Staffing
Agencies
There
are a great many reasons to get connected with a staffing agency. I’m going to
list four of the most common reasons.
1.
It’s a great place to get experience
2.
It allows you the opportunity to see if you
like working at an organization
3.
Employers prefer to hire people who are
already working, even if the job is a temporary or part time position.
4.
It helps you expand your network.
Training/Education
There
is so much free education available on the internet that there is no reason to
not learn the things you’ve always wanted to learn. For those few of you who
have nothing you want to learn, there are always the things you need to learn for your career or
perhaps there are some gaps in your everyday life skills. Instruction to help
with that can also be found online.
Below
is the path to follow to find a variety of FREE
online training.
Below
is just a small taste of what’s out there.
On
the left side of the home page is a gray box containing links. The first link
is Employ Florida Marketplace. Click on that link and log in to Employ Florida.
Scroll
through this page and explore the different opportunities available.
When
you’re exploring the open courseware of the colleges and universities, keep in
mind that even though you aren’t going to get college credit for any of the
courses offered, you may be able to use the knowledge you gain to test out of
some classes at your local college. Paying for a CLEP test is much less
expensive than paying for a class and it will take less time to complete.
If
you want to explore what CLEP Exams are available you can go to https://clep.collegeboard.org/exam and start
learning what CLEPs are available. Or visit the school you’re thinking of
attending and ask them about how you can CLEP out of some classes.
Networking
Organizations
Seventy
to eighty percent of jobs are found through networking. While networking does
include social media, it’s not exclusive to social media. We are still a
society where face-to-face, real time, in
person networking is important.
There
are a great many organizations designed specifically for networking. Do your
research and find one that is suited to your needs. Of course, that means that
the first thing you need to figure out is what you are looking for in such an
organization.
Are
you job searching? If so, what type of employment are you seeking? Or are you
planning on starting your own business? What kind of business? The answers to
those and other questions will determine the organization best suited for you.
LinkedIn
While
LinkedIn is a form of social media, its purpose is to serve as a networking
resource for professionals. It can be used for business-to-business networking,
business-to-customer networking and many people use it for job searching. While
the majority of its users have college degrees this resource has tools to offer
almost any job seeker. You can find out what’s going on at that company you’ve
always wanted to work for and maybe even connect with someone working there.
Those are the kind of connections that lead to jobs.
Community
Organizations (volunteer)
Volunteering
is a good way to expand your network. You meet people that, if you’re
unemployed, you’re not likely to have the chance to meet elsewhere. These are
the people with job leads.
Remember,
no one wants to hire a stranger. People
want to hire people they know, like and trust. As a volunteer you’ll meet
other volunteers, some of them will be fairly high up the corporate ladder.
These are individuals that not only hear about jobs that other companies have,
they are also in a position to recommend candidates for jobs within their own
organizations.
Volunteering
also helps you keep your workplace skills sharp and who knows you might even
learn some new skills that will help with your next position.
Build Your Network
Some
people don’t think they need an active network until they’re out of work and
start job hunting. That is not the time when you want to have to build your
network from the ground up. If you are currently employed, now is the time to
grow your network and not let it die. If you are unemployed and you don’t
already have a network you’re behind schedule, get busy building your network. Once
you find that next job make sure to keep your network active. Networking will
help you move into that next position and then it’s your turn to help others in
your network. It may be that no one in your network needs to find a job at the
moment but we all know how quickly that can change. Stay in touch with the
members of your network. It can be something as simple as knowing that one your
network members is an avid bird watcher and you come across an article on a
rare bird that was recently spotted. Send them a short note and include the
link to the article.
Find a
Mentor
Personally,
I have many mentors, some I see in person; others aren’t even aware of my
existence. Here’s a short list of some people who have mentored me without even
knowing me. Here is a short list of some of my mentors.
Randy Gage
Ali Brown
Wayne Dyer
Stephen Covey
Marcia Bench
Donald Trump
While
a precise definition of Mentor is elusive, in our society it has come to mean
an adviser who imparts wisdom to and shares
knowledge with others. It’s not generally a one-time event. With a Mentor you
build an ongoing relationship.
Find
people whom you admire, people who are successful and read about them. Learn
how they think, find out what it is they do that’s different from what most
people do and then emulate them.
It’s
also helpful to have someone that you can meet with in person to talk over your
plans and iron out challenges you’re facing. It may be that instead of a single
individual you join a Mastermind Group.
If
you can’t find a Mastermind Group to join in your area perhaps you should think
about starting one.
As
a short review here are the seven elements I’ve gone over here.
1.
Staffing
Agencies
2.
Training/Education
3.
Networking
Organizations
4.
LinkedIn
5.
Community
Organizations (volunteer)
6.
Build Your
Network
7.
Find a
Mentor
