8 SP I R I T OF WOMEN WINTER 2015 w w w.sp i r i t o f women.com

F I N A N C I A L F I T N E S S

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and bring you into contact with others in your field.

3. Update your resume. Customize your resume for every job you apply for, making it easy for the employer to see how your skills and experience can help the organization. And be sure to include specific on-the-job accomplishments for all of the positions listed on your resume.

4. Sharpen your skills. Take advantage of your downtime to develop new skill sets so that you’re up-to-date for your marketplace. Prospective employers will be impressed that you’ve done this, and it also shows them you’ll be looking for opportunities to help them improve if they hire you.

5. Get your LinkedIn profile up-to-date. Businesses looking to hire use LinkedIn not only to source talent, but also to find out more about prospective candidates. If you’re a novice LinkedIn user, you may be able to get free training through your local library or workforce development agency; LinkedIn also offers free webinars to help you get started. To view a sample LinkedIn profile and to connect with Nealon through LinkedIn, visit www.linkedin.com/in/BobNealon.

6. Reach out to your references. Reconnect with former bosses, colleagues and others to ask them about serv-ing as professional references for you. Then, compile a stand-alone reference contact list that you can provide to a prospective employer upon request, and bring it to all of your job interviews. •

Losing your job can shake up your world like very few other life events.

“Many people define themselves by their ca-reers, and when you lose your job you lose that definition of who you are and how you contrib-

ute to society,” says Don Straits, founder and president of Corporate Warriors, a national career services firm.

It’s important to take time to grieve when you experience such a significant, stressful loss, says Robert Nealon, a Florida-based career coach, certified professional resume writer and job search strategy expert. But it’s equally impor-tant to begin moving forward as soon as possible.

“Today’s job market is ultra-competitive, but there is op-portunity out there,” says Nealon. “Be different by conduct-ing a proactive job search campaign by target marketing to companies and decision makers to communicate your value proposition, rather than relying on the mainstream job boards for job leads.”

Nealon recommends these six steps for jumpstarting your search for a new job:

1. Network, network, network. Seventy percent of all jobs are found through networking, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consider people you know from your work history, volunteer work, business/social organi-zations, school alumni, military service and more.

2. Volunteer in your community. Look for volunteer oppor-tunities that allow you to show off your professional skills

a job lossSurviving