Career Hub

3 Ways To Get Passionate About Your Work

"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

- Howard Thurman

 

Earlier this week I attended the London School of Economic Alternative Investment Conference featuring an impressive line up of speakers from the world of Hedge Funds and Private Equity. With students flying in from 75 countries, it was the biggest student conference of its kind in the world.

 

Whilst listening to a panel discussion on Tuesday afternoon about the future of Private Equity Finance, one of the undergraduates from audience asked a question about career prospects within the industry.

Interestingly, the overwhelming feedback from the 5 highly successful people on the panel was:

 

"If you want to pursue a career in Private Equity because you'll make lots of money, because it will make you look good or because it's fashionable - please don't bother.

 

"But if you're passionate about Private Equity and feel that what we do makes a difference - then and only then apply and pursue your ambitions."

 

Who'd have thought it hey?

 

A bunch of people renowned for buying and selling businesses to create profits for investors, advocating that you follow the passion in your career instead of chasing the profit and status.

 

But they're absolutely right. People who are passionate about what they do, are happier, less stressed and more successful in their careers.

 

Here are 3 ways you can start getting more passionate about your work and career:

 

1. Find work which you're passionate about

 

The obvious way. Find work which plays to your natural strengths, work which you enjoy. Work which excites you and doesn't really feel like work. It feels more like play than work. 

But finding work you're passionate about doesn't happen overnight. Here are two further ways to do passionate work now instead of waiting until 'one day.'

 

2. Get passionate about the job you already have

 

In the early part of my career I was stuck in a role which didn't play to my strengths and didn't particularly excite me. So during my time with the UK retailer Marks & Spencer, I focussed my energy on finding opportunities which I was passionate about. So I'd take every opportunity to lead teams through change, to coach individuals in my team to move onto bigger and better roles, and I'd jump at the chance to deliver workshops and development programmes for junior management teams.

 

Effectively, by tapping into my passions I found an exit route and laid the foundation for much of what I do today.

 

So take a close look at your existing role and employer - and look to find opportunities to express your talents, to do exciting, interesting work which isn't necessarily part of the day job. 

 

3. Find something away from work to get passionate about 

 

It's not always possibe to find an activity at work which you can get passionate about. If that's the case, then find 'work' away from your paid job that enables you to come alive. 

 

Volunteer, offer your skills on a pro-bono basis, get involved with a non-profits venture that you're passionate about. Or start working on that home based business idea in the evenings / weekends or helping family/friends with their venture. Start a course based around something you love doing. Or start a blog and write about the things you're passionate about and start sharing ideas and connecting online with like minded people.

 

Do the things that make you come alive and over time, you may in fact be able to build a new income stream from these activities and ultimately transition away from your current role and career. 

 

Haven't got the time?

 

Well if it's something you're truly passionate about it should feel more like a hobby and less like 'work'. (e.g. I'm writing this article at 11pm at night - but I don't see it as 'work' so it's not really a chore).  So watch less TV, spend less time surfing the web, less time on Facebook, less time doing things that aren't important - and more time doing things you you enjoy doing simply for the love of it.

Spending your career just chasing after money, status, promotions and job titles will never make you truly happy or successful in the long run - even in the lucrative world of Private Equity Finance.

 

Of course you need to find work which brings the income and lifestyle you want. But if you compliment that with doing work which you're passionate about, whilst using your natural god-given talent - you'll be happier, healthier and more successful. And very often, just like the speakers I saw at the conference this week - you'll find that money, status and external trappings of success will follow too.

By @SitalRuparelia, Cross Posted on Sital's Blog

Career Management 101

1. Play to strengths

2. Do work that you enjoy

3. Work in an environment that suits your style and values

4. Make your work compliment your overall lifestyle

5. Do something of value instead of just chasing the money

6. Build and cultivate a strong personal brand

7. Remember that you're in the (self) marketing business every day (not just when job searching)

8. Network, Network, Network

9. Learn, Learn, Learn

10. Laugh, Smile and Occasionally cry (you're human, not a machine) 

 

What have I missed…?

By Sital Ruparelia

@SitalRuparelia

What's Your "ism"

What is an ism? Webster defines it this way: 4. a distinctive usage or feature. 5. a doctrine, theory, system, or principle.

What are some of the isms that guide your job search, your professional career, and even your personal life? A colleague and I were discussing isms this morning; she was sharing with me how her dad has all these isms and that she should be recording them for keepsake purposes. (I agree! Her father is a retired professor and management consultant and indeed, he has many wonderful isms!)

As she was sharing a few of her dad's isms, it made me think about some that my father had taught me years ago...some that have had a profound impact on my professional and personal life:

1. You make your bed, you lie in it. (I decided at an early age that I wanted to go to college and that I really didn't have much interest in being a teacher, nurse, wife, mother...um, what were the other choices for Baby Boomer 'girls' in the 70's? Which is pretty weird, because now the things I most love, cherish, and treasure: being a teacher, mother, and wife...go figure!

2. Don't lie because then you don't have to remember what you said. (My dad liked Mark Twain a lot! I really haven't tried to be a liar in my life...I can't even imagine being one as I am pretty sure I would really, really suck at it, so I'll just stick with telling the truth.)

3. Third ism...I had better not post as it contains a naughty word...as does one of hers from her dad! (Your Pop probably told you the same one somewhere along the road of life, anyway).

Isms! I love them and my three children will tell you (as will my clients) that I have quite a few of them. Maybe I should write them down...for keepsake purposes. What isms guide your job search, your career, your life?

posted by @billiesucher

Give The Employer A Reason To Buy

I have always been more than slightly intrigued by retail merchandising. How do store managers know where to put the batteries so that, even though not on my list and sometimes without much meditation, they make their way into my shopping cart? Why do I select Betty Crocker cake mix over Duncan Hines? And why, when I stop at the mall to get an inexpensive cloth jacket do I walk out with a $450 black lambskin coat with a cheetah collar and cuffs? Therein lies the secret to your getting job offers. In each case, admittedly some more practical than others, I was given a reason to buy. Kudos to the retailer! I went home from each shopping trip with my money in their cash registers! Many times I just went to the store to look around and had no intention of parting with my hard-earned dollars.   I had been given a reason to buy…….and I did!

 Being a relatively savvy consumer, I tend to over-analyze my spending habits and attempt to apply them to my job search coaching practice. After all, isn’t a candidate a prospective product for purchase? And isn’t the hiring authority likely to decide on a specific candidate if given a reason to buy? Finally, doesn’t the hiring authority have more “products” than ever from which to select?

 Yes, consistently, I compare the “whys” of my buying habits to determine why an employer selects any given candidate and I have determined two factors critical in giving the employer a reason to buy……Logic and Emotion

 Logic - Without question, employers select the candidate who is most direct in demonstrating how he/she can meet the needs and solve the problems of a company. Please understand that illustrating your knowledge of what a company specifically needs and demonstrating yourself as the ultimate solution with strong examples from your past experience is the potent secret of giving the employer a reason to buy. What school you attended, what degree you secured, where you worked and what position you held is not nearly as important. And your desire for stability and opportunity for advancement will never bring a job offer. By now it becomes obvious that you will have to conduct in-depth research before the interview date. If necessary, speak to company employees in addition to conducting historical and financial research about a company.

 Emotion – We all know that we sometimes make compulsive buying decisions. We don’t always go for the most practical or cost effective purchase. Employers, being human, will make amazing exceptions in qualifications for the endearing candidate. Believing a candidate will be popular with one’s customers and thus increase sales, or encountering a candidate that demonstrates a sincere caring for good service or the welfare of the company-at-large  (hard to find isn’t it?) is a real show-stopper! If you have a heart don’t hide it!

 Remember what a tremendous advantage you have over the merchandise I buy from the store. Consider the coat, cake mix and the batteries. They can’t persuade you to select them for entry into your shopping cart. You, however have the powers of persuasion as you present yourself before an employer...  if you chose to use them.

 

 

Job Seekers: Tell Me A Story

Last Sunday evening's broadcast of 60 Minutes (CBS television news magazine launched in 1968) was a tribute to its creator and executive producer, Donald Hewitt (1922 - 2009). It was such a wonderful tribute; I hope you saw it. In one of the many interview clips aired about Mr. Hewitt, I was struck, in particular, by these four words he shared:

Tell Me A Story

Tell me a story...four little words. Suppose you were going to be interviewed for a 60 Minutes segment (your 15 minutes of fame). For the sake of this post, let's title the piece "Jobs: A Worldwide Workforce in Waiting." So, what would you say when a 60 Minutes reporter interviewed you and invited you to "Tell Me A Story." How would your story go? What would you share that would convince your viewing audience to hire you? Something to contemplate as you ponder your own story in preparation for that next real interview where you will be the star of your own 60 Minutes broadcast...tell me a story...

S  haring your skills and successes, supported by specific examples of how you shape and strategize solutions, set standards and solve problems in a simple, straightforward style.

T  argeting the text that you teach and tell your audience about your target goals, areas of interest, and why you are the top talent to do the task.

O  ffering information and opening up about your originality, opportunities and options.

R  ecalling and remembering the reasons you rock and freely reciting your results, rewards, and realities without repeated reminders.

Y ielding a yes for You and your viewing audience!

Tell Me A Story...four power-packed words shared by a very ingenious man with a lasting legacy.

cross-posted billiesucherblog by @billiesucher

The Recovery’s Coming…Don’t Get Left Behind

Have you ever been go-carting?

Or maybe driven on a real racing track?

I’m not much of a race driver myself, but there are two rules I do remember learning when I first went go-carting:

1. As you approach a sharp bend – slow down

It’s hardly rocket science, but very true. Slow down, pay close attention to what’s happening around you and you’ll be safe and secure.

2. As you come out of the bend – step on the gas and push on quickly

If you don’t, you’ll get left behind. And once you’re chasing the leading pack, it becomes incredibly difficult to catch up without taking crazy risks.

We’re now at that same stage of the recovery cycle that resembles turning the corner on the bend of a race track. In fact, later today we’ll receive official confirmation that the UK economy has finally turned the corner and come out of recession as per the other major economies.

So if you’re running a business, now is the time to be more visible, more aggressive in marketing your offering and work harder at building your brand so as to differentiate your business.

If not, you’ll get left behind as your competitors step up a gear.

If you’re managing your career, the same rules apply.  You need to be more visible, more aggressive in marketing yourself and work harder at building your personal brand so that you can stand out from the crowd.

If not,  you’ll be left behind.

And just like that race track, once you’re left trailing your competitors, it’s so much harder to catch up. So put your foot on the gas NOW and start building some momentum before everyone else gets ahead of you.

By Sital Ruparelia

@SitalRuparelia

Job Search and You, Inc.

Your job search needs to be much more than just a fruitless exercise in submitting your resume for hundreds, if not thousands, of job postings you find online. That generates desperation and the tendency to apply to anything and everything. With the slow-torture, wait-to-get-a-response results of mass email applications online, you will begin to doubt yourself and what you have to offer.

Instead, take personal accountability for the course and speed of your job search. Understand that you are marketing yourself and your value to a potential employer as the branded entity “You, Inc.”

Marylene Delbourg-Delphis states in her article “Look at Your Company as a ‘Small Business’” at OpenForum.com, “So see yourself as who you really are: a small business ‘owner’”. While she is addressing budding entrepreneurs, her mention of the need for a “continuous sense of personal accountability” and quotes about what that means are easily transferable to job seekers:

• “Never create excuses for yourself”. For job seekers, the buck does stop with you. If you are using outmoded techniques and self-marketing documents, no one is forcing you to do that except yourself. If you have no time to network for job leads, who is in charge of your daily calendar?

•  “Don’t feel entitled to anything”. If you lack a strong network, do you expect a well-connected network to just appear automatically? It takes work to make meaningful connections. Smart job holders start building relationships before they need their next gig.

So, what are you waiting for? Shake the dust off the start-up known as “You, Inc.” This is a new year with a new beginning. Take responsibility to conduct a savvy, up-to-date job search with the same degree of personal accountability that a small business owner would have. Here are some tips to try:

1. Get clear about your personal brand, unique value proposition, goals, and the target employers and industries to pursue.
2. Establish and maintain relationships with industry insiders and company employees where you want to work to build credibility and obtain employee referrals, sage advice, and up-to-the minute information. 
3. Get creative about uncovering job leads before they are posted online as job ads for the world to see. 
4. Craft customized self-marketing documents (branded resumes, bios, cover letters, thank you letters, and online profiles for a start) that clearly and convincingly connect your value to the employer’s needs, and company culture, mission, goals, and brand.
5. Improve your written and verbal communication skills. It will serve you well in all stages of your job search, but particularly in the interview and seal-the-deal stages. Persuasive communications is an art form. Is there a good reason why YOU do not need to learn it?
6. Eliminate negative thoughts and stay away from negative people. They will only drag you down. Your positive energy is too precious to waste!
7. Be on the lookout for your next paying customer (the employer), even after you become employed. You never know when your current job may end. Shift to the new paradigm of continuous career management.

Your personal brand, along with your proven skills, strengths, aptitudes, passions and interests, values, work ethic, personal behavioral style, education and training, credentials, work experience (including volunteer work and military service), and drive are all unique to “You, Inc.”

Utilize those career and personal assets to propel your job search and differentiate you from the mass of job seekers out there. With nothing to lose and a lot to gain, why not start today?

by Susan Guarneri, Career Assessment Goddess

Cross-posted at Career Goddess Blog

Job Seekers: Meet, Click, Connect!

Earlier this month, I attended an unveiling event sponsored by our local Chamber of Commerce where members were introduced to a new technology for networking and connecting. Thanks to our Executive Director's forward-thinking style, our local Chamber became the second Chamber in the nation to introduce this concept. And further, thanks to the folks at Mingle360 for contributing the following information to this post to help job seekers learn more about this new way of connecting:

"What comes to mind when you think about job fairs? How about resumes, other job seekers, recruiters, and noisy conversations. The pace is frantic and you return home exhausted. Stacks of business cards now plague your desk. You have 50 business cards, but can't put faces to names. As a result, you can't remember the conversations and your needed follow-up. A great opportunity to interview with a company could be missed. There needs to be a better way for job seekers to connect with corporate recruiters.

When it comes to making connections, a company based in Fairfax, VA called Mingle360 is trying to solve the business card exchange challenge with the MingleStick. Job fairs can hand MingleSticks to their recruiters and job seekers, allowing everyone to meet, click, and connect.

The MingleStick is akin to an electronic business card. Two people simply press their MingleStick button and the red flashing light turns solid green to indicate a successful connection. The connections made at the event are then uploaded and viewed online after the event. View people's contact information, professional information, profile picture (facial recognition) and more."

cross-posted billiesucherblog by @billiesucher

 

  

Don’t Give Up: It’s A Hurdle, Not A Brick Wall

“Every adversity carries within it the seed of equal or greater benefit”

- Napolean Hill

In 2005, when I ran a half marathon for the first time, I tore my calf 8 weeks before the race and was advised to pull out of it. But I kept telling myself that it was a hurdle to overcome and not a brick wall. So I found an amazing physiotherapist who I visited twice a week, radically changed my diet and started visualising daily so that I was mentally prepared to complete the race.

8 weeks later I completed the London Half Marathon without injury in 2 hours 27 minutes. Not exactly an Olympic winning time, but it was (freakily) the exact time I had planned and visualised when preparing for the race. The injury, rather than stopping me running, was a catalyst to help me develop an unwavering self belief that I was going to run the race in my target time.

In 2006, when I gave my first ever interview with the media on a live BBC radio show, I had a power cut on the morning of the call. So no heating, no lights, no phone.  As I had to make a mad dash to my sister’s house to take the call I told myself “it’s a hurdle, not a brick wall.”  I did little or no preparation – but because of that, I actually came across much more relaxed and spontaneous when taking live calls from radio listeners. 3 years on, I now have a regular careers advice slot on the same radio station where I answer career related calls from listeners on air.

In 2008, when I delivered my first ever teleseminar for job searchers at the start of the recession, my laptop crashed on the morning of the call, so I lost much of my preparation. But I quickly prepared the key areas to cover and delivered a far more natural presentation.

As regular readers will know, as a hobby, I do some comedy improvisation (ie making up stories live on stage without a script), so the improvised teleclass actually gave me a buzz, whilst giving the audience a much more creative and engaging talk. I’ve since gone on to deliver the very same content in seminars, talks and the like. So the power cut actually helped me (and many others I’ve spoken to) rather than hinder me.

In 2009, I agreed to collaborate with Colin Hiles from ‘Finding Your Smile’ (a community for mid-lifers going through change) to support him with his mission to raise £550k (approx US $750k) for charity by the time he reaches his 50th birthday in 2014. The intention was for me to offer career advice and resources for Colin’s readers and workshops as they transitioned through mid-life. 

To kick off things, Colin planned to post an audio interview with me on his blog on how to reinvent your career without changing jobs or careers. But busy schedules, IT failures, diary mix-ups and illnesses conspired to create road blocks every time we arranged to speak.

But we persevered and last week finally completed the interview. At which point we laughed and reflected on the journey we’d had to record a simple 30-minute call on how to reinvent your career.

But we then reflected on how the journey we went through to record the call was similar to reinventing your career - or in fact achieving any other worthwhile goal – big or small. And how there were in fact many career lessons buried within our stumbling attempts to complete the interview:

The lessons:

1.  Expect brick walls (and then climb over them)

Whenever you attempt anything worthwhile in life, you will have brick walls and set-backs come your way. It’s life’s way of testing you. Of seeing how badly you really want to do something. So if you're hitting (what seems like) brick walls in your search for a new job or career, don’t give up. Just get climbing so that you can keep working towards your goal.

2.  Choose goals which you are passionate about

In each of the above situations, I was pursuing something I wanted to achieve with a passion. So when I faced what seemed like a brick wall, the passion gave me the fire in my belly to scale the wall and treat it as a hurdle rather than something that would defeat me.

So pursue career and lifestyle goals which you’re passionate about. That energize you. Goals which you’re totally committed to.  Because when the going gets tough (and it will), you’ll need that passion and energy to rise to the challenge.

3. Have faith

Whether you come at this from a religious, spiritual or intellectual angle comes down to personal choice.  But when you develop an unwavering faith and belief that things will work out, you often find that they do. Sometimes not always in the way you thought or intended, but in the long run you'll see that they turn out for the best. 

So the next time a brick wall comes your way, keep reminding yourself that it’s not a brick wall, but just a hurdle to overcome. If you’re pursuing a career, job or lifestyle which you’re intrinsically motivated to do, something that comes from you’re gut (and not your head), something you’re passionate about - then DON’T GIVE UP.

Be flexible, be open to different paths and routes which may open up - just don’t give up.

Just keep telling yourself “It’s just a hurdle, not a brick wall.”

By Sital Ruparelia, 

@SitalRuparelia

The Memory of Snow & Your Digital Footprint

I lead a double life: I live in Manhattan, but I try to spend at least one month a year in Northern New England. I was raised in South Carolina, but “GB” (my late grandmother) instilled a love of New Hampshire summers and a tolerance for winters. There are few things I enjoy more than a walk in the woods on a crisp day or cooking with fresh rhubarb in the summer.

I’ve been blessed to spend the last ten days working in the country, and—as always—I’ve been captivated by the memory that snow holds. For a week, there were tracks of turkey in the backyard and tracks of deer in the side yard. On Sunday night, we got enough snow to cover them up. So I shoveled a path to the front door before another three inches or so fell. And now I see the memory of a foot path that needs to be shoveled yet again.

My work with my Big Foot shovel reminds me of my professional life. For much of the last two years, I’ve been learning—and writing and speaking—about the importance of monitoring one’s online digital footprint. According to the latest stats from ExecuNet, 86% of recruiters conduct background research on candidates as part of the hiring process and—an estimated 44% have discounted potential hires based on what they found online.

The tracks you make through your online activities are similar to the ones in the snow—if you make a big imprint or leave a trace of yourself on a popular site—it’s harder to make it go away. (Picture the remains of a snowman or an ice sculpture; there’s a lump that remains sometimes even after everything else has disappeared and the grass is visible again.)

Last week, my colleague and friend Donna Sweidan (@careerfolk) came to visit for a few days and we marveled at the snow tracks and the close parallel between “digital dirt.” She shared with me five of her favorite tips for reputation clean-up which I pass on to you.

1. Establish a Google Alert on your own name. This way, you will get notified when someone else has tagged or mentioned you, and you can clean up what is found. To set-up, visit: www.google.com/alerts


2. Fix your bio—if you’ve got one already that isn’t known to you. ZoomInfo.com aggregates information found about you online and creates an online profile. Claim your profile, review it, and fix it if it is wrong.


3. Find out what people are saying. Visit www.Pipl.com and type in your own name to view search results and see how others talk about you. Find something you don’t like? If it’s a friend, acquaintance or mis-representation, e-mail the person and ask them to take it down.
   
   Share your name with someone else? Use a middle initial or your profession after your name—then use the same name on your resume, e-mail signature, and across social media platforms.


4. Develop a strong presence on LinkedIn.com and customize your own URL to add to your e-mail signature (see settings for Public Profile to create URL). LinkedIn has a high rank with search engines and will help your professional profile stay high in your list of Google search results. Bonus points: Create additional profiles on Plaxo or VisualCV.com.
   
   Feel like there’s more work to do? Comment on websites, articles, and blog postings with high traffic—and spell check your responses! A response on high traffic sites like the New York Times website or the Huffington Post can go a long way in burying other items…
   
   


5. Maintain your privacy. Sites like whois.com are searchable by the public—and can tell users a great deal about you. Want to maintain your privacy? Donna Sweidan suggests creating an e-mail account that isn’t associated with your name for personal use with private accounts.

If you’re ready to erase your footprint, or create one that is more in line with your job search and career goals, these strategies will help you get a running start towards leaving a positive trail behind you.

Thanks for the tips, Donna! Have any additional suggestions? Please share. Cross-posted at Best Fit Forward.