I’m sitting in the parking lot outside the Launch Workplaces www.launchworkplaces.com office building on Seven Locks Road (Rockville, MD location) trying to decide what to do next. It’s early Saturday morning, and I’m dressed for business: interview suit, new (tremendously stylish) pumps, contact cards in hand, resumes printed on blindingly white paper… now what?

By Shajmil Smith

Introverts—Stand up and stand proud! We can prevail in NETWORKING!

I am a self-described introvert and finally comfortable with this awareness. I am also friendly, smart, ambitious, and not necessarily shy.  However, at the end of the day, I would rather a quiet setting by myself instead of attending an event with a large group of people; whether I know them or not makes no difference.

I came across Career-Confidence.org when I needed it the most. I had been working as a preschool teacher for a private daycare facility for five years. Unfortunately, the environment was getting very toxic, a lot of gossiping, and the school had deteriorated to the point where it cut classes, teachers lost hours, and some were let go. We were all competing against each other to get the classes and hours we wanted and needed. I decided to use my summer break to apply for jobs.

So, what do you do when events out of your control force you to reconsider your career options? In other words, you are out of a job, and you need to find a new one. First, don’t despair; there is a wonderful new opportunity out there for you—you just have to go for it. Second, there is a reliable, strategic way to identify that position. Let’s talk about the steps you need to follow to uncover your new opportunity.

By Tina Cervantes

After eighteen years of employment with a firm, I suddenly found myself without a job. What? After eighteen years of loyal service, they no longer want me! I knew the business extremely well; I was given awards for being a valued employee, someone they didn’t want to lose. Now they were discarding me!

Many job candidates become frustrated by the pressures and disappointments of the interview process. But did you know that employers find the interview process to be a risky business and frustrating as well?

Shira Harrington, an executive search recruiter in the Washington DC metro area who trains both hiring managers and job candidates, characterized the interviewing challenges that both parties face as a “dance.”

Emily Newlan’s passion for talent management was on display before an attentive group of Career Confidence.org workshop attendees recently. They were eager to learn how to better manage their careers.

And she delivered both the big picture and tangible details on how to make and execute conscious career choices.

In Part 1, Jones told Career-Confidence.org job candidates to maintain an open and robust professional network through relationship-building on LinkedIn. Using Perspecta as an example, he outlined steps on how to foster LinkedIn relationships. Here’s eight more potent tips from his presentation to help you sustain a successful career search.

In 2015, Fort Belvoir Medical Command offered Thomas Jones a medical recruiter position that presented some interesting possibilities. For more than a week, he researched and connected with hundreds of doctors and nurses on LinkedIn to get ahead of the opportunity. Now he is connected to more than a thousand doctors and nurses who provide a network of support in a career area in which he functions. Although he declined the position, he has applied a similar proactive method connecting with thousands of veterans nationwide on LinkedIn in support of his role at Perspecta.