Networking Trumps Your Skillset
This month Eddie and I interview Sherri Thomas, a career strategist that helps her clients reinvent their careers and move forward with greater confidence. In our interview, we discuss what to do when you’re laid off from your job and also how important networking is to help you to find a new job.
When asked about dealing with the unexpected loss of a job, Sherri advises to give yourself time to process the loss. “We think that we are covering the loss of losing a job really well but we are not. We need to take some time to process what has happened and to not carry it with you moving forward.”
“The biggest mistake is to look for tips online and there is a lot of junk out there. Or advice of friends or family isn’t always the best. If you want to have a faster or easier bounce back, you need to know the best practices of how to write your resume, how to network, and how to do job interviews.”
“You’ve got to have a really good network around you that can support you. You have to be selective about who you spend your time with. Search for sources of energy that can fill you up so that you can go out into the world with more confidence.”
Sherri also advises learning about the mistakes that you are making in your career. “Be proactive in your career. I didn’t have a career strategy and I was simply being nice. I was working so hard to turn the fly wheel to advance my career. It took a long time to learn my mistakes and it was a journey to learn how to spin the fly wheel.”
Even if you haven’t faced a layoff, you can still feel trapped in an unfulfilling job or working for a company that doesn’t value your contributions to the organization. “Life is too short to be working for someone who doesn’t value who you are” Sherri added. “The blessing is that friction or that conflict can really help you grow and stretch out into something better.”
Thanks again Sherri for being our guest.