Accelerate Your Search™ Now

Volcanic eruptions are not everyday career bumps.  Would you be ready if you woke up one day to learn that a long dormant volcano in Iceland has erupted and you job was gone?  Would it feel like the end of the world?  There was a time in my life and career, that I thought so.  Today, I know better. 

An unexpected career bump can cause as much of an economic crisis to you, your family, your plans, goals, and retirement, as the grounding of flights has to the British and European economy.  The experts estimated the grounding of flights would be £520 million ($800 million) impact to the airline industry alone by April 18.   In our global economy, this event has impacted air travel, the Boston Marathon, the price of flowers and vegetables and much more.   Was this a totally unexpected event?    

It is my view the signs were there that something was up with the volcano.  Day to day most of the world does not have what is up with a volcano in Iceland on the radar screen.  However, both recent events and the fact that Iceland is known for its glaciers and volcanic landscape provide information that this was not a totally unexpected event.  

Could this volcano continue sending ash into the air for 14 or more months or longer?  It happened before.  Like geophysicists who monitor what’s up with the Earth; top talent monitors what’s up in their business, operation and career, and they understand what the impact could be if an event caused a 14-month change to their revenue stream, aka their paycheck.

Knowing what is going on, requires an awareness and willingness to see the signs that tell you things are up in business that can impact you and your job.   For most, focus on career comes after all the other stuff is done.  What would happen to your career if it was derailed for 14 months? 

As with the volcano eruption, if you ignore or unaware of the signs around you; you get surprised!  Being aware and having a plan can help you avoid or lessen the impact of a sudden event that could derail or destroy your career. 

You can leverage your talent and be ready.  What if you walk in one day and receive a pink slip due to a 5% reduction of the workforce?  What if your job is changed to a new title or function that required you to do something that you don’t want to do for the next five, or more years even for the same money and the same earnings potential you have now?

Your career need not die, or change in a direction you will be unhappy with.  Nor should your bank account be destroyed by a business change, new boss, or some other event on the scale of volcanic eruption.     

Nature and business can be unpredictable.  Predicting volcanic eruption is not my area of expertise, career management is, and working with top talent to manage the career they want is not hard.  The tools are not complex nor are you dealing with factors as unpredictable as figuring out if a volcano will ground planes and changes lives forever. 

Top talent does not overlook, fail to monitor and study trends, or “see” what changes are in the environment.  Top talent does possible scenario planning. 

Scientists strive to understand what does and could happen when the Earth’s plates move.  Do you do this for your career?

For so many people, what’s up in the business, industry and the impact on their job is out of sight and out of mind.  They are clueless as to the signs of what is going on around them.  Even for top talent, it is easy to put your head down, go to work, focus on the day to day operation and never look up. 

The impact of “head down, tail up” working and never looking at the “radar screen” all too often results in being surprised by an unexpected event.  It also results in the misdirected view that your career path and your earnings are unpredictable and out of your ability to influence. 

What can you do to avoid this?  Understand your business, industry, and your job. Have an ongoing plan to accelerate your career and continually move it forward. 

Do these  five basics 1) stay aware of changing trends, 2) maintain contact with your network, 3) make your goals known, 4) have a plan to achieve your goals, and 5) update your résumé every 90 days. 

Simply executing on these basics will blunt the impact of an unseen or unpredictable event that might happen.   Top talent does not get caught “flat footed” time and time again.

What’s going on around you?  Have you allowed your busy life to take the place of staying focused on your career goals? 

Top talent does not stay on top by becoming overly focused on the day to day operations, and short term goals at the expense of long term goals, and the bigger view.  You know it is easy to waste time on meaningless stuff and stop doing the basics. 

Fix it now, before the eruption. Have a plan, execution the basics of the plan, review your progress, and as needed update to the plan.

What are you doing to accelerate your search or your career?  What will you do this week to lessen the impact to your career when a volcano does erupt?

Last April, Pete Johnson, posted a question on Linked IN and in his blog, “You want in? Career advice in 6 words”, asking others to share career advice in EXACTLY 6 words.  Many shared advice in just six words.

Today is April 6, and I thought it would be a great idea to ask you the same question Pete Johnson asked about a year ago.  Why?  First, it is a great question, worth asking again, and second, I wonder if the advice is different a year later.

Yes, a year can make a difference.  The job numbers look better.  Spring seems to have arrived a little early, at least in the New England.  Oh, yes and opening day for the Boston Red Sox was “Opening Night”.  Some things change, some do not.  Has your career advice changed?  What advice did you take to heart?

My career advice in EXACTLY 6 words is the same and has been for years.

Do what you enjoy, money follows.

What career advice can you offer in exactly 6 words?

Is your advice different than it was a year ago?

“Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.” ~ James Allen

This James Allen quote reminds me that my success begins with my thoughts and is nurtured by my thoughts and my vision.   My vision inspires, my thoughts provide direction, my goals act as a roadmap, and daily execution builds exceptional results and delightful conditions.

Having just returned from a wonderful trip that provided my husband, me, and an enthusiastic group of top performers with an opportunity to celebrate a terrific 2009, the most delightful part of the trip was the reminder of the power of a shared vision.  As the trip ended the eagerness and expectation of something just as wonderful for 2010 was clearly expressed.

What is your vision?

How do you cherish your vision?

What action items will you do this week to support your vision?

“Our words reveal our thoughts; our manners mirror our self-esteem; our actions reflect our character; our habits predict the future.”   ~  William Arthur Ward

This week I encountered one of those people who was so angry and so frustrated, he just had to tell everyone within earshot how he has been wronged due to his age.   The clash was over the top when this angry man shouted at two “millennials” about everything from their education, dress, type of cell phone, and ideas on what would be a dream job.

Just as I was stepping forward to ensure there was not an atomic blast, one of the young ladies this man was targeting with his angry spoke up.  Her words spoken with a slight quaver in her voice turned more than a few heads.  She shared that she thought ‘AGE’ was just an excuse.  Then she shared how that excuse had helped her justify for 18 months, what she wanted to do or say without looking at the impact or the result.

She disclosed how she figured out something very important – to get interviews she had to play up her unique attributes and connect those to the employer needs and follow that by downplaying her unique attributes, including her preferred manner of dress that clashed with employer wants and/or needs or she was going to remain without a job and become homeless.

Her message was that when she stopped blaming AGE and started to think of ways to leverage her differences to provide mutual benefit and stopped her personal “WAR” with older candidates, employer systems and the authority of hiring managers she began to get interviews.

Are you waging a war?

Is AGE a blind spot in your job search?

Are you a highly qualified candidate, struggling to prove your value to companies?

Would you benefit from leveraging your value, attributes and differences?

Are your perceptions and expectations about AGE helping you connect with employers or encouraging them to call ‘security’?

What perceptions should you examine this week?

What is your policy?

Most of you know my background is in Business Operations/Management and Human Resources and the systems and discipline learned over the years have served me and those I serve well.  One of those disciplines is to regularly review practices and policies to determine if they need updating and when there is a policy or acceptable pattern of behavior that needs updating to update it.  Times change and you must to this or your practices and policies get outdated.

Okay, before you say WHAT? – “I’m looking for my next gig and will worry about policy stuff when I land.”   Not looking at what you do and how you handle business and your search day in and day can be costly.  Your personal policies and practices drive your results and help you be effective.  Stop, think, and review at least one area a week, if you at not getting the results you want.  This week look at social media.  Think about and review what you doing.  Doing so should help you be more effective.

Social media is changing.  This week I am looking at my practices for LinkedIn and Twitter.  I would encourage you to do the same.  Here are some questions to help you.

Do you have a policy or a practice?

Do your practices (or habits) help ensure you are effective and use your social media time wisely?

How much time do you spent connecting via social media?

Is the time productive and focused?

What are your goals for using each type of social media?

Can you quickly explain how you use social media?

How is social media helping you reach the goals you set for your search?

Can you measure the results?

Now use your answers to review what you do, your habits and what, if anything you should change.

Not being a social media expert, I depend on experts to help me understand, learn and be effective with all the tools and systems I use.  Nancy Marmolejo is one of the experts I trust to help me with social media.  On January 11, Nancy posted a great tip where she talk about the “spin cycle” and shared great information.  Her tips are geared to business owners, but they also apply to job seekers.  After all you are the owner and marketer of your talent, skills and experience.  Read Social Media Tip: Go Micro, worth reading.

If you review your practices and need some help to refine how you use social media to accelerate your job search, do two things.  1) Leave a comment below about what you are doing that works and what you need help with or have questions about, and 2) contact me directly if you need help.

“Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.” – Ghandi

The job search can be the toughest job you will ever have, sometimes despite “Positive Thinking”, great marketing, resolve, determination, focus on your goals and vision, doubts jump into your thoughts. Go ahead, admit it.

Pause and think about how you FEEL about building and connecting with your network and how you ACT and interact with your network. It does dictate how your network grows and how fast your search moves forward.

Sometimes when you reach for the phone or start to type an email, that inner voice or doubt begins to chatter. “Why, would this person be interested in hearing from me, we’ve not talked in 8 years” or “what will this person think of me, I am unemployed and begging for help” or “this person doesn’t like me” or “this person doesn’t know me” or “this person wants the job I want or is my competition” or “my dream is gone, I am so unhappy, why am I doing this”.

We all have inner doubt at one time or another. The way we feel directly impacts the actions we take, especially in marketing ourselves, our value, and what we can do and with whom we are willing to share information. How we feel directs the action we take. Also how the person you contact is feeling directly impacts their actions.

What we choose to do (or not to do) will determine the opportunities we have and find. Our actions directly impact the results we achieve, our income and our success. The choice of what we do will also impact how we FEEL and ACT this afternoon and tomorrow.

In times of doubt, how we feel and act may not be moving us in the direction needed to change the status quo. Marketing yourself requires building your network, and ensuring your network knows who you are and what you do.

Why? So when opportunities present themselves you are thought of as a solution to the problem or a person who may be able to help. You don’t just need a network when you are looking for a job you need a network and a “Book of Business” as it is called in the sales world, to connect you and keep you connected with people and opportunities all of the time.

If you feel and act like you just want to connect NOW because you NEED a miracle to show up TODAY, what do you think the impact of that is?
What would happen if you feel and act with positive expectation?

What would be different if as Ghandi suggests in the quote above, you grow into the faith that connecting or re-connecting with each person will bring good things to you and to them?

You and I already know intellectually that you have significant value to offer. I also know that there are no accidents, and that if you are considering the contact you should act on it because it is the first step to connecting with an opportunity and allowing that opportunity to show up in due time. My bet is that you know that too!

What action will you take? Yes, I know it takes a lot of courage to BELIEVE that results actually do occur based on our actions or lack of action, unless you stop to think intellectually about cause and effect.

It is much easier to listen to the voice of doubt, or the media telling you there is nothing you can do things are just BAD. It is easier to take no action than it is to have the courage to listen to the REAL call to action and actually do what you need to do.

Everyone wants life and success to be easy. Me too! I would love it, if I could just wait by the phone or open the email and someone would agree to hire me and pay me giving me wonderful work to do. However, without marketing, connections, contacts and demonstrating my value in many settings and in many ways, time and time again. I don’t land the job and neither will you.

Grow into faith, grow your network, nurture your vision have the courage to BELIEVE that the results are indeed coming based on your actions, and be a magnet for success and prosperity in your search. FEEL confident about your value, skills, and the job you can do, be willing to ACT. You must take action and be aware of your feelings or you will miss opportunities that are available to you by connecting with your network.

Assess your network. Take inventory of the people you know. Inventory your network now. As in any business, inventory is an asset and will impact your bottom line.

The network of people you know is a component of your social and business capital. Who are your critical connections? Who are the critical connections you need to add to your network?

Create a plan to connect and stay connected. Who knows you? Who likes you? Who trusts you? Who will you contact with this week? How will you stay connected?

“The world cares very little about what a man or woman knows; it is what a man or woman is able to do that counts.” ~ Booker T. Washington

Do you have a personal brand? What does your personal brand say about you? Does it tell others what you are able to do? Is a personal brand important?

Yes, you have a personal brand, everyone does. You are a walking billboard. Everyone is!

Usually, we think of this as reputation, how someone dresses or acts. These are all piece of who you are. Components of your brand!

If you are a professional and also looking for your next job, being aware of and communicating your brand is critical to your success now and in the future.

We live and work in a hyper-connected world, so don’t under estimate the power of your personal brand. During a job search a strong personal brand helps build a foundation to engage and connect with others. A strong brand quickly allows others to know who you are, what you do, inspires action and positive communication on your behalf. What is your brand communicating?

Do you have a strong personal brand?

What role are you allowing your brand to play in your job search?

What is the “word of mouth” communication of others regarding your brand?

Have you taken a look at your online and offline persona?

Does your persona engage others, communicate value and touch others in a positive or negative way?

Is it time for you to set aside some time to take a look at your personal brand?

What is preventing you from looking at your personal brand?

October has arrived, the mornings and evenings are cool and I needed a jacket often during the past week. The cool rain over the weekend highlight it is fall in New England. In chatting with a friend, she reminded me that winter is not far away and of course we are 86 days from the end of year.

Most organizations are well into their planning for the coming year. Many have completed budget projections for next year and if needed, have made adjustments based on adjusted 4th quarter projections.

As organizations look forward, human capital investments and human capital planning conversations seem to be more intense. The stress levels may be up for job seekers, but many days I see, hear and help hiring managers and top leaders who have stress levels off the chart.

What drives that stress? Their concern for the future welfare of the businesses they run. As they discuss finding talent in this tough market, planning for their future leadership business needs, retention of newer employees and retention of employees who in some cases have survived layoffs and are doing more work, sometimes with shorter hours, and in most cases with fewer other resources as well.

Solid leaders know they must watch the trends, budgets, communicate, engage employees in appropriate decisions, work with good business partners, vendors, be flexible, and make solid hiring and compensation choices. They must also plan for the elements of managing human capital that helps ensure long term success or the business may shut the doors and they too will be UNEMPLOYED.

This week working with one business owner planning for 2010, and reviewing survey data from Adecco on job dissatisfaction, I heard his concern and these questions:
How to retain current talent?
How to grow bench strength in order to grow the business and sales team?
How to find needed leaders?
How to improve customer service?
How do we do all these things needed to STAY in business?

Like many business owners and hiring managers, he is frustrated with the economy and the labor market. He shared his own frustration and concern for the many applicants that respond to job postings and talk to him about opportunities that are disgruntled, mad, pushy, and have no clue about his business.

Then he shared how frustrated he is when someone asks for an opportunity to do “anything” explaining that they NEED a job. Now, he confided when hears that he usually explains how a management or sales training position works, then feels like a sucker when next he hears, various remarks about doing ANYTHING, except of course, starting in a training position at a training level salary to learn a new business.

Then with sarcasm in his voice he stated “we don’t build rocket ships, but even industry veterans take 45 days to master our systems, and outsiders can take up to a year to master the systems”.
The questions at least one employer is asking:
With so many people out of work, where are those talented people who really do want to work and learn a new business or industry?

Are there people looking for a new job who will learn at least a little about my business before they seek to talk to me about a job with my company?

Are there people looking for a new job that can explain their skills and what they can do to help grow my business?

Are there people looking for a new job who understand that increased compensation and benefits can be reviewed based on performance and that increasing ones pay comes from contributing to the bottom line and growing the business?

As we finished our meeting, and I drove home enjoying the yellow, orange, and red colored leaves mixed in among the once all green trees, I could not help but smile.

It is clear that talented professionals with solid skills and the ability to market those skills are still in high demand and at good salaries.

What has changed in this job market is that those who are unfocused, unprepared and unwilling to do the basics to market themselves, communicate their skills, locate and talk to decision makers and hiring managers will be unemployed longer than ever.

Why? Simple, it is a numbers game. The number of people looking for work and doing a very poor job of searching and connecting with hiring managers are high. Those high numbers are crowding the market place and are everywhere. There are so many applicants per opening, employers are changing and rethinking what they do to attract talent and to manage the vast impact on the hiring process.

The great news about that is that the top talent and professionals running effect job search campaigns SHINE very bright in the crowd. Those bright stars will continue to leverage multiple opportunities while others crowd the market and find more and more of the traditional doors to job openings closed.

“Wherever there is danger, there lurks opportunity; whenever there is opportunity, there lurks danger. The two are inseparable. They go together.”~ Earl Nightingale

Have you ever had one of those phone calls that when you heard the voice on the other end of the line speak and you felt danger or distress? I had one of those calls this week, the call began, “Hi, I need some help…”

At first, my thoughts raced as I listened, after a few seconds I knew there was no physical danger and no one was injured. The distress in the voice on the call was intense.

After the call, I was reflecting on the situation and the Earl Nightingale quote above popped to my thoughts. It is a reminder that the line between danger and opportunity can be very thin.

I know that awareness, experience, knowledge and preparation build confidence and create the best responses in all situations. In business and in our careers, we so often turn those “thin” points in time into unique situations with better than envisioned outcomes and profitable opportunities because of our preparation and awareness.

In life, business, and my career, I know that experience is often the thing I get just after I needed it most. I also know thousands of people who agree with me, that preparation and awareness are the keys that allow each of us to apply our knowledge and similar experience to create focus and successful outcomes that others view as luck!

In case you are wondering the call that began, “Hi, I need some help…” was from someone who had been working to create focus and successful outcomes. The caller was so prepared he built into his search what he called a “lifeline” call. That call helped him deal with an unexpected question about relocation and turn it into a second interview and continue conversation in a few minutes.

What preparation are you building into your job search?

Are you using a portion of your time each week to create focus, tap into your experience and knowledge?

Are you prepared to create the most successful outcomes in your job search and career?

What opportunity lurks if you are prepared?

Are you creating your own luck or are just hoping for the best?

Are you too busy doing things to make time to prepare?

To Your Accelerated Search and Continued Success,
Cindy

Look around there are signs of the season change, yes even in South Texas. In New England and NY the leaves are starting to change colors, and the fall flowers look great in the Mid-Atlantic.

Nature changes her look and we notice things we have not seen before or something grabs our attention and we pause to reflect or explore what is different.  Use that reflex…update your email signature block!

Odds are you will use email daily in your job search, if you have had the same email signature for sometime … CHANGE It!    Fall is a great time to take a look at your email signature block.  Be sure those who receive your email messages have the information to contact you and learn more about you at their finger tips.

The best format for your email signature is a professional brief block of information.  Include at least your name, phone number, and email address.  Those are the basics and that simple block of information will help others remember you and contact you quickly.

Be sure you make it easy for others to contact you, as well as using your signature block as an opportunity to enhance your personal branding.   What should you change?

Be creative.  You can change the font style, color or the order of your information.  List your phone number first and encourage a connection by phone, or add your tag line.

How will you update your email signature?

Will you do it today?