Career Hub

Why Increased Pay And Bonuses Won't Keep You Motivated

Whilst the politicians keep talking about clamping down on huge financial incentives in response to the financial crisis, many banks and other corporations contend that large financial incentives are required to attract, engage and retain people.   

But as Dan Pink shows us in his recent appearance at the TED Talks,  pay and financial rewards are not the most effective way to engage and motivate employees. They never were in the past, and certainly won’t be in the future.  To engage and motivate people in the future, organisations will need to take a very different strategy.

To motivate people in the 21st century organizations need to focus not on financial reward, but instead on helping employees achieve: 

1. Autonomy

2. Mastery

3. Purpose

As usual with Pink, his ideas are based on solid facts and scientific research - click here to see the YouTube clip of the talk. 

So tell me, is he right? Is what Pink has to say consistent with what motivates you..?

By Sital Ruparelia

 

Second Annual Job Action Day

Quintessential Careers and a cadre of bloggers, including Susan Guarneri (Career Assessment Goddess), emphasize bright spots in the “jobless recovery” to mark the second annual Job Action Day worldwide on Nov. 2.

While the economy is showing signs of recovery, indications that the recovery will continue to be “jobless” casts a pall over hopes for a full bounceback. Job Action Day, the second annual event spearheaded by Quintessential Careers, addresses the jobless recovery by spotlighting promising areas in which the unemployed and other job-seekers may find opportunities.

“The idea is that job-seekers can take plenty of action steps right now – today – to move forward in their careers, even if they’re unemployed and have been for some time,” said Quintessential Careers Founder and Publisher Dr. Randall S. Hansen. “We established Job Action Day last year as a day for job-seekers pummeled by the economic meltdown to take control of their careers and initiate action,” Hansen said. “Where last year shock, fear, and paralysis may have inhibited action, this year, the gloom of prolonged unemployment may be de-motivating job-seekers.”

But Hansen underscores his belief that job-seekers can take action today in his Job Action Day article 10 Things (Activities) You Can Do Today for Your Job Search. In addition, Job Action Day writers and bloggers have targeted several areas as offering bright spots of opportunity including Federal jobs, green/clean energy jobs, stimulus jobs, entrepreneurship, and career re-invention.

Noting that the job market has changed in the last year, Quintessential Careers asked career experts for cutting-edge job-search tips they wouldn’t have thought of a year ago. Quint Careers Associate Publisher Katharine Hansen compiled their responses for Job Action Day in Job-Search Tips for a Changed Economy: How to Succeed in the "New Normal”.

Cross-posted at Career Goddess Blog

You cannot always blame the economy for getting no call backs!

Yesterday I was reminded in how the telephone has either become a very under appreciated or very appreciated communications device - and that perhaps we should all be looking to use it a little bit more.

I received an e-mail from a job candidate looking to connect with the recruiter in my company. I used to be involved in third party recruitment and still seem to get my fair share of unsolicited resumes etc - usually with the standard lines of

"I was researching your company and have identified that it is one ......."

OR

"As an experienced XYZ (none of which I ever recruited) I am looking for my next opportunity and know that a company like yours........."

Sadly, a quick Google search or even just taking a guess that the e-mail address that they just sent their resume to might also have a web site might indicate if they are on the right track and it might be worth looking to see what they do. But they are either lazy or are just sending blanket e-mails or worst still have actually paid someone to do this on their behalf and that resume blasting service is lazy and stupid and are using an outdated directory.

The ONLY positive is at least they got my name right and spelled it correctly.

But this particular job candidate had not even bothered to do that. Here is their e-mail;

Dear Sir / Madam,
 
Would you be kind enough to send me the name and direct e mail address of the executive recruiter in your organization who handles Supply Chain Management  / Industrial Management mandates.
 
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
 
Regards,

Not bothered to find a name, not even bothered to look up what the company did, not even going to bother to follow up, expecting someone to get back to them - now that is just plain dumb job searching at any time - but in this economy??!!

TRY THE TELEPHONE - OR EVEN THE INTERNET - be smart about your job search.

Just my toonies worth!

The Business of Business Cards

Remember that last interview when the Hiring Manager asked if you had a business card? Remember how you had to say "no" and kicked yourself for not having one? Remember when your buddy told you two months ago to get one?

Whether you create your business card at home, or hire a printing service, online or offline, there's no need to be without your own business card, ever again, as you explore new career opportunities. (Some people call these cards different things: networking cards, job search cards, job hunting business cards, personal branding cards.) Regardless of what you call it, you either have one, or you don't. Once you have convinced yourself you need one, the next big question becomes: "What should it say?" Consider the information below to decide what's right for you:

1. Name: Make it consistent with other career marketing and branding materials.
2. Designations/Degrees/Certifications: Keep them relevant to your target goal.
3. Address: For privacy purposes, some job seekers choose to reveal only their city/state on their business card and forgo a residential street address. If by chance your friend or relative is letting you use idle business space, or you're renting a professional (commercial) address, you can state a full street address, in addition to the city/state and zip code.
4. Phone Number: State one number, not three. Select the one where you can be contacted the first try!
5. Email/Internet Addresses: Consider the relevancy of each address; select those with brand relevance (LI, Twitter, website, Visual CV, etc.)
6. Language/Wording: Purposefully and intentionally choose words that best capture the essence of you and your brand in as few words as possible. Think: brevity, clarity and avoid clutter.
7. Text/Color/Logo: Carefully select font, color, text, and logo to best support your brand and the message you wish to convey to your target audience.
8. Photo: Some job seekers like to include a professional photo on their business card; others don't.

While there is no perfect way to create a business card, you will want to produce a distinctive one that well represents you and your brand. If you are stumped for ideas, peruse that stack of business cards collected at the last networking event. Create a stand-out card that captures attention -- for all the right reasons! And be sure, most of all, to hand them out! How about it...do you have a job hunting business card? Better yet, do you have any cool tips or ideas to share with others about making one?

Thoughts on Careers in "Retirement"

As I talk to clients in their fifties and older, they are all really conscious of needing to plan for the years that traditionally belonged to full retirement. Not only do many people not have the nest egg for retiring at 66, many simply are bored by the prospect. Here is what I am hearing:

Some are interested in transitioning from their vocation to their avocation, such as switching from VP of IT to furniture making.

Others are seeking to go into teaching, usually as an adjunct professor at the college, community college, or adult education level. Many business programs are looking for experienced professionals to lend their learned wisdom to their students. (Prefer a Ph.D. but sometimes a Master's degree suffices if the course is pragmatic enough).

Consulting is probably the most common solution I am hearing about. This option requires planning ahead in terms of developing a clear personal brand (what you do best and the value you bring to the market) and defining the services you can provide and who your target market is. Some people are staying on at their place of employment but in a consulting capacity. There is a great need for the expertise and retained corporate knowledge as the work force becomes younger and less experienced.

Volunteering, although not a money-maker, is an appealing option - but now boomers are thinking about it not it terms of serving soup at a soup kitchen, but rather in terms of how they can apply their considerable professional skills to advance the common good. Whether that means providing business strategy consulting to non-profits or setting up the technology infrastructure for a new non-profit, "retirees" have a lot to contribute.

I even hear of people in their 40s thinking about their futures in retirement. Which makes sense because developing your personal brand and evolving it through life is replacing the traditional sense of identity people got from working for the same employer for decades. It will be interesting to see how the concept of retirement evolves over the coming years. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!

 

 

The Knowledge Weapon

"Knowledge is a weapon. I intend to be formidably armed." -- Terry Goodkind

My client shared the above quote with me the other day after a long session on life after job loss. How would you describe your current knowledge of looking for work in the 21st century? Are you current with best practices and trends, or do you not have a clue about where to turn or what to do if you lose your job? If you're in the "I don't have a clue" category," don't worry, you're in good company and it is by no means your fault -- it just means that times have changed and now is the time for you to update thyself! Listed below are a handful of questions to help you assess your basic skills in the career management realm:

1. Can you name the 12 P's of career transition management?
2. Can you cite three phases of the transition process?
3. Can you name five core elements that comprise today's résumé?
4. Can you speak with clarity and conviction about your brand, or do you think a brand is something for livestock?
5. Do you know the various types of résumés, their purposes, pros/cons and which one is best for you and your needs?
6. Can you name at least seven different types of interviews with a description of each type?
7. Can you name the most common job search engines, whether or not you would use them?
8. Do you have a minimum of 10 LinkedIn recommendations or do you wonder, what's LinkedIn?
9. Within a matter of minutes, can you craft with specificity your ideal job and what it looks like, on paper?
10. Can you articulate with clarity and conviction five compelling reasons why you will be a valuable asset to an organization, beyond the commonly-cited "I offer good experience and education."

Today's job search market is not for the faint of heart. Take a look at your transition toolbox -- how much ammunition, if any, do you have? If you're running on empty, there is no better time than now to reload. Rest assured, your competition will. Knowledge is a weapon -- are you well-armed?

cross-posted at billiesucherblog

 

15 Ways To Cope With The Uncertainty Of A Career Transition

1.  Stop over planning – it’s futile when things are constantly changing

2.  Focus on the present. Not the past, not the future. Just the present

3.  Break things down and focus on next steps

4.  Give yourself permission to be a little ‘flaky’ – it’s Ok to change your mind

5.  Give yourself permission to be a little ‘down’ at times. It’s Ok, there’s nothing wrong with you

6.  Surround yourself with supportive people to lean on

7.  Experiment more, not less

8.  Be bold. Forget small steps - start taking big leaps.

9.  Stop over thinking. Listen to your gut instincts and intuition much more than your head

10. Embrace the uncertainty

11. Be open to more than one possibility

12. Be committed to taking forward steps (even when it feels uncomfortable and scary)

13. Be Ok with screwing up and making a few mistakes. You’ll progress much faster

14. Get comfortable being uncomfortable  (the faster you learn to handle change, the more successful your career will be)

15. Count your blessings.  You know where you’re next meal is coming from . You know where you’re sleeping tonight.  So you probably have much more certainty than people less fortunate than yourself. So get some perspective on things...

By Sital Ruparelia

In-Personal Branding Tips for Job Seekers

I'm happy to introduce a new guest blogger to Career Hub. Chris Perry is a Gen Y Brand and Marketing Generator, a Career Search and Personal Branding Expert and the Founder of Career Rocketeer, the Career Search and Personal Branding Blog.

While there are tons of things job seekers can do to brand themselves online using LinkedIn, blogs and other social media, in the end, some of the most powerful and impactful personal branding takes place in your in-person interactions with others.

I reached out to fellow job seekers and career experts for effective offline and in-person personal branding tips that could help you distinguish yourself to your chosen and targeted audience of employers and network contacts, and here are five top tips that I have compiled to share with you today:

It's true. How you look and present yourself is the first thing people notice. Things to consider: Are your clothes stained? Ironed? Too big, too small? Do your teeth need whitening? Are your nails kept and clean? Has your make-up been updated recently? Is your personal hygiene in order? Do your shoes need a polish? Are your eyebrows plucked/managed (often men have unruly nose and eyebrow hair and don't realize it)? All of these personal grooming tips are not designed to make you "perfect" but merely to make you the best you can be. It only takes once to make a bad impression so make it good! - Amy Swift,SmartyPeople.com

Take into careful consideration what others see.  Listen to descriptive comment.  Recall the lifetime of reactions verbalized by friends, family, mentors and co-workers.  Release the feeling of praise or criticism that may be attached to these descriptions.  These are the 'public' responses to your exterior identity.  They are working for you when you walk in the door - acknowledge these perceptions, first to yourself and then to those you are meeting.  Those habits create a sense of self-awareness, self-acceptance and ease.  Naming the perceptions others have of you also has another almost magical effect: others will feel agreed with, creating the sense of YES in the room that any experienced business-person will tell you is the key to successful interaction and desired outcome. - Sam Christensen, SamChristensen.com

I recommend that that my clients recognize something about their voice or body language that is special and positive and make sure they use it in their interview. For one client it was her warm voice, for another it was his laugh, another his warm and strong handshake, one clients voice sounded so authentically enthusiastic, another came into the room with an energetic bounce, ... the list goes on. This helps the job interviewee feel special and it creates a nonverbal memory of interviewee in the interviewers brain. It seems small, but my client’s says it helps them feel more confident. Everyone is special.  I also recommend they put some great professionally done photos on a website, face book etc as whatever old photos may indirectly brand them negatively and they need to try to get great professional photos at the top of the search engines, under their name. Even someone that has their same name, say john blue but is not them and has a bad photo can affect their branding when they are looking for a job. - Patti Wood, PattiWood.net

From your resume through to your interview outfit, pick a color and/symbol that defines you and use it as part of your brand.  The idea is to use a power color, for example red, and apply it to all your dealings with a prospective employer.  Pick a symbol in your color that you can use on your correspondence.  A red dot, a red square, etc next to your contact details is sufficient.  You don't need to hire a branding firm, any geometric recognizable symbol will do. The simpler, the better. All follow up or confirming e-mails prior to your actual interview, as well as your business cards, should carry through with this color and symbol or brand.  Use it as part of your signature. When you arrive at the interview, make this color part of your interview outfit.  It can be a red tie, red career bag, red glasses, red scarf, red shoes, etc.  A personal color will help you brand yourself if you use the color consistently. - Marsha Hallet, SweaterArt.com

A great pitch: Ask most people who they are and what they do and you get familiar junk or babble. You need a strong, declarative statement that's memorable and lets people know exactly how you are unique and can solve someone else's problems. Example of a bad pitch: I'm a career coach. Example of a great pitch: I help job seekers get the right job faster, and for more money, by teaching them proprietary techniques they won't learn anywhere else. - Mitchell York, FiveoClockClub.com

Is Your Job Search a Mess?

Have you ever undertaken a project that got to be more complex, convoluted and complicated than you planned? I have, many of them! Take, for example, the kitchen project a few months ago. At approximately 9:00 P.M. on a Friday evening, I decided I could not stand to look at our kitchen anymore. Floral border from another decade, wall color from a different phase of life, dated door knobs -- you get the picture. It desperately needed a makeover -- a major one for sure, but time and money said otherwise, so I jumped into a mini-makeover -- you know, should be able to knock it out in a few hours, a few bucks -- easy as pie, no biggie.

Stripping the 10-year-old border conjured up some newly-invented verbs -- made Merriam proud, I'm sure. I also learned that the wallpaper glue used from a decade ago was intended to stick for a lifetime. Oops, forgot to read the fine print. How convincing the sales associate at the hardware store the next day as he sold me wallpaper stripper, border stripper, scrapers, sanders, graders, smoothers, removers. You name it, I bought it -- naturally needing none of it. Some guy at the coffee shop the same morning gave me a little tip as I ranted about the project from you know where..."Ma'am, just use some dish soap, hot water and an old rag...you'll be fine."

Needless to say, the project was a mess, the kitchen was a wreck and I was one unhappy camper...um, I mean project manager. Messes, much like job search. Disarray. Disorganized. Chaos. Confusion. Untidy. You have to be kidding? How did this happen? How did things get so out of control? The reality is, who knows? It just is -- m-e-s-s-y! But the good news -- no, make that glorious news -- is that if you can assemble most of the right tools (instead of most of the wrong ones, like I did), you will have a pretty good chance of coming out on the other side with results that may surprise you!

When my family arrived home and saw the "new" kitchen makeover some 48 hours later, I made no comment about all the drama and trauma it took to get from Point A to Point D (D = Done!) They just said how much they loved it.

Your job search, like many projects, may get messy, cluttered, discombobulated and totally out of control. One day, though, if you stay committed to your goal -- no matter what -- hopefully, you will land a job where you can say "I absolutely love it!"

posted by:billiesucher

Want to Expand Your Options? Don't Be a Seagull!

Do you have friends, colleagues, and acquaintances who get in touch only when they need something? If yes, I'm willing to make a bet with you: You're not as close to them as you are to those who contact you just to check in.

My friend and colleague Rob Blatt is the kind of guy who checks in regularly, and is willing to share all he knows about social media, podcasting, and online content management strategy. He helps me stay current...and is an expert in social media etiquette.

Recently, Rob warned me about "seagulls" online. Seagulls are those people who only share their expertise when it serves their need. They have little regard for participating in community dialogue. And tend to ignore proper conventions. Here's a seagull in action.

The seagull in the video, "Sam" from Aberdeen, Scotland, was caught on videotape stealing numerous bags of cheese Doritos. The formal term for Sam's behavior--is "Kleptoparasitism" or the act of stealing food or other inanimate objects. Much like web surfers who usurp community discussions by changing the conversation to focus on themselves, Kleptoparasites "score" by stealing items they couldn't obtain otherwise--or by minimizing the time and effort required. They aren't nice.

Kleptoparasitism may have worked for "Sam," but it won't work for you as a job seeker. 

Here are three ways to avoid being called a seagull or--worse yet--kleptoparasite:

1. Express interest in other people, and show your appreciation.

See something you like online? Acknowledge where you saw it, praise it, and give proper attribution if you decide to share the idea. It may seem counter-intuitive to promote the ideas of others when you need to promote yourself, but it's good etiquette and shows that you are a team player.

2. Don't go "off the grid" in your response in online forums.

The best selling book "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" showcased the value of breaking ranks with the flock on occasion. As a job seeker, it's important to differentiate your skills and your interests. But this comes with a word of caution: Don't set yourself apart by violating community conventions.

If you are contributing to a website or blog with a particular area of focus--don't "hijack" the site with a completely unrelated topic. (Ever seen a LinkedIn Q & A forum or a blog post comment with a completely self-promotional response? It may boost traffic and awareness of your work--but it also makes you look like someone who can't follow directions and isn't interested in fully participating in discussions.)

3. Maintain a consistent presence--and engage. If you are using social media as part of your career management strategy, use it regularly--not just when you need something or have something to say. If you "fly in" only to serve a particular need--others will notice--and it will be more difficult to find help when you really need it.

These are my thoughts on how to avoid looking like a seagull, I'd love to hear yours...

Cross posted on Best Fit Forward.