Positive Psychology believes it’s the opposite. If you are happy to begin with, you will be more successful at anything you attempt.

When I was the Head of Staffing for Merrill Lynch, I always hired the candidates that were more optimistic and enthusiastic in nature, more energized by challenges instead of stressed out by them. You can sense that during the interview process – that is why mock interviews are critical to success in searching for a job.

Here is a short video that speaks to this very point. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It’s definitely worth your 12 minutes today!

http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work.html

In honor of this day, here are 14 job search strategies that you can employ singularly or simultaneously:

1. Network with contacts that are red hot: keep in touch and get in touch with people willing to help & relevant to your search
2. Network with contacts that are warm: people you’ve worked with in the past/but haven’t kept up with
3. Network with contacts that are cold: older contacts from high school, college, anyone more than 4 or 5 years from your last contact
4. Network in the future: meet someone new every day by speaking to the person behind you on line, or the person exercising on the equipment next to yours
5. Network with people that share your interests in volunteer efforts
6. Find people you share interests in sports from football to ping pong
7. Find people you share interests in craft activities like quilting, photography, scrap booking
8. Keep in touch with people you’ve met during past vacations
9. Explore social media: linkedin groups, there is a ton of info on coaching websites, and our job search book can be read on line for free
10. Explore live job search resources: check out a neighborhood job search groups
11. There are job search resources on TV, in the morning especially: job search tips, names of the top 5 companies that are hiring
12. Stay positive by staying current in your field of expertise
13. Stay positive by working out and getting those endorphins working
14. Stay positive by praying to a higher power which relieves stress & puts you in a pretty good frame of mind!

In just the last few weeks, three big companies announced three big layoffs. Pepsi is cutting 8,700 jobs. American Airlines is looking to cut 13,000 jobs. Kraft is cutting 1,600. While the overall unemployment figures are trending down, layoffs are still a very real possibility. Here are 10 steps to take if you’ve been laid off:

• Remain professional to others. A layoff is not an excuse to finally give everyone a piece of your mind. Don’t film a dramatic exit to post on YouTube. This is a tough time for everybody, even people who didn’t lose their jobs. Don’t contribute any additional negativity.
• Stay positive to yourself. This also isn’t time for negative self-talk. Maybe you regret not starting a job search sooner or not saving more money. Dwelling on what might have been is not going to help you and will in fact fuel additional anxiety and frustration. Instead, think of obstacles you have overcome in the past to focus on things that will give you confidence.
• Negotiate your package and end date. Severance packages are often negotiable. Pay attention to your end date because this determines how long you have insurance, how much of your retirement account vests, or how much paid time off you accrue. Don’t feel like you have to sign anything right away. Make sure you understand your package and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
• Consider lateral transfers, both permanent and temporary. Your department might be laying off staff, but other areas might be growing. Don’t forget to consider subsidiaries or joint ventures of your employer. Ask about consulting opportunities; sometimes a department doesn’t have permanent headcount but they have a consulting budget and they could benefit from having someone who already knows the internal ropes.
• Prepare your story to explain what happened. When there is a large layoff that makes the headlines, it’s easy to summarize your story. But for lesser-known restructurings, you will have to explain to your network and prospective employers what happened. A concise story will do – my department was restructured, or my role was split between two more junior hires, or my area moved to headquarters. Make sure your story matches what your manager or any references will say about your departure.
• Collect contact info for when you leave. Don’t forget to get people’s permanent contact information. They may get laid off after you so don’t assume their current company information will last. You will not have access to your office equipment, including an employer-provided cell phone, so make sure you have contact information in your personal files.
• Leave on a positive note with your manager, colleagues and HR. When you do finally exit, don’t forget to thank everyone. Even for people who didn’t lose their jobs, they may feel guilty, anxious that they could be next, or overwhelmed by the plight of their departing colleagues. Your graceful exit will reassure them that you have the confidence to persist and may turn a neutral colleague into an advocate.
• Take time to assess and reflect. This is a big change so don’t feel like you have to go from your job to your job search right away. Don’t be afraid to take a few days to attend to all the personal projects you might have shelved – home maintenance, doctor’s appointments, catching up with friends and family.
• Run the numbers on your cash situation. That said, don’t underestimate the time it will take to search. You are coming into the job market along with thousands of others. You might not have looked for a job in years. Now that you know your severance package, calculate how much time you have for your search. You should plan on at least three months for your search, so if you don’t have the cash to cover that, focus on getting temporary or consulting work to shore up your cash position.
• Launch a proactive, thoughtful job search. Don’t just blindly send resumes in a frantic attempt to find something. Yes, you want to find a job, but you also want to find the right job. What is the right job right now? It might be a temporary one for cash flow. It might be a lateral move to learn some new skills. It might be moving to a different industry that has always interested you. The silver lining of a layoff is that you have this opportunity to find a new job. Would you take your old job all over again? If so, then you know to look for the same industry, functional area and type of company. But if not, then explore what would be a better choice this time and execute your job search to find this better job.

Recruitment Manager

About KIPP NYC
KIPP NYC is a non-profit network of free, public charter schools that prepare students for success in college and life. In 1995, we started our first middle school, KIPP Academy in the Bronx. Our goal was to graduate students with the strength of character and academic abilities needed to succeed in high school, college, and beyond – and in so doing, to prove what is possible in urban schools. Today, our New York City network is comprised of four middle schools, three elementary schools, one high school, and KIPP Through College, a comprehensive support program for our alumni. KIPP NYC serves over 2,700 KIPP students and alumni, employs 320 talented professionals, and has a combined operating budget of over $46 million. Upon realizing our current growth plan, KIPP NYC will have eleven schools, serve more than 6,500 students and alumni, and employ more than 500 staff.

Position Overview
KIPP NYC seeks a dynamic and experienced Recruitment Manager to join the recruitment team. Reporting to the Senior Recruitment Manager, the Recruitment Manager will collaborate with five other team members and partner with leadership and staff across KIPP NYC’s schools and programs to attract great teachers and committed professionals to KIPP NYC. KIPP NYC is looking for a go-getter who will both execute its current high volume of searches aggressively and effectively use his/her creativity and resourcefulness to develop new approaches for driving KIPP NYC’s recruitment success during this period of growth.

Duties and Responsibilities:
The Recruitment Manager will be responsible for the following scope of work:
 Work with recruitment team and KIPP NYC stakeholders to recruit and select diverse, high-quality talent in the city of New York and across the country.
 Build close, effective relationships with KIPP NYC school and program leaders to ensure alignment of the recruitment process with program needs.
 Perform broad outreach, including attending job fairs and other recruitment events locally and nationally.
 Develop innovative strategies for researching and cultivating identified pools of talent and individual prospects.
 Conduct application reviews and phone interviews in a friendly, efficient, and rigorous manner.
 Manage cultivation and selection data in database system; use data to drive change in efforts.
Qualifications:
 Zest, grit, hope, love, social intelligence, gratitude, and a sense of humor 
 A passion for the mission of KIPP NYC
 Strong organization and project management skills
 Superb written and oral communication skills
 Proficiency with Microsoft Office; comfort with learning new computer programs and database systems
 Minimum of 3-5 years of work experience
 Recruitment experience highly preferred
 K-12 teaching experience highly preferred
 Strong work ethic, entrepreneurial spirit and flexibility to accommodate high level of responsibility, multiple priorities, and changing environment
 Bachelor’s degree mandatory; Master’s Degree preferred

Contact Information:
Please contact Carol Lee at clee@kippnyc.org.

http://www.sidekickpm.com/everyday-entrepreneur-career-coach-interview-with-caroline-ceniza-levine/

• How do you find a job you love?
• How can you organize your day so you do more of what you enjoy?
• How do you negotiate for the project/ team/ role you really want?

I also answered audience questions:

From Jeanine: I am an extremely proactive professional that results in more and more people demanding my time and stretched very thin, with literally no increase in salary over the past 4-5 years and bonuses are getting smaller and smaller (and may not exist this year) due to economy and the company profitability (or lack thereof). However, I am deserving and feel that I should be entitled to a salary increase, title increase etc. for what I accomplish for the company, but every time I try to approach, I am told that the company isn’t doing well, it is not a good time to ask, etc. Yet, others around me (of course they are all men) are being promoted and find it hard to justify in mind why some are entitled and others maybe more deserving are not. How do I approach to obtain a more positive response?

From Tara: How best to switch careers from very different industries, undergraduate education and job functions with an MBA? What are some of the steps to take to leverage existing skills sets and network effectively?

From Paul: I would like to start a new career with what I know.  I am close to retirement and my current career has stalled.

From Sam: My most pressing question(s) deals with networking. What is the most effective way to get in touch with senior executives who you don’t know? Do you recommend ‘cold-calling’ and do you suggest leaving voice mail messages when doing this? If you have time, I would also like to know the following. How do you effectively stay in touch with executives with whom you have had an ‘informational meeting’ with?

From Maya: How to deal with curve-ball or difficult interview questions on the spot?

You can hear my responses to these questions and my musings on Love and Career in our February 7 episode of the SixFigureStart career coaching radio show on BlogTalkRadio:

New York Managing Director, Step Up Women’s Network

Step Up Women’s Network is a nonprofit membership organization (50,000 supporters strong!) dedicated to igniting women and girls to fulfill their potential by:
• creating and implementing impactful after-school and weekend programs that empower teen girls from
under-resourced communities to be confident, college-bound, and career-ready
• propelling professional women through connections, collaborations, and continuous development
• inspiring our network to invest in the future success of girls through mentorship and financial support
Role:
The New York Managing Director oversees all local New York fundraising, programs, events and staff. The
Managing Director is responsible for the funding, strategic direction and operations of our Teen Programs
and Membership Programs, as well as management of the NY office’s operations including HR, budgeting
and finance, and other day-to-day office needs. The Managing Director reports to the CEO.
Responsibilities:
Fundraising and External Relations
• Strategic planning and implementation of all fundraising efforts for the New York office including:
o An annual large-scale signature fundraising event
o Smaller-scale fundraising events, initiatives and in-store shopping events
o Individual giving via donations & memberships
• Managing relationships with and events related to Step Up’s high-tier donors ($1,000+)
• Building and cultivating local sponsors and foundations and helping to identify & steward towards
national opportunities
• Managing the Board of Directors, supporting their efforts to fundraise on behalf of the organization and
recruit candidates for the board
• Acting as spokesperson for the organization at key events and pitch meetings
Program Development
• Overseeing the development and implementation of programs and activities in the areas of:
o Youth development
• Ensuring Step Up’s teen programs are meeting national and local standards of excellence and
meeting intended outcomes
• Developing and managing relationships with local school & community partners
o Membership recruitment, retention & engagement
• Creating strategy & monitoring progress around increasing member support of and engagement in our
mission
Operations and Staffing
• Providing leadership for the NY office by implementing and communicating the strategic vision & mission
set forth by the national board of directors
• Managing a team of 3 FT staff, 1 PT staff and several interns
• Recruiting and retaining a strong staff built on teamwork, entrepreneurship, and collaborative decisionmaking
• Communicating and maintaining HR policies
• Ensuring fiduciary responsibility and fiscal management of NY office
• Preparing and monitoring annual budget
• Overseeing the New York offices’ technology/space/supply needs
Board of Directors/Governance
• Working with the NY board to implement local strategy to achieve national goals & fulfill Step Up’s
mission and long-term vision
• Overseeing board recruitment, retention and performance
• Organizing all board meetings, reports and presentations
Qualifications:
Ideally, the candidate will have at least 7 years of work experience and at least 5 years of management
experience, including program and staff management in a non-profit organization. Candidate must have an
undergraduate degree, and a graduate degree is preferred.
Step Up’s strength stems from our members’ ability to leverage their personal and professional skills and
relationships to give back to the community. We’re a growing nonprofit with ambitious goals. The successful
Managing Director candidate will be outgoing, flexible, solution-oriented, experienced in stewarding
relationships, and able to work independently but also be able to build consensus.
The ideal candidate will meet the following criteria:
• Proven leadership and management experience with exceptional communication skills
• Proven experience and success in business development and/or fundraising
• Experience with public speaking for large and small audiences
• Ability to build and motivate a high-performing Board of Directors to implement the strategic vision for
the organization
• Ability to manage employees and/or volunteers with proven ability to motivate teams
• Strong business acumen and understanding of budgeting and office management
• Proven track record in management of high-performing direct service programs
• A passion for and experience in women’s issues and youth development for girls
• High level of organization and efficiency, the ability to multi-task
• Entrepreneurial spirit
Reporting Relationship
This position will report to the NY Board of Directors and the CEO who is based in Los Angeles. Desired Fill Date is April 1. This is a full-time salaried position with benefits; salary commensurate with experience.

To apply, please send cover letter and resume to the attention of Jenni Luke at national@suwn.org. No
phone calls, please.

I’ve recruited for over 15 years, and I almost never read my candidates’ cover letters. The one exception was when I knew the hiring manager read the cover letter because then I wanted to see how our feedback compared. Matching up on our feedback would help me adjust my screening going forward. Otherwise, the cover letter had no use to me, and I know many other recruiters and employers feel the same way.

HOWEVER, as a career coach, I strongly encourage all my job seeking clients to draft a powerful cover letter. While the majority of people in the hiring process don’t read the cover letter, those that read it really care about it. Since you will never know in advance of sending your cover letter whether or not it will matter, you have to assume it will matter and take great care with your cover letter. Here are other 3 reasons why a cover letter, even if you’re not sure anyone reads it, can help you be a better job seeker:

Writing the cover letter forces you to highlight what really matters. The cover letter is in prose so can speak to the reader differently than the list structure of a resume. A cover letter doesn’t have to be chronological like a resume so you can talk about things in a different order or emphasize different points in your career. Finally, a cover letter is highly selective, not a grand overview of your entire career like the resume. You want to be brief with your cover letter, so you can only talk about a few things. What are the 2, 3, or 4 things across the entirety of your skills, expertise and background that you want the prospective employer to know? When you make these choices and commit them to paper, this helps your networking, interviewing, and overall positioning in your job search.

The cover letter can say what a resume cannot. You can emphasize a specific time in your career, set of skills or expertise. You can draw parallels between diverse experiences. You can explain an employment gap, put a structure behind non-traditional career choices, or otherwise make your case for the uniqueness of your career. A good cover letter tells a story that directs the reader to where you want him or her to focus.

You can speak directly to an individual reader. It is unrealistic to have a tailored resume for every type of job that you are seeking. Even if you wanted to spend the time, the structure of a resume has limits on what you can customize. A cover letter, on the other hand, can easily accommodate items directly related to the reader. You can demonstrate what you know about your prospective employer’s organization or industry. You can talk about why you want to work there. You can itemize your specific contributions relevant to that one employer.

Here is a 5-minute video about a successful cover letter. It’s about a candidate applying to a media property of Time Warner and is the only cover letter I’ve ever seen in my 15 years of recruiting that I can attribute to getting someone hired.

I’m sending the first set of candidate referrals on Monday!

Must have:

Several years of experience…

Writing reported features…

Specifically for the web (not just print features then posted to web)…

And for the women’s lifestyle category!

Most positions are based in NYC though there may be some location flexibility depending on role.

Please submit resumes or recommendations directly to me at caroline@sixfigurestart.com.  Thanks!