Career Hub

Beyond Job Loss: Go with What You've Got!

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Another wonderful by-product of being in the trenches with job seekers has to do with lifelong learning. I am constantly learning and gathering ideas from those I serve. Case in point:  yesterday. As our session got underway, my client shared with me how she had lost her job – her boss fired her on-the-spot a few days ago.  And my client’s biggest concern, beyond how to write a 2012 best practices résumé, was what to say to employers regarding her recent firing. As a part of that conversation, she exclaimed: So, Go with What You’ve Got!  Still, other clients have concerns about how to find a job when they lack specific experience or education or credentials or motivation or direction or have extended periods of unemployment. Instead of worrying and wondering and waiting to look for a job based on what you do not have in your Transition Toolbox, what about what you do have, or what you could add to it if you so choose. Here are a few homework questions for you to consider prior to carrying out a job search:

1. What are your top five portable and transferable skills?
2. What positive things will your past supervisor(s) say about you?
3. What traits and qualities do you possess that support your new target goal?
4. What do you most like about yourself and your credentials? What needs some work?
5. What distinguishes you from your competition?
6. What are five specific reasons an employer would want to hire you?
7. What talents do you have that come naturally and easily?
8. What is your level of commitment, motivation and determination with respect to finding new work?
9. What supportive, thoughtful remarks will your customers and co-workers say about you?
10. What makes you a good fit for the job you desire and what value will you deliver to an organization?

While you can spend hours and days and weeks fretting and stewing about what you don’t have to offer an employer or what’s wrong with you or what’s missing in your skillset, perhaps my client’s words of wisdom will be of value to you. Maybe there is no better time than now to Go with What You’ve Got!

"If you really do put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price." ~ Author Unknown

How a "Badge" System Could Revolutionize Your Brand and Job Search

Mozilla, the MacArthur Foundation, and HASTAC are working on a new model for standards and credentials in learning and job performance called Open Badges. Proposed digital badges allow people to know you by your achievements and contributions, not just your reputation and credentials. Badging represents an innovative alternative to traditional credentialing and takes its inspiration from open source software development.

What is unique about badging is that it gives the individual job seeker an opportunity to be promoted or hired on the basis of actual accomplishments and on-the-job work attributes. Too often people's lack of a specific kind/level of education, training, or traditional work history get in the way of their getting hired. Promotion and hiring are usually based on whether an individual meets a specific standard profile desirable for a specific position. Badging allows for an end run around all that.

Here's an example from Cathy Davidson on HASTAC: "If I’m engaged in a project with someone who does an exemplary job, I can award credit whether that person happens to have a Ph.D. from MIT or be a brilliant sixteen-year old programmer in Gary, Indiana—or Nairobi." You can see that badging could be a major leveler across populations at home and across the globe.

Another key feature of badging as proposed is that it allows teams to recognize social, collaborative and other "soft" skills that may be critical to the success of a project but often discounted from hiring decisions.

The grassroots nature of the proposed model would enable a mutiplicity of badges from many different organizations, whether they be professional, industry, nonprofit or corporate. Sounds chaotic, but badging is an innovation that breaks down traditional barriers and encourages individual initiative. Rather than having your employment fate hanging on traditional resumes, education, work history etc., you can activily earn recognition that explicitly confirms the contributions you have made. Open source programming has models for ways to prevent cheating and gaming the system.

This is a bottom-up rather than a top-down initiative, with elements of Facebook, crowdsourcing, Twitter, citizen journalism, YouTube, Amazon product reviews etc.

What would a badge system mean for your career brand and your job search? I think it would provide stronger evidentiary support for your brand. It would provide more validation for talented people with portfolio careers or non-linear career paths in job search. It would give weight to non-traditional learning and experiential learning.

Badging, as an alternative form of credentials and standards, is a good match for millenials, in particular, who are already viewing their careers in a more flexible light. Millenials view work more creatively - not the traditional "climbing the ladder" - but moving around to different jobs following interests, making lateral moves, interrupting their work with volunteer or entrepreneurial stints, mastering new skills or content informally.

Keep your eyes and ears open for this revolution in assessing mastery. It just may open up job and career opportunities you had assumed were closed to you. What do you think of the idea of badging? Do you think it could work?

Cross-posted at http://www.aResumeForToday.com/high-tech-resumes

Cowboy Up Over Job Loss?

Today my client and I were talking about getting thrown off a horse. Has that ever happened to you? What did you do…never ride a horse again or did you dust off, hop back on and go giddyup on down the road? This conversation came up today as my client was talking about some of his colleagues losing their jobs.

Job loss.

Job loss is tough.

Job loss hurts. It is painful.

You get thrown off your game.

You hadn’t counted on it.

You hadn’t planned for it.

And you hadn’t saved for it.

You thought you would escape the next round of cuts in your department.

Instead, you find yourself packing up memorabilia and memories of a few months or of many years.

In your heart, you never really thought job loss would happen to you.

And today, you found out differently when you were informed “We need to talk.”

Maybe you have lost a job. Maybe you have been thrown off a horse. Maybe you have learned the hard way the value of dusting off, hopping back on and going giddyup on down the road.

And while you may not know with certainty where you are going, you just know for sure that you are going on to whatever’s next.

So go ahead – cowboy up and ride like you’ve never been thrown.

~ If you don’t make dust, you eat it. ~

CEO Survival Guide to Getting Hired

Often C-level executives are so accustomed to being on the “hiring” side of the table, that their perspectives are skewed when they are sitting in the job seeker’s seat.  The following eight points are very important to most recruiters and hiring managers.  These points are broken down into three parts – the critical issues, relative questions and what the answers verify. A candidate’s answers are weighted in each section and, based on final score, could move you forward in the interviewing process or not. 

Leadership of Teams

• Describe the size and scope of teams you managed and how these related to the organizational chart.
• Give me a concrete example when you led teams to achieve difficult tasks.

Verifies candidate’s team leadership abilities, track record of leading cross-functional teams, and ability to build and motivate others within an organization.

Similar Success

• Please share a significant achievement that you had during your last position (they will probe for specific details: dates, people involved, issues, steps taken and results).
• Tell me specific examples of your performance vs. expectations.

Verifies track record of meeting and exceeding similar expectations, examples and details that will be checked with reference’s responses, and supports documentation of performance provided in resume or other candidate documents.

Adaptability

• What were the major obstacles you have encountered in past positions?
• What resources were available to help you and others adapt to challenging issues and circumstances?

Verifies ability to adapt to new situations, and clarifies key differences from prior environments and cultures. Also verifies if candidate is able to assist others with change.

Flawless Execution

• Describe in detail how you were able to achieve success and meet expectations for a past position.
• Provide solid examples of the execution on difficult projects.

Verifies whether candidate consistently met or exceeded execution expectations, as well as ability to learn, adjust and compensate to consistently deliver flawless performance.

High Initiative & Self-Motivation

• Provide an example of how you took initiative to produce results.
• Did you proactively meet or exceed the needs of the job?

Verifies initiative and whether self-motivation is strong enough to meet needs and if the candidate went beyond the call of duty.

Personality & Style

• Whom did you interact with on a regular basis?
• Were you well-liked by team and other employees?
• Did you develop strong relationships with others?

Verifies scope of influence within organization, including management, how well candidate got along with others, and communication style and rapport within organization.

Cultural & Team Fit

• Please describe the company culture and environment at last position.
• Abilities to work in fast-paced, entrepreneurial, corporate, or laid-back environments.

Verifies comparison of previous company cultures and assesses appropriateness of fit with prospective employer.

Work History & Education

• Tell me about your background, positions and reporting relationships.
• What are the highlights from prior employment?

Verifies background and years of past experience as it relates to the open position, as well as levels of responsibilities and future promote-ability.

 

When recruiters and hiring managers check references these questions are often asked of the people on your reference list. Not only do you need to be prepared to address these major points and questions, but you need to make sure the people on your reference list are aware of what they may be asked to verify on your behalf.  

What You Need to Know Now If Headed Back to School

Today I'm going to pull back the curtain and talk about something we rarely discuss on Career Hub: Online degree programs and web marketing.

At Career Hub, we regularly receive inquiries from online degree programs and the companies that advertise them -- offering to provide us with content we can publish to on the site in exchange for links. These links are often very lucrative for the companies, as schools pay a fair amount of money for click-throughs and applications.

We don't often publish content underwritten by online degree marketing because -- as the infographic below shows -- many online degree programs are not given full recognition by employers or hiring organizations because the programs themselves are not accredited by the governing bodies and accreditation agencies that they should be. This can cause problems for students long after they've finished an academic program -- and may do more harm than good.

If you are considering going online to further your education, you should research and understand -- how and if -- the programs that you are applying to are accredited. This can be tricky: If your program is not accredited by a widely accepted accreditation agency for your field or region of the country where you studied, you could have a hard time gaining credit for your training by both schools and employers. 

Here is an overview of what accreditation does -- and how it works from the U.S. Department of Education website:

The goal of accreditation is to ensure that education provided by institutions of higher education meets acceptable levels of quality. Accreditation in the United States involves non-governmental entities as well as governmental agencies.

Accrediting agencies, which are private educational associations of regional or national scope, develop evaluation criteria and conduct peer evaluations to assess whether or not those criteria are met. Institutions and/or programs that request an agency's evaluation and that meet an agency's criteria are then "accredited" by that agency.

The U.S. Department of Education does not accredit educational institutions and/or programs. However, the Secretary of Education is required by law to publish a list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies that the Secretary determines to be reliable authorities as to the quality of education or training provided by the institutions of higher education and the higher education programs they accredit. 

Want to know whether a program you're applying to is accredited? Check out this

 Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions you can search to learn about accreditation by school and degree program. It's important to search this database whether you plan to study online or at a school site. You should also ask to speak to successful graduates of any school/program that you are applying for -- find out what the outcomes look like, and how hard it was to find a job after you receive the education.

Want to know why it matters?

Check out this infographic which provides a partial overview of problems -- and the size of the problem. (Hat Tip to Peter Kim of Accredited Online Colleges for providing us with this chart -- but we recommend you do homework on programs listed on their site, too.)

 

Created by: Accredited Online Colleges

The Start-up of YOU: Manage Your Career like a Start-up Business

Reid Hoffman, cofounder and chairman of LinkedIn and Ben Casnocha just published a book entitled “The Start-up of YOU: adapt to the future, invest in yourself and transform your career.” This book is about accelerating your career in today’s competitive world. In this blog I am sharing the book’s key points that will benefit executives.

The key is to manage your career like a start-up business. Invest in yourself, build professional networks, take intelligent risks, and make uncertainty and volatility work to your advantage. What a concept!

Excerpt from Chapter 2: Develop a Competitive Advantage

“In a world where a million people can do your job, chart a career path that sets you apart from other professionals. You don’t need to be better than all professionals. You just need to be better in a local, professional niche.”

Three dynamic pieces help you position yourself in the market:

1.  Assets: What you have going for you now.  Your soft assets (like knowledge, skills, connections) and hard assets (like cash in the bank).

2.    Aspirations and Values: Where you might like to go in the future. 

3.    Market Realities: What people will actually pay you for. “

As a career coach and job search strategist, these points are exactly what executives need to create the right job search mindset and marketing message. An overview of the book includes:

Tips to survive and thrive:

• Develop a competitive advantage to win the best jobs and opportunities 

• Adapt your career plans as you change, the people around you change, and industries change

• Strengthen your professional network by building powerful alliances and maintaining a diverse mix of relationships

• Find the unique breakout opportunities that massively accelerate career growth

• Take proactive risks to become more resilient to industry tsunamis

• Tap your network for information and intelligence that help you make smarter decisions

 

Each chapter of this book is filled with thought-provoking, innovative and common sense content that motivates and inspires the reader. There are step-by-step techniques to encourage actions that will generate results. And a bonus - the authors also list recommendations to other books and reading that align with the concepts in the book and continue learning.

I am writing about this book because I feel that “The Start-Up of YOU” is worth mentioning; the content certainly has value to any executive and particularly to those in job transition. 

Tell Me A Story: Job Interviewing

"To be a person is to have a story to tell." — Isak Dinesen

The next time you go to a job interview, consider telling a story, the kind where you…

Stand out by sharing something about yourself that the hiring manager or recruiter hasn’t heard before. Show your passion. Shine.

Teach your listener something interesting about yourself and why you aren’t the average, usual, same old same old, run of the mill candidate.  And as you do, do your best to focus on brevity, keeping a “think tweet” perspective in mind. Be it talking or tweeting, consider that less is more – 140 characters with spaces – to convey the essence of your message.

Own it as an original, one-of-a-kind job seeker.

Readily engage decision-makers with relevant, credible evidence to convince them you are the best fit, best pick and best candidate for their particular opportunity.

You -- keep at it until someone, somewhere, somehow, sometime offers y-o-u the job!

“Stories are the single most powerful weapon in a leader’s arsenal.” — Howard Gardner, Harvard University

How To Get a Near Six-Figure Job When You Are Unemployed

I love this business of career management, and I especially love it when I hear of client’s success in landing the job of their dreams. Take, for instance, the phone call I received last evening from my client who had just signed the offer of acceptance for her new job! “Happiness is” concluded my tweet!

How did this one unemployed Baby Boomer snag the job? Five simple things that start with “P” – that’s how she outdid, outperformed and outshined 500 other candidates for that job of her dreams.

Preparation – I would estimate that she spent close to 80 hours preparing for this one single job opportunity. That number may be on the low side as the homework and research she did on her own time became very apparent in our coaching sessions together.

Practice – We practiced talking about her product and its value – incessantly and relentlessly.

Perseverance – Our sessions have spanned the course of several months. She invested in her brand – time, money, and an unwavering commitment to her product’s launch and success!

PowerPoint Presentation – Hours were spent crafting, tweaking and perfecting a PowerPoint presentation. The prospective employer  did not ask for a PowerPoint, though I encouraged my client to prepare one. The value of so doing is that she became extraordinarily familiar with her brand prior to “going to market.” She did not waste the employer’s time trying to conjure up answers – she knew with confidence what she wanted to say.

Passion – My client is built of passion and love for her profession. You can hear it, see it and feel it in her every action and word.

The Hiring Manager agreed.

My client’s preparation, practice, perseverance, PowerPoint and passion paid off.

Big time!

The secret meanings of buzzwords in job ads

For decades we have been aware of the term “buzzwords” and how important they are in job search.  Do you know what the “buzzwords” are really communicating in job advertisements? Are you reading between the lines or missing significant clues? To be fair, not all employers are up-to-date in verbiage or techniques to effectively advertise positions. Some tend to fall back on the same old language used decades ago.  The significant thing to note is that the intention of these words has changed over the years. And, many employers are using all the latest languaging techniques to attract the best candidates to their organizations. Being able to decode a job advertisement today is crucial for executives. Here is an example of some common words that show up in advertisements and what they are really saying:

Detail-oriented – we are control freaks – your every move will be closely monitored.

Team player – take one for the team – work on whatever the boss demands.

Fast-paced work environment – you are going to work more hours than we will pay you.

Multitask – we may change your job description without telling you, and you will need to quickly prioritize initiatives and figure out which task is most important without reducing performance. 

Self-starter – given no direction, pull direction of work out of thin air.

Results-oriented or self-motivated – must have incredible drive (motivated to work hard to make commission).

Early-stage or venture-backed – not much funding, you may not get paid what you are worth, but hang on for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Entrepreneurial spirit – willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done, even down to menial tasks.

“Out-of-the-box” thinker – chart your own course, we haven’t figured it out yet.

These words have been around so long, that I don’t think they will go away soon. In fact, when I was a  child I thought my grandfather was referring to buzzards when he was talking about buzzwords, and I wondered what they looked like. Well, now you have a clear picture of some of the more popular ones, and hopefully this will help you navigate through the job ads.

Humor aside, these words and phrases appear quite often in job advertisements even for executives. Taking them seriously and contemplating the hidden meaning could help you when considering a position. 

 

What The Voice Can Teach You About Job Interviewing

Are you watching The Voice? I love this show – not only do I enjoy watching the contestants, I really like the constructive feedback from Adam, Blake, Cee Lo and Christina. If by chance you are interviewing for a job, perhaps you will consider clearing your calendar on a few Monday evenings to tune in to this two-hour program. As silly as it may sound, I would even encourage you to take notes. Shown below are a few feedback examples from last night’s performances:

More emotion.

More heart.

More story.

Hungry for it.

Soul.

Flattery will get you everywhere.

Don’t be too crazy.

Do not seem intimidated.

Love your style.

Love your energy.

Come out swingin’.

Be present.

Be here.

Focus on your own uniqueness without being in contrast to someone else.

Know your strengths and use them.

Will your next job interview warrant a four-chair turnaround?

Check out next week’s show – who knows, that little tip of free advice may be the very one to win you your dream job!