‘Hey Miss Jane, I’m scared!’

Well, hello there lovely readers. Happy June! As a career specialist, my work centres around answering the many questions my client’s voice, whether they’re striving to keep ahead of the game in their current careers or navigating a redundancy. For many, both scenarios can feel like white water rafting in swollen rapids with only one paddle. Survive or drown? Exhilarating for a few; frightening or downright scary for others.

I’ve been there, and I bombarded my own career coach with a number of those questions myself. Bet a few questions have been on your lips too. With this in mind, here’s the top 20 right here – and my opinion, based on my knowledge, experience and best practice. We’ll address these in more detail over the coming months.

Top 20 common questions…

‘I’m devastated about losing my job; why me?’

Most of the time, the decision has nothing to do with you personally. It’s a cost-cutting exercise and a fact of life these days. The role has become redundant, not you. It’s a fact that your kids will experience 5+ redundancies in their lifetime, however, they simply won’t wait around for it to happen, they’ll already be preparing for the next. 

‘I’m stuck, and I don’t know what I want to do next.’

That’s ok, many people feel the same way, and that’s where a good career coach comes in. They have the tools to help you make good decisions about your career future. Meanwhile, know that you have over 700 everyday skills, a good many of them you’re good at and enjoy doing. Start thinking about those. As well ask yourself ‘if I had a magic wand, and pay and prestige were not an issue just for one moment, what would I love to be doing? 

“I’m too old; people won’t want to employ me.’

A common assumption; however, provided you’ve stayed up to speed with technological changes, know your worth, and market them effectively, your worldly experience can be of great value to a prospective employer. You just need to know how to market that talent.

‘I really don’t like talking about myself.’

If you want to sell yourself to your prospective employer and beat your competitors to that next juicy job, get over it! Scroll down for a handy post to help you craft your elevator pitch:

‘I don’t have any achievements; it was just my job.’

I’ve worked with over 11,000 people in this career, and I’d love a buck for each time I’ve heard this lament. You have achieved, and significantly, you just need to think about the times you used those strengths of yours and made some kind of difference.

‘I don’t like putting myself out there on LinkedIn.’

With 766 million people on LinkedIn today, 10 million of them Aussies, it’s a smorgasbord of talent for recruiters to dip into, 98% of them do in fact. That’s a vast audience you’re missing out on. Besides, having a profile demonstrates your pride in your personal brand and your technical savvy!

‘I don’t feel confident enough to negotiate my salary.’

Knowing what makes you stand out and how that might contribute to a business’s success is the key here; besides, what’s the worst that can possibly happen? Oh! And cash is just one of the many things you can negotiate!

‘I don’t feel comfortable with Video conferencing.’

Chances are you’ve been doing this for over 12 months now thanks to COVID-19.  Headquarters in remote locations, travel restrictions, sheer convenience – like it or not, it’s here to stay, get comfy with it.

‘I hate networking!’

Shared breakfast with friends recently? Chatted to a fellow parent at the sporting oval? Gossiped with your hairdresser? Sought advice from your neighbour? Your networking, darling. Networking!!

‘I get all tongue-tied in interviews.’

An excellent elevator pitch, knowing your worth through writing your own resume, adding solid quantifiable achievements, and a few hours devoted to practice, and you’ll soon have the butterflies flying in formation.

A whole raft of negative speak briefly answered there and I’ll be addressing them in more detail in upcoming ‘Hey Miss Jane’ posts.

Equally, I hear the false bravado of those fighting to stay on top of the fear and uncertainty that can spring from having the job rug pulled from under.

The more common ones?:

‘They won’t survive without me; you wait and see!’

Madly, sadly, they will.

‘They can’t do this, I’m going to sue them!

‘Are you sure you want to risk your reputation and your redundancy payout on legal costs, not to mention the emotional cost to you and your family?’

‘Achievements? Yep! Best sales person in the land!

Nice, but considered hubris unless you can provide specific examples of when you’ve actually exceeded your targets, what specifically you did to achieve this and you’ve quantified the outcomes to prove it.  

‘Prepare for interview? Nah! I’m good at winging it.’

And the person who did prepare just won that job right out from under you.

‘Achievements in my resume? Nah! I’ll talk about them in the interview’

Buddy, you need to get to the interview in the first place?

‘I can’t possibly cut my resume from 12 pages to two!’

Seriously, they don’t want to know about your burger-flipping days; besides, are the skills you developed back there in the ’70s still relevant?

‘Cover letters? No one uses them these days!’

Actually, yes, they do. 

‘I’m gonna aim for 20% more when they ask what wage I’m expecting.’

Nice, but what specifically are you offering over and above your competitors that makes you feel you deserve those extra dollars?

‘No offence, but I don’t need your help, I already have a good resume!

Hmmm! So why are you sitting in my office? By the way, the resume is just a tiny fraction of what you will need in order to compete in today’s job market.  And we haven’t even touched on the Artificial Intelligence used to sift potential that you need to be ahead of.

‘I rate my LinkedIn 10 out of 10 ‘cos I have over 500 connections.’

Good for you, but are you at ‘all star’ status? And actively promoting your profile at least three days a week? 

Over the coming months, I’ll address these questions in more detail. No victims here, just survivors – as I arm you with that second paddle, helmet and wet weather puffer jacket – enhancing your skills and confidence to face anything the job world throws at you!