Her Next Chapters

22. Job Search: Networking and Career Reactivation Strategies

• Christina Kohl

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Embark on a transformative journey with Christina as she unlocks the secrets to reactivating your career with finesse and passion, especially curated for stay-at-home moms seeking to return to work.  This episode is a treasure trove of strategies for tapping into the often-overlooked power of networking and how to  leverage your existing connections to land a job you love in 2024. From crafting an irresistible elevator pitch to rekindling relationships with past colleagues, listen in for actionable tips to help get you back on the career track.

Here are the links to the episodes I referenced:
Episode 3: Strategic Volunteering
Episode 6: Crafting Your Elevator Pitch


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Send me an email ---> christina@hernextchapters.com
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Christina:

My friends, I am so excited because I am creating a new coaching offer and I want your help. I really want to make this the most incredible program out there, which is why I am doing some market research. I'm looking to speak with 10 stay-at-home moms who are ready to return to their careers and find a job that they love, and, as a thank you for just 20 minutes of your time, I'd love to gift you with a 30-minute laser-focused coaching session to help you land a job that you love in 2024. This is completely pitch-free. I simply want to do market research. If you or someone you know is a great fit for this, send me an email at Christina at hernextchapterscom, or just reach out to me on LinkedIn. I'm easy to find. I can't wait to chat.

Christina:

Hi and welcome to her next chapter's podcast. I'm your host, christina Cole. I'm a mom of three and soon to be an empty nester. I'm also a certified HR pro who restarted my career after being a stay-at-home mom for over a decade. I created this podcast to connect with moms who have an empty nest on the horizon and are wanting to redefine their identity outside of motherhood, which might include a job search. On this show, we'll have raw conversations about our ever-changing roles as moms. We'll hear from women who restarted their careers and share tips for a job search after a career break. So if that's you, you're in the right place. Friend, let's get started. Hi, friends, and welcome to this week's episode of her next chapter's.

Christina:

We are continuing the Job Search series. So last week we talked about networking and I gave some tips and I gave some very specific examples about how my network helped me land some interviews and therefore my job. This week I want to continue talking about networking, but I want to talk about ways to activate your network. You might be saying to yourself or to me Christina, that's all great, but I don't have a network. Well, I disagree. So your network, you don't have to be working to have a network.

Christina:

Your network is everyone you know, and it includes your family, so not just your spouse, but your brother-in-law, sister-in-law, your siblings, your parents, your cousins and your second cousin, aunts, uncles, all of them grandparents. They know people too. So your family, your friends, people that you've known from elementary school, college, your whole lifetime of friendships, and you might have a bunch of those friends over on Facebook that you've connected with and kept in touch with there, even if you live in a neighborhood or an apartment building or somewhere where there are other people around. So all of those people are part of your network because you know them. And then think of all of the activities that your kids are in, whether it's Scout, the music, the marching band, the baseball team, gymnastics team, lacrosse team, track all the different things that your kids might be involved in. You're sitting on the sidelines cheering all those kids on with their fellow parents, right with your fellow parents. Every one of them is part of your network.

Christina:

Fellow volunteers if you're volunteering, whether it's at school or in the community, anywhere, any of the people that you're meeting as volunteers, they are part of your network. And don't forget your previous coworkers If you remember them, they remember you, no matter how long it's been. Trust me. And then all those people I just listed I bet if you wrote all those names down, you'd come up with a really long list. And then everyone they know is part of your network too, because they would be more than happy to introduce you and help you out if they know what your goals are. So with that, the way to activate your network that's maybe been dormant, I'll give you that your network could very well be dormant.

Christina:

The first thing is just start sharing the news that you're going back to work, and if you're not quite sure how to do that, I want you to go back to episode number six of the podcast, which is all around your 30 second elevator pitch. And what that is is a simple answer to what have you been up to lately? How have you been so? The elevator pitch, without having to go all the way back and re-listening to that previous episode. But do if you want to go deeper, but at a high level. Quite simply, it's just socializing, but with purpose, and you want to keep it brief. That's why we call it a 30 second elevator pitch, and this can happen anywhere.

Christina:

Have you ever run into someone you haven't seen for a while at the grocery store? This happens to me on the regular. Just last week, I ran into my son's first grade teacher and we pulled our carts inside and got caught up in 10 minute conversation. And, of course, what are you up to? What are you doing? That's just very natural, right? It's conversational and you don't have to necessarily respond with your rehearsed, precise elevator pitch, but do have the basics in mind. You're not stumbling over your words when you're telling someone that you're ready to go back to work. And if you're not quite sure what you want to do, totally fine to say that. Just say now that the kids are getting older, I'm exploring different options about my career and I'm interested in these three things. Or if you know exactly what you want, then yeah, I'm excited to go back to my career in marketing and I'm looking for this. And you just never know who they know, right?

Christina:

The other thing, aside from just being conversational and talking to people you know, is to get yourself out of the house. If you were in a job search, I gotta tell you your odds of finding your next job while you're sitting behind your computer are pretty low. You need to go where people are, meet a friend for coffee or for lunch, take an in-person class, learn a new skill, brush up on an old skill and take it in-person class and meet the people there. And there's also professional associations Today, like, for example, in Human Resources. There's the Society of Human Resource Management. There's a very active local chapter here in my area. There are monthly groups where they get in. You know small, not even small. There are monthly presentations. They have an annual conference. There are all kinds of opportunities to plug into professional associations. I'm sure every profession and discipline has them. Search your field of interest and I mean you probably even know this one before if you were working in this area before you became a stay-at-home mom. But look at those professional associations. Most of them will have a discounted, if not even free, membership for you so that you don't have to pay since you're not currently employed. And then you know, go to those events, meet people and people hire people. Right, they hire people. They know it's a great opportunity to meet people that are working in your profession.

Christina:

The other thing, and this next one, is just expanding your network, just for the joy of it. Hobbies Whatever hobbies you might have, that maybe you kind of put on hold when the kids are little and you're in like the, we're driving to 10 different places all the time and corn and card pools and all of that and the homework and bedtimes, and when, as the kids get older and more independent and driving themselves and you start to notice it's extra time in your hands. It's time to focus on mom at this point. Right, it's time to focus on yourself and invest your time and energy into your hobbies and activities If that's joining a hiking group or wanting to kayak, or maybe it's book clubs or just getting together people to taste new wine, you know whatever it is that is interesting to you. And, of course, while you're having fun doing that, you're meeting other people who enjoy the same thing, and then that person has a whole network of their own that you might be able to tap into when you're asking those questions of so what are you up to, what are your goals? That type of thing.

Christina:

And then finally and this one like oh, this is my favorite for networking, for job search is strategic volunteering, and I did a whole episode on this one as well. It's episode number three. If you want to know more, go back to that one. What strategic volunteering is? Obviously you volunteer. We know what that is. But strategic volunteering is finding an opportunity where you will do for free the thing that you want to be paid for. So you're getting current experience. You're also getting you know. You're meeting new people who can attest to your abilities, and new references as well that are current and just expanding your horizons in that field. So strategic volunteering is another great way to meet new people and tap into your network, expand your network for that job search All right.

Christina:

So for me, when I got really serious about finding a job, I worked on gathering my references, and you know some employers require a list of references at the time of application. So it's good to have that already handy, you know. So it doesn't stop you because you're like gosh, I haven't talked to this person for 10 years. I don't even know how to reach them and I can't even apply until I have their information. You know their email.

Christina:

So reach out at the beginning or early in your job search and track down people that you used to work with, whether that's someone, even if it's your boss's boss you know, obviously your boss but even your peers your peers, especially those who have stayed in the workforce, are probably at senior level as time has gone on, and even people who might have reported to you the same thing. Maybe it's their careers. So I would encourage you to reach out to people you reported to your peers, as well as your direct reports, as well as think of, like vendors, that you work with vendor partners. Maybe you know there wasn't a chain of command, but you work together through the course of your career. Reach out to those individuals and just to say hi and catch up and let them know that you're ready to come back to work and you're really excited about X, whatever it is you want to do, and then ask if they'd be willing to be a professional reference for you. I got to tell you, nobody turned me down when I did this and I had a list of people longer than I needed. But the reason I got a bigger list is I wanted to. By that I mean, like maybe I had about 10 people or so that I'd asked and most employers are going to ask for maybe three, some will ask for five, but that way I could kind of pick and choose based on the job that I was going for, like, oh, which one would be the best one to speak to my abilities?

Christina:

The other thing so when you've done this, you've reconnected with a colleague and you know, hopefully a friend is why you're reconnecting with them and you're also getting allies on your side, so they now know about your job search. So when things come up, they're like oh yeah, I remember Christina was looking, this might be a good opportunity. Let me do an introduction. And then the other thing their image of you is frozen in time, so they haven't seen you. They don't know you as like the state home mom. That's like getting her sweatpants doing carpool drop off and you know, with the messy bun and all that. They know you as the professional that they worked alongside. And then the question there is how do you find them? Like great Christina, this is a great advice. Let me go find 10 people I used to work with, however long ago. I don't even know where to find them. We haven't talked for 10 years. Well, linkedin is your best friend.

Christina:

If you aren't on LinkedIn yet and you're getting serious about a job search, I highly recommend that you create a profile At the beginning. Don't worry about your profile being perfect. Your beginning goal is just to connect with, make those connections with people you know. You just search for them and you want to find and connect with your past coworkers, Of course, all these new people you're meeting. You want to connect with them too. Then, once you've got your job search going in full swing, you can check and see if someone in your network has a contact at an employee you're interested in. You can ask for an introduction there. That's what I did and that really helped me with the job that I actually got.

Christina:

Then, when you're on LinkedIn, you want to stay active. You can join relevant groups of interests. So if you want to join one around social media or one around accounting, you can join groups that are of interest to you. You can follow companies you're interested in. Then I encourage people to set weekly goals like like an article or post, comment on someone else's post, share an article and provide a recommendation for your contacts. So if you have someone you can provide a recommendation, for there's a whole section at the bottom of someone's profile, rather than asking for a recommendation. Provide a recommendation to someone you know. A lot of times they'll return the favor and it's okay to ask as well.

Christina:

So this is kind of like a whole ton of information I know I've given you. I just kind of want to summarize. I know for that networking for job search can feel really scary, but if you think about it, you're just connecting with people. I mean, it's not like you're asking for a job, you're just connecting with people and getting to know people. So it all comes down to being bold, putting yourself out there and talking to people.

Christina:

So, my friend, if I can do this. I know you can do this too. I invite you, start by connecting with me on LinkedIn. I'm easy to find. It's Christina Cole, with a CH in Christina and a KOHL in my last name. Cole Again, don't worry about being perfect, just start connecting. You've got this friend. Thank you so much for listening today. I hope this episode hit home for you and if it didn't well go easy on me, I'm still figuring this all out and if you haven't already, be sure to connect with me on LinkedIn and say hello so I can personally thank you for listening. Until next time, remember, your story is uniquely your own and your next chapters are ready to begin.