Third Time's a Charm

A new year brings new opportunities, and in this case brings back some past opportunities. I am pleased to write that I have accepted a third round at Target. As I am excited to rejoin my old Target Transportation team it did not come without having to sweat a little. In my opinion, going through a layoff is one of the hardest experiences to date in this young life, and I have had to do it twice already! The rejection after an interview, never hearing back on an application or the stress of not knowing what is next took its toll on Kate and I, but together we got through it. But with the negatives there is always a silver lining and I am thankful for the opportunities this layoff presented and very happy with the turnout.

I contribute my successful transition to the advice I posted in, “Laid Off: Round 2”. First I did not wait to start looking for opportunities. Even before the layoff I was already talking with two companies, but in both situations it took over four months to network my way into a final interview and neither led to an offer. Beyond that I interviewed with numerous other companies only to be beat out by an internal or more qualified candidate.  I will stick to my first word of advice, don’t hesitate to get your resume and name out there as soon as you can as the process is not easy and can take longer than you anticipate.

That leads me to my second piece of advice, when someone offers a hand, leverage it! All of my opportunities to interview (except one) came from my network. Right after the laid off I got the word out that I was looking for work and my network did not disappoint. Thank you to all of the friends and family that sent notes of encouragement, offered words of advice and especially to those who helped me land an interview! Although I did not get the opportunity to work with most you, I sincerely appreciate your support!  

The third and fourth pieces of advice I can offer is, take every opportunity given to you and be clear with what you are looking for. At the beginning I didn’t know what career I would chase. I questioned if could I make the early but risky leap of pushing forward with real estate without a secure income. With an upcoming wedding and honeymoon, a new car and hopefully a new home in the next couple 18 months we didn't want to take on a huge risk. After much debate Kate and I agreed it would be best to pursue both real estate and find another career until the real estate business moves out of the growth phase and into a more steady state. That said I needed to find a career interest that I could specialize in, find enjoyment in, and bring value to. This led me to project management.

My last role at Target gave me a crash course into project management and my past leader and peers did a great job of teaching me some of the ins and outs of how to lead projects. After enjoying that experience I set a focus on adding a higher level of skill and knowledge of project management through the opportunities provided by St. Thomas University during my time off. I obtained the Six Sigma-Green Belt, CPPM, MS Project and PMP certifications, as well as started my MBA this past fall. All of these certifications and education gave me the needed skills to re-enter the job market with confidence and helped me articulate what I wanted out of my next role. Another added benefit it kept my mind focused and did not let me slump off into the couch every day.

Another word of advice I can offer is, don’t hesitate to get your name out there. I thought it was awesome that I met people in my classes at St. Thomas that already knew me through LinkedIn. The technology available to increase our network and find employment continues to evolve and I recommend starting now as it will continue to change. I definitely leveraged it with this transition and continue to leverage it for my real estate business, and it has proven to be very fruitful in both ventures.

I hope you don’t have to go through this process, but if you do, I hope I offered some words of advice that will help you through the transition. Thank you again to all of those that offered support and kept in touch through all of this. It hasn’t been easy with a lot ups and downs, but your support helped me land on my feet. Thank you and let me know how I can repay the favor. Cheers!