Chances are, you are about to join or have joined a company where the stated strategy is basically to, somehow, with meetings (typically), strategy sessions (usually) and goals-missions-targets (daily) is to get you and the other members of your team to perform better and in alignment with what the company needs to get done.
Some people do better in this environment than others. They are perfectly willing to belong to a group, especially one that can achieve more than they could have achieved alone. Sport teams are like this, each team member has his or her role, and they know that if everyone does their job, all win. Think about the baseball team–one missing fielder can spell trouble if that is where the other team hits the ball.
Companies are like that, traditionally. The trick in management has always been to somehow meld individuals into a fine, functioning team. Some management (s) are better at this than others, of course. The successful ones use a variety of methods and techniques, motivation and training to get this group, er, team, to perform better.
Here is the interesting part, at least to me. Too many team members look to management, ie. the team leader/coach/boss, to make the team work. These team members say, in effect: It is ‘their’ job to train me, motivate me, teach me, explain things to me, manage me if ‘they’ want me to do THIS for ‘them.’
Luckily, at my current company, most of the team members are taking personal responsiblity for their skills development. They understand that skill development is the ticket to a successful worklife. Instead of sitting around and waiting for someone to give them the magic secret to success, they are working on it every day.
I hope they know they are actually in charge of this.
What Would Dad Say: You Are the Boss of You
Fantasy Job Search
Welcome to fantasy job search?
In Career Brander’s version of fantasy job search…
You choose your next job.
For that matter, you choose your next company, you choose your next boss and to some degree you choose your next salary.
Impossible?
If you’ve spent the last few months monitoring job boards hoping that the “perfect” posting appears and you are still looking, please consider joining Career Brander’s fantasy job search league.
The league is free and here is how you play.
- Select a dozen companies you want to work for within 20 miles of your home. (Research)
- Go on LinkedIn, identify the most senior people in the department you wish to work at each company. (Best fit-targets)
- Now, still on LinkedIn, identify any 1st degree, 2nd degree and 3rd degree connections you have at each company. (Social Media connections visibility)
- Build a basic map to connect your 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree connections to the senior hiring managers. (Social Media connections visibility)
- Start emailing and calling your connections to identify a way to get a warm introduction meeting with the potential hiring managers. Obviously 1st and 2nd degree connections work best, but with work an individual should be able to turn 3rd degree connections into 2nd degree, and 2nd degree into first degree connections. (You need to invest time and sell/market yourself.)
- Leverage company information, which is readily available on the Internet, to create customized marketing messages. (Business Intelligence)
- Make sure your “marketing message” clearly describes the business problem you can solve for the potential hiring manager. (What value can you bring, not what have you done.)
So why do we believe this will work? The answer is two- fold.
1) We are confident that waiting for the perfect opportunity to appear on a job board or from a job site search engine is a fool’s game.
2) Effective job search has always been about networking and all we are suggesting is to find a way to get in front of “the right people at the right companies”. By leveraging relationships that already exist (Without LinkedIn you may not be fully aware of them) you will accelerate the likelihood of a successful job search campaign.
Phrased differently, look for people and relationships to people as opposed to simply looking for jobs. We are confident this career transition strategy will have better results than mining the Internet for job postings!
Career Branders’ Job Search Radar automates much of the “fantasy job search process”.
Job Search Marketing Toolkit - References
“It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it” - Benjamin Franklin
Okay, so you've done all of the hard stuff. You updated your resume, applied to countless jobs, went on almost countless interviews and now it's paid off - you have a job offer pending references. Hopefully you've planned in advance and already have your references lined up, but if you don't it's not too late to start now.
There are a few things you need to consider when lining up your references, such as:
- Do you know if they will give you a good reference?
- Do you have 3-4 people who will do this for you?
- Do you have all of their information (phone number, email address, etc.)?
- Did you ask them if they will provide a reference?
- Resume References - Okay, for one, you need to have a line on your resume that says "references will be provided upon request" (or some nifty sentence like that). This article, by lovetoknow.com, provides background on references, why it's important, who to list, what information to include and more. On the left hand side of the screen are links to additional articles which will help you with your job search.
- Free Sample Job Reference Lists for Job-Seekers - Free samples always sounds like a good deal. This link, from Quintcareers.com, provides information on how best to leverage your references, keys to choosing the best references followed by several samples. The samples (both in pdf and html formats) provide examples of how your references should look.
- The 4 Biggest Myths About Job References - US News & World Report provides this article, which helps dispel some myths about references. A very interesting article, and there are additional links to related information (not the double-underlined ones). So what are some of the myths? Some of the myths are - they will only contact the names you give them, your former employers won't give a bad reference and there are a few more.
- Google Yourself – Every man’s reference check - What about checking on yourself? Do you know what stuff might be out there on the World Wide Web? You may think you are clean, but you just never know. This article, by Sam Headhunting, tells you several things you should know (and do) like be aware of your online image, how to Google yourself and more. There are a few additional links which provide more information on the topic.
- Background Check Yourself? - Sounds like a good idea. The purpose, of course, is to make sure you find out any negative information about yourself first. This particular article is for multiple purposes (like checking your credit), but employers are also on the list. This is likely to cost you something, as I don't think there are any "free" background check services. So I would save this option for those who are worried something might come up.
- Employment Background Checks: A Jobseeker's Guide - This article, by privacyrights.org, is a guide that is specifically written for the job seeker. There are 10 topics covered (such as what is included in a background check, how to prepare for a background check and more). This is a very comprehensive article and includes just about everything you can think of. Again, not sure I would spend too much time on this topic (other than learning the "what's" and "why's") unless you are concerned there is erroneous (or damaging) information about you.
Visit my site www.CareerAlley.com
Search engines can help restart your career
A typical job hunt can last 15 to 19 weeks, and it seems that many have been struggling with a search longer than that. Only the staunchest optimist will understand that each "no" you endure in the form of a lack of jobs matching your qualifications or desires, an unanswered application, no invitation for a second interview, or a rejection letter, is getting you closer to the "yes" you want to hear.
Posted by David Perry aka The Rogue Recruiter on Friday, April 09, 2010 at 22:46 | Permalink
Rebuilding Your Network
People have a bad habit of letting their networks go stale when they land new positions. They’ll certainly stay in touch during the job search; after all, networking is a great way of finding new opportunities. But once they’re back on the job, they drop the active networking that helped them land it in the first place.
LinkedIn, Facebook and other business networks offer some ongoing connection, but they don’t provide personal touch and top-of-mind awareness of an active “career tribe.” That’s why I coach all clients in transition not only to build an effective tribe but to manage it actively — because you never know when the next shoe will drop or the next opportunity will arise.
In the current recession, your network may have gone cold on its own. With more of your colleagues unemployed and fewer able to help their networks advance, many people stopped trying to network and lost touch. As the economy rebounds, job seekers will have to rekindle those relationships, too.
Job seekers often tell me they feel awkward reconnecting with former colleagues, coworkers and mentors they haven’t contacted since their last job hunt. Of course, I can slap them on the hands and say, “Naughty, naughty. You didn’t keep yourself connected the way you should have!” … but that doesn’t solve their dilemma. Therefore, let’s snuff out guilt — which, if kept alive, will ruin any efforts to reconnect anyway.
Here are a few effective ways to re-ignite a group of friends and business relationships.
Admit you lost touch: It’s weirder not to acknowledge the rhinoceros head in the room than to acknowledge it — so don’t gloss over the fact that you haven’t reached out in ages. Chances are, the person on the other end of the line is just like you; most people don’t keep their career tribes active and vibrant. Therefore, begin by stating the obvious … but in an Everyman kind of way:
“Gosh, it’s been ages. I don’t know if you’re like me, but I get so busy with all that’s going on with work and family that staying in touch with people that matter to me takes a back burner. It’s not right, and I intend to correct that moving forward because, as we both know, relationships are everything.”
Don’t make it all about YOU: Yes, you are connecting with your contact now because you’re looking for clients or a job. However, the worst thing you can do is immediately jump into what you want or need from him. Instead, you need to rebuild the relationship by demonstrating interest in him.
“So, is now a good time to talk, or could we grab a coffee? How are you? What’s been going on in your world? How are the kids/husband/pets/projects?” Draw on your knowledge of your contact to get him talking about himself and what he’s up to. Getting your contact to tell you stories about his life, career and exploits builds “relationship equity.”
Have a research project: At some point, the point of your call will come up naturally. I would offer it up before you’re asked. But my No. One rule in career transition is, “The best way to get a job is not to look for one!”
Sounds ironic, but you’ll always get further meeting more people faster when you connect based on reasons other than your need for a job. So create something worthwhile that your contact on which your contact could advise you other than your resume or job search. Are there new developments at the cutting edge of your industry about which she may have thoughts? Which players in your field do you want information about? Your inquiry doesn’t need to be formal; nevertheless, it does need to feel like you’re researching a topic, not prospecting for jobs.
I recently helped a social-network newbie set up her first profile up on LinkedIn, which created a built-in opportunity to network in the name of research. The woman used her status as a LinkedIn newbie to reconnect with her contacts and ask them how they used the service. Once in touch and talking, she parlayed the connection into some greater research projects in her industry. For her, networking was the research project.
Wait to be asked: People aren’t stupid. You need never flat out say to them, “I’m looking for a job.” If you have a solid reason to call for their opinions and advice, you’re building relationship equity. After all, everyone wants to feel like the “expert,” and people love to give advice. If you’ve handled the first three steps gracefully, the person on the other end will probably ask, “So, are you in the market?” That’s what you want: them asking you. This gives you the opening you need to reply, “Oh, well, yes, one reason I have the space to reconnect with helpful folks like you is because I was recently downsized. … But I want to make a smart move this time, which is why I’m focused on researching these issues. Of course, if you know others you think I should speak to, I’d be grateful if you can direct me to them.” This more subtle approach will generally net you a more open and willing connection than if you tried to say hello after five years and immediately asked for job-search help. Re-establishing relationships based on warmth and mutual interest is far more comfortable and effective than requesting job leads. The power of relationships can truly amaze you if you use them wisely. And their benefit is never one sided. The advice, input and connections your contacts offer you today will always benefit them eventually. The universe reciprocates … but you gotta get out there and make your contributions. Taking the first step to reconnect is a big contribution.
DARRELL W. GURNEY, executive/career coach and 15-year recruiting veteran, supports folks to make profitable transitions or create thriving businesses. Author of “Headhunters Revealed!” and a personal- and business- brand strategist, his Backdoor Method for networking has helped individuals expand careers and new client circles. Listen to his interview of best-selling “What Color is Your Parachute?” author Richard Nelson Bolles at www.CareerGuy.com/program
In Transition? Can I find you on LinkedIn?
I’m looking for some people with sales experience to sell some of my stuff to organizations (I have some B2B products).
This is commission only (I know, I know, but it’s a healthy commission and should be an easy sale) and I want to find the right people who aren’t afraid to pick up the phone.
I think my B2B products (specifically, a new one that is rolling out in the next 45 days) is really, really cool. I’ve talked to dozens of prospects and they are all, without exception, excited about the offering.
They also think the pricing is reasonable.
I think it will be a relatively easy sale. And the right people on board will help me take it to the level it should be at.
Today I went to LinkedIn and typed searched for “commission sales” and “outbound sales” and got some interesting profiles… but there was one simple change I made that took me to the people I want to talk to… look at this:
I want to talk to people who I don’t have to pry away from a current job… and there are plenty out there… just putting seeking OR looking in this field, and changing the drop down to just CURRENT, got me to a list of people I want to talk to.
In this situation this will help these people have meaningful discussions… is YOUR profile optimized so that people can find you?
Declare Inbox Bankruptcy When Necessary, Save Yourself a Lot of Stress [Clutter]
Whether you're declaring email bankruptcy or laundry bankruptcy, sometimes the only way to climb out from under the pile of real or virtual clutter is to start from scratch. Our advice: Don't be afraid to declare bankruptcy as often as you need.
Something devious goes on in our brains that makes it difficult to give up on a big pile of emails, for example, and just start over with a clean slate. It feels like you're admitting failure, and that never feels good. The problem is that that pile of stuff has been accumulating for a while, and the longer you let it go, the more insurmountable it gets. The pile keeps growing, and as it does, you're less and less likely to address it head on. The quick (and sometimes best) solution:
Declare bankruptcy. In your email account, that means archiving all those emails you're meaning to reply to but just haven't gotten around to. If you need to send out an email to your contacts letting them know you've declared email bankruptcy, so be it. Bcc a big list of people you were never going to get back to in the first place and let them know you're starting over; it's better than they were going to get from you otherwise.
In other areas, declaring bankruptcy can simply mean wiping your slate clean of all those things you've been meaning to get to but just haven't done. Remember, as soon as your good intentions start spilling over into stressful-pile-of-terror-I-can't-confront territory, your doing yourself harm—along with your ability to get things done.
So as we begin to wind down our Spring Cleaning week, we're curious: Where could you benefit from declaring a little bankruptcy? Let's hear it in the comments. Photo by showmeone.
Send an email to Adam Pash, the author of this post, at tips+adam@lifehacker.com.
