Tips for keeping your job search confidential: with the 

• Be ready to respond to questions if your employer learns that you are looking. If your employers questions relate to your LinkedIn activity, you can defer and say that you are just trying to connect with other professionals in the field to stay on top of trends and best practices.
• Don’t conduct job search tasks on your work computer or the work phone.
• Move to private areas to have job search conversations on your cell phone and/or return messages during breaks and lunch.
• Don’t post your resume to a job board
• If you do post your resume to a job board, select one your current employer isn’t using
• If you do post your resume to a job board, make your current employer anonymous. Use a general enough description so someone can’t say definitively that it is ABC company but specific enough so they know the type of company. (For example: a fortune 500 consumer products company in Chicago)
• Utilize the job board privacy settings, if available, to make your profile private.
• If a prospective employer asks for references, don’t list someone from the current company.
• If a prospective employer asks for contact names at your current company, indicated that you are conducting a confidential search, but would supply the contact when it is needed to finalize an offer. Use the same language when a prospective employer asks to check your references.
• Since networking is such an important part of your search, I would still recommend establishing a profile on LinkedIn. Just make sure that the publically viewable part of your profile, online discussions, and personal updates don’t indicate that you are in an active search. You will need to utilize private communications and offline conversation more than online or group interactions.

#jobsearch

Stepping away from the details of work can give you a new perspective. 
Yesterday, that moment of joy was watching the eclipse with family. My husband and I are lucky enough that he has family in southern Illinois, an area that experienced totality. Just the event itself inspired and awed me. Experiencing it with several generations made it even more special. We ate moon pies and sun chips. We had our official glasses, but made pinhole cameras from a shoebox and sheets of paper (used separately). We also expanded the light show with a colander and a mirror (also used separately).

The key is letting yourself experience the moment. We celebrated with selfies, but we also took a breath and just looked. We watched the crescent shrink and disappear. We watched the light dim, the sunset surround us, and the planets come out. And, we watched the crescent grow again. The eclipse flew by, but we took the time to experience it. 

Your moments of joy don’t have to be as historical as an eclipse, especially since the next one isn’t until 2024. Your moment of joy can be family, friends, music, and motion.

Taking a break from the day to day activities can give you a new perspective.
For both mental and physical health, you should take breaks from sitting at the computer. 

• A walk around the office or the block
• Stretches will loosen the neck and the back 
• Music to stimulate the body and mind (see below)
• Coffee or water cooler break to discuss a project, challenge, or that week’s GOT or WD

A couple of minutes away puts the task in perspective and helps you think about what you do in a new way. Try different options out to see what works for you. But be careful. Moments of joy are different from pleasure. The candy bar is pleasurable, but fleeting. And, the pleasure may diminish. I’ll discuss the difference between joy and pleasure in a future blog post.

Building flow or joyful add-ons into your day will energize you.
Utilizing your strengths and getting caught up in what you are doing is being in "flow." If you've ever gotten so immersed into a task, you were probably utilizing a strength. The more you utilize this and other strengths, the more successful and productive you will be. I will cover Flow in more detail in a future blog post. If you can't wait to learn a little more about strengths, check out Gallup's Strengths Based Leadership ($).

Because today's post is about building joy in your life, I'll talk about joyful add-ons. I get energized when I listen to the music of my youth. (I'm not that old, but when I start talking dates, I feel like it.) 80's alternative will take me back to college, a little Neil Diamond will take me back to family trips, and some good 70's rock will bring an old radio in my childhood bedroom to mind. This doesn't get me sentimental. I get energized. I may sing. I may dance a little. 

When I must do a task and my energy is waning, I'll turn on music. Suddenly, doing the dishes, cleaning or powering through a research report get a little easier. I feel more joy than dread at the task. I have the energy to get it done.

Build moments of joy in your life

(Blog posted to Bartimus Career Consulting Blog and Hayska Blog.)

(Feature Image Note: Thank you to Canva.com for offering a free eclipse photo (above) since my attempts (below) did not come out clear. ​)

The new name shows the evolution of interviewing. Instead of only focusing on behaviors and competencies, looking at "experience" puts the behaviors and competencies into context of your accomplishments and passions.

It is important for you to prepare your stories about your accomplishments and the challenges you overcame before you are in the interview.

Build off of the (a) skills sought by your targeted employers. Highlight your (b) personal strengths. Tell your story of your (c) accomplishments. Demonstrate your (d) passion.

​For more information on demonstrating your value through the interview, check out my Interviewing resource page.

Additionally, here are two links to show how employers are describing "experience interviews":

• Bain & Company
• McKinsey & Company

Consulting companies who employ case interviews offer tips for preparing for this interview style. Since this interview focuses on problem solving, the key aspects are:

• Listening and understanding the case details
• Asking about missing details or for clarification
• Showing your thought process by thinking through the case out loud.

The case interview is typically used to show how you would interact with clients and organize projects. Treat the case interview as if it is a client problem or project proposal.

Some companies, like McKinsey & Company, offer sample cases. If your targeted employer doesn't offer sample cases, check for actual client or project stories under the "About" or "Services" tabs.

For additional tips on preparing, review these company pages:

• Bain & Company - http://www.bain.com/careers/interview-preparation/case-interview.aspx
• McKinsey & Company (Includes sample cases) - http://www.mckinsey.com/careers/interviewing 
• Deloitte (Includes practice case) - https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/careers/articles/join-deloitte-case-interview-prep-tool.html

Other companies, like Bain, also incorporate a case study as a written essay.

Review your prospective employer's career pages for information on their interview process. Also check sites like Glassdoor.com for other descriptions of the interviewing process with comments of other candidates.

#career #interviewing