SkyWater Blog

Hint: Vaccinations are only Step 1

Why the concept of “Radical Self-Care” is the real key to healthy work re-entry.

As vaccinations become more widely available in MN, offices that have been operating with most, or all employees working remotely, are making plans to re-open their doors. In many ways, a return to a routine of leaving the house each morning for work is welcomed. However, for many of us, working from home presented an opportunity for greater self-care. 

As many of us prepare to re-enter the daily grind, how can we take what we've learned from our time at home with us back into the re-opening world?

If you’re a marketing professional in the Twin Cities, you’re well aware of the major industry reshuffling we’ve all witnessed this past year. It is staggering. In fact, Forrester recently estimated that the pandemic has caused more than 50,000 U.S. marketing and advertising professionals to lose their agency jobs.

While other industry experts and researchers ponder what this all means for the future of the marketplace, here’s the question I’d like to help answer here:

You’ve just gotten word about a great job at a company you admire and, from everything you’ve seen so far, it’s perfect for you.  Next step:  submit your application, resume and cover letter.  Next step after that:  sink into a state of fear and paralysis.  Why?  Because, not long ago, your career hit an ugly little speed bump.  You were demoted.  And while the personal pain of that event has started to subside, you worry that it has put a permanent stain on your resume – and your career aspirations.  As an executive recruiter, I am often struck by how highly competent professionals can remain haunted by a past demotion.  While no one can whip out a magic eraser and undo what has happened, I can offer you something better.  I can tell you what works.  Here is a realistic strategy for dealing with a demotion on your resume, in five simple steps.

And The 7 Steps You Should Take Instead

There are very few moments in a job search as thrilling as learning that the employer of your dreams is about to extend an offer.

And then, there are few moments as demoralizing as receiving that offer… only to discover that it is nowhere near the salary you thought it would be.

You’ve been lowballed, my friend.  And it happens more often than you might think (even to very strong candidates). We have a team of executive recruiters in Minnesota, and a team of executive recruiters in Chicago, and both teams will tell you that they have helped candidates craft professional counter offers many times over the course of their recruiting careers. We're here to explain why this happens, and what you can do about it.

How to shake off the ridiculous myth that quitting = failure

4 Simple Things That Make All the Difference

In the early, chaotic days of the pandemic, many Twin Cities employers put the brakes on hiring in order to regroup, re-forecast, and hunker down to ride out the storm. But over the past few months, we’ve been seeing a steady uptick in hiring. That’s just one more reason for Minnesotans, especially job seekers, to be optimistic. But does it mean that the job market – or your job search – have snapped back to last year’s normal?

“Don’t quit your job until you’ve lined up a new one.”

How many times have you heard that little chestnut? (In full disclosure, it’s advice I routinely dispense, myself.) But like all good rules, this one has some important exceptions. When you’re trapped in a toxic job, the path to “something better” can be a steep, rocky, exhausting – and increasingly treacherous – climb.

If you’re stuck there now, you simply may not have the luxury, mental energy, or emotional wherewithal to launch a winning job search. More importantly, though is this little fact that’s too often overlooked in the heat of the moment: you might not be in the best head space to really know what your next job should be. Figuring th

at out requires time, introspection, and ideally, a little healthy distance.

A headshot says a lot about how polished you are both on and off the camera. If you've taken the time to perfect the headshot you select for your LinkedIn profile,  you'll also give employers a good impression about your drive to do quality work.

Today we'll hear from Jonathan Conklin, the professional photographer who we partner with for our recruiter headshots here at SkyWater. We would love for Jonathan to share his knowledge about how to perfect your headshot, and command the attention you deserve from employers in your field.

Let me start with an understatement: a lot has changed in the employment industry during 2020. While the Twin Cities hasn’t suffered the same unemployment rates as much of the country, we’ve certainly followed the trend of COVID’s impact on our economy. As a result, we’ve gone from a candidate shortage so dire that many local employers were facing serious risks of failing to meet plan simply because they couldn’t get enough people on board to do the work – to something of a surge in available talent.

Trying to be all things to all employers just doesn't work any more, if it ever did. The candidate whose resume says "Project Manager" AND "Engineer" must decide which she is. Otherwise, she comes across to potential employers as confused, unfocused and possibly desperate.