Career Hub

Job Search, Career Management and Learning

I am a learning fanatic. Whether that learning takes place on my own or in a structured setting online or offline, I revel in learning about new job-search and career-management techniques and technology, as well as myriad other topics such as personal branding, career research, business development, entrepreneurship, leadership skills, innovation, and yes - even distance learning.

Does an attitude that embraces continual learning help to optimize your place in a highly competitive business or job market? I believe so. In my case, it ensures that I can deliver the best career-management services possible (my mission) because I have absorbed (like a sponge!) cutting-edge knowledge. So, too, job-seekers and employed professionals at all levels can secure "career insurance" for a lifetime by staying up-to-date in their career fields or by gaining new knowledge in targeted new career areas.

For instance, I recently returned from a 3-day leading careers industry learning event: the 2007 Career Directors International Conference in San Antonio where I was both a participant and presenter (Online Identity Management for Career Success). This was one of the best careers conferences I have been to in quite some time - and so said many of the attendees. Just look at what I learned:

1. How Your Internet Presence Can Make or Break Your Career
2. Resume Workshop: Methodology, Branding and Style
3. Designing and Adding Charts to Resumes
4. Empowering and Leading Clients
5. Federal Resume Fundamentals: KSA's the Right Way
6. Key Strategies for Working with College Students
7. Hidden (Online Career) Gems for the Career Professional
8. Top 40 Job Search Strategies
9. What's New with Career Industry Mega Trends

Those are the educational-programming sessions - I also learned even more by networking, asking questions of other attendees, presenters, and vendors, participating in interactive and fun exercises, and simply keeping my eyes open to "best practices" among my professional colleagues from private practice, government agencies, colleges and universities, corporations, and non-profits. Was it worth the investment of time and money? Without a doubt!

In the next few posts I will highlight some of the presenters and provide some learning resources and tidbits. Stop back and pick up some learning! We are, after all, in a predominantly knowledge-worker world. What knowledgeable assets have you acquired most recently?

Cross-Posted at Career Goddess Blog

Resume Renovations

As you've probably surmised by now, many of the bloggers on Career Hub look at a lot of resumes. While many resumes adequately explain a job seeker's job responsibilities, few elaborate on the accomplishments within those responsibilities. And let's face it. Many people perform similar jobs with similar competencies. What makes each person unique is the success he or she brought to those positions, not the day to day tasks that hundreds of others may be trained to do. Consider these typical resume statements from job seekers who probably have a great deal to offer employers, but are not getting that message across in their documents.

Answered questions that pertained to each customer's needs.

Undoubtedly customer service is critical for many positions. But this statement tells the reader little other than that a function of the job was answering questions. Hiring managers want to know what was the volume of the inquiries, how long did it take to resolve customer issues and how did that timeframe compare to the company's standards. Are there any powerful examples of how an irate client was satisfied, and were any processes put in place to address redundant questions so time could be freed up to work on more complex issues?

Developed and executed promotional opportunities.

Great! Tell me more! What types of campaigns and what were the results? Did the promotions drive revenues, capture a new niche, or take market share away from a competitor? What was going on in the company before these promotions were developed and what is happening now as a result of them?

Prepared weekly reporting on equipment performance.

Why were the reports prepared and who received them? Was the report used by senior management for forecasting or decisions on vendor contracts? Was any money or time saved as a result of these reports and if so, how much?

Developed business plans and strategies to build rapport and solicit new business accounts.

Sounds important. What were the results? Was new business secured, and if so, what was the percent increase in accounts from last year until now and what were the revenues associated with that new business? Were creative strategies or guerrilla marketing techniques leveraged to obtain the business?

Break away from the day to day of your work experience and strive to showcase the unique, memorable, creative, and "above and beyond" moments. You will quickly rise to the top of the resume pile and secure more interviews faster.

Posted by Barbara Safani

 

 

Follow Your Childhood Dreams

If you ever have to question or find a reason to follow your passions and follow your dreams watch this excerpt from the Oprah show - its an extremely humble, brave and fun man called Randy Pausch a university professor delivering his last lecture.

You may wonder why this is posted under the Just For Fun category - watch to understand

If you delivered your last 'speech' what would you want to be saying?

You lost your job; is there an elephant in your room?

Over at JibberJobber, Jason Alba posted about the unnamed elephant in the room – the disillusionment, frustration, despondency, even depression that hits just about everyone who loses a job.

So many people experience very real feelings of betrayal, fright, and erosion of confidence when they lose a job, but they often try to ignore all that and “muscle through.” Yet, being unemployed is one of the toughest things in the world -- besides war, death, hunger, poverty, and disease --  and if we are unemployed (especially for months and months), it can feel worse than these things.

It’s not just having bills to pay and a family to support, it’s about the perception of self that is wrapped into work – especially in America – home of the over-the-top work ethic, the “you’re only as good as your last sale” corporate mentality, and a “don’t let them see you sweat” culture.

So what happens when we lose a great job – especially one with responsibility, visibility, and a sense of future? How do we keep our confidence up when our very being has been compromised? How do we remain a supportive spouse and parent (emotionally and financially). How do we manage in this “new (often unexpected) normal?”

Gotta grieve, baby. Gotta raise our fists to the heavens and ask, “Why me?” Gotta let our family and friends into our misery, for a while. Being strong is admirable, but the toll on our loved ones of being the strong silent type sucks! (Excuse the blunt language!)

We’re human. We’ve been kicked in the pants. We’re allowed to be mad, sad, and miserable. And its OK to say we are. What’s NOT OK is living in either end of the spectrum too long – by ignoring the reality of unemployment or dwelling on it.

Gotta find the balance, as Jason did. Moving forward is the best antidote. Decide when, where, and for how long to grieve, then strategize a plan and stick to it – do something (many things) every day. Keep an action list of activities on JibberJobber or other contact manager. It’ll help keep you focused and productive.

Get out of the house, have lunch with a colleague, go to professional group meetings, and build your network. Seek professional help (career coach, resume writer, counselor or therapist, even self-help books) if it’s too hard to move forward. Do something fun every week. Laugh often. Create and embrace unexpected directions, as Jason did. Think outside of the box when being in the box isn’t working (no pun intended.) And “give to get” for “career karma.”

Jason Alba proved that determination, guts, and frustration – packaged with some genius, innovation, and a huge dose of networking mojo – was just what he needed to move past disappointment and into power. How can YOU pick yourself up and make YOUR future?   

(Disclaimer: I’m not a counselor or therapist – these are my opinions and solutions, developed in 18 years of coaching great executives, some of whom lose jobs, despite their greatness! With C-level tenures ranging approximately 18-36 months, job loss is pretty much an expected outcome at hire. Often an exit strategy is the first thing my clients work on after we create their 90-day strategic entry plan!)

Posted by Deb Dib, the CEO Coach
“Unabashedly passionate about helping visionary, gutsy, fun executives with a conscience build great careers, mold great companies, and even change the world a bit.”

Retain Your Talent or Recruit - both for FREE!

Just been made aware of two new blogs, with some excellent posts already, around the subject's of Retaining and Recruiting for Free by a UK based headhunter and coach, Sital Ruparelia.

Retain For Free - is about re-engaging and retaining employees, the advice can apply to any business not just financial services where Sital specializes.

Recruit For Free - is about finding good talent at no cost with some common sense and more creative approaches.

As a job candidate it makes sense to bear these tactics in mind - you have to be innovative and creative too.

No One Cares What You Want!

That may sound harsh, but during a job search it's true.

The hiring manager has many concerns, issues, worries and problems - too much work, not enough staff, looming business issues or missed opportunities, a headache, a fight with her teenage daughter ... but whatever is swirling round her mind when she looks at your resume, the very last thing she's thinking is "I wonder what all these candidates want in their next job? I wonder what's important to them?"

(She might care about that later, if she interviews you and likes you and is thinking about an offer, but right now she doesn't give two hoots.)

This is why I hate resumes that start with an objective statement. Even the most well-written objective statement is a waste of space because the employer just doesn't care. But most are not actually counter-productive. This week I came across a resume that had one of the LEAST effective objective statements I've ever seen. One that would surely dissuade employers from ever even picking up the phone.

It started with a short description of the type of job being sought, but then it went on: "I do NOT want to work at a company that doesn't value it's employees. I do NOT want to have to ask permission when I have an idea. I do NOT want ..."

It went on a little longer but you get the idea. Not only is this candidate focused only on his own concerns - he's also making himself look like a troublemaker, even though there is nothing inherently wrong with the things he is seeking in his next position - they just don't belong on a resume!

Your resume and cover letters must never focus on your needs and concerns. Every word must focus on showing why you can add value to potential employers. Your introduction should focus on this entirely with no mention of your own desires.

That's not to say your desires are not important - of course they are. You will asses opportunities based on your needs and concerns. You will choose a job that meets those needs. But by focusing your resume on what the employer needs, you will ensure that you have the broadest array of options from which to choose.

Starting A New Career Story

Someone very close and dear to me is experiencing a challenge that's rather painful and isn't unique to just her career. She has approached a crisis moment in her professional path where she no longer wants to continue practicing what she has a Bachelor's and Master's degree in. Some folks may find this a liberating feeling. However, she's not just feeling scared, she's also experiencing feelings of guilt, confusion, and disappointment. In essence, she's saying goodbye to ten plus years of studying, training, and working. But her truth is that she no longer has the passion for that career and now feels a calling to explore new professional territory. Maybe this sounds familiar to you. If so, maybe you've also struggled with these feelings:

A feeling that your degree(s) are worthless now.
Let's turn this around and focus less on what's written on the diploma and what the diploma represents. The learning undoubtedly changed you in both significant and subtle ways. Take me for example...I studied history as an undergrad and though I don't practice it as a professional it still has had a dramatic impact on how I approach life. I think about problems differently, taking a more holistic viewpoint in order to see all of the interconnections and possibilities. Take some time to reflect on how you've changed because of your past experience. Then celebrate how it's made you the unique person that you are.

A feeling that you've wasted (or are throwing away) a part of your life.
Again, let's turn this around. Consider the full experience of this chapter in your life: the people met, friendships made, knowledge gained, and so on. We can get hung up on the very old-school notion of a linear career path which not only limits our career choices, but limits who we are. Think of life and career as an anthology. The stories contained in an anthology have a loose theme, but can be different in their plot. At this stage of your life, you're just adding the next story.

A feeling that you're disappointing people or not meeting their expectations.
This may be true. But you have to ask yourself...are you living for yourself or someone else? Are you living to your own unique purpose or someone else's idea of what that purpose is? I know these are not easy questions to answer. However, something else to reflect on is whether this feeling is based on your own assumption that you're disappointing others, or in fact, based on reality. Have you taken the courageous act of talking to these important people in your life - parents, partner, friends - about your decision? Many times, we project a feeling of disappointment onto other people when its being felt from within.

A feeling that no one will understand your decision.
This is another often imagined feeling that springs from a fear of being rejected. We think that if the important people in our life are disappointed in us, they'll shun us or not love us. That's a fear that's hard to shake. Yet again, we have to ask ourselves if that's an assumption we're projecting out onto others or whether it's based on reality. More often than not, the people that love us will support us - even if they don't immediately understand why we're choosing to go in a different professional direction.

An overwhelming feeling of anxiety about what's next.
Some of you may have at least some idea of where you want to go next. Some of you may have no clue where to go...you just know you don't want to go back to where you were. Either way, you likely know more than you think about the next story in your career. You just need some help. So where can you find help? Take a look at the folks over on the left side, the talented and passionate folks who are here at CareerHub. We all have a wealth of experience to share.

Posted by Chris Bailey

Coping with a Recently Unemployed Person In Your Life

Over the week-end, I attended a program on Coping with the Law Student in Your Life. Presented by a panel of five second and third-year law students, it was quite helpful in providing some insight as to what to do (and not do) as parents / partners of first-year students.

1. As I listened to the panel's perspectives on how to best support and interact with the first-year law student, I found myself thinking about friends and family members who are "coping with a recently unemployed person" in their life. Here are some ideas of what to do if you're a family member or friend of someone who's recently lost a job:

* Let them know that you care, sharing words of comfort and solace. If you've been down the job loss road before, tell them, as that may help them feel like they're not so alone at this difficult time.

* Don't pry into the nitty-gritty details as to why they lost their job. Let them offer what they like, and be OK with that, for now. If they want to tell you more, they will in due time.

* Offer encouragement, using positive, constructive, supportive language..."we'll get through this together" versus "This is your fault and how could you do this to me?"

* Be a good listener. Don't be a "fixer" or a "problem-solver". Now is not the time for that.

* Allow and support a reasonable period of "mourning" and "grieving" following your family member's / friend's job loss. Translated, don't ask them first thing tomorrow morning what their next career move is!

* Don't try to hide the fact that there's been a job loss. "Hiding" from reality helps no-one and the sooner others know what's going on, the better. People can't help if they don't know.

* Offer: what can I do to help? Even if you're told nothing, do something anyway. It will mean a lot to the person who's lost their job. That something could be as simple as a "thinking of you" card, a handwritten note, an e-mail sentiment, or something as valuable as a gift certificate for gas, groceries, coffee...you get the idea.

* Communicate. Stay in touch. Keep talking on a consistent, routine basis.

* Recommend the name of a competent career professional, complete with contact information to make it easy for your family member / friend to get in touch ASAP!

* Go to the library and check out one skinny, little, easy-to-read career-related book (the bigger the print the better) for your friend or loved one. Granted, they "should" be doing this on their own, and hopefully, they will. Right now, though, it's a considerate, well-intended gesture on your part. (A big thick book with tiny print is the last thing a person who's just lost their job wants to read). For now, keep it simple!

* Simply be there for them. Let them know that they can count on you and that you're not going to judge them, or ditch them, or think less of them just because they've lost their job.

As I was writing this post, I was thinking of what might have been the most helpful thing for me to hear when I lost my job, even though it's been many years ago. Perhaps it would be this:

While you lost your job, what you didn't lose, and what you get to keep is this: your knowledge, skills, abilities, gifts, talents, values, passion, and a continued capacity to earn a living!

Do you know somebody who's been impacted by a recent job loss? How about adding your own thoughts to this post and then passing it along...maybe it's just the thing the family member or friend needs to hear.

posted by: billiesucher

Your kid's blog can get you FIRED

Have you checked your kid’s blog lately? The content could get you fired.

That was the big news story on WTMJ Channel 4 in Milwaukee last night. They had stories from parents who were fired, turned down for promotions, demoted, and more based on what their kids said about them on blogs.

And the blog quotes from kids were things like, “My parents are lazy alcoholics,” “My dad does drugs,” and other wonders.

How did they get found out? Easy. Online search engines. Online it is very easy to find out who someone is. Parents were found from the kids’ profiles, which they had filled out in detail on social networking sites like MySpace.

Advice to combat this situation?

Read on!

Posted by Wendy Terwelp

Spend 12 hours with 30+ personal brand experts and watch your career soar!

Where can you hear the leading experts on personal branding (including Guy Kawasaki, Phil Gerbyshak, T. Scott Gross, Dick Bolles, Anita Bruzzese, Catherine Kaputa, Martin Yate and many, many more) for a full day, in one place, for absolutely no cost?

On November 8, 2007, at the groundbreaking “A Brand You World” Global Telesummit on personal branding. And if you don’t have a free day (who does?) you can access their wisdom via podcasts after the event.

I’m so excited because this is not a typical collection of teleclasses – it’s an extraordinary “virtual conference” commemorating the tenth anniversary of personal branding (spawned by Tom Peter’s 1997 Fast Company article “The Brand Called You”).

This is an unprecedented opportunity for you to increase your knowledge of how branding can work to help you build your career or business. The content and expertise far exceeds even world-class professional development conferences, and you invest nothing but time. How cool is that?

The “Brand You World” Global Telesummit will be held around the world on November 8, 2007. You can choose programs from three concurrent streams of content (hour-long seminars and panels) focused on branded careering, talent management, and entrepreneurship. More than 100,000 professionals around the world are expected to attend.

Registration is simple at the website. You’ll be given a call in number and you can access the speaker roster, programs, and schedules for your time zone. After the event, podcasts of every program and panel will be available on the website, at no cost.

Are you getting this? NO cost!!!! For access to the best minds in the business. Amazing.

How does this happen? It’s because of people whose passion for branding goes beyond self interest – a planning team of Personal Brand Strategists around the world and the dedicated speakers and sponsors gifting their time and thought leadership to the event and to the event’s social cause partner, Kiva.

Are you ready to make YOUR career a “Brand You World?”

Posted by Deb Dib