Substantiate Yourself

Substantiate Yourself I dont know where I picked it up but substantiate is a word Ive said a little too much these last few months. I usually say having a blog is a great way to substantiate your breadth and depth or you need to substantiate your personal brand this isnt a post on personal branding per se, but Ive been thinking about sharing this with you for a while I hope you find it interesting! More than that, I hope you find it intriguing enough to figure out how to do something similar. When I began my job search (were just about at the 1 year anniversary of getting laid off!) I thought I was hot stuff. I had a degree in CIS, an MBA, cool job titles (IT Manager, CIO, VP, GM), great experience (internet programmer with newer technologies, increased revenue 500%, etc.). I had even moved from a small town (population 50,000) to a small metro area so Id be closer to more job opportunities in case I needed to find a new job. It was a job seekers market and I was assured by many that I would have a job soon. So I did what any regular person would do I spent a week getting my resume ready, making a list of companies that I should target, establishing accounts on pertinent job boards, and even talking to some players that were connected in town. Since I was relatively new (I had been here for almost 2 years but spent most of the time working or commuting) it was easy for me to say I dont know anyone, so my networking efforts were pretty whimpy. Ill never forget the first 6 weeks. I got one interview invite from a regional hospital chain and one interview invite from a company that I targeted and just sent a resume to info@company.com. Both of those led to a second, and at the company, a third interview, but someone else was chosen. After six weeks I had nothing, and not much hope of getting much more than that (my succss rate was less than 2%). It was a very, very discouraging process, and completely different than what I thought I was going to experience. What happened to all those years studying, all those cool job titles, all that great experience? Why did no one want to hire me on the spot? What was going on?? Fast forward a couple of months to May 15th. That is the day when we released JibberJobber. I sent out e-mails to friends, and many of them signed up to check it out. What they found was a very cool, functional application. Sure it was rough around the edges, but it was colorful, functional, and pretty dang cool (if I dont say so myself ;)). I never expected what would happen next The next time I saw those friends, almost every single one of them, they treated me differently. The common reaction was hey, I want you to meet my boss (or pres. of the company) or hey, you need to meet my friend that works at xyz company What changed? Not my resume. Not my skillset. Im sure my demeanor changed (theres an important post I wrote on not letting others smell blood that definitely came into play) but the most significant thing was that I had substantiated who I was. Instead of people asking what do you do or what are you looking for they were able to see the website and guess that I was involved in very cool web applications, leading edge stuff (design, functionality, marketing, etc.). This was the most significant thing that I did in my job search. How can you substantiate who you are? I know you are busy looking for a job, but if what you are doing isnt working, can you take some time to substantiate yourself? If you are a web designer or graphics artist do you have a portfolio that is easy for people to see? Take the Seth Godin route and combine this substantiation with service, which will allow you to market your substantiation (subtly) to an elite group of others that would otherwise be impossible to meet with. If you are a marketing/advertising/PR professional, Ill make you an offer contact me at jason at JibberJobber.com and let me know what you can do. I have a bunch of projects but Im no expert Id love to have you help me out I cant pay you but Id be more than happy to provide a reference, blog on your contribution, or otherwise help substantiate your skills. If you are a graphics artist you know there are some places where JibberJobber could use some polishing. Again, same offer applies. If you are hung up over doing it for free then go find another opportunity where you can charge for it. Go hustle some work and build your portfolio. Or go find a non-profit that needs it. I dont know if it will do it for you, but substantiating my skillset was the single most important thing I did in my job search and it changed the results that I had previously seen. As a result of my work Ive been recognized in ways that I never thought possible here are just some of the more significant results of my substantiation, and Im honored to be on either of these: Thom Singers Praise Others Project this is a month-long project, I encourage you to subscribe to his blog via e-mail. Anyone that Thom praises is someone that I want to know! Dave Perrys 12 days of Christmas I blogged on this a few days ago and now hes up to day 6 where he lists JibberJobber as an essential tool (he says to download, although it is just a website ;)) you should check out the other tools he recommends, and definitely follow this series). Ive also had mention in articles or blogs by Patricia Kitchen of Newsday, Carl Chapman, Dave Mendoza, Jeff Tokarz and others that are experts in their fields. Ive made a little wave in the recruiting world, the coaching world, the personal branding world. Im certainly not bragging about the results that Ive seen, thats why Ive hesitated to put this post up for so long, but I think its critical that you begin your own substantiation journey for most its not overnight and Id love to hear your results! Substantiate Yourself I dont know where I picked it up but substantiate is a word Ive said a little too much these last few months. I usually say having a blog is a great way to substantiate your breadth and depth or you need to substantiate your personal brand this isnt a post on personal branding per se, but Ive been thinking about sharing this with you for a while I hope you find it interesting! More than that, I hope you find it intriguing enough to figure out how to do something similar. When I began my job search (were just about at the 1 year anniversary of getting laid off!) I thought I was hot stuff. I had a degree in CIS, an MBA, cool job titles (IT Manager, CIO, VP, GM), great experience (internet programmer with newer technologies, increased revenue 500%, etc.). I had even moved from a small town (population 50,000) to a small metro area so Id be closer to more job opportunities in case I needed to find a new job. It was a job seekers market and I was assured by many that I would have a job soon. So I did what any regular person would do I spent a week getting my resume ready, making a list of companies that I should target, establishing accounts on pertinent job boards, and even talking to some players that were connected in town. Since I was relatively new (I had been here for almost 2 years but spent most of the time working or commuting) it was easy for me to say I dont know anyone, so my networking efforts were pretty whimpy. Ill never forget the first 6 weeks. I got one interview invite from a regional hospital chain and one interview invite from a company that I targeted and just sent a resume to info@company.com. Both of those led to a second, and at the company, a third interview, but someone else was chosen. After six weeks I had nothing, and not much hope of getting much more than that (my succss rate was less than 2%). It was a very, very discouraging process, and completely different than what I thought I was going to experience. What happened to all those years studying, all those cool job titles, all that great experience? Why did no one want to hire me on the spot? What was going on?? Fast forward a couple of months to May 15th. That is the day when we released JibberJobber. I sent out e-mails to friends, and many of them signed up to check it out. What they found was a very cool, functional application. Sure it was rough around the edges, but it was colorful, functional, and pretty dang cool (if I dont say so myself ;)). I never expected what would happen next The next time I saw those friends, almost every single one of them, they treated me differently. The common reaction was hey, I want you to meet my boss (or pres. of the company) or hey, you need to meet my friend that works at xyz company What changed? Not my resume. Not my skillset. Im sure my demeanor changed (theres an important post I wrote on not letting others smell blood that definitely came into play) but the most significant thing was that I had substantiated who I was. Instead of people asking what do you do or what are you looking for they were able to see the website and guess that I was involved in very cool web applications, leading edge stuff (design, functionality, marketing, etc.). This was the most significant thing that I did in my job search. How can you substantiate who you are? I know you are busy looking for a job, but if what you are doing isnt working, can you take some time to substantiate yourself? If you are a web designer or graphics artist do you have a portfolio that is easy for people to see? Take the Seth Godin route and combine this substantiation with service, which will allow you to market your substantiation (subtly) to an elite group of others that would otherwise be impossible to meet with. If you are a marketing/advertising/PR professional, Ill make you an offer contact me at jason at JibberJobber.com and let me know what you can do. I have a bunch of projects but Im no expert Id love to have you help me out I cant pay you but Id be more than happy to provide a reference, blog on your contribution, or otherwise help substantiate your skills. If you are a graphics artist you know there are some places where JibberJobber could use some polishing. Again, same offer applies. If you are hung up over doing it for free then go find another opportunity where you can charge for it. Go hustle some work and build your portfolio. Or go find a non-profit that needs it. I dont know if it will do it for you, but substantiating my skillset was the single most important thing I did in my job search and it changed the results that I had previously seen. As a result of my work Ive been recognized in ways that I never thought possible here are just some of the more significant results of my substantiation, and Im honored to be on either of these: Thom Singers Praise Others Project this is a month-long project, I encourage you to subscribe to his blog via e-mail. Anyone that Thom praises is someone that I want to know! Dave Perrys 12 days of Christmas I blogged on this a few days ago and now hes up to day 6 where he lists JibberJobber as an essential tool (he says to download, although it is just a website ;)) you should check out the other tools he recommends, and definitely follow this series). Ive also had mention in articles or blogs by Patricia Kitchen of Newsday, Carl Chapman, Dave Mendoza, Jeff Tokarz and others that are experts in their fields. Ive made a little wave in the recruiting world, the coaching world, the personal branding world. Im certainly not bragging about the results that Ive seen, thats why Ive hesitated to put this post up for so long, but I think its critical that you begin your own substantiation journey for most its not overnight and Id love to hear your results! Substantiate Yourself I dont know where I picked it up but substantiate is a word Ive said a little too much these last few months. I usually say having a blog is a great way to substantiate your breadth and depth or you need to substantiate your personal brand this isnt a post on personal branding per se, but Ive been thinking about sharing this with you for a while I hope you find it interesting! More than that, I hope you find it intriguing enough to figure out how to do something similar. When I began my job search (were just about at the 1 year anniversary of getting laid off!) I thought I was hot stuff. I had a degree in CIS, an MBA, cool job titles (IT Manager, CIO, VP, GM), great experience (internet programmer with newer technologies, increased revenue 500%, etc.). I had even moved from a small town (population 50,000) to a small metro area so Id be closer to more job opportunities in case I needed to find a new job. It was a job seekers market and I was assured by many that I would have a job soon. So I did what any regular person would do I spent a week getting my resume ready, making a list of companies that I should target, establishing accounts on pertinent job boards, and even talking to some players that were connected in town. Since I was relatively new (I had been here for almost 2 years but spent most of the time working or commuting) it was easy for me to say I dont know anyone, so my networking efforts were pretty whimpy. Ill never forget the first 6 weeks. I got one interview invite from a regional hospital chain and one interview invite from a company that I targeted and just sent a resume to info@company.com. Both of those led to a second, and at the company, a third interview, but someone else was chosen. After six weeks I had nothing, and not much hope of getting much more than that (my succss rate was less than 2%). It was a very, very discouraging process, and completely different than what I thought I was going to experience. What happened to all those years studying, all those cool job titles, all that great experience? Why did no one want to hire me on the spot? What was going on?? Fast forward a couple of months to May 15th. That is the day when we released JibberJobber. I sent out e-mails to friends, and many of them signed up to check it out. What they found was a very cool, functional application. Sure it was rough around the edges, but it was colorful, functional, and pretty dang cool (if I dont say so myself ;)). I never expected what would happen next The next time I saw those friends, almost every single one of them, they treated me differently. The common reaction was hey, I want you to meet my boss (or pres. of the company) or hey, you need to meet my friend that works at xyz company What changed? Not my resume. Not my skillset. Im sure my demeanor changed (theres an important post I wrote on not letting others smell blood that definitely came into play) but the most significant thing was that I had substantiated who I was. Instead of people asking what do you do or what are you looking for they were able to see the website and guess that I was involved in very cool web applications, leading edge stuff (design, functionality, marketing, etc.). This was the most significant thing that I did in my job search. How can you substantiate who you are? I know you are busy looking for a job, but if what you are doing isnt working, can you take some time to substantiate yourself? If you are a web designer or graphics artist do you have a portfolio that is easy for people to see? Take the Seth Godin route and combine this substantiation with service, which will allow you to market your substantiation (subtly) to an elite group of others that would otherwise be impossible to meet with. If you are a marketing/advertising/PR professional, Ill make you an offer contact me at jason at JibberJobber.com and let me know what you can do. I have a bunch of projects but Im no expert Id love to have you help me out I cant pay you but Id be more than happy to provide a reference, blog on your contribution, or otherwise help substantiate your skills. If you are a graphics artist you know there are some places where JibberJobber could use some polishing. Again, same offer applies. If you are hung up over doing it for free then go find another opportunity where you can charge for it. Go hustle some work and build your portfolio. Or go find a non-profit that needs it. I dont know if it will do it for you, but substantiating my skillset was the single most important thing I did in my job search and it changed the results that I had previously seen. As a result of my work Ive been recognized in ways that I never thought possible here are just some of the more significant results of my substantiation, and Im honored to be on either of these: Thom Singers Praise Others Project this is a month-long project, I encourage you to subscribe to his blog via e-mail. Anyone that Thom praises is someone that I want to know! Dave Perrys 12 days of Christmas I blogged on this a few days ago and now hes up to day 6 where he lists JibberJobber as an essential tool (he says to download, although it is just a website ;)) you should check out the other tools he recommends, and definitely follow this series). Ive also had mention in articles or blogs by Patricia Kitchen of Newsday, Carl Chapman, Dave Mendoza, Jeff Tokarz and others that are experts in their fields. Ive made a little wave in the recruiting world, the coaching world, the personal branding world. Im certainly not bragging about the results that Ive seen, thats why Ive hesitated to put this post up for so long, but I think its critical that you begin your own substantiation journey for most its not overnight and Id love to hear your results! Substantiate Yourself I dont know where I picked it up but substantiate is a word Ive said a little too much these last few months. I usually say having a blog is a great way to substantiate your breadth and depth or you need to substantiate your personal brand this isnt a post on personal branding per se, but Ive been thinking about sharing this with you for a while I hope you find it interesting! More than that, I hope you find it intriguing enough to figure out how to do something similar. When I began my job search (were just about at the 1 year anniversary of getting laid off!) I thought I was hot stuff. I had a degree in CIS, an MBA, cool job titles (IT Manager, CIO, VP, GM), great experience (internet programmer with newer technologies, increased revenue 500%, etc.). I had even moved from a small town (population 50,000) to a small metro area so Id be closer to more job opportunities in case I needed to find a new job. It was a job seekers market and I was assured by many that I would have a job soon. So I did what any regular person would do I spent a week getting my resume ready, making a list of companies that I should target, establishing accounts on pertinent job boards, and even talking to some players that were connected in town. Since I was relatively new (I had been here for almost 2 years but spent most of the time working or commuting) it was easy for me to say I dont know anyone, so my networking efforts were pretty whimpy. Ill never forget the first 6 weeks. I got one interview invite from a regional hospital chain and one interview invite from a company that I targeted and just sent a resume to info@company.com. Both of those led to a second, and at the company, a third interview, but someone else was chosen. After six weeks I had nothing, and not much hope of getting much more than that (my succss rate was less than 2%). It was a very, very discouraging process, and completely different than what I thought I was going to experience. What happened to all those years studying, all those cool job titles, all that great experience? Why did no one want to hire me on the spot? What was going on?? Fast forward a couple of months to May 15th. That is the day when we released JibberJobber. I sent out e-mails to friends, and many of them signed up to check it out. What they found was a very cool, functional application. Sure it was rough around the edges, but it was colorful, functional, and pretty dang cool (if I dont say so myself ;)). I never expected what would happen next The next time I saw those friends, almost every single one of them, they treated me differently. The common reaction was hey, I want you to meet my boss (or pres. of the company) or hey, you need to meet my friend that works at xyz company What changed? Not my resume. Not my skillset. Im sure my demeanor changed (theres an important post I wrote on not letting others smell blood that definitely came into play) but the most significant thing was that I had substantiated who I was. Instead of people asking what do you do or what are you looking for they were able to see the website and guess that I was involved in very cool web applications, leading edge stuff (design, functionality, marketing, etc.). This was the most significant thing that I did in my job search. How can you substantiate who you are? I know you are busy looking for a job, but if what you are doing isnt working, can you take some time to substantiate yourself? If you are a web designer or graphics artist do you have a portfolio that is easy for people to see? Take the Seth Godin route and combine this substantiation with service, which will allow you to market your substantiation (subtly) to an elite group of others that would otherwise be impossible to meet with. If you are a marketing/advertising/PR professional, Ill make you an offer contact me at jason at JibberJobber.com and let me know what you can do. I have a bunch of projects but Im no expert Id love to have you help me out I cant pay you but Id be more than happy to provide a reference, blog on your contribution, or otherwise help substantiate your skills. If you are a graphics artist you know there are some places where JibberJobber could use some polishing. Again, same offer applies. If you are hung up over doing it for free then go find another opportunity where you can charge for it. Go hustle some work and build your portfolio. Or go find a non-profit that needs it. I dont know if it will do it for you, but substantiating my skillset was the single most important thing I did in my job search and it changed the results that I had previously seen. As a result of my work Ive been recognized in ways that I never thought possible here are just some of the more significant results of my substantiation, and Im honored to be on either of these: Thom Singers Praise Others Project this is a month-long project, I encourage you to subscribe to his blog via e-mail. Anyone that Thom praises is someone that I want to know! Dave Perrys 12 days of Christmas I blogged on this a few days ago and now hes up to day 6 where he lists JibberJobber as an essential tool (he says to download, although it is just a website ;)) you should check out the other tools he recommends, and definitely follow this series). Ive also had mention in articles or blogs by Patricia Kitchen of Newsday, Carl Chapman, Dave Mendoza, Jeff Tokarz and others that are experts in their fields. Ive made a little wave in the recruiting world, the coaching world, the personal branding world. Im certainly not bragging about the results that Ive seen, thats why Ive hesitated to put this post up for so long, but I think its critical that you begin your own substantiation journey for most its not overnight and Id love to hear your results! Substantiate Yourself I dont know where I picked it up but substantiate is a word Ive said a little too much these last few months. I usually say having a blog is a great way to substantiate your breadth and depth or you need to substantiate your personal brand this isnt a post on personal branding per se, but Ive been thinking about sharing this with you for a while I hope you find it interesting! More than that, I hope you find it intriguing enough to figure out how to do something similar. When I began my job search (were just about at the 1 year anniversary of getting laid off!) I thought I was hot stuff. I had a degree in CIS, an MBA, cool job titles (IT Manager, CIO, VP, GM), great experience (internet programmer with newer technologies, increased revenue 500%, etc.). I had even moved from a small town (population 50,000) to a small metro area so Id be closer to more job opportunities in case I needed to find a new job. It was a job seekers market and I was assured by many that I would have a job soon. So I did what any regular person would do I spent a week getting my resume ready, making a list of companies that I should target, establishing accounts on pertinent job boards, and even talking to some players that were connected in town. Since I was relatively new (I had been here for almost 2 years but spent most of the time working or commuting) it was easy for me to say I dont know anyone, so my networking efforts were pretty whimpy. Ill never forget the first 6 weeks. I got one interview invite from a regional hospital chain and one interview invite from a company that I targeted and just sent a resume to info@company.com. Both of those led to a second, and at the company, a third interview, but someone else was chosen. After six weeks I had nothing, and not much hope of getting much more than that (my succss rate was less than 2%). It was a very, very discouraging process, and completely different than what I thought I was going to experience. What happened to all those years studying, all those cool job titles, all that great experience? Why did no one want to hire me on the spot? What was going on?? Fast forward a couple of months to May 15th. That is the day when we released JibberJobber. I sent out e-mails to friends, and many of them signed up to check it out. What they found was a very cool, functional application. Sure it was rough around the edges, but it was colorful, functional, and pretty dang cool (if I dont say so myself ;)). I never expected what would happen next The next time I saw those friends, almost every single one of them, they treated me differently. The common reaction was hey, I want you to meet my boss (or pres. of the company) or hey, you need to meet my friend that works at xyz company What changed? Not my resume. Not my skillset. Im sure my demeanor changed (theres an important post I wrote on not letting others smell blood that definitely came into play) but the most significant thing was that I had substantiated who I was. Instead of people asking what do you do or what are you looking for they were able to see the website and guess that I was involved in very cool web applications, leading edge stuff (design, functionality, marketing, etc.). This was the most significant thing that I did in my job search. How can you substantiate who you are? I know you are busy looking for a job, but if what you are doing isnt working, can you take some time to substantiate yourself? If you are a web designer or graphics artist do you have a portfolio that is easy for people to see? Take the Seth Godin route and combine this substantiation with service, which will allow you to market your substantiation (subtly) to an elite group of others that would otherwise be impossible to meet with. If you are a marketing/advertising/PR professional, Ill make you an offer contact me at jason at JibberJobber.com and let me know what you can do. I have a bunch of projects but Im no expert Id love to have you help me out I cant pay you but Id be more than happy to provide a reference, blog on your contribution, or otherwise help substantiate your skills. If you are a graphics artist you know there are some places where JibberJobber could use some polishing. Again, same offer applies. If you are hung up over doing it for free then go find another opportunity where you can charge for it. Go hustle some work and build your portfolio. Or go find a non-profit that needs it. I dont know if it will do it for you, but substantiating my skillset was the single most important thing I did in my job search and it changed the results that I had previously seen. As a result of my work Ive been recognized in ways that I never thought possible here are just some of the more significant results of my substantiation, and Im honored to be on either of these: Thom Singers Praise Others Project this is a month-long project, I encourage you to subscribe to his blog via e-mail. Anyone that Thom praises is someone that I want to know! Dave Perrys 12 days of Christmas I blogged on this a few days ago and now hes up to day 6 where he lists JibberJobber as an essential tool (he says to download, although it is just a website ;)) you should check out the other tools he recommends, and definitely follow this series). Ive also had mention in articles or blogs by Patricia Kitchen of Newsday, Carl Chapman, Dave Mendoza, Jeff Tokarz and others that are experts in their fields. Ive made a little wave in the recruiting world, the coaching world, the personal branding world. Im certainly not bragging about the results that Ive seen, thats why Ive hesitated to put this post up for so long, but I think its critical that you begin your own substantiation journey for most its not overnight and Id love to hear your results!