Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that there are some things every professional needs,
Speaker 1: even those who aren't job seeking right now, and even
Speaker 1: those who aren't currently working for pay. I imagine a
Speaker 1: lot of Before Breakfast listeners already think of themselves as professionals,
Speaker 1: but some may not. However, to my mind, even if
Speaker 1: you are not currently working for pay, being a professional
Speaker 1: is an identity that is not fully dependent on any
Speaker 1: specific job. It's about your knowledge, skills, mindset and relationships.
Speaker 1: As part of that identity, there are some things every
Speaker 1: professional needs so they are able to quickly seize opportunities
Speaker 1: that arise. For starters, you need number one a recent
Speaker 1: headshot and number two a current bio. If you are
Speaker 1: presenting at a conference, joining a nonprofit board, or even
Speaker 1: speaking at career day at your kids middle school, you
Speaker 1: may be asked to provide a photo and a bio,
Speaker 1: so you want to be able to provide ones you
Speaker 1: feel good about at a moment's notice. Make sure these
Speaker 1: items are polished and convey the image you are aiming for. Also,
Speaker 1: be sure that they are reasonably up to date. If
Speaker 1: you wear glasses and have blonde hair, now you should
Speaker 1: be wearing glasses and have blonde hair in your headshot.
Speaker 1: If you have three kids in college, your bio shouldn't
Speaker 1: say that you have elementary school aged kids. Number three.
Speaker 1: You also need a current resume or CV. Even if
Speaker 1: you are not looking for a job, you might hear
Speaker 1: about an amazing opportunity and decide to apply for a
Speaker 1: job unexpectedly. You may be asked to provide a resume
Speaker 1: if you're up for promotion at work, or if you're
Speaker 1: being considered for a major volunteer role in a nonprofit
Speaker 1: or professional association. Some people find it helpful to have
Speaker 1: a recurring quarterly task of updating their resume. It is
Speaker 1: much easier to add any accomplishments from the last three
Speaker 1: months than to reconstruct the last five years of your life.
Speaker 1: Remember that your resume isn't just for professional positions. You
Speaker 1: can also include volunteer work and learning experiences like licensures
Speaker 1: or certificates you have pursued. Even if you are not
Speaker 1: currently working for pay, you probably have recent skills or
Speaker 1: accomplishments to add. Number four. People need to be able
Speaker 1: to reach you For many people, a LinkedIn profile provides this.
Speaker 1: LinkedIn lets people learn a bit more about you. Your
Speaker 1: profile also lets people find you if they're looking for
Speaker 1: someone with your skills and experiences. In the past, professionals
Speaker 1: tended to have business cards. I don't think this is
Speaker 1: especially essential now, but on the other hand, they don't
Speaker 1: do any harm. You may have business cards from your workplace,
Speaker 1: or you can also have some made up referring to
Speaker 1: your freelance or consulting work. Instead of a title and company,
Speaker 1: just say what services you provide, for instance, graphic design,
Speaker 1: website development, social media management. You could also just have
Speaker 1: your name and contact information on your business cards. In
Speaker 1: any case, with LinkedIn, it's good to get in the
Speaker 1: habit of updating your profile fairly regularly. Otherwise a sudden
Speaker 1: major revamp is a tip off to everyone you are
Speaker 1: connected to that you are hunting for a new job now.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you want people to know that, other times you don't,
Speaker 1: so be sure this is more of a regular thing.
Speaker 1: You also need to look professional, so to that end.
Speaker 1: Number five a business casual outfit and number six a
Speaker 1: dressy business outfit. You want clothes that you feel confident
Speaker 1: in and can move in and that convey the image
Speaker 1: you are going for. If you get a last minute
Speaker 1: invitation to give a talk, you want to be able
Speaker 1: to spend time planning your talk, not figuring out what
Speaker 1: you're going to wear. If you find out about a
Speaker 1: networking event happening tomorrow, you want to feel great about
Speaker 1: how you look without having to spend all evening shopping
Speaker 1: for the perfect outfit. So to recap, you need number
Speaker 1: one a headshot, Number two a bio, number three a
Speaker 1: current resume or CV number four a way people can
Speaker 1: find you, so that means a LinkedIn profile and possibly
Speaker 1: business cards. Number five a business casual outfit, and number
Speaker 1: six a dressy business outfit you feel good in. If
Speaker 1: you don't have all this things, you could set a
Speaker 1: goal of adding one per month. If you do six
Speaker 1: months from now, you may find yourself feeling more confident
Speaker 1: in your identity as a professional and more hopeful for
Speaker 1: your future. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to before breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: Vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.