JibberJobber One Thing – The Blog

Today!  Read this EXCELLENT advice on my “depression clouds everthing” post from Nancy B:

http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/2007/10/29/depression-clouds-everything/#comment-376808

I never, ever, ever thought emotions would get the best of me while in my job search.

I’m a WINNER!  I’m a DOER!!

But man, it’s quite an emotional time.  Depressed about not being employed, anxious about people not getting back to you, etc.

This post has over 300 comments on it because it resonates with normal professionals, like YOU… think you won’t have emotional issues to deal with?  Read through the comments.

Especially the one from Nancy B… who always has great advice and insight.

Today!  Throw that “thing” away!

You know what I’m talking about … I have it in my office… I’ll even share what it is.

A few months ago I found instructions to make an HD TV antenna.  I gathered my kids and we had a lot of fun cutting wood, bending wires and screwing it all together.  And not it sits on my couch in my office… I doubt I’ll ever use it.

It was fun doing it, but it is cluttering up my office.  Worse, it’s clutting up my brain.  Today, it goes to the garbage!

What will you throw away today?

Today!  Tell me what one thing you are doing, or have done, to help you land your next gig (whether you are looking now or not).

For me, it was getting a semi-technical degree (CIS/MIS).  Then, it was getting an MBA.  It was also being bilingual… and of course having good job titles (that I even asked for).

What is your thing?

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Sorry, I’ve been gone for a while and had to let the One Thing slip a bit   It has pained me ever since I started slacking…. thanks for the nudges to keep sending them.

I hope you get that today’s One Thing is tongue-in-cheek, as I can’t think of one thing you can do to help get your job (I take that back, I can think of two things, but they wouldn’t have been things I would have guessed before my career journey!).

Also, have you heard about my LinkedIn for Job Seekers DVD?  Pre-order now and save about $15.  http://imonlinkedinnowwhat.com/linkedin-webinars (please spread the word)

Today! Download and listen to a podcast that has really expanded my vision.

This podcast talks about offshoring, so it might be a rough subject since some of you might have had your jobs offshored.  But this trend is not getting reversed.  I think it’s good to learn about it (I should read The World is Flat this year), and this 40 minute podcast talks about a lot of why and how for small businesses (not big businesses).  Eye-opening.

There are a bunch of angles to consider when listening, for some it might be on how you might work with a VA in the future, or how you might create multiple income streams… I’m not advocating any “get rich quick” ideas, but there are some really interesting things to learn from this podcast.

Go to http://www.replacemyself.com and get it there… and let me know what you think (in the comments on the blog).

Today! Share this registration link for my free webinar on how to use LinkedIn.

Better yet, let me know what you want me to cover!

http://imonlinkedinnowwhat.com/2009/02/09/free-linkedin-webinar

This will be on March 4th at 11am EST.

Today! Declare your other 2009 income stream.

I don’t care if you are happily employed, unhappily employed, unemployed, self-employed… I hope you’ve thought about change, evolving, and income streams.

Remember “income security?”

Even big companies regularly visit income stream issues.  You should, too.

I’ve shared 5 of my 10 income streams, in the hopes that it can be inspirational to my readers… so check them out, and let me know what YOUR other income stream will be!

You can read all five here:

http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/category/multiple-streams-of-income

Today! There has been something risky that you have been avoiding – not a big thing but a little thing.  Today, take the risk, get it over with.

A few weeks ago I risked.  This morning I was quite nervous, as what I risked (asked for) started to happen.  It was awesome, the results will be huge, and my risk turned out to be no big deal (no loss, lots of gain).

But I had to face the fear and take the risk.

I don’t know what your risk is, but I bet you do.  Today take the risk.  Do it.

Today! Call someone you know, or you’ve heard of, who is having a hard time.

I can’t tell you how you’ll help them, and maybe just the call will be more help than they expected.  Here are some ideas:

- offer to take them to lunch this week and chat about their job search.

- Ask them what their target companies are so you can see if there are any introductions you can make.

- Ask them if they are on LinkedIn, and let them know you’d be happy to connect with them so they can do searches which would include your network.  (I hear there’s a pretty good book you can refer them to :p)

- Recommend they get on JibberJobber to organize their job search.  Not to put a shameless plug in here, but I know this will reduce a lot of job search stress, for those who use it.

- Recommend they go to a face to face job search club – there are awesome clubs I know about in Silicon Valley, Phoenix, Houston, Minneapolis, Atlanta, etc.  There are a lot… and they are an essential part of staying sane and on-track in a job search.

- Recommend they go to the library and get Never Eat Alone.  This changed my job search completely.

- Ask them what you can do for them this week?

Like I said, I’m not sure what direction your conversation will go, but just reaching out will be an immense help, and you might have more to offer than you realize.

Today! Write down the chapters of your book.

About a month ago I challenged you to decide to write a book.  Today I’ll share my first step (after you figure out what the book is about… perhaps a rough title)… put the chapters down on paper.  For me this is the first step.  They can change, so don’t get hung up in too much analysis, but put the chapters down on paper.

Shoot for 7 – 9 chapters.

If you are ambitious, feel free to sketch out what the subchapters would be, or mind-map it, or do whatever works for your brain.  But this is the first step.  If you want accountability come back to the blog and leave a comment that you did it, or even list out the title and chapters!

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Miss me? I did – I feel bad for not being more consistent on the One Thing, but I’ve had to let something slide and this was it.

Stay tuned next week for a series (5 related One Things) from one of my new JibberJobber Partners!

Today! Go into LinkedIn, click on Contacts, find someone who you worked with who you admire.

Then go to their Profile and give them a Recommendation.

Make the recommendation specific, not general or vague.  Check out my advice on writing a good LinkedIn Recommendation here:

http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/2008/01/15/how-to-write-an-excellent-linkedin-recommendation

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This One Thing is brought to you buy Louise Kursmark, who specializes in resumes and helps create compelling LinkedIn Profiles.  Contact Louise from her website: http://www.yourbestimpression.com