, pouring your time and energy into your work, firing messages & emails back and forth, hopping from meeting to meeting... and within minutes or next-day you're sitting alone at your home computer; no Teams or Slack; no work email open; total silence (and loneliness). Doesn't matter if you were in-person or a remote worker. And oftentimes, the silence is more profound for those who work remotely. They've been used to that same room and the same desk where they'd tackle the daily grind alongside their fellow humans... and suddenly their company laptop sits powered off for good.

When I talk to those who've been freshly laid off, the abrupt silence and loneliness is one of the most unexpected, hard-hitting impacts they experience. It's grief. Just add that to the other feelings of sadness, anger, and/or fear (of the future) one experiences immediately after a layoff.

If the silence or loneliness is too much, take care of yourself and get away from your home office. Get out for a walk or run some errands. When using your personal computer to plan your next steps or start job searching or networking, get out of the house and do it from a coffee shop or public library. Ease back into that chair and desk when you feel ready.

For more tips & resources: 4sightcoaching[dot]com/resources

Ben Foster appeared on Minnesota's KSTP 5 to talk about "ghost jobs" yesterday evening. Catch the segment, here:

Have you applied for a job that doesn’t exist? Here’s why it happens. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, there were about two million more open jobs than positions filled in August, but experts explained that all those listings are real.

In this market, you MUST leverage LinkedIn for 2 job search use cases: (1) general proactive networking with organizations of interest; (2) following up to all 'cold' applications, after you apply. This may seem forward and a bit uncomfortable to some, but unfortunately it's the new reality. Here's how to do it (including what to write)...

Locate your contact of interest, either the hiring manager of your role/the role to which you're applying; their skip-level; and for an application follow-up... a recruiter whom you believe may oversee hiring for that role, function and/or division.

Invite them to connect on LinkedIn (** with a personalized message**), and/or send them an InMail, if you have those available.

For general networking:
"𝘏𝘪 [𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦], 𝘐'𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 [𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺], 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘺 [𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘱/𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘟𝘠𝘡/𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 '𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘦' 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦]. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 20-𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 [𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺] 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴? 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶." (You won't always get a response, but if you do this with 5-6 people, you may get a couple who say yes).

For application follow-up:
"𝘏𝘪 [𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦], 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 ["𝘑𝘰𝘣 𝘛𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦" + 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘐𝘋/𝘳𝘦𝘲 #]. 𝘎𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘺 [𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘱/𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘟𝘠𝘡/𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 '𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘦' 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦]... 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦!" (They may not respond, but as a veteran in-house recruiter, 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦 when I say that - behind the scenes - they often 𝘥𝘰 pass along the interest to the right person.

This is simply 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 in today's market. If you're not doing this, you're behind. layoffs

For more tips & tools, visit www.4sightcoaching.com/resources

FREE step-by-step POST-LAYOFF guide for what to do if you experience a layoff (from minutes after you're notified through months into your job search).
www.4sightcoaching.com/resources

Highlights from Ben's segment on KARE11 yesterday, addressing like the ones at Target and Amazon yesterday:

First things to do after you're laid off:
- Make time to take care of yourself, as unexpected involuntary job loss ranks just below the loss of a loved one and divorce in terms of traumatic events.
- Add all stakeholders you can think of to your LinkedIn contacts.
- While it's fresh, jot down everything you've done since the last time you updated your resume. ** IF YOU STILL HAVE ACCESS, RETRIEVE DATA ABOUT YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ASAP. This will feed into your resume updates. You want to cite ' #'s and '%'s and '$'s into your resume, and you need that company info before your access is cut off.
- Run your exit paperwork past an HR attorney; consider finding a freelancer on Upwork or Fiverr if you don't know any (there are many available, who are reasonably-priced); at minimum, run the paperwork through ChatGPT or Google AI for summarization of key components in simple terms.

Make a plan for your new unemployed routine. Incorporate:
- Job search & networking sprint/focus sessions.
- Breaks and time for self care.
- Consistent bedtime and wake-up times (keep the routine).

You may:
- Feel like you need to get out there ASAP, and start to "panic apply." DON'T. Make a plan first; field & and explore all the initial resources that you'll be offered; but try to maintain control of your life. "Panic applying" after a layoff is your brain and body continuing to be in reaction mode - you should still maintain control of elements in your life. Recognizing this, and making time for self-care is one huge way you can do this. This job market is tough, and your search will likely be a long-distance run (versus a sprint) - you need to pace yourself.
- Have trouble sleeping, either with difficulty falling asleep or with waking up early thinking that you have to hit the job search. Recognize that your body is doing; go with it from time to time if it feels right; but also address this is professional resources if it's starting to impact you on a daily basis. (Stress and anxiety often surface with a layoff).

You are not alone, and you got this.
www.4sightcoaching.com

[4SIGHT COACHING]: Traditional outplacement is, out. Have your HR leaders contact us today to confidentially discuss the best, most results-oriented and affordable options for your people. 720-319-8925

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