Five Questions for Elizabeth C. Haynes on How Perserverance Pays Off When You Are Looking For a Job

Elizabeth C. Haynes, Writer, Editor, Marketing Specialist

I coach people get good jobs, so I am always interested in learning from people who found good jobs. In this blog, I pose five questions to Elizabeth Haynes, who blogged about her struggles to get a good job that went viral. Evidently, her being open about her struggles and what she was doing to overcome helped many who found themselves in a similar situation.

In this blog, I pose five questions to Elizabeth to understand what it is like when one is out of a job for some time. As you will see, you just can’t give up and learn. I hope this blog helps you if you are looking for a job. I want to thank Elizabeth for taking time out of her busy schedule to offer her insights that will motivate others to perservere like she did.  

If you would like to learn more about Elizabeth, you can check her out on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/elizabethchaynes and her website at 
 www.elizabethchaynes.com where you will find her excellent blogs. One blog that has helped  a lot of people who are unemployed is "Terror of Unemployment" in which she describes vividly what she was going through while being out of a full-time job and how she learned to re-frame her thinking to learn to cope with her situation that helped her turn things around.  It's a short piece and I recommend you read it if you are terrified of your situation of being out of a job.
 
Lastly, Elizabeth  will be releasing her book on finding happiness amidst life's challenges. The preorders of the book begin August 1. 

Question 1:
Can you outline the steps you used to get a good job and perhaps provide one or two tips for each step that you think can help someone who is looking for a job? Why was it so hard for you to get a good job when you have a proven track record of delivering excellence as you have shown on your website whiteoceanconsulting.com?

Finding a good job took years. I would recommend the following:

• Networking on LinkedIn
• Posting a lot on LinkedIn
• Having a good resume (pay someone if you need to)
• Trying to get past the ATS as much as possible by finding a human to talk to
• Applying to jobs you don’t feel quite qualified to do (apply if you meet at least 50% of the requirements)
• Showcasing your skills online somehow (for me, it was through blogs and articles)

It was hard for me to find a job because I have a disability and need to work remotely. Getting that accommodation proved to be near impossible without having an established relationship with a company. It took finding a hiring manager who was already open to a remote employee before I was finally offered a job.

Question 2:
What do you recommend someone does to keep one’s spirits up while she is trying to land a good full-time job, especially when one is out of a job for a while?

This is hard.  I recommend good self-care and to do things that you enjoy, such as taking baths, taking walks, reading books, etc. Also, I recommend that you talk to supportive people when you feel stressed out or sad.

The thing that helped me the most was learning to stay in the present. I used to feel anxious and drown in the “what ifs,” but then I realized, doing that wouldn’t change the outcome in any way. It would just change the present. So I decided to only look at the current day, every day. Do I have food today? Do I have shelter today? If so, that’s enough for today.

Things can change in only a day (and they usually do), so try to allow yourself just to be present. It could all be different tomorrow. When it’s time for you to work, the job will come as long as you keep trying everything you know to try.

Question 3:
What did you find that proved to be effective and ineffective when you were looking for a job?

I will refer to my answer in Question 1 for things that I found effective. As far as what I feel is ineffective, I would say just applying to online applications and doing nothing else. Don’t do that. You want to do some of it but do other things too.

Question 4:
What are some key interviewing skills you feel one must develop and even master to not only get a good job but to have a good career? How did you prepare for your face to face interview that landed you the job you currently have?

My best interviewing tip is to approach it as a conversation. Turn your interview into a conversation. The main reason for this is that an interview is often one-sided, whereas a conversation is two-sided. You are interviewing the interviewers as much as they are interviewing you.

I prepare for interviews by researching the company and researching the people I’m interviewing. I want to know their backgrounds and their roles, and I want to be able to ask intelligent questions. I also make sure to review the job description again before the interview so I can match my qualifications to the job requirements.

Question 5:
How did you deal with rejections when you were looking for a job?
 
Rejections always hurt. There’s no way around it. The best way I dealt with them was just to tell myself that the job wasn’t meant for me, and perhaps I dodged a bullet anyway. A job that is meant for me is the one I will get. Let it go and move on.

Please recommend 5 books that have influenced your thinking.
Codependent No More by Melody Beattie
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
On Writing by Stephen King
The Best Women’s Travel Writing (various volumes) by Lavinia Spalding
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

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Jay Oza is a writer, speaker, executive coach.  He makes people thrive on high stakes stage whether it's for a job interview, a sales presentation or an important speech. He is the author of the book Winning Speech Moments: How to Achieve Your Objective with Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere. Please download the speech checklist and the speech workbook to help you with your next high stakes speech.

Please contact him if you would like to attend his workshop or invite him to have it at your site or have him give a talk on Interviewing or High-Stakes Speaking.  You can reach him at [email protected] or 732-847-9877.

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