On the Banks! I am back on campus today to deliver a lunchtime keynote and to facilitate a career workshop. The youthful energy of the audience has me psyched and motivated but the challenges of job search will be top of mind on this chilly Saturday.

We’re sharing a well-planned day at The BOLD Center at Douglass that is billed as “Building Confidence, Direction & Purpose: A Professional Engagement Conference”. Real-life stuff here, for skill-building around mentorship, AI, resume writing, recruiter insights and goal setting. Just do those things well, work your plan and plan your work and you will surely land a dream gig in an interesting and high-paying job.

Or not.

My best contribution to this tactical event will be to do all that I can to reduce anxiety around the job journey. The market is pretty good as I type this, but the giant black hole that is LinkedIn, awkward Zoom interviews (Lighting! Avatars! Interruptions!) and impossible listing criteria can make this process exhausting and often heartbreaking. My keynote will include plenty of candid talk around cover letters and contacts, storytelling vs. punch lists, timing and visualization and other strategies to help candidates transition from stress to success.

Curious about content? I’ll post a polished version of my speech here once I’ve delivered it. But free-for-the-asking, it’s my exceptional pleasure to tease the 5 most salient points that I will raise:

• It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you
• You cannot be too prepared or too rehearsed for an in-person or online interview
• If you are a problem solver and not a complainer, you can pick your job
• Share some specific, authentic and enthusiastic interests – they will humaize you
• Approach networking opportunities as conversations, not as transactions
  

Want to know more? Let’s meet back here next month when I’ll share content, format and style for some really great cover letters. Have a wonderful February!