Are you a high level executive, and now find yourself out of work? You know you are valuable, but find you are now stuck trying to figure out how to find a new job in this stressful pandemic environment? You are not alone. 2020 has turned the world on its head. What may have started as a choice to step back and find what’s next, has shifted to a sense of panic, as more and more over qualified candidates find themselves between jobs for longer than they intended.
No one saw this coming. Let’s face it, these uncertain times are unprecedented. The workforce is saturated with applications of people just like you. All the blog posts filled with listicles about “Interview Tips and Tricks”, “How To Make A Great First Impression” or “How To Get The Dream Job and Keep It” are all of a sudden obsolete.
My clients tell me that now they are up against hundreds of high caliber candidates. Getting the next executive job has gone from a given, to a laborious, time-consuming vetting process with multiple interviews and presentations. On top of all that, none of these interviews are in person, where you learned to shine, and excel originally. Instead you are just a voice on the other end of the line, or pixelated video.
There’s something taxing about mentally having to prove yourself so fully for a job that you are so clearly qualified for.
If you find yourself starting to question if you can even get a job now, should you just settle? Take what you can get? Or hold faith and hold out for the right fit, with the right culture, the right opportunities? You are not alone.
So many of my clients have come to me with these exact questions. They were once the leader of the pack, the quarterback, the biggest and brightest, the closer. They are high level executives who are used to kicking ass and taking names and now they are suffering from a crisis of self-esteem. It’s not only affecting their ability to get a new position anymore, now it’s leaking out into their personal lives. Marital discord, feeling impatient with their kids, eating, drinking or even exercising beyond what is good or healthy.
My job is to relieve the stress and help these clients land their dream job without the panic, anxiety, and neurosis that they are currently experiencing. And we do it without settling for what’s available, we go for what’s right.
I know that the way you are in one part of your life is the way you show up in all areas of your life. The world is more stressful than any other time in our lives, you may have financial fear creeping in as you burn through your savings. You don’t know where you belong in your family anymore because you’ve always had one role: Provider.. And the more time you are out of work, the more you may find yourself in fear of being obsolete and left behind… the more you begin to operate out of scarcity and fear. The more everything begins to feel out of control.
Transition has always been hard, but add COVID to the fire and double the number of qualified applicants - “hard” is barely enough to describe this incredibly stressful set of circumstances
But what’s the real problem here?
The real problem is you’re questioning your own self worth and value - whether you think you are or not, your self-doubt is likely creeping in. Who wants to hire the person who isn’t sure they’d hire themselves? No one.
Or
Maybe deep down inside you don't even want to continue along this career path. Maybe you know this is an ideal opportunity to shift gears and figure out a path that speaks more to your truth. However, knowing something and taking real steps to making it happen are two very different things. Are you secretly self-sabotaging?
As I have helped people walk through this challenging time in their lives I have realized that there is one common factor in people who flourished versus those who didn’t and went by the wayside.
The Executives who master their energy, their mindset, and how they show up in the world are always the ones who land on their feet. Time and time again they overcome barriers that no one thought possible because they learned to master their core energy.
You might be thinking… core energy? What? No, I don't have time for this. I need hard skills….a perfect resume, Linkedin bio.
But guess what everyone out there is doing? Exactly that. You’re not going to have the best resume on the recruiter’s desk. That doesn’t mean you’re not exactly the right person for the job. It just means you need a competitive edge.
We all know the person who walks into the room and you just want to be around them, their positivity, the way they make you feel in their presence. Have you ever noticed that that person always has a job? And not one they hate? Or even mildly resent? Imagine what it would be like to be that person!
And more importantly than just feeling awesome, here’s why this is important: companies, headhunters and HR executives are no longer just looking for skills. They are looking for people. People with both the intellect and emotional intelligence to navigate and positively contribute to their culture. The world is changing right in front of our eyes.
Are you keeping up?
If not here are some tips to get you back on the right track.
Identify your strengths
Think back to a similar situation where you were successful. Ask yourself, what was it about YOU that made it successful? Were YOU the consummate networker that helped you get an introduction to the decision makers directly without having to navigate the HR maze? Did YOU move a lot as a kid and always landed on your feet? Are YOU a master of transition? Once you realize where your successes have emerged, it’s time to melt into that inner calm confidence that helped you succeed through each of your transitions.
Once you pinpoint where your magic has been in the past, you can lean into those strengths and use them once more to your advantage.
Determine the worst case scenario
What’s the worst case scenario? Seems counterintuitive to focus on what could go wrong, but for some people digging into what the worst case could possibly be, gives them the freedom to live more fully.
So you spend another 6 months finding your way? Maybe a year? What truly is the worst thing that might happen? Maybe you have to burn through some of your hard-earned savings in the short term, take a step back from buying that yacht you wanted next summer. Maybe you don’t do the big addition to your cabin in Tahoe this year. Maybe you drive your car one more year instead of getting the new Tesla you had your eye on. Maybe you have to ask your parents to float you for a year while you find yourself, because you know you’re a good investment. Whatever the worst case is, saying it aloud and shining a light on it can take away the fear of how your world could possibly fall apart, or at least lessen it.
Resource yourself
You know what you need. Is it to run every morning for an hour? Is it an objective third party to allow you to process what you’re going through, without pushing their own agenda and dreams on you? Your wife and parents are great, I’m sure, but they also shouldn’t be the person you process your career with. Give yourself blank space to think and dream. Give yourself the right sleep and nutrition to allow your brain to function at its highest level.
Only you know what you need to resource yourself. Go and get it.
And if you don’t quite know what it is that you’re in need of, start by sending me an email, we can figure it out together.
