I'd like to come on here and say that I've got a new job, and the fear and depression has fled.

Unfortunately, that wouldn't be entirely accurate.

I'm now on Day 19 of my 'enforced vacation'. I've already received my severance, and that money should carry us through May if necessary. Since I'm still technically receiving money from my former employer, I can't start collecting unemployment benefits until the middle of May.

The past two and a half weeks have not been wasted though. The consultant has been a big help, revising and improving my resume, and helping me guide my search. I've been through five days of seminars, most of which will even help me. Heh.

The big thing these courses teach is that there is a lot more to getting a job than simply typing up a resume and blanketing the city with it. There is a hell of a lot you can do to make things easier.

Focus: This is the big thing most people skip. Basically this boils down to, 'Where do you want to work?' When most people try to find a job, they go through the classifieds and online job postings and send a resume everywhere that matches their skill set.

Thing is, not only does this method reduce your chances of getting a job to a tiny fraction, but even if you do get a job, you are almost guaranteed to hate it.

It is important to spend some time identifying your job skills AND your job wants. The trick is to figure out what sort of place you want to work, and what you can bring them.

Sounds like common sense, right? Well, if it was, more people would be doing it.

I've identified that I want to work in a creative, team-based environment. I want to be somewhere where there is a lot of different things to do, where I can work with team of people building something new. Advancement is not important to me, but salary and security is. I need to be somewhere where they recognize and appreciate my skills, and I can learn from those around me.

I also want to make a lot of money. Big surprise there.

Research: Most people's research stage is limited to identifying potential employers, but it should go much beyond that.

You need to learn about the company to find if it is a good fit for you. In the section above, I listed the sort of company that would make me happy. My job was to find which companies would do that.

This is where I learned about the 'Informational Interview'. There is only so much you can learn from a company's website or from hearsay. An Informational Interview is where you contact someone at your target company (a project manager or maybe the HR manager) and ask them to meet you for coffee to talk about their company.

It is important that they know you are not looking for a job here. For example, here's what I say when I'm asking for an interview at a web design house:

"Hi! My name is Phil and I've been working on the in-house team of large Calgary websites for the last five years. I'm thinking of making a change and perhaps moving to a large design house like yours. I was wondering if I could meet with you for a quick interview where I can find out more about your company: the sort of work you do, your organization, your culture. Perhaps I could take you for coffee?"

The coffee bit is a big seller.

As I was saying, make sure they know you are not pumping them for a job. People are far more likely to give you a chance if they understand your intentions. Don't even bring your resume to the interview.

Generally during the interview, they will start asking you some questions, and then you can start chatting about what you have done and the like, but be sure to keep the focus on them.

You can learn a lot from these interviews. If someone loves the company they work for, they can talk for hours about it. I went on one interview that was just supposed to be 15 minutes over coffee that lasted over an hour, and I learned all about their vision, their structure, their strategies... I even got a tour of the facilities!

The point of all this is to:

If at the end of the interview, they ask to see your resume, tell them you can send one in once you get home.

Oh, and be sure to send a thank-you note. Makes it a bit easier for the next person asking for an interview.

I think that's enough blabbing for now. I'll talk more another day. Take care!

Over in the forum:

Oh, my poor neglected forum. I'll give it a boost next week.

Tell us about the grief process

Seen any good movies?

Take me home, big fella