Building It diary

My return to work after an extended career break was a slow walk.

I began to really feel a shift in myself when my youngest was about three and a half and I had been working what you might call a “side hustle” as a stylist for Stitch Fix. I making enough to pay for child care, but it added 15 hours of work on top of what a full-time stay-at-home mom is responsible for in a week. Don’t they say it’s a 97 hour per week job?! But this way of dipping my toe back into work outside of the home, allowed me to use my creative and professional skills and it felt like a stepping stone back into a full-time career. I made some great connections with career women and that gave me examples to look to and surround myself with. When I decided that I would go back full-time into marketing, I didn’t have a playbook to follow. Here are some of the actionable steps I took to get that first job. 

Connecting with the people.

The most important step I took was connecting with people I already knew online and in person. It’s so exciting to discover the connections you have to great companies and job opportunities through people you know. I was open with my friends, family, neighbors and community about my job search. There were so many bad ass career women in my extended circle and they were willing to talk. In fact, the girlfriend who went through this journey with me got her first job at a local bank chain as a Marketing Specialist after learning about the opportunity through a parent on her daughters hockey who was the President of that bank chain. It’s really about who you know. People are more willing to help you than you might think, so don’t be shy!

Online, the best place I went for connection was the LinkedIn social platform. I had a profile set up already but I updated it with a new photo, my Stitch Fix job experience and added details in the About section with my skills. I would spend time sending connection requests and reconnecting with past colleagues and friends letting them know about my life change and job search. I messaged a former colleague who I met for lunch. She had continued her career, climbing the latter while I had paused mine. She had great advice and was willing to review my resume and give me feedback. Ultimately I landed my Agency job through connecting with an old colleague and friend on LinkedIn. She was working at the Agency and was willing to refer me and share my resume with the leadership team.

How to create a professional resume.

The importance of a good looking, professional resume goes without saying. This is your time to concisely and clearly communicate your experience, skills and talents. If you don’t have fancy design skills, and choosing the right font would completely overwhelm you, I suggest buying a template from a online store like Etsy. For under $10 you can choose a beautifully designed template, download it to your computer and start replacing the placeholder text with your information. This is almost exactly the Etsy template that I used.

AI can make writing your resume a little easier. To use AI to help you with your resume, my advice is to start by writing the resume yourself. Once you have the critical information down, copy and paste the areas of content you are looking to improve into the AI platform. Prompt AI to rewrite the content for a professional resume in the field you are going into. Once you like what was provided, make sure to review it closely, edit to make sure it’s accurate and still comes through in your own voice.

Ask your friends and family to review your resume. Those working friends you have, your husband, mom, sister-in-law. These people all have a point of view that is unique and their feedback is valuable. Take their edits into consideration and implement them if it feels right to you.

Exploring job boards and recruitment websites.

You will spend a lot of time researching and seeking out a job opening that fits your criteria. Much of this time will be spend on recruitment website or job boards. I have some best practices and advice from my experience with these website over time. One of my job board tips is to frequently check a variety of job search platforms. Companies may choose to list their open position on one recruitment website over the other so you will find listings on Indeed that you might not find on LinkedIn. Save some time by signing up for alerts when jobs that fit your search criteria are posted so you get an email when new opportunities go live. Some recruitment platforms are really helped me are:

• LinkedIn Jobs
  • I already said my piece about LinkedIn above. But more than just making connections, LinkedIn is a great job board. When you log it, every day you will be served job opportunities that match your profile and experience. It’s awesome. Also, LinkedIn is not sponsoring this blog.
• Indeed
  • I saw great jobs posted on this site that may not have been posted on other platforms therefore I would have missed.
• Bus Stop Mamas
  • I love Bus Stop Mamas. I believe the creator of this company started this around the time I was looking for work about 6-7 years ago. The concept is so smart because they celebrate the special skill sets that mothers bring to the table. And they support moms in the search for jobs that allow the flexibility required to raise children while working. It’s a business mission that I wholeheartedly align with and that is too rare.

My number one tip when applying for a job.

Here is my BIGGEST tip when using online job boards and recruitment websites. This is really important. When you find a job you are interested in on a job board, do not apply for that job through the provided online application until you have done this next thing. I’m providing screenshots below so you can visually follow along. Open a new tab and go to LinkedIn. Search the company that listed the job. For example Target corporation. You put Target Corporation in the search bar, and hit enter. Then you go to the green drop down tab and click on people. This is going to pull up people currently employed at Target Corporation and show you who you have 1st and 2nd connections with. Go directly to these people either through LinkedIn messenger or through their personal email or phone if you have it. Tell them you are interested in a job their company posted and ask if they would connect you with the job poster or if they have advice for the best way to apply to get your resume noticed. They may be willing to send your resume directly to the recruiter and now you have made a very important step towards getting that resume to the top of the pile. There are reported statistics that say referred candidates are four times more likely to land a job offer through their referrals than those candidates who applied via the recruitment website. Source: Apollo Technical Engineered Talent Solutions.

Be intentional about your who and what you surround yourself with.

Surround yourself with like minded people. Even if the like-minded people are podcast hosts. Keep yourself motivated with business minded content, books and conversations. I was looking to get back into Marketing so for me, it made sense to explore digital marketing courses. I took a free HubSpot course on Inbound Marketing. In any field you are interested in there is so much information available to consume that you don’t have to pay thousands for. Keep yourself surrounded with positive influence and your confidence high because this journey can be daunting at times. Some of my favorite ways to find leaders and examples of people who have already achieved what I’m hoping to, is on my podcast app, my instagram feed and free library books on my Kindle through the Libby app. We all curate what we see in our social feeds, so make yours motivational, inspiring and unfollow any negative or distracting accounts that take you off track.

I hope this article has been valuable to you! If you have feedback or questions I’d love to hear from you! Courtney

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