Archive for the ‘Career transition’ Category

Yes, you read it right. Happy Boss’s Day to you!

You are, after all, the CEO—Chief Exploration Officer of your own job search organization. You’ve climbed to the top of the ladder, and your hard work deserves recognition and celebration like all the other bosses out there.

You’re the talented boss who wears multiple hats as the chief financial officer, human resources director, receptionist, marketing guru, administrative assistant, trainer and housekeeper. Research and development, information technology and strategic planning are all yours.

Being your own boss is tougher than most of us realize. All the responsibility sits squarely on your shoulders. For lots of folks that means learning new skills and technologies to effectively search for and land a new job.

Since I can’t send you the typical Boss’s Day gift like a coffee mug, pen set, or box of chocolates, I’m giving something you can use! Practical, easy to implement tips that will help you be your own best boss and outstanding Chief Exploration Officer.

Believe in yourself and trust your instincts., write it down and let it continue to evolve.

Take action! Implement ideas knowing some will work great and others will flop. Either way you will learn something and be moving forward. Move away from the computer screen and into the flow of life.

Get clear on communicating what you job you are looking for and your unique skills to do that job.

Show appreciation for everyone who helps in your job search. Update people regularly on your progress. And how about a big ol’ shout out to your family thanking them for their love and support?

Keep your sense of humor. As Jimmy Buffett says, if we couldn’t laugh we’d all go insane. And job loss is its own brand of insanity.

Be a generous giver. Give compliments, offer your assistance, share your expertise, and do whatever is in your power to make the world a little better today.

Make a plan to find your ideal job

And last but not least, celebrate yourself as one great boss on National Boss’s Day (officially October 16). Give yourself a pat on the back, take yourself and another job seeker out for a cup of coffee, or send yourself a free Boss’s Day e-card. Just do it! Do something to recognize and appreciate your self for all the energy and focus you put into finding your next job! You deserve it! 

Happy Boss’s Day To You!

It’s time to roast your business card! Put your mini billboard to the test and find out what kind of impression it makes. What looks top shelf to you, might not be reflective of your skills and who you are.

Invite a group of job seekers to “roast” each other’s business cards. You may need to be a little thick skinned but it’s better to hear constructive comments than continue giving out business cards that make interviewers say, “Whoa! What’s up with this business card?”

It goes back to the notion that you only have one chance to make a positive first impression.  You want to clearly advertise your skills, make a strong statement, and be positively memorable.  Too extreme in any way, and it’s likely to hit the trash can.

Here are a few tips I heard at a networking group that hosted a business card roast.

• Make sure your contact information is correct. Proof read and then proof read again.   
• Provide multiple ways to contact you
• Go for clean, crisp, and clearly legible
• Use bullet points on back to highlight credentials & skills
• Include your unique selling point and what position you’re looking for
• Vertically formatted cards grab attention, but larger cards get mixed reception 
• Use your photo or not? It’s a toss up. It makes you memorable in large group meetings
• Does the content accurately reflect you? 
• Engineers and techies might add a single bold line of color like black, navy, maroon, or chocolate for a touch of interest
• Leave space for people to write a quick note to jog their memory for how/where they met you.
• Glossy cards are hard to write notes on
• One of the best deals for business cards comes from VistaPrinting.com

If you’re not sure what kind of first impression your business card makes, gather some job seekers, meet for coffee and roast those business cards!

Giving out a professional business card that reflects who you are is important but in the end, it’s about making personal connections. Be proactive about asking for business cards and take the initiative to follow up in a personal way. That’s how you become truly memorable.

thumbs-down

Wouldn’t it be great get the inside scoop from hiring managers about their pet peeves? Know makes them shake their heads and say, “No way…we’re hiring this person.”  

Kudos to Kaitlin Madden, blogger and writer for CareerBuilder.com, who has  the answers to this question. She’s interviewed 10 top hiring managers for the scoop on what definitely disqualifies a candidate. Most are common sense, but you’ll want to check out the article so you’ll be a candidate of positive distinction.  

Use your common sense:

• Dress appropriately for the company’s culture and in most cases, conservative is better.
• Have accurate directions to the interview ahead of time. If you call the interviewer at the last minute for directions, you might as well stay home.
• Whether lies are of the “big fish tale” or “itty bitty” variety, they will catch up with you.
• If you’re young and speak “social media” lingo, save it for your friends; not to the hiring manager. Good communication skills are always a big plus.
• Go Google yourself! What’s on your social media pages and voice message is like a bill board for the entire world to see. You want your ad to sell you at your best.

Follow mama’s advice about good manners

• Saying hello, please and thank you coupled with a good hand shake and smile will take you a long way in life.
• Speak politely to everyone you encounter at an interview including security guards, people you pass in the hallway, receptionists, and any one else you encounter.
• Being rude is never in style and definitely won’t get you a job.

And from the “just don’t say it” category

• If you don’t get along well with people, don’t say it.
• You need customer service and team playing skills for every job.

So, what are the deal makers?  

• Be professional
• Be polite and authentic
• Be confident
• Be detail oriented
• Believe in yourself

Or as I like to say, do the things that Let Your Best Self Shine Through!

Read Kaitlin Madden’s whole article

http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-2320-Job-Search-10-Hiring-Manager-Deal-Breakers/?sc_extcmp=JS_2320_home1&SiteId=cbmsnhp42320&ArticleID=2320&gt1=23000&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=c2697ff2d1b0476ea125d75154116bd1-334852103-RS-4

http://alturl.com/2ushj

If you want to thoroughly investigate a company as a possible employer, you best brush up on your detective skills. It takes time and some clever search techniques to find out the inside scoop.

Thanks to Glassdoor much of the legwork is already done. It’s a free career site where “anyone can find and anonymously share an inside look at jobs and companies.”  Their data base covers over 84,000 companies. Information is gathered from current and former employees and companies can submit photos, videos, and other “come work for us” information.

To help you ace your next interview, there is a section of frequently asked interview questions sent in from interview candidates. Talk about having some relevant inside information.  Get mentally and emotionally prepared using some of my favorite techniques like setting clear intentions, visualization, affirmations, and deep breathing and you’re very best of who you are will be obvious to your interviewers.

Glassdoor was started by Robert Hohman and Rich Barton. They are masters of creativity, social media and information systems. Barton founded Expedia where they worked together as well as for Microsoft.

Best Features:

Check out the latest salaries by industry, company or job title.

Company reviews come from insiders and include the pros and cons, employee satisfaction ratings, and CEO approval ratings.

Read details about a company’s hiring process from job interview candidates

Check out Glassdoor’s top 50 places to work in 2010. The current top 4 companies to work for are Southwest Airlines, Mary Kay, Facebook, and Slalom Consulting.

I hope this makes your job search a little easier now that you don’t have to be a full time detective. So polish up your resume, get out there, and see what new doors you can open with Glassdoor and by Letting Your Best Self Shine!

 ”Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets: Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. ”

                                                   – W.H. Murray, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition

People ask why it took me 15 months of being unemployed to start my business. For a life coach that seems like a fair  question. There are many long answers to this question. The process of healing and spiritual growth simply takes time. I continued to believe a job offer was right around the next corner. I didn’t know what I wanted to be “when I grew up”.

I tossed around a lot of ideas for businesses and for a few months worked with an excellent coach but I couldn’t make up my mind. I dropped out of my coaching group because a vision for my future was so muddled.

At some point, I stopped whining and wandering, and made a decision to reinvent my professional life. I made the commitment to become an entrepreneur. The first things on my agenda were to make a “failure is not an option” plan, start working with my business coach again, and finish writing my book, Surviving The Unemployment Roller Coaster: From Stress To Success.

The short answer to why it took me so long to start my business is I wasn’t committed. Once I boldly said “yes” to my dreams, everything…my beliefs, desires, expectations, attitude, creativity shifted and opportunities opened up. Each morning I mentally and emotionally recommit to take care of myself, create and be open to all the possibilities for my business, and Let My Best Self Shine in everything I do.