Now there is an uncomfortable question and a really honest one BUT - I know you may be embarrassed to be in the market. It is tough to admit and even tougher to be that when you need to glossing your worth. How are you going to engage the marketplace and find your next thing if you are embarrassed to be “in the market”?
(Just go with me here - be prepared to read the following paragraph as many times as it takes to feel professionally lighter as you grasp this mindset.)
First, STOP looking for a job! I realize you are looking for your next role but you aren't. You aren’t looking for a job, you are not in the market, you did not get laid off and you weren’t fired (even though you are, are too, might have been, or unfortunately were.) Looking at the positive and the mindset - YOU ARE A FREE AGENT! A free agent. YOU ARE A FREE AGENT. You have been given a beautiful career reset button for this mini-sabbatical like you planned it all along. I mean …sabbaticals are always planned.
You can't go connect with people and your primary message be, "Hey, I am looking for a new job. Let me know if you hear about any opportunities.” If that is your shtick, you should be red-faced and feeling a little warmer from realizing people have been rolling their eyes at you frequently and have tended to deeply sigh when you come a callin'. Ergo, the approach needs a little tweaking. (I realize ergo was unnecessary but was it?)
I hope you are taking note of this sudden self-awareness and use it to take a thorough inventory of your skills, complete that strengths assessment, dig out those former performance reviews and reacquaint you with you, label the problems you enjoy solving and solved for the companies you worked for, celebrate all those accomplishments you kinda forgot about, and realize the marketable value you possess. How about getting busy doing THAT?
Maybe it’s not embarrassment - maybe it’s lack of confidence or simply discomfort at how to approach your professional world. So…What about this network of yours? This network you know you have neglected. You don't want to have to go engage your network in this condition when you haven't been engaging all along.
Fortunately, social media has made us all far more interesting than we ever knew. We never realized how many people in our network were Bacon lovers, or can’t post enough pics of their hairless cat - many in themed outfits, and were apparently always HUGE fans of that recording artist that just passed away - yet we mindlessly take it all in.
Let's bring them back to the real world and make it easy for them to help us with our pursuits. You are gonna sneak up on these folks and make them realize how much they want to help you (or at least find out who is willing to). These virtual lingerers are the same people routinely checking out your profile and may be even faithful "Likers" of meaningless posts so why don’t we leverage their lingering and liking and artfully invite them into meaningful conversations that may lead to connections and will give you momentum you need.