The #Lockdown Edition: A 3-part series of helpful tips for Entrepreneurs, Professionals and the General Public.

 PART II: THE PROFESSIONAL
 
Last week we unpacked some tactics to support small business owners in their struggle to keep their doors open during a truly momentous occasion in history. This week, we’ll be focusing on you – the working Professional. I’ve put together my Top 12 Tips to support you.
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C-19 has demonstrated a critical lesson that we may not have wanted to face: every-single-one-of-us-is-disposable. If you have not lost your employment, I’ll bet my bottom dollar you know someone who has. Although I will be largely targeting those who have found themselves now part of the unemployed population group, I would encourage the ‘lucky’ ones who still have employment to take heed of my advice. You never know if you’ll be next to get the axe…

**Side note; although I refer to the term ‘Professionals’, this encompasses all individuals who are economically active – regardless of age, background, skills or education. 

Tip 1: Get your CV in tip top shape

Whether or not you have the ‘luxury’ of time right now, find a moment to ensure your CV is in tip top shape, ready to hit market should you get retrenched, or if you are currently looking for work.

Most of my clients have introduced a moratorium, and yes – the bad news is there are very limited opportunities…now more than ever.  However, there ARE companies that are still running assessments, which of course means they are still hiring. Think Retail, Manufacturing, Distribution, Information Technology, Medical Services and some Financial sectors.

Some practical tips with regards to your CV:
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• Short and Sweet: Ensure your CV is no more than two pages (three at a push). It needs to be short, sweet, succinct and to the point. 
• Get the structure right: The general format of a CV should include your basic information (name, contact, etc.), a brief profile, your education, your employment history, key competencies and references. 
• Robot Friendly: Your CV has GOT TO reflect ATS (Applicant Tracking System) friendly key words. A core tip here is to study the JD (Job Description) and look at the terminology they are using. Make sure (without, of course, fabricating anything) your CV contains the terms around ‘Critical Requirements’. For example, instead of “Strong eye for detail” use “Excellent Analytical Thinking Skills”. 
• Know your Market: Make sure you are utilising formats that are friendly for your desired market. For instance, most of Europe does not want you to have a photograph of yourself, and there should be absolutely no mention of your race, age, or gender. South Africa does not mind having a photograph on your resume, and would likely prefer seeing an ID number (the connotation here is that you are South African and have the right to work), your employment equity status, as well as whether or not you hold a drivers’ licence. The United Arab Emirates, on the other hand, encourages the use of a photograph on your resume. 
• Check, re-check then check again. Your writing, spelling and grammar needs to be IMPECCABLE. Get a friend or family member to read your CV, and then YOU read your CV out loud to ensure it is 100% faultless. 
• Don’t lie. I don’t need to substantiate this. 

Need some help with regards to this? Holistan is here. Click here for more info. 

Tip #2: Make sure your Digital Brand is on point

Whether you like it or not, you CV alone is not the only thing you are going to need in your arsenal kit when navigating through the war world of work.
With regards to your Facebook and Instagram accounts, I would encourage you to set them to airtight privacy. The most inconspicuous comment or photograph of you may count against you.

If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, or if it’s a juvenile one, you are committing career suicide. Having a LinkedIn presence is pivotal to growing your personal brand and facilitating the networking process; it’s also proved to be one of the most successful professional social media networks that allows you to highlight your current and prior work experience, upload your portfolio, connect with likeminded professionals, gain exposure to professional opportunities and advance your career.  Its most powerful function is to not only find employment opportunities, but to get head-hunted!

Here are my top tips in this regard:
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• The ideal LinkedIn Profile: LinkedIn has made it easy in this regard. What you want to achieve is “All-Star” status, where every gap has been populated (think education, experience, skills, etc.). But remember… Less is more. Rule of thumb: Your LinkedIn profile should not be more detailed than your CV. If not on par with the detail the CV offers, it should have less information. However, unlike your CV, here you have the opportunity to upload interviews you’ve done (whether as weblinks or attachments), articles you’ve authored or your portfolio of work. You can even upload your CV (in PDF of course) as an attachment to LinkedIn. Just be aware that your personal information should preferably be taken out (ID number, address and phone number) if your profile is public (which it should be if you are on the market). 
• LinkedIn Premium: The cost is roughly around R 400.00 per month depending on where we are with the Rand to the Dollar exchange rate; so it’s not cheap, but if you are truly aggressive about finding a prospective opportunity, I would recommend you sign up. 
• Features include: Direct messaging to recruiters; Capacity to apply to roles as a featured applicant; Check out who's checking you out; Data / insights - see how you compare to other talent; Online video courses.                                                                                                      You can sign up for a month for free to see if you gain any traction here. If it's not worthwhile to you personally, you can cancel and not lose a cent :-) **You will only get ONE free trial in your lifetime.  On the far right hand corner of your profile, simply click on “Try Premium Free for 1 Month”. 
• Go to "Jobs" on LinkedIn: This is the little briefcase on the top bar. Specifically look at the manner in which your desired job description lists the competencies they are looking for. If you have NOT got this listed in your LinkedIn profile, add it. ALSO ensure your cover letter matches these same key words (you may even go as far as tweaking your CV to include similar keywords IF they are absent). More on cover letters later… 
• Applications: When you start applying for roles on LinkedIn, there are three types of processers you’ll follow. The first is ‘Easy Apply’ which really is the easiest manner of applying. You’ll be able to simply click through, upload your CV and voila! Done! The second type of process is a click through to the company’s website, where you’ll need to fill out the application, possibly answer a questionnaire and if you’re not inputting your CV data, you’ll then be required to upload your CV. The third is being routed to a career portal or website, such as P-net, Career Junction or Careers24. Make sure your profiles on these portals are up to date! 
• Let recruiters know you are open to opportunities: It facilitates the head-hunting process, and allows recruiters / HR professionals to connect your skills to what they have on their books. Remember! LinkedIn takes every precaution they can in order to protect your privacy (this function cannot be seen on the front-end / your connections; only on the backend / those who have paid for LinkedIn premium as talent scouts).  
  • Job Titles: Remember, you can only input a maximum of five different job titles to be matched to.
  • Location: State where you are, but also state if you are open to positions outside of where you reside, or abroad.
  • Build your network! LinkedIn is not Facebook. You don’t necessarily have to know the person you want to connect with – but there should be a common thread between you and them (your interests, skills, or people you know). So it’s time to build your connections. You never know who they may know, and who they may introduce you to when it comes to opportunities. If you’re new to LinkedIn, you’ll be asked for your email address (of course). LinkedIn will find a whole bunch of connections from your email contact list that you should connect with. You’ll have to pick and choose who you want to connect with by sending them an invite. And I promise, it’s easier than it sounds – you’ll see that once you get active on the platform.
  • Seek recommendations: Having positive recommendations and testimonials is worth its weight in gold on LinkedIn. You cannot physically upload a testimonial in this section; you need to actually ask one of your (ex) peers for a recommendation. 
  • Get Active! I would recommend downloading the LinkedIn app on the Play Store. Here, you’ll be able to access emails, apply for jobs, etc. quickly and easily from your phone.                      

​Also – to keep top of mind, search for companies / people / subjects you are interested in. Follow them, like their status updates, share their articles, etc. Do this at least daily if you can. And use hashtags for topics you are interested in.

Tip#3 Online Recruitment portals and Professionals

Now’s the opportunity to proactively invest some time into getting your profile on your nominated career portals looking spick and span. I would suggest nominating no more than three, and copy and paste the details from your CV into the designated areas.

This may seem tedious at first, but once it’s done, it’s done. It makes applying for jobs a whole lot smoother. However, make sure you review your profile every 1-6 months (depending on how long you’re on the market for) and tweak as you deem necessary.

The top career portals in South Africa (in my opinion) are:
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LinkedIn (obviously)
CareerJunction
Careers24
Pnet
Indeed
Glassdoor
Google Careers
CareerJet
JobMail
CareersPortal
Jobs.co.za
Jobvine
 

​Tip #4 Your cover letter

Create a template cover letter that you can change, adapt and tweak for every job application. The general structure should outline your cognitive capabilities (e.g. demonstrate a time you solved a complex problem), your personality profile (e.g. give examples of how you have negotiated a tough deal) and your leadership abilities (e.g. recall a time you coached and mentored a peer to achieving success).
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Don’t just say you can do XYZ… DEMONSTRATE it with real life examples, keeping them as relevant and recent (the past 5 years) as possible. 

Tip#5 Coach yourself

Get yourself interview-ready by coming up with answers to typical questions that will likely be posed in an interview. Practice in front of the mirror. Role play with your partner.

Some examples of high level competency based questions include:

1. Please give me an example of a complex problem you had to solve. Describe the situation, your actions and the eventual outcome.
2. Tell me about a specific business problem you recently highlighted that strongly drew on your expertise and your knowledge of the changing regulatory / legislative framework? Describe the potential impact of this risk, and how you addressed it?
3. What have you personally done to increase opportunities or improve circumstances for those around you? Please describe a specific action or project that is important to you.
4. Can you think of a time where you were under severe pressure to deliver a particular result – how did you handle the pressure, and in retrospect, is there anything you would do differently?
5. Describe a recent situation where you dealt successfully with a difficult or demanding client by successfully adapting to the situation.
6. Describe a time you influenced a difficult internal or external client to view a situation from your perspective. Please be specific in your example:

As much as you may want to come across as humble in the interview (and please endeavour to!) DO NOT down-play your accomplishments or achievements. This is the time to shine.

A word of advice though? Always ensure the significance of whatever example you nominate demonstrates how it benefitted the organisation as a whole – not you as an individual (even if they ask you, ‘What did that mean to you?’ or ‘How did that make you feel?’).
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If you do get lucky enough to land a second interview, and progress through to being invited for psychometric assessments, you can prepare by reading our articles here and here. 

Tip#6 Expand your personal brand
 
Welcome to Industry 4.0. Finding work is NOT a case of sending off a CV. Now more than ever, it’s a collection of who you are, what you’re about and what niche skills you can offer. The more of a credible persona you can project, the better. Do yourself a favour and quickly Google your name and surname. If you don’t exist on Google, you’re treading on thin ice.
So how exactly can you expand your personal brand?

1. Write. Utilise LinkedIn’s function of writing an article. Remember! Writing copy is not about you, it’s about your reader. Stick to something that’s interesting that can impact their life (be the scratch to their itch). Keep it short and sweet. Punchy and to the point.
2. Start a YouTube Channel. I kid you not. Even if you are not actively filming videos, you can upload videos of media interviews you’ve done in the past or pod-casts you’ve recorded.
3. Go live. Facebook or Instagram live. Record short snippets of articulating point 1. Having something meaningful / interesting / impactful to share? No? You’re lying to yourself. I guarantee you this: you know something somebody doesn’t, and would be interested to hear.
4. Blog. Write meaningful information for your audience. If you’re in Finance, give the public some tips on how to remain financially savvy. A teacher? Provide mom and dad with support during lockdown with the kids. A nutritionist? Outline your favourite smoothie recipes. On that note…
5. Guest blog. Contribute to someone’s already established blog to get your name out there.
6. Create a Website. If you’re really serious about creating a powerful brand, create (or have someone create) a website about you. Remember again – the intention is not putting the spotlight on you; it’s how you can make a difference in your readers’ life, providing them with content they want to consume.

​Need some more insights into building a powerful personal brand? Click here.

Luckily, this is one of Holistan’s specialities, so if you need some more ‘hands-on’ guidance, check out our offering here.

Tip#7 Be careful to under value yourself
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Given our current set of circumstances, you may demonstrate a bit more flexibility in terms of your salary expectations. I do caution you, however, to be careful about significantly dropping on your market value. Things will return to normal in due course, and although there is room for flexibility, you don’t want to be on a back-foot when things do (eventually) return to normal. More on negotiating your salary here.

​Tip #8 Don’t stop learning
 
There are a plethora of resources available to upskill on virtually anything you can think of. Especially during lockdown, plenty of paid-for websites (like Udemy.com or Alison.com, for example) are providing free courses to support the public.
 

Tip#9 Freelancing
 
If you really are in financial dire straits, you may need to consider doing some freelance work to keep your head above water. First world countries contract professionals just like you to do almost anything you can think of. Virtual assistant? Creating Copy? Putting together Power-point presentations? You can literally make a few hundred dollars for a few hours work.

Check out my favourite sites here:
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https://www.fiverr.com/  
https://www.upwork.com/ 
https://zeerk.com/ 
https://www.guru.com/
https://gigbucks.com/  
https://www.fivesquid.com/ 
 

Tip#10 Reach out
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Get in touch with family, friends and ex-colleagues if you are actively on the market. Don’t be shy to ask for introductions. Ask for references from previous bosses. As the old saying goes, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. 

Tip#11 It’s time for that rainy day
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If you are part of the minority that have saved for a rainy day, it may just be the thunderstorm that warrants dipping into those savings. Or perhaps call up your financial advisor; you may have an income protector as part of your portfolio that you could have forgotten about. Or, research avenues into claiming for UIF. 

Tip#12 Keep your chin up
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Everything in life is cyclical. You may be money poor but time rich. Aggressively look at your budget, cut all luxuries, if need be, take a payment holiday on debts, and apply your mind to some out the box thinking.

Get outside (if you have a back-yard) and get active. Take note of what you consume - not just food wise, but with regards to the news too. Don’t watch every video or read every article sent to you on WhatsApp. Only read trusted news sources. And limit your screen time. Get your hands on one of your books on your bookshelf that you’ve been promising to read forever. Or take a look at some useful info right here to fill your mind with some of my favourite content I’ve curated over the years:

Roadmap to Success
Personal Development and Growth
Becoming Your Most Authentic You
Four Tips to Get Your Mojo Back
The 5 Second Rule
7 of my Personal Tips to Survive Trauma
Are you a Polymath?

Closing words
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I would like to extend my deepest appreciation toward every single one of you. Many of you reading this are my clients, ex-clients, or a part of my network. Making an impact on your life or business is my passion. Having the opportunity to support you through my (free) content or (paid-for) services not only puts food on the table, but it feeds my soul. C-19 has taken many things away from you and I (seeing family, about 60% of my income, a trip to the gym, etc.), but it’s injected a new-found love for my profession.

Honestly? I feel more inspired and energised now than I have in a very, very long time.  Work-wise, I’m busy evolving my business into a 100% digital friendly, Industry 4.0 offering, collecting ideas to publish my second book and creating more courses. Personally, I am spending bucket loads of time with my husband, precious son and dogs; and reconnecting with old friends in the virtual space. I hope I don’t sound facetious, but I honestly feel blessed. After all… how do you know true happiness if you’ve never experienced sorrow?

We are all collectively in this shit-storm together.  If you need some active support at this time, reach out to me. Holistan offers coaching that is practical, impactful and supportive. Click here for more info.

It may take time, but we’ll make it through. Far more resilient and ambitious than ever before. But you need to choose that mindset.