Most people who read my blog and use JibberJobber are job seekers.
I say most… but there are a few users who are not in a job search.
I have users who are “happily employed.” They are competent, they make good money, and like what they do.
Why would they use JibberJobber? We originally created it as a tool to organize and manage a job search…
Because they know how easy it is for things to change.
You know what’s amazing? The tens of thousands of people at Enron who one day had a great job, the next day they were locked out of their building and their entire retirement fund was dried up. Ouch.
They were competent, they made good money, and some of them even liked what they did.
And then it dried up.
Can you imagine being forty and having to start preparing for retirement from the beginning?
Can you imagine being sixty four, months away from a great retirement, and then learning that NO, there is no money? WHAT DO YOU DO??
Oh, but Enron is an example that is too dramatic, right? That just doesn’t happen to everyone, or many people, right?
I have a phrase I use in my presentations to job clubs: “getting Enroned.” It means you are doing your job, either well or extremely well, and all of the sudden, due to no fault of your own, you have no job (and none of the promises, like retirement). It goes away overnight.
Focus on this:
“no fault of your own“
I’ve heard many reasons for this… including:
- You loved your old boss, but you got a new one and you are like oil and water. There’s no way that you will both be employed for much longer.
- You are part of the back office and the sales team just announced they lost their biggest contract, and sales will be down by millions.
- The investors of the company you work for just pulled some funding off the table, and have demanded that the execs start trimming fat and cutting costs.
- You were recreating on your own time and got poked in the eye with a branch, and now you have recurring medical conditions that have a serious impact on your performance. It was an accident, but you can’t do your job, so you are gone.
- You love your job but one day go to the office and can’t get in. Turns out your boss was doing illegal stuff and not only is the company (including you) under investigation, the boss is IN JAIL.
- You have done an excellent job and your company is getting acquired. The only problem is, the acquiring company already has someone who does your job, and they aren’t about to get let go. You are out.
- Someone accuses you of something inappropriate and for some reason the investigation isn’t thorough, and before you know it you are on the street wondering what just happened.
- The boss’s boss’s boss’s admin doesn’t like you… and you are done.
Any of these sound familiar? These are not “with cause” reasons to lose your job, but the result is the same: you are out of a job!
It’s kind of like being in an accident… even if it wasn’t your fault, and even if the insurance money comes your way, or you can sue for damages, you still lost something. It’s just rotten all around.
Losing your job, for whatever reason, can be unsettling. Sometimes it’s unfair, many times it sucks, and of course, sometimes it is a blessing in disguise. But you are still left jobless.
This is why some people who use JibberJobber to organize and manage contact relationships and target companies are happily employed. Because they know that something might happen, and they want to be as prepared as they can.
What does that mean? How do they use JibberJobber?
They are adding contacts, new and old, to their system. It’s a lot more fun to start a job search (and network) when you have a list of names than to be freshly laid-off, staring at a blank piece of paper trying to come up with your network.
They are logging conversations, or important information (like birthdays or contact info or who we met info). A name becomes a relationship once you start adding this additional information about your contacts. This is real, meaty stuff you can use to take the relationship to the next level.
They are tracking companies they might be interested in working at. They might have customers or vendors or partners they work with, and have a company record and relevant contacts listed… what an awesome bit of intelligence they’ll have when it’s time to start networking into companies!
They are using it as a networking and follow-up tool, because networking is not just for job seekers! JibberJobber allows you to log and track conversations, emails, etc., and set up reminders to remind you to follow-up. Networking without follow-up is like eating without food!
Should you use JibberJobber? YEP! Start now… when you are in transition, you’ll be very grateful!