strategy – Page 2 – Careers for Social Impact

25Nov 2019 by Erin Ewart No Comments

How to Job Search During the Holidays

career coaching, job search, networking, strategy

BY ERIN EWART The holiday season is here, and every year around this time we get questions from our clients who are in career transition about what this means for them. One of the biggest questions we get is whether any hiring happens this time of year, and the answer to that is a definite yes! But while hiring happens year round, it does tend to slow down around the holidays, and it can be discouraging to see fewer new jobs being posted and to get so many out of office replies to your networking outreach. But that doesn't mean you should take a time out from your job search during the holidays; that's a mistake that will come back to bite you in January. Instead, think about how you can…

25Sep 2019 by Erin Ewart No Comments

Why Feeling Stuck Sucks – And What To Do About It

career coaching, job search, strategy

BY ERIN EWART Yesterday I got stuck. Not physically stuck, but mentally and emotionally stuck. I felt like I had so many things competing for my attention that I couldn’t decide what to focus on. I am wrestling with a few big decisions right now, and I was feeling completely stressed about what to do next and where I should be spending my time and energy. As I sat at my desk, toggling between my to do list and my email inbox and the many, many open tabs in my browser (yes, I am one of those people), I felt the tightness of panic rise in my chest. I was paralyzed. Overwhelmed. Completely stuck. And I knew I had to do something. So I left. I went for a walk,…

30Jul 2019 by Erin Ewart No Comments

A Year of Big Changes

strategy

BY ERIN EWART 2019 is turning out to be a year of big personal and professional change - maybe more than I bargained for! On the professional front, we’ve recently updated our name to Careers for Social Impact, which I’m incredibly excited about. We launched a new Self-Study version of our Job Search Bootcamp program earlier this year, and we're in the midst of growing our team and hiring additional coaches to help us expand our impact and work with more clients. On the personal front, our family welcomed a new baby in March (hi Kieran!). And after five years in Seattle, my husband and I have decided to relocate back to the east coast to be closer to our extended family. We’ll be heading back to New York City…

20Dec 2018 by Erin Ewart No Comments

Give Yourself a Holiday Gift: Celebrate Your Accomplishments

career coaching, job search, strategy

BY ERIN EWART Recently we asked our clients to share an accomplishment they were proud of from this year. While people are often initially stumped in reaction to this question, soon the answers started flowing - projects completed, new jobs landed, personal goals achieved (and even an appearance on Jeopardy!). There was so much positive energy as everyone shared the things they were proud of; I wish I could have bottled it up and captured it! It’s sadly rare to have these kinds of conversations, because we are all naturally programmed to focus on what doesn’t go well: what we wish we’d done differently, or how we didn’t get it exactly right or achieve every single thing we set out to do. This “negativity bias” is hardwired in all of…

13Sep 2018 by Erin Ewart No Comments

Fall Cleaning For Your Job Search: 9 Ways to Prep For Peak Hiring Season

job search, LinkedIn, networking, resume, strategy

BY ERIN EWART There’s something about the start of a new season that always energizes me to finally tackle nagging chores and start with a clean slate. I especially feel this way at the start of fall: no matter how old I get, the start of a new school year is exciting and feels like a chance to start fresh. Fall is also a peak time for hiring, so there’s no better time to dust off your job search strategy and materials and spend some time cleaning house. Take the steps below to refresh your job search approach and materials for fall, whether you’re actively job searching or not. Either way, it’s wise to make these updates a few times per year to ensure you’re staying current and prepared in case…

25Jun 2018 by Erin Ewart No Comments

Three Lessons I Learned From My Own Career Pivot

job search, strategy

BY ERIN EWART Four years ago this month, I started working for myself. It started with a small consulting project, which I thought would be a short-term gig to bridge the gap until I found my next “real” job. I had just moved to Seattle and left the job I had been at for five years, and I wanted to give myself some time to build a network in my new city and figure out what was next. Little did I know that four years later I’d have a thriving business. I am incredibly grateful to our amazing clients and the many supporters who helped me get to this point. But it certainly was not an easy path, or a straight one. It was terrifying to take the leap and quit…

26Apr 2018 by Erin Ewart No Comments

Why You Need a Job Search Strategy (And How To Create Yours)

job search, strategy

BY ERIN EWART Are you approaching your job search strategically? If you’re not sure how to answer that question or you’re shaking your head with an emphatic “no”, this post is for you. Having a job search strategy sounds like a good thing, but what does that really mean? We tend to throw around the word “strategy” a lot, and I think it helps to come back to the definition: “a method or plan to bring about a desired future” and “the art and science of planning and marshalling resources for their most efficient and effective use.” So, having a strategy means you have a plan to bring about your desired future (a new job), while efficiently and effectively using resources (your time and energy). Sounds straightforward, but it’s something many…

22Jan 2018 by Erin Ewart No Comments

You Set Some Goals – Now What?

career coaching, job search, strategy

BY ERIN EWART The new year is officially here. Are you faithfully executing on all your New Year’s resolutions? Or do you have some ideas scribbled on a post-it note that you need to spend more time to actually make into actual goals and plans? If you’re nodding at option #2, we have something in common! As most of us have experienced, turning ideas into concrete action can be challenging. Many well-intentioned goals fall by the wayside when the rubber meets the road and life takes over, especially when they focus on the more complex areas of our lives, like our careers. Recently we shared four questions to ask to give yourself a year end career review, and today we're following up with some specific strategies and tools to help you…

20Dec 2017 by Erin Ewart No Comments

Give Yourself a Year-End Career Review With These 4 Questions

job search, strategy

BY ERIN EWART There’s lots of research out there about the benefits of regular reflection and journaling. I don’t do as much of it as I’d like, and that’s something I want to continue to work on in the new year. But I do periodically take time to write things down, and it’s always interesting and instructive to go back and read through old journal entries. Recently I was reading through some entries from about five years ago, before I started Careers for Social Impact and moved across the country. My life was very different then, and I was clearly ready for a change. I was working for an organization with a great mission and I liked the people I worked with, but I knew that the work I was doing…

11Oct 2017 by Erin Ewart No Comments

What Recruiters Think About Interviews (But Probably Won’t Tell You)

interviewing, strategy

BY ERIN EWART In my career as a recruiter I conducted hundreds of interviews. Most of these were first round screening interviews, and I think these can be one of the most important parts of the job search process, and also one of the most challenging for job seekers. Why are first interviews so important? In a typical recruitment process, organizations select about 5-10 candidates to screen and 3-5 for in-depth interviews. With the average job receiving 100+ applications (and some many more than that), that means you have at best a 5-10% chance of being selected for an initial interview, so it’s important to make the most of the opportunity. These odds will likely increase if you've played your cards right by networking with people at the organization and getting…