Career Hub

Is Great Work Really Possible?

Finding a job you can really love - not necessarily the "perfect job" or your "dream job", but a great job - often seems like an elusive quest. While I assist many job seekers and career changers in just this kind of exploration and go-get-it process, I hear much discouragement around this topic when I first start with my clients. It seems to be the prevailing mood that in a tight economy, great work does not exist.

It may just be a matter of perspective. Michael Bungay Stanier, author of Find Your Great Work and the Great Work Movie, has led Find Your Great Work interviews with people such as Guy Kawasaki, David Allen, and Dr. Marshall Goldsmith in the past year. It's interesting to hear these diverse and successful entrepreneurs, professionals, and leaders discuss their views on how to find, start, and maintain a life where great work can be the norm, rather than the exception to the rule.

Michael was recently interviewed for the Reach Personal Branding Interview Series and revealed insights about what constitutes Great Work and how to find it throughout our working lifetime. Of particular importance, he recommended down-to-earth tips on how to reduce the obstacles that might get in your way.

Take a bit of time and listen to these recordings. You may find your attitude and perspective about great work will change. Hopefully, that will be enough for you to take ownership of the thought that Great Work can be attainable for you too!

Posted by the Susan Guarneri, the Career Assessment Goddess

Would You Rather?

Last week, I had a conversation with a client who had recently lost his job. He offered that he might possibly get rehired by his former employer, either working nights at one job or traveling 100% of the time at another. He had worked a day job prior to getting downsized. The two choices he presented reminded me of the Would You Rather game and how life is always presenting choices. As a professional, would you rather...

• work at a job you hate for a lot of money or work at a job you love for a little money?
• be president of a company where everyone disliked you or vice president of a company where everyone loved you?
• be the one doing the talking or the one doing the listening?
• be the leader or be the manager?
• have a competent manager or a competent team?
• work nights for more money or work days for less money?
• be seen or be heard at a networking event?
• have someone read your company e-mail or listen to your phone calls?
• be the one who speaks up or the one who shuts up?
• know a little about a lot or know a lot about a little?
• be the one to give or the one to receive?
• be the changer or be the changed?
• be the winner or be the whiner?
• manage others well or well-manage yourself?
• be respected for your knowledge or trusted for your common sense?
• wear an old suit that's comfortable or a new one that's uncomfortable?
• be the employer or be the employee?
• buy an existing business or build an organization from scratch?
• be the question or be the answer?
• be the innovator or be the implementer?
• be the interviewer or be the interviewee?

What career choices are facing you right now? What would you rather?

cross-posted at billiesucherweblog

Two Points of View on Purpose

I listened with interest to Tim Kelley's teleseminar on "Finding Your True Purpose" and then bumped into Po Bronson's article in Fast Company on "What Shall I Do With My Life Now?" The first asserted that everyone has something that they are "meant" to do and that they can find out their true purpose through an inner dialogue (between self and soul or some other source).

On the other hand, Po Bronson, author of bestselling books and most recently, "What Shall I Do With My Life?" says, "There is no one thing each of us is meant to do on this planet." He goes on to say there are dozens, even hundreds of jobs that might satisfy someone's need for "meaning and goodness." He says that one can evolve on the job into work that is deeply satisfying.

Where the two authors converge is on the importance of doing work that is meaningful to the person doing it. I think our experiences dictate how we  come down on the question of uncovering our particular work choice(s). From my point of view, finding what one is is going to do next comes from an inner place, from a place of insight, and varies according to the time or stage of life.

Where do you come down on this question? What have you learned about finding out what work you really want to be doing?

How To Avoid Becoming A Victim Of Your Environment and the Economy

In the UK, talking and complaining about the weather is a national pastime.

Whilst I dislike the wet and unpredictable weather in London (and frequently dream about owning a beach house in the sun!), I rarely talk about the bad weather and certainly don’t complain about it.

Why?

Because it’s a complete waste of time and mental energy.  I can’t control it, I can’t change it and so why worry about it…?

Instead it’s much better to focus on two things: The things I can influence and the things I can control.

a) Influence – If it rains, I can influence whether I get wet or not by choosing what to wear or choosing to carry an umbrella. I may still get wet, but I may have some level influence over it.

b) Control – I can’t control whether it rains or not, but I can totally control my reaction if it does. I can control how I think and speak about the weather. If I get soaked in a storm, I can control my reaction and so dictate my mood - which of course impacts everything else I do.

I’m not special – just human. Unlike animals, us humans have the ability to choose our reactions to the environment. This is not psychobabble or ‘fluff’, but a scientific fact.

Armed with this fact, you should be using this same principles to better manage your career instead of focussing on the environment you operate within.  

I see so many people worrying and stressing about the economy, the job market, what their firm is doing, what their boss isn’t doing or how their internal and external clients are behaving. Whilst some of this anxiety seems like a perfectly rational reaction – it does little to help you achieve the results you want.

Just like dealing with the weather, you can’t change the environment around you – the state of the economy, the leadership skills of your boss or the financial state of your clients. So it’s ludicrous to spend massive amounts of time stressing about.
 
In order to achieve the results you want – be that a new job, more job satisfaction, more time, more money or a better work-life balance – you’ve got to stop stressing about the stuff you can’t control or influence – and instead channel that time, mental energy and creativity into what you can control and influence.

If you’re in a job currently, that means:

1. Focus on helping your firm be as successful as possible rather than stressing about the economy.

2. Take responsibility for your own career by having an up to date resume and a strong network outside your firm rather than stressing about potential job cuts.

3. Focus on strengthening relationships with clients and widening your circle of prospects to build a stronger pipeline rather than stressing about what clients may or may not do.

4. Learn how to manage upwards so that you can limit the impact of a poor or indecisive leadership, instead of complaining about how bad the management team is. 

5. If you’re dissatisfied with your relationship with internal clients, focus on how you can strengthen these relationships rather than blaming things on politics and personality clashes. Yes, these are often very valid issues - but many people exaggerate such conflicts inside their head.

Once it’s in their head, they’re great excuses to hide behind. It’s much more effective (and far cleverer) to take yourself outside your comfort zone and fix those relationships so that you become more successful and happier in your role, instead of just sitting around bitching and moaning about people (even if it’s just in your head). Plus it clears up a lot of ‘head space’ and makes you a nicer person to be around away from work.

If you’re job searching, that means:

1. Instead of complaining about the lack of opportunities, you take more accountability for your search by learning everything about the job search process so that you become more effective in less time. The hundred's of free articles on this blog and free advice on the individual blogs of all the career experts pictured on the left of this page are good places to start.

2. Instead of worrying about the competition and the state of the job market, you focus on figuring out what value you bring to potential employers and learn how to articulate your unique proposition consistently at every stage of your job search process

3. Getting out, building relationships, networking with authenticity and treating your job search like a full time job rather than passively waiting for job sites and recruiters to bring you your next opportunity

4. Being progressive and open minded enough to look at how you can reinvent yourself and change careers to meet the changing needs of the market place or economy

Is it easy to do this?

No

If it were easy, then everyone would be successful and everyone would be a high achiever.

High achievers in any field succeed and stand out from the pack because they do things that others can’t or won’t do. Tiger Woods, David Beckham and Michael Jordan don’t sit around complaining about the weather, the tabloid press reports about them or the state of the pitch / court they’re about to play on.

They focus on what they need to do in order to get the best results. And that’s why they are at the top of their respective professions – by staying focussed on what they can control and influence and not overly stressed by their environment and what others are doing.

As we enter the Spring season, the weather in London should (theoretically) start to improve and become much warmer. But I’m sure it’s likely to be as unpredictable as ever.

In a similar vain, you’ll find the economy, the job market, your firm, your boss, your team and your clients to be as  unpredictable as ever in the coming months – and potentially the source of much stress and frustration. But only if you choose to focus on the elements you can’t control and can’t influence.

I can assure you that your level of career success will have much more to do with what YOU do or don’t do than what happens in your environment. It’s really easy to sit back and complain about the economy, the government, your boss or your firm. But don’t be a victim. Take responsibility for how you think and how you act and you’ll be far more successful in your career and far happier as an individual.

And the best thing about taking responsibility in a tough market is that it’s so easy to stand out from the crowd and accelerate your progress - simply because everyone else is sitting around worrying about the weather….

By Sital Ruparelia, Cross posted on the 6 Figure Career Management Blog

Survival Jobs

Have you been unemployed for a while, say six months or more? Do you feel like you could write a book on networking? Are you absolutely exhausted by the lack of luck you've had in landing the next good job? You are not alone! Even though you might feel like it, you aren't. So, here's another question for you to contemplate:

Have you considered taking a survival job?

A survival job: the type of job that helps make ends meet; the type of job that puts some bread and butter on the table; the type of job you thought you'd never have to take.

Have you considered taking a survival job? It's a simple enough question, so that's not the hard part. The hard part comes in the form of the answer, as for many, the answer is tied to identity and emotions and success and a certain title on a business card. For some, it has to do with ego and status and power. And still, for others, it's...well, that sort of job is "beneath" me. Take a survival job? What will others think?

Here's what I think others will think. I think they'll admire you. I think they'll wish they had the courage themselves to take a survival job. I think they'll see you as a person who doesn't let too much dust or despair gather around you. I think they'll view you as a problem-solver who finds ways to manage and cope during such challenging economic times. I think they'll see you as a person who is doing whatever it takes until you can find a new pathway to the future.

Whatever it takes...that's what I'd do, as long as the job is moral, legal and doesn't harm self or others. You don't have to do a survival job forever...that's why it is called a survival job. You do a survival job until you can find the real job that is good and right for you, or at least until you can get your ducks lined up and figure out the next grand plan to relocate, go back to school, buy a business, build a business, change careers, or whatever else it might be. Five reasons to take a survival job:

1. It will get you out of the house and around other people.

2. It will get your mind off your plight for a few hours each day.

3. It is a way to earn a paycheck, however great or humble, and contribute to your family finances.

4. It is a way of learning something new and discovering something about self and humility.

5. It will help you realize that you are not alone and that you can add value wherever you are, doing whatever it is you do.

Have you considered taking a survival job?

posted by: billiesucher

Your Job Search Gesallprov

In a recent visit to the Swedish American Museum in Chicago, I spied a beautiful chair built around 1900 by one Frederic Johanson. Perched by the chair was a brief description:

This chair was his gesallprov, which was an apprentice's proof that his trade education was finished and he was ready to become a tradesman.

It occurred to me as I was admiring the extraordinary craftsmanship in this piece -- now wouldn't it be something if before you launched a job search, you had proven you were ready to become a job seeker? How it seems to go for many, though, is that with little preparation, understanding, or knowledge of the career transition and job search process, one attempts to move from Point A to Point B with no apprenticeship training.

Have you well-prepared yourself to produce quality results? Do you know how to craft an extraordinary search that captures the awe of strangers? Have you proven that you are ready to hit the streets armed with the 2009 version of best practices in career management?

Mr. Johanson's work made me pause to appreciate his gesallprov from a century ago. What would you say if someone asked you to describe your job search gesallprov?

cross-posted at billiesucherblog.com

Please Introduce Yourself

“Hi, what is it you do?”

It’s the dreaded question.

One of the biggest challenges faced by people in the middle of a career transition is knowing how to introduce themselves whilst socialising or networking.

It’s even more challenging for people who are in the process of starting a business or becoming independent consultants. They don’t quite know what it is they plan to do and so they frequently withdraw from conversations, go shy and often avoid going to social events until they’ve figured out exactly what it is they are doing. Completely irrational, but it’s amazing how many people do it.

I speak from experience as I played this avoidance and perfection game a lot in the past. It’s all one big mistake because avoiding these interactions until things are ‘just right’, means you:

- Miss out on potential work and business opportunities
- Miss out on a helping hand in clarifying what it is you do
- Miss out on the opportunity to screw up and become better at introducing yourself

Yes, getting your ‘message’ right is a key part of any change process – finding work, changing careers or becoming self employed. People cannot connect you with future employers and prospects if they don’t know what you do and what it is you’re looking for. And there are many resources and help for people on how to get their message right (articles, books, videos, coaches etc)

But fundamentally the work should be done in the field, not in your lounge or your home office.

The best way to learn how to cook, is to just cook. Classes and recipe books are good, but ultimately, you learn to cook by burning a few things and getting it wrong before you get it right

The best way to learn to interview, is to go out and be interviewed. Screw up the occasional interview, make a few mistakes – and then you become proficient at interviews

The best way to articulate what you do to others, is to put yourself out there and introduce yourself to people. Get a few things wrong, adjust your style and get out there again and again.

So don’t wait around too long trying to figure out what you’d say before getting out there. Don’t play the ‘when-then’ game and wait until you feel good about yourself. Please just get out and start introducing yourself.

The clarity, proficiency, opportunities and ‘feeling good’ come once you step out there and introduce yourself.

.....so what is it you do again..?

By Sital Ruparelia from 6 Figure Career Management

Does Your Resume File Name Waste a Self-Marketing Opportunity?

How much thought did you put into naming the resume file that you send out to prospective employers and recruiters? Does the file name clearly indicate who you are? Does it go a bit further and tell the recipient what you do? Or is it labeled something like "resume.doc," "myresume.doc," or another name that could apply to virtually any one of thousands of applicants?

A press release on PRWEB (www.prweb.com) highlights conclusions from a "Resume Filename Best Practices Report" recently released by Palladian International. While the report found that 92% of resume files had at least some indication of the sender's name, only 58% included both the first and last name. A large proportion of resumes contained information of no use to a hiring manager or recruiter, such as version numbers and dates.

The report advises that your first and last name always be included in the file name. It is also a good idea to include a word or short keyword phrase that describes your main skill set or industry (for example, CFO, Marketing Executive, etc.). It is important to keep the keyword phrase fairly short, so as not to create an unwieldy file name that extends beyond fields in a database or beyond the edge of the reader's window or screen (such as on a Blackberry). A further recommendation is to separate words with hyphens for readability. I have found that underscores (_) also work well for this purpose.

Following is a sample structure for an effective file name:
FirstName-LastName-Resume-KeywordPhrase.doc

With regard to file format, MS Word is virtually universally accepted. However, if you have Office 2007, it is advisable to convert your file from its default ".docx" format to Word 2003/97 ".doc" format. The new ".docx" format is not readable by earlier versions of Word without installation of a conversion pack. Since there are many recruiters and companies that do not yet have Office 2007 and also do not have the conversion pack installed on their systems, sending the file in Word 2003/97 format avoids the risk that your file will be unretrievable and (horrors) possibly discarded.

***

Posted by Laurie Smith at Creative Keystrokes

Reinvention: Top 10 Tips For Career Changers

1. Forget job titles
Focus instead on the ‘ingredients’ or components of roles you are looking for in a new career. Once you do this, you open yourself up to a wider range of jobs and careers that play to your strengths and interests, many of which you didn’t even know existed.

2. Stop over-planning and over-thinking
Most people have some vague ideas about the type of change they’d like to make (even if they never share it with anyone else). But they never get off the ground as they over-think things - which usually overwhelms them into doing absolutely nothing. The key is to not over-plan, but to just get on and take the next steps.

3. Get your finances in shape
Unless you are already working or have a ‘buffer’ of cash, find an income stream quickly. Whether it means part-time work, freelancing, contracting work or even renting the spare room out - do something. You can’t focus on change when you’re worried about paying the mortgage.

4. Build and cultivate genuine relationships
Every contact you need to help you discover what you want and then find the next opportunity is either in your mobile phone or your diary - or in the mobile phone or diary of your contacts. So make sure you’re building genuine relationships, ask for help and let people help you.

5. Build a new peer group
Surround yourself with like-minded people who:
a) Have made major changes in the past themselves
b) Are already in the new career you want to transition into
c) Are confident, positive and open-minded enough to encourage you, instead of scaring you

(And of course, stay away from doom-mongering negative types who will try to convince you that the world is about to end and so you should just hide under the duvet and do nothing).

6. Trust your gut instincts
Very often, you know what you want to do, but the advice (and fear-mongering) from the people around you makes you doubt yourself. So listen much more to yourself than to others. Your intuition will be more of a help with navigating your journey than people who have never been on that journey, or been around people who have.

7. Play to strengths
Every major firm is reinventing itself to focus on strengths in relation to the changes, needs and problems in the environment. That’s precisely what you should be doing. So what are your natural skills and unique talents? What are you interested in? What excites you? What are the key problems that you’re best placed to solve? Where can you add value? Now with that level of awareness, what are your next steps..?

8. Don’t be idealistic
Focus on transitioning into work that excites you and interests you 70% of the time. Don’t listen to all the life coaches and ‘experts’ who harp on about “finding your ideal job” or a “dream career that you’re totally passionate about.” It’s all a big lie. I really love what I do, but I still have crappy days - that’s life. So forget being an idealist, stick to the 70% rule and transition into careers you’d enjoy ‘most’ of the time.

9. Make holistic career choices
Your career choice has an impact on every part of your life - your health, wealth, family, friends, hobbies and interests as well as your religious/spiritual side. So ensure the decision you make makes you successful as a person - not just in your career and bank balance.

10. Get out and experiment much more
The internet is great resource and tool, but it’s made us all very lazy. The answers to all your career woes are not on the web (unless you’re on the Career Hub site!). But they are ‘out there.’ So get out and meet people, experiment, try new things, go volunteer your time, go work-shadow. The clues and opportunities will come from there, and not from the internet.

11. Embrace the uncertainty
Reinventing yourself, your career, a business or an economy is never a straight-line, step-by-step process. So expect the unexpected and become comfortable being uncomfortable.
 
12. Invest in yourself
We reap what we sow. To create the time, money and lifestyle you want, you have to invest it first.  That may involve reassessing your skills, researching, networking, attending training events and the like. Change won’t just happen - it requires some kind of investment from you.

13. Expect it to take longer than you thought
I thought this article was going to be a top 10 list but it’s overrun and become 13 points. That’s what it’s like making a career transition - it’s a little unpredictable. So just ensure that you’re mentally and financially prepared for things to take longer than expected.

By Sital Ruparelia from 6 Figure Career Management

A Tale of Two "Hire Me" Campaigns

Over the past week, two very visible "Hire Me" campaigns have drawn public attention.

I saw the first on CNN: a California wife went public with the website MyHusbandNeedsaJob.com. The website summarizes the experience, career, and education of "the husband" Mike, a recent Georgetown MBA. There's a resume, a brief YouTube video (Hi, I'm Mike") and a very brief introduction of Mike's career goals: he wants to work in brand management, product management, or marketing.

Jamie Varon, a recent college graduate, is also taking the "hire me" approach. At face value, one of her recent moves comes straight out of the "don't do" column of the hiring playbook: she wrote a blog post on why she quit a job after only two weeks.

That being said, Jamie's headline gets my attention--and she articulates her decision well. Her next moves have also been seen and analyzed in public: She goes out on a limb to say that she'd like to work for Twitter, and states a case for why they should hire her.  Through her website, TwitterShouldHireMe.com, she provides a clear, concise presentation that demonstrates how companies can use Twitter--and how she can contribute to Twitter. She also provides her readers with tips on Twitter--all part of the branding.

Mike and Jamie are both keeping blogs on their website to update their new fans...not surprisingly, Jamie's has a meeting scheduled at Twitter and is weighing a few offers. Mike reports many e-mails and a number of potential leads. 

I've observed hundreds of job searches in my work as a career counselor and worked briefly as a recruiter. Here's my take: This is a simple case of "show" (Jamie demonstrates) versus "tell" (Mike's approach).  

Jamie's website is clear about

• who she wants to work for,
  
  
• how she can add value (she demonstrates an understanding of company products and her knowledge of marketing), and
  
  
• her knowledge of the field in which she wants to work (new media). 

Mike's website takes a broader approach. I see:

• An interesting accumulation of work experience--a consulting gig in China, a summer internship at a prestigious consulting firm (Booz Allen Hamilton), work experience in process improvement for a brand leader in the golf industry.
  
  
• Broadly stated work goals. His answer to the question, "What Kind of Job are You Looking For?"

I’m looking to get into a brand or product management role with a consumer goods company.  However, with my previous experience I am open to other opportunities in a corporate marketing environment where I can leverage my skills.  I did work for two of the leading brands in the golf industry and got hands-on experience managing a successful consumer product.  My operations background is useful for any business, and having had the opportunity to be so involved with the product I am ready to jump in on the marketing side. I also have a lot of transferable general project management skills that will be valuable in any company.

I find Jamie's "show" to be more compelling than "Mike's tell." The marketing gimmick is a clever introduction to draw attention to Mike's job search, but the pictures of Mike in the Bay Area don't paint a clear picture of how he can immediately add value to an employer. It's harder to market yourself for any opportunity, than for a specific one.  Jamie's decision to target her efforts helps her frame her skills, experience and potential.

If Mike were my client, I would suggest refining his company targets, sharing tangible examples of his work, and creating a sense of unbridled enthusiasm for the work itself. This could include:

• An enhanced online footprint that showcases his expertise and demonstrates his level of engagement with his intended work--i.e. blog postings on brand or product management strategies,
• Work samples (possibly acquired through volunteer projects). As the former Vice President of the Georgetown Wine Society, he might consider, for example, taking on a marketing consulting project for a local vintner?
• Professional activities with Bay Area marketing associations and events.

My prediction: Jamie will land in a job first because she puts her best career fit forward. While Jamie has less experience on paper, she's demonstrated how she'll add value from day one--and she's articulated how her skills align with the needs of her intended industry.  

I'll be monitoring websites for Mike and Jamie to see what happens next, and would love to hear your thoughts in the interim. What's your take on these "hire me" campaigns?

Cross-posted at Best Fit Forward.