By J. Larry Tyler, FACHE, FHFMA, CMPE, Master Career Coach for Senior Players

In today’s competitive job market, a good reference is more valuable than ever. But preparing a reference list needs to be done right, or you could end up hurting your chances of landing the job, rather than helping.

By Jim Wiederhold

When people hear the term “reputation repair,” it brings to mind extremely negative, even catastrophic, images. But reputation repair is broader than that in my mind. Managing your reputation is the work of every single professional, from those with a sterling reputation who are happy in their current situation, to the ones getting ready to make a career transition, to people dealing with the impact of negative press.

By J. Larry Tyler, FACHE, FHFMA, CMPE, Master Career Coach for Senior Players

When people in career transition are preparing for an interview, they tend to spend a lot of time practicing their answers to the questions that they think they’ll be asked. This is wise. You can almost guarantee you’ll be asked some form of the questions “Why are you interested in this position?” or “Tell us about a time when you ____” or “How have you made a difference in your previous organizations?”

By Jim Wiederhold

A lot of people looking for the next step in their career rely heavily on advertised openings and recruiters, but many jobs on the market are never made public. You lose a lot of the market if you wait to see what becomes available. Sending a marketing letter to the organizations you’d like to be part of—even if they don’t have any advertised openings—opens you up to opportunities you wouldn’t have otherwise.

By J. Larry Tyler, FACHE, FHFMA, CMPE, Master Career Coach for Senior Players

In your career transition, you will come across many job opportunities, and an idea of what search committees are looking for can help you discern which positions are a potential fit for your experience, skills, and career ambitions. Thankfully, figuring out what search committees want isn’t rocket science.

By Jim Wiederhold

Last month, I discussed the importance of increasing your activity and setting reasonable stretch goals to get the results you want in your career transition journey. One of the essential activities of someone who is looking for the next step in their career is submitting resumes and cover letters to a recruiter or an employer for a specific opportunity—what I like to call “getting paper out.”

By Jim Wiederhold

The old sales adage can be applied to career transition as well—activity equals results. Yet, this is where so many people fail. They don’t buy into this equation, limit their activity, and consequently limit their results. By focusing on those activities that you can control and ramping up the frequency of those activities, you are creating more opportunities to accomplish your goals.

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that insanity is defined as “doing the same things and expecting different results.” It’s a common saying because we all know it to be true: if you keep repeating the same actions, you will get the same outcomes.

By Jim Wiederhold

In a typical year, I tell my clients to anticipate a slow-down in their career transition momentum during the summer months. But this year, this may not be the case.

By Jim Wiederhold

In the career transition journey, there are some things you can control and some things you can’t. This is especially true when reaching out to people you’d like to connect with to expand your network. You can try to create touch points, but you can’t make them call you back. However, there are some steps you can take to increase the likelihood of making a connection with that person, and forming a relationship where there’s something in it for both parties.

By Jim Wiederhold

No matter whether someone leaves his or her company under positive or negative circumstances, everyone struggles with their “exit story.”

By Jim Wiederhold

Career transition can be one of the most challenging times in a person’s life. For some, the journey is difficult and demoralizing; for others, it is a time of great learning and refining values. The difference between these two types of experiences lies in your mindset. For a positive, successful career transition that helps you grow personally and professionally, pay attention to these factors: passion, attitude, confidence, baggage, expectations, and control.

By Jim Wiederhold

Over the past year, countless organizations have created COVID-related content to let the public know how they’re responding in “these unprecedented times.” While some articles and ads have been inspiring or moving, some organizations have overpromoted to the point of being obnoxious. Rather than taking a partnership approach, they’ve chosen a selling approach, and it lands all wrong at a time when the country is struggling.

By Jim Wiederhold

This time of the year, many people on the job hunt close up shop for the year, certain that no forward progress can be made between Thanksgiving and the New Year. This is simply not true. We all may be eager to put 2020 behind us, but there is still good work to be done to build a fulfilling life and career.

By Danielle Mellema

Entrepreneurs and small business owners are seeing the benefits of the still-growing podcasting trend. Podcast hosting is a (generally) low-cost way is to kill many birds with one stone—you can share your expertise, learn from others, deepen your network, position yourself as a thought-leader in your industry, and build a community with similar goals, interests, or ideals.

By Jim Wiederhold

Here’s a scenario I get asked about often:

You’re in the acute care market. With COVID-19 challenges and hospitals only just now starting to hire again, you look outside the acute care market for job opportunities. But you know from watching colleagues take time away from acute care and attempt to return, that it isn’t always possible.

By Claire Sakaoka

As freelancers and solopreneurs, we are always looking for ways to either cut overhead or create more time in the day. Or very often – BOTH. And when you are busy, creating and managing social media accounts fall to the bottom of your list. Admit it, at least one day a week, the thought crosses your mind, “I should be posting to __________.”

By Jim Wiederhold

Great news for those in a career transition: After many uncertain months, recruiters and
executives in my network are reporting that hiring is starting to pick back up. It’s not back to
normal, but it’s heading in the right direction.

By Jim Wiederhold - Right now, the job market is experiencing significant changes. People are finding themselves unemployed in increasing number who never thought they would lose their job. And with so many people looking for only a handful of open positions, it’s a terribly competitive situation.

By Jim Wiederhold - When I meet with people who are starting their career transition journey, I often ask if they have a record of their accomplishments from their previous positions. Most often, people assure me that the information is stored “in their head.”