Tag: job search

Throwback to skills training

I filled out an application for a job yesterday where one of the job requirements was the ability to present to multiple levels of audiences. That made me think back to my days at Young & Rubicam in New York. 

Y&R had a fantastic training program. You went into the program the day you started and you left it the day you left Y&R. At the beginning, my training was purely focused on the skills needed for the job. So as a Media Planner, it was all about media math and the mechanics of media planning/buying. But when I was promoted to Senior Media Planner (all of about 4 months after I started), the presentation skills workshop I was required to take, is branded into me.

LOVE this!!!! Practice is really important.

Presentation skills was multiple weeks of sessions on how to speak without being afraid – nervous is one thing, but the point was to take fear out of a presentation. We had to prepare multiple types of presentations – demonstration, persuasion, establishment of facts, etc – and they video taped us each time.

It was PAINFUL watching the tapes while the entire group critiqued you. But I learned so much from going through it. Amazing experience and I would recommend it to anyone no matter how humiliating it could be in an isolated moment.

Later in my career, I worked at Bates USA on the Wendy’s account doing field marketing. I was responsible for as many as 20 franchisee co-ops local advertising. So I presented A LOT. The presentation training I received at Y&R was one of the reasons I was very successful in that role. 

I remember presenting for my Wendy’s franchisees once in Indianapolis. The group was in a ballroom at a hotel and I was presenting competitive information at the front of the room. The unfortunate thing was that I was directly under an AC vent that was just blasting – and I was wearing contact lenses. As I presented, my contacts were getting more and more dry. I was fighting my way through it but about half way through my presentation, a lens peeled right off my eye. I felt it going and stuck a hand out to catch it. As I caught it, the second one peeled off as well. So I’m standing in front of about 50 people holding my contacts in my hands, blind as a bat. The room burst into laughter and we had to take a quick break for me to find my glasses and continue. I probably was as red as a tomato but in the end, we all laughed – and my franchisees teased me about it for a long time. But that taught me I could get through ANYTHING in a presentation. 

Have you had any odd presentation experiences? Tell us about them in the comments!

Wellness Wednesday – Steps

Welcome to Wellness Wednesday and today I’m thinking about how many steps a person really needs. The rule of thumb is supposedly 10,000 steps a day – which for me translates to about 4 miles/day. That’s easy to attain right now while I’m on my “corporate hiatus” but what about when I start work again? Is 10,000 steps really the right amount for me?

The Mayo Clinic says that the average American walks around 1.5 to 2 miles/day – or maybe 4,000 steps. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests the better number might be a minimum of 7,500 steps to see health benefits. Although of course the health benefits increase as the number of steps increase.

Here’s what I can tell you from my personal experience. I started walking a minimum of 2 miles a day last August and I am a faithful Apple Watch wearer so I have solid statistics on my step count and other health metrics. In July, I averaged 6,967 steps/day and in January, I averaged 11,462 steps/day. In July, my resting heart rate was 53 beats/minute – which was good for a woman my age. But now? It’s 46 beats/minute. Generally, a lower heart rate at rest implies more efficient heart function and better cardiovascular fitness – which can help translate to a better, longer life.

And while I’m still struggling to manage the weight I have gained over the last few years (thanks menopause!), walking is helping me burn a lot of extra calories. Apple defines “active” calories as energy burned over and above what you need when you’re at rest and in January, I averaged 503 active calories/day. I’m using this information to help me figure out what my calorie consumption can be to lose weight. According to my watch, at rest I burn about 1,600 calories/day. Add the 503 in active calories and I can consume 2,100 calories a day without gaining weight. 

My extra steps translate to hundreds of extra “active” calories/month – and with a pound of human fat equaling around 3,500 calories, those extra steps can translate to lost pounds quickly. So join me for the cardiac, weight loss and mental health benefits of walking. GET THOSE STEPS!!!

Image from Prevention Magazine

Personal branding

I’ve spent almost 2 hours waiting for my computer to update this morning! Good grief! It’s REALLY cutting into my to-do time! 

Yesterday, I took the advice of my outplacement coach and did an exercise around personal branding. There was a worksheet with a list of descriptive attributes and a list of skills and I had to pick from them to describe me and what I’m best at doing. That was the easy part – putting them together into some semblance of sense that I think sums me up in one sentence was a challenge.

I took myself out for a walk with my lists – almost 5 miles later, here’s what I have come up with:

I am an endlessly curious marketing collaborator who is dedicated to solving brand/consumer problems.

I’d love any feedback – please comment?

One day at a time

The week is off to a good start I guess – I FINALLY got unlocked on the Illinois Department of Employment Services website and I’m finished with everything for unemployment. Ah the joy of verifying that I’m really me!

Next up, proving I’m me for healthcare.gov so I can see what my insurance options are other than COBRA. COBRA is nearly $800/month for me! There must be something on the exchanges that isn’t that expensive right? Let’s hope so!

I took Friday off from the job search as a little mental holiday. I had my first appointment with my outplacement coach Thursday afternoon and everything got a little overwhelming again. Job search is a roller coaster – and Friday was a low so I took the day to get myself back on track. It’s amazing what giving yourself permission to be low does. And a morning out. I took myself to Dunkin Donuts, had a REALLY sugary donut and a cup of coffee and started reading a good book. Then I went to the library and got a library card. I haven’t had one since I was a child! But the library here has some really great programs – and what they call a Maker’s Room. They have sewing machines, Cricut machines and all kinds of great craft goodies. I can’t wait to start going to their monthly Maker event! 

Last night, my college roommate called and we had an almost 2 hour gabfest while watching the Grammy’s together. I highly recommend an almost 2 hour phone call with an old friend to get your head back in the game. And I also highly recommend Billy Joel’s new song that closed the show. Go listen to it while I get back to work at finding a new professional adventure!

Layoffs

This isn’t my first time on a “corporate hiatus.” In fact, this is the third time in my career that I was impacted by a layoff. Fourth if we count Midas – although I chose not to take the job offered to me at the company that bought Midas so I don’t really think we can count that as a real layoff.

My first lay off was back in my agency days in the 90s. I was laid off when the agency lost the account I was working on which is fairly typical. I called a headhunter, sent them my resume and less than 2 weeks later I had a new job offer. It felt a little bit like I was just changing schools. No muss, no fuss, just pack up your desk and move to a different office address in Manhattan.

My second layoff was a little more traumatic mostly because the job forced me to move to Chicago and then 88 days later they “reorganized” and eliminated my role. So I was new to a new city and at loose ends. But my network came through and I landed relatively easily at Carat USA – with a lot of thanks to my mentor who was the CEO at Carat at that time.

Being laid off from Comcast in 2016 was just plan rough. My Dad had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness and the layoff was just the bad icing on the bad news cake. The job boards were empty so I did some consulting/project work and made a lot of trips to Ohio to be with my family. It took about 18 months to land into a new corporate gig between personal and professional reasons.

I’m not lying when I say I do NOT want that big of a gap between corporate gigs again. I don’t like not having a corporate job. It isn’t just the salary/benefits – I like the feeling of being needed in a role. And I can’t wait to be needed somewhere again.

Health Insurance

Today my Walgreens Insurance expires so I have to find new health insurance – or roll the dice and go without until this corporate hiatus is over. UGH!!!!!

I tend to be really heathy so I don’t need to see a doctor frequently. And I’ve had my annual mammogram and OBGYN visit this month, so I’m not technically due for any exams for a year. But I’m at an age where I’m not sure I want to roll the dice with coverage.

COBRA is close to $800/month for me – which is also a non-starter. So I tried to get on to Healthcare.gov this morning to see what my options are but apparently someone tried to use my identity there as well so I’m locked out.

Wish me luck as I fight to regain my identity not only with unemployment but now with health insurance as well!

Unemployment

So I finally filed for unemployment today. Yes – I’ve been procrastinating about it. I had REALLY hoped I wouldn’t need to do it but the job offers are not flooding in so pragmatically, I took the plunge and finally did it.

I cannot imagine why scammers do this – they’d earn more money if they just got a job! During the Covid shutdown, someone tried to claim unemployment in my name so I get to jump through a bunch of hoops to prove I’m really me. I had to call in, upload multiple documents to prove I’m me, and then this afternoon, I get to call again and review the documents with them. Oh joy…. But I suppose it’s better that way so a scammer can’t claim to be me again?

So that’s on my to-do list today – kind of a bummer. Tell me something good on your to-do list to even out the karma in the comments!

Super Bowl!

So now we know it will be Kansas City and the 49ers in the Super Bowl – but more importantly, I saw the first release of Super Bowl commercials online this morning!!!! I really don’t care about the football most years, but I’m always fascinated by the game ads. I get it – it’s usually the year’s biggest live audience so it’s a showcase. But most years there are some REAL clinkers among the ads. 

Last year, Fox said they got $7 million per spot in the game but CBS hasn’t announced the cost/spot for this year’s game – although they have said it is sold out. I always take those announcements with a grain of salt given that most advertisers have packages through the season and that certainly will impact their rates. We all know there can be a big difference between rate card and invoice prices right?

I always love the trackers Adweek puts together for the Super Bowl – here’s this year’s link: https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/super-bowl-58-ad-tracker-watch-all-the-teasers-and-spots/?utm_content=lead&utm_source=postup&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SuperBowl_Newsletter_240129083242&recip_id=254435&lyt_id=254435

I used to run a contest to predict the best/worst Super Bowl commercials at work. Obviously, since I’m not working it’s hard to run a co-worker contest but you can use the link to allow your co-workers to choose their favorites then decide if you want to use ratings or the USA Today poll to determine the winners. Have fun with it!

Resilience

When I was growing up, I wanted to be a physical therapist. We had a neighbor with cerebral palsy and the work the physical therapists did with him was amazing. So in high school, I volunteered in the PT Department at the hospital where my Dad worked. I thought it would give me a better idea about the career path and maybe get me credit for observation hours when I started college. 

But then life happened. My Mom passed away when I was 17 and my college plans got a little messed up. I decided to go to the branch campus of Ohio State for a year rather than going away to school right away. And in that year, I decided I would rather study business and go into advertising. So I transferred to Bowling Green State University and got my degree in Business Administration.

The point is, life for me rarely goes to plan. My current “corporate hiatus” certainly wasn’t in the plan. I thought I would work at Walgreens until I retired – after all, they have a reputation for people staying there for their whole careers! But life had other plans and here I am surfing the job boards once again. 

I am resilient – I just need a new employer to see the value in that.