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Get Out, Talk and Tell the World

The very best way to spend your time during your relaunch is by leaving the house, and talking to people. It may not be easy at first, and certainly uncomfortable for some, but telling people that you are relaunching your career is what you want to be doing right now.

By Valerie Cherneksi

Valerie Cherneski is a certified executive coach, facilitator and speaker who uses her background in law and psychology to motivate change and development. As the Founder of Cherneski Coaching, Valerie focuses her practice on highly driven lawyers and corporate professionals, and assists them on a variety of issues to streamline their lives and build further upon their success. Valerie serves clients across the United States and Canada and is a frequent contributor to the iRelaunch blog and "3, 2, 1, iRelaunch" podcast series.

Congratulations – you are relaunching! You are so excited to get back to work, and you just want to find that job. You spend your days searching the Internet for jobs and applying on-line. Or, you focus on writing and re-writing your resume. Your intentions are great, and your efforts should be rewarded. However, the very best way to spend your time is by leaving the house, and talking to people. It may not be easy at first, and certainly uncomfortable for some, but telling people that you are relaunching your career is what you want to be doing right now.

If you stay behind your computer, researching or applying on-line, not only are you working against the odds when it comes to being hired, you are also going to be negatively impacted by the silence, rejection, and isolation that ensues. You are fooling yourself into thinking that you are doing all of the work that is required of a job search, but you may end up feeling less confident and less motivated.

If you need more convincing, here are my top three reasons to Get Out, Talk and Tell the World:

Ideas

The best ideas often result from other people, either when brainstorming together, or when listening to other people’s perspectives. As soon as you share with someone else that you are heading back to work, they will either ask questions you had not yet considered, or offer thoughts or suggestions that are new to you. There are so many jobs and ways to structure work that did not exist even 5 or 10 years ago. When you get out and talk, you will uncover jobs, people, and companies that will help you relaunch.

Accountability

The more you talk about something, the more likely you will do what you are talking about. It is only natural that you will want to follow through on what you have discussed with others. If you tell your friend at a barbecue that you are figuring out your next steps, or applying for jobs, you will want to have made progress before seeing her next. Being accountable means staying committed to producing an outcome. But staying accountable to yourself during your relaunch can be very difficult. So prepare for that difficulty by getting out, talking about your relaunch, and creating external accountability.

Getting Hired

Most jobs are not listed on-line. Fewer than 15% of jobs are found on-line and yet 80-90% of people spend their time looking for work this way. The average job opening attracts 250 applications, and employers do not respond to most candidates for any given role. Forty percent of job offers are made through employee referrals, and 48% of companies state that their quality hires come from these employee referrals. Further, 65% of recruiters report needing more talent to choose from, and 85% of small businesses in one survey reported having open positions and no applicants (www.ebiinc.com). This is all great news because it means that getting out and talking to people is actually what works to find work!

Here is how to begin

Whenever you can, tell people what you are up to. This can be at school events, social gatherings, your spouse’s work party, or at any function at which you find yourself. This does not need to be done perfectly, nor do you need to have your career plan laid out. You only need to start talking about. You can try, “I am relaunching my career and have started doing research on roles that would be a great fit," “I am going back to work and do not yet know what I want to do. Once I have started my research, would you mind if I reach out to you for coffee to talk about this more?" or “I know we never really talk about work because I have been a stay-at home parent, but I wanted to let you know that I have decided to return to work.”

You will be amazed at what happens when you starting talking to others. Your mindset will shift, you will be introduced to new people, you will come up with new ideas, and you will start to move. Choose one person or one event this week, and get ready to relaunch!



Don't relaunch alone!

Join our growing relauncher communities on Facebook and LinkedIn. For more great guidance on your relaunch and updates on when return to work programs are accepting applications, events for relaunchers and more, be sure to sign up for our Return to Work Report and follow us on social media to stay informed!

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