I’m very skeptical of quick fix strategies for anything.
I’ve been doing career coaching work for 15+ years, so I know that finding a new role typically takes some time.
The average job search takes 5 months (but this includes entry-level roles, which are often easier to land).
In this market, I’m seeing it take Gen X and Baby Boomer job seekers at least 6-12 months to find a new role (if not longer).
However, I recently worked with a client who was able to land a new role (with a 38% raise) in 6 weeks.
Instead of doing a complete resume rewrite, I helped her through a one-hour strategy call that we split into 2 30 minute sessions.
There are 2 major things that you can learn from her success.
1.We only slightly changed her job search strategy
She had been searching purely based on title.
We switched things up and tried new combinations.
This changed the roles that she was seeing.
We found this role right away when changing things up.
2. We worked on building her confidence back
In her current role, she had taken a step back from previous roles.
And once that happens, it can be hard to regroup.
We talked through her strengths & expertise.
(Basically, I reminded her of how awesome she really is!!!)
She tapped into her past experience and leveraged that to position herself for a new role.
My takeaway for you: sometimes you don’t need to overhaul your resume and LinkedIn to find a new role. Depending on your situation, it may just take a few small changes to make a big difference.
Question of the week
I am a 63-year-old who was laid off at 62 from a Senior Director of Program Management role in Technology and Networking. Spent a year focused on custom resumes, reading online guidance, and targeting industries and employers who aligned with my personal goals. I flipped between many strategies I read about online, with so little success that I got restless and tried many of them.
I finally found a long-term contract as a Senior Program Manager in the transportation industry.
My reality is that this role is three steps down from my previous role… I enjoy the challenge of brushing off my long-dormant PM skills instead of leadership and strategy. Since I am in the last five to eight years of my career, my question is… should I concentrate on contracting or use the time and resources I have available while contracting to get back into a leadership position?
I talk with so many folks who find themselves in a similar situation: they took a job that could be considered a “step back” in order to stay financially afloat.
My advice to you here is a parallel-path strategy.
While you are contracting/consulting, make sure that your LinkedIn profile is updated. Consider setting up a business page in LinkedIn for yourself. For example, I used “Colleen Paulson Consulting” for my consulting/contracting business page. I made a quick logo in Canva and used that to show that I was serious about my business. I then described my projects in detail (using industry skills/keywords so that it’s easy for folks to find me on LinkedIn).
At the same time, I’d keep looking for leadership roles and apply for roles that look interesting. Again, I’d make sure that my LinkedIn profile was updated so that the right jobs could find me.
I don’t think that you need to close off options at this point. If it were me, I’d keep things open (especially in this market, as it’s very volatile).
Want to work with me?
I have a few open client spots available in April, so reach out now if you'd like to secure your space for a new resume, LinkedIn profile, executive bio, and/or 1-hour strategy call.
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Other ways that I can help:
Corporate Presentations: I deliver customized presentations for businesses and universities, offering webinars/in-person presentations across topics including ageism, resume best practices, LinkedIn optimization, job search, and more.
Hiring Help: Reach out if you have any open roles that you would like to share with this community.
Sponsorships: Reach Gen X and Baby Boomer executives by sponsoring this newsletter (we're currently at 4000+ subscribers for the newsletter and 69,500+ followers on LinkedIn, so you can easily reach a wide base of readers).
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Take care of yourself and have a wonderful weekend!
Colleen
