My Personal Story, by Russ Haines, CPRW
I have been there! I retired from my first job after 27 years and had to "learn" how to find a job. It is a process; it requires tools and knowing how to use these tools. My professional experience as a corporate trainer afforded me the appreciation for adult education and the value of learning. I personally engaged the services of a Career Management firm and became employed within 6 weeks of fully engaging my career campaign, I know it works.
I personally went through the depression, denial and even with a career coach, I experienced some of the esteem issues resulting from being out of work. I was encouraged and kept on track by my coach and when it finally "clicked" there was and is no stopping me in attaining my career goals.
The process was so effective I was hired by the Company as a career coach and worked with hundreds of unemployed and under employed individuals assisting them in reaching their career goals.
I have formally and informally been a career coach for most of my career, whether it was grooming future managers and engineers for Xerox or helping friends and co-workers with their career searches. I used a very similar process to assist my co-workers and employees. Learn this process and never be unemployed or under-employed again.
The bottom line of job searching or career management and being successful is understanding the “how's” and “why's”, these two elements provide skill and motivation, how's=skills and why's=motivation. The”what's” are the things that most workshops and seminars are all about, what you have to do; you have to have a good resume, you have to network. However, these are never explained in the context of who you are. Attend all seminars and workshops that you can but when you stuck you need a plan and a coach to help you move forward, that is what I discovered.