A: Construct a ladder so you can climb in the company.
First, make certain you're doing your current job to the best of your ability, even if you're bored. You want a good reference. If you know your supervisor won't help, do the best you can anyway. Build from this opportunity.
Step onto the first rung by dressing a little better than you normally would for the warehouse. Jeans might work, but clean and not faded. Don't wear t-shirts. Let people see you as you want to be in your next position, rather than as you are now.
Step onto the next rung and strap on a pair of binoculars to focus your search. What kinds of jobs are people doing? Do any look appealing? What departments have people doing those jobs? Which departments seem interesting? Where are the people you'd like as co-workers or bosses?
Secure the next rung by meeting people in various departments. Ask questions about their work and how they landed there. Would your boss go into orbit if you discussed what you're learning? Keep mum.
Move up to the next rung by letting your new contacts know of your interest in doing more than you're doing right now. Ask decision-makers -- or others who will approach them on your behalf -- if they need extra help so you get some new experience.
Meanwhile, check out the job board, for one more step up.
If you get to the top of the ladder and see nothing on the other side, don't panic! Companies frequently don't promote people from the ground floor, because their impression of entry-level employees is static.
Well, YOU're not static! On your resume and in interviews, showcase your other experience and downplay the warehouse work. People will begin to see the future you're creating.
Remember, there's always the competition!! -- mlc
Q: I work two part-time jobs. When am I supposed to job hunt? -- Overextended
A: Overextended you are. Your car is a box that takes you from one job to the next. You hardly have time to think, let alone job hunt. Regain your feeling of control.
Draw a grid showing your seven-day week. X-out zzzz's time, and time you spend working, going to work, running errands, doing laundry, paying bills and socializing.
Keep to your schedule as closely as possible. View the non-job-hunting parts of your life as a chance to make new contacts. Every day, invest a little time into this big project so you can slide out of the jobs corner. Then, when the job-hunting block comes up on your grid, throw 100 percent of yourself into it and put your future into your own hands! -- mlc
**blogTip**
PROCRASTINATING?
"When I was five years old," recalls persistently unemployed marketing executive Carol Swartz, "my aunt taught me the word 'procrastinate,' because she knew I would need it my whole life." She identifies these signs of procrastinating:
- You tell yourself that after finishing X project or traveling, "I'll get serious about looking for a job."
- You've called everyone on your friendship list, back to age 2, but no employers.
- You think that becoming a writer would be fun, but, of course, you haven't even drafted a poem, short story or book.
- You're reading a book about networking. No plans to do anything with your new knowledge it once you've finished, however.
Do none of these fit you? Do you still wonder if you're procrastinating? Licensed psychotherapist and coach Joshua Estrin of Plantation, Fla., tells you how to know (www.conceptsinsuccess.com). When you find yourself in the "DON'T JUST DO SOMETHING, STAND THERE!" mode, you're there.
Then, he says, "Get out of your head and into your body. Stop thinking about what you are going to do and DO IT."
(E-mail your job-hunting questions to syndicated columnist Dr. Mildred Culp at culp@workwise.net. Copyright 2004 Passage Media.)
