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Don't Lose Sight of the Green Grass in the Weeds of Unemployment

noreply@MyPath.com — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:03:22 GMT

With unemployment hovering at far too high a level for the past two years, new graduates taking what amount to glorified summer jobs in many cases, and no clear signs of significant job growth for the near future, it's easy for any of us to get lost in the weeds of a job search. You can almost understandably become numbed to the effort of finding that one opportunity or employer who will recognize that they need the value you can bring to them - and they need it now. It's a daunting effort no doubt. In fact, when I've been faced with challenges in my own life that seem nearly overwhelming, I have been tempted to just throw in the towel. Why not? It's unlikely that I'll succeed, all of the odds are against me, and it might even seem preferable to the day after day effort - even drudgery - of thinking creatively, staying motivated, believing in my value, and envisioning a better place. Trust me, I've been there.

I don't use Ready and nAbled as a vehicle to discuss my life or my challenges, but I do believe that at times in our lives we need to reflect on our good fortune to be able to be searching for work. About six years ago I was diagnosed with a debilitating condition in my spine, Charcot Joint Disease, and it turned my life - as well as my wife's and our immediate families - upside down. I had learned to manage living with traumatic spinal cord injury for many years by that point- having been paralyzed in a fall as a twenty-one year old - and while I had experienced multiple surgeries and related challenges through the years, this diagnosis was frightening. The fact that it came during the first year of our marriage added another level of challenge for us.

Ultimately I had complete reconstructive surgery with additional implants in my lower spine, coupled with extensive outpatient rehabilitation. It was effectively a second traumatic spinal cord injury, and it was just as overwhelming as the first more than two decades earlier. Thanks to the concern and dedication of my physical medicine and rehabilitation physician, a highly skilled surgical team, outstanding post-surgical care and a wonderful support system, I recovered and have the opportunity to share this story with you. More importantly, I want to impress upon you that as daunting as the job search can be, it's just that...a job search. If you're in the midst of it you're well enough, driven enough, and motivated enough (but you can never be too motivated!) to bring value to an employer. It's a great place to be. Relish this position. Appreciate that you're in the fight. Know that you will break through and be in a better place soon. I know I am risking this post becoming a "Stuart Smalley" daily affirmation, but there are times in life when only a firm belief in our efforts and abilities can help us to keep putting one foot in front of the other (okay, now I'm referencing Santa Claus is Coming to Town!).

Why not make a commitment to just one of the following efforts this week;

1. Make 3 new contacts. These can be via business/social media memberships, job clubs, in the community (yes - it happens if you're open to it), other.

2. Join a new social, spiritual or professional group (exs; Toastmasters, an industry specific interest group, a committee at church, a volunteer org.).

3. Ask a valued acquaintance, friend, or mentor to review your resume, bio, or CV and provide input.

Maybe this is a great time to revisit (or become newly acquainted with) the refreshing tutorial on preparing for and landing your first real job - or your next real job - Can I Wear my Nose Ring to the Interview? by Ellen Gordon Reeves. Trust me, it will make you smile and appreciate that we've all got something of value to offer to the right employer, whether in an up or down market. Further, it crystallizes the critical need to be out there slogging through those weeds with everyone else. So I say grab your weedwacker and get back to work. The summer's almost gone!

Resources: Image from Flickr Commons

3 Common Job Seeker Mistakes to Avoid

noreply@MyPath.com — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:38:30 GMT

I recently posted a job listing for a paid internship position I was offering. During the process, I was fortunate to receive many applications and requests for more information. Not only did I find a great intern, but I also ended up with a great blog post idea -- sharing some of the things applicants did that led me not to hire them.

While I don’t want to pick on anyone who applied for the job, I think there are some good lessons to be learned from these common mistakes:

1. Not Following Directions. I specified in my job posting that I would only accept applications on the job site where I posted the opportunity. More than a few applicants sent direct emails or social networking messages to me outside of the specified job site. While I appreciated the people who reached out in addition to applying through the requested site, I was unimpressed by the applicants who simply didn’t follow directions.

2. A Long Resume. For recent graduates and young professionals, I am an unabashed proponent of the one-page resume. I’ve seen executive vice presidents with one-page resumes, so recent grads should have no trouble keeping to a single page. The resume is a marketing piece after all, so one of the things employers are looking for is your ability to edit yourself to the essential information.

3. Too Casual Correspondence. While I like to think of myself as not too old-fashioned, I do appreciate a level of professionalism when I'm considering someone for a job (especially when the job involves working for someone who provides career advice!). I saw way too many cover letters that began with a “Hey,” included too many exclamation points or emoticons or otherwise treated me like a friend instead of a potential employer. All that kept going through my mind was, “Would they correspond with my clients this way?”

Keep these three mistakes in mind next time you apply for a position -- if you avoid them, you're sure to stand out from the crowd. Next week I’ll share some of the best tactics I saw in job candidates who applied for my internship -- including the recent grad who landed the job!

Let’s Kill the Hour-Long Meeting (Part 2): Some Alternatives

noreply@MyPath.com — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:04:06 GMT

Yesterday’s post was a discussion on why hour-long meetings tend to be ineffective. Since it’s hardly constructive to just list complaints, we also need to explore the alternatives to one hour meetings.

The first alternative is to cut the meeting time shorter. Know what the meeting’s objective or agenda is and adjust the time to fit that, don’t do it the other way around. People usually schedule meetings that are 30 minutes or an hour long out of habit, or because it’s the default in the scheduling tools they use. That’s just silly. As 37signals pointed out in their book, “Rework”, “If it only takes seven minutes to accomplish a meeting’s goal, then that’s all the time you should spend. Don’t stretch seven into thirty.” Following this logic, we shouldn’t stretch meetings to an hour either if it’s unnecessary to do so.

If you must have regular meetings, then simply shorten the time to a workable compromise. Earlier this year at the Ignite Seattle conference, speaker Nicole Steinbok recommended 22-minute meetings instead. Here’s a poster from the talk [via ScottBerkun.com]:

Another option is to conduct electronic meetings rather than face-to-face ones, especially for brainstorming. The idea of electronic brainstorming was discussed by University College London’s Adrian Furnham in the research paper I mentioned yesterday and it’s described as follows: “Electronic brainstorming involves group members sitting at computer terminals and typing in their ideas, but also having full access to others’ ideas as they are produced.”

With that definition in mind, what tools can we use for electronic brainstorming?

Wikis. A wiki is a website where users can create and edit content collaboratively. The most popular example of a wiki is Wikipedia, but they are also used for business projects. Here’s a simple but thorough introduction on wikis to help you get started.
Collaborative writing tools. There are some applications specifically made for collaborative writing, which can be useful for electronic brainstorming. I’ve discussed a few of them in a previous post.
Instant messaging or chatting. Group chatting can also be used for electronic brainstorming, especially if you need to get everyone together in real time (which isn’t always a possibility with the above options).

What alternatives can replace one hour meetings? Do you have any suggestions?

Is Facebook a curse or a blessing for job seekers?

noreply@MyPath.com — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:53:36 GMT

There’s a lot of negativity associated with Facebook and their new feature called “Places”. This feature essentially allows you to broadcast your whereabouts to friends, family and yes in some cases strangers. I am here to suggest an alternative point of view that these tools offer a tremendous competitive advantage in a job search and you should consider jumping in with caution.

I want to start by being straight forward by confirming some of these risks. Time magazine published an article which presented multiple scenarios where criminals leverage these technologies to commit horrible crimes. So yes, there are bad people out there and you have to ensure you are careful where you broadcast.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s explore the possibilities of this new breed of technology called location-based services. It’s essential to note that these technologies should never act as a proxy to networking in person. Most companies openly admit that the most effective and efficient way to get a job is through a referral. These tools should augment and accelerate your current networking activities, as they have done for me.

Advantages:

Know the real-time location of trusted contacts

This is exciting because it enables you to expand the “tried and true” job search tactic of networking. For example, you can checked-in at a sporting event and discover a former trusted colleague is also there and make plans for lunch. Or, you may see you are two degrees from a potential hiring manager at this same event and ask to be introduced.

Learn about hiring events

Technologies such as Foursquare and others enable you to see job hiring events as they are happening. You can also see which of your trusted personal and business contacts are at the same event and accelerate networking. Now you are more informed.

Your dream job finds you

Geoff Peterson points out in one of his blogs how these tools enable recruiters to improve networking and to receive alerts when they are near "hard to find" candidates. During a phone conversation, Peterson stated that it is possible today to hold your smart phone up to a company’s building, and identify which jobs are open and what recruiters are saying about them.

Networking is an essential skill for anyone and these tools give you an edge. Given the shortening average tenure of employees, do you want to leave it to chance? I know I don’t.

For further reading:

· “Location-Based Services Will Transform Recruiting”

· “Location Based Services: 5 Myths Debunked”

· “Location Based Service & Job-Searching on the Go”

· “Mashable - Facebook Launches its Location Features”

· “Please Rob Me: The Dangers of Online Over sharing”

· “The Good and Bad about Foursquare, GoWalla”

· “Are Location-Based Services All Hype?”

Too Much Stress on your Plate??

noreply@MyPath.com — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:48:30 GMT

Stress can be lethal if not brought under control. It can affect your health, well-being, relationships and employment.

Many people miss the signs when there's too much on their plate. However, there are a number of indicators and symptoms you should recognize so that you may remain calmer and more focused at completing the task-at-hand while increasing your performance and productivity. Be aware of high stress, anxiety, frustration, irritability, depression, or inflexibility. Notice when you become impatient with others and respond rudely. If you find yourself making an increasing number of foolish mistakes or bad decisions, pause and shift your energy so that you alleviate negative consequences.

Recognize what you can and cannot control in your life. Let go of what you absolutely have no control over and concentrate on what you can control or at least influence or negotiate. You can regain control in many situations by simply:

· Rethinking the ‘shoulds’, ‘musts’, and ‘coulds’

· Acknowledging your reality and current situation

· Accepting your abilities and limitations. Leveraging/maximizing your strengths.

· Having a positive can-do attitude

· Minimizing stressors

Some stress cannot be totally eliminated and is actually effective to helping you be at the top of your game. However,many different behaviors and attitudes help better cope with stress. My personal favorites include exercising, smiling/laughing, taking things in stride/going with the flow, breathing through difficulties (too help slow things down and stay in the moment while consciously choosing how I want to respond rather than just reacting), planning ahead and creating contingencies in case things go as unanticipated.

Other effective behaviors for coping with stress so that you can increase your productivity and contentment include:

· Defining your limits (having realistic standards and limits)

· Slowing down (stop hurrying)

· Learning to deal with anger

· Using meditation/yoga

· Avoiding catastrophic thinking

· Listening to calming music

· Using imagery or daydreaming

· Knowing your natural rhythm of when you’reat your best.

· Scheduling your day so that you have structure

· Paying attention to noise levels and minimizing

· Using pent up energy wisely

· Taking time for yourself

· Getting off adrenaline/avoiding procrastination

· Regrouping after stressful periods

· Eliminating worry (87% of what we worry about never occurs or is out of our control anyway)

· Learning to say “no”

Reduce your stress and improve your productivity! For more stress tips, subscribe to my free bi-weekly e-newsletter at www.theprioritypro.com.

Tell Me A Story - Behavioral Interview Prep Strategies

noreply@MyPath.com — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:54:12 GMT

Behavioral interviewing as a strategy is built on the simple idea that any interviewer who wants to find out if a you’ll do a good job for them tomorrow had better find out if you did a good job for somebody else yesterday. In short, the assumption – and it’s a good one – is that the best predictor of the future is the past. Behavioral interviewing, then, is all about story – telling. So the trick is to tell stories – good ones.

What stories to tell? Start with the assumption that companies using behavioral interviewing have already decided what skills the successful candidate will bring to the job. Sometimes they come right out and call them “skills”, but sometimes they’ll confuse you a bit by calling them “competencies”. Not to worry. By any label, they’re going to ask you questions that fall under some broad and general categories, like:

Communication
Interpersonal skills
Planning and organization
Critical thinking skills
Team building
The ability to influence / motivate others

A few ideas to help you focus in on telling the right stories include:

Simply ask the HR person who schedules the interview some questions: Will this be a behavioral interview? If so, can they share the competencies that have been associated with the position? Better yet, ask if you might be able to review a copy of the job description. In any case, express that you are committed to doing the best job you can to prepare for the interview. Just being interested and engaged at this level should let you pick up a few points early.

Use Monster or CareerBuilder to pull 10 – 20 job postings that are similar to the one you’ll be interviewing for. Note the similarities, key words, and shared characteristics of these listings. As you identify the common trends, it may help you focus on stories from your own background that align with them.

Do your own job analysis. If you were hiring for this position, what would you be looking for? What are the necessary skills to do this job? What would make a successful candidate? An unsuccessful candidate? What is the most difficult part of this job?

With this info in hand, identify six to eight examples from your work / life history where you demonstrated behaviors and skills that line up specifically with the job. Include stories that are totally positive from start to finish, and don’t forget the ones that started out negatively and then came out great. But be very sure that you’re ready for at least one or two stories that totally blew up on you. They’ll ask a few of those for sure. Learning from hardship is recognized as a top predictor of leadership these days, so don’t be afraid to talk about where you were when you learned one or two of those valuable life lessons via failure. Specifically, questions about running projects, working in a team environment with others, and those that illustrate your strengths and weaknesses in a work setting are to be expected.

In short, telling stories – any stories - is the key to behavioral interviewing. But it’s telling the right stories that’s key to getting the offer.

Let’s Kill the Hour-Long Meeting (Part 1): Why Its Time Has Come

noreply@MyPath.com — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:21:46 GMT

A friend of mine told me recently that she attended six hour long meetings in one day. Six. That’s almost her entire workday. Those are six full hours - or more, if you add prep time - of her specialized, competent self sitting in meetings. It would’ve been okay if those hours were completely productive, but does that happen all the time?

Here’s how bad meetings usually go: Someone calls for a meeting. When you do arrive, you sit there and wonder “What’s the point?” So you end up being distracted or wishing you were somewhere else. Soon, everyone realizes that the topics discussed could have been easily tackled via email or some other medium. True, not all meetings are like this, but there’s enough inefficient meetings in the world for it to be a familiar story.

Some people are so frustrated with “bad meetings” that they express it through copywriting that appeals to that frustration, humorous coffee mugs, and comic strips. There are even online applications like Meet or Die (intended for fun) and MeetingMiser (intended for business use) which calculate how much money is spent on your meetings.

But it’s not just money that’s wasted. As 37signals founder Jason Fried points out in a blog post, meetings can waste more time than you think. Here’s how he explains it:

“If you’re going to schedule a meeting that lasts one hour and invite 10 people to attend then it’s a ten-hour meeting, not a one-hour meeting. You are trading 10 hours of productivity for one hour of meeting time. And it’s probably more like 15 hours since there are mental switching costs associated with stopping what you’re doing, going somewhere else to do something else, and then resuming what you were doing before.”

What on earth goes on in these hour-long meetings that can’t be done in more efficient ways? One of the most common meeting activities is brainstorming. But if you do look up business and psychological research on brainstorming, you’d find that most - if not all - of them demonstrate how ineffective it really is. According to this research paper by Adrian Furnham of University College London, face-to-face brainstorming don’t work for the following reasons (quoted from the paper):

Social loafing: the group context enables individuals to make less effort.
Evaluation apprehension: fear of suggesting ideas which might make one look foolish.
Production blocking: any one group member can suggest an idea at any moment.

(Source: Furnham, Adrian. "The Brainstorming Myth". Business Strategy Review 2000: 21-28. )

If meeting for group brainstorming isn’t such a good idea, why else would you meet? One of the reasons is to give/receive updates or status reports. Another reason is to reach a consensus on an important issue. Still, these could be done via memos, emails, and other means of communication that don’t require participants to drop their “real work” and sit in a conference room for an hour or more.

Perhaps one of the few valid reasons for an hour-long meeting is to create rapport and have enough face time with colleagues that are normally working a cubicle, a floor, or even a city away from you. But let’s be honest - doing this doesn’t have to take place during office hours. It certainly doesn’t have to take a full hour either.

Maybe hour-long meetings are fine once in a while, but to have them too often (and for the wrong reasons) may negatively affect productivity and morale.

The good news is that I believe there’s a better way. Come back to Thinking Outside the Cube tomorrow to read about some alternatives to the hour-long meeting.

How often do you participate in inefficient meetings? What suggestions do you have to make these meetings better?

Overcoming the "E" Word

noreply@MyPath.com — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:39:49 GMT

Lots of people are buzzing about the recent New York Times Magazine cover story, “What is it About 20-Somethings?” The article focuses on the fact that today’s 20-somethings are “delaying adulthood” by moving back in with their parents, marrying later and hopping from career to career.

The article speculates about whether these shifts are happening because of the current economy, a fundamental change in the definition of adulthood or -- as many of the article’s more negative commenters believe -- the “entitled” nature of the Millennial generation.

Personally, I believe that 20-somethings are simply reflecting the reality of our current times. But I have seen evidence that many Millennials aren’t aware of the way they are perceived, particularly in the workplace. I frequently hear recruiters and employers complain that today’s young people have a sense of entitlement -- a belief that they deserve jobs, high salaries and advanced responsibilities even when they don’t have much experience.

Whether you personally feel this way or not, it’s important to understand that this perception of 20-somethings is out there. In many companies, the older generations are still in charge, so when you're looking for a job or wanting to advance in your career, you’ll have a better chance of success if you avoid the “entitled” label. Here are some tips for overcoming the “e” word:

1. Show appreciation for responsibility and opportunity.

One of the biggest grievances I hear from managers is that Gen Y employees expect to be given high-level, exciting work on day one of a job. Never forget that you are being paid to work! And your bosses probably “paid their dues” for a long time to get where they are. Many of them expect you to pay your dues too, even though technology and business move much faster these days.

The best way to receive the kind of work you want is to do a great job with every assignment you’re given. Then, when you do receive increased responsibility or a cool project, be sure to say thank you to the person who assigned it. Gratitude is remembered and rewarded.

2. Follow protocol.

While you may want to share your suggestions directly with the CEO of your company, it’s probably more appropriate for you to share those thoughts with your direct boss first. This type of hierarchical reporting structure may change someday when Gen Ys are in the corner office, but for now, it’s reality. If you’re not sure whether it’s okay to reach out to someone at a higher level, ask your boss or colleagues first.

3. Focus on what you can do for your employer, not the other way around.

In cover letters, email messages, conversations with recruiters, salary negotiations, etc., make sure you frame your value in terms of what you can offer, not what you need. Recruiters roll their eyes at cover letters that begin with, “I would like to find a position in which I can learn.” Likewise, negotiations fail when you ask for more money because, “I need it.” You’ll have a better chance of getting what you want when you focus your argument on how it will benefit the company in terms of increased sales, more productivity or lower costs. Always ask yourself, “What’s in it for them?”

As I read through the above list, it strikes me that avoiding the entitlement label is really about using your common sense and best manners. What do you think? Please share in the comments!

Cheerleading

noreply@MyPath.com — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:31:34 GMT

I firmly believe the best engineers are pessimists. They always expect things to go wrong and therefore take great pride in elegant designs that thwart the ever-present malaise of Murphy's Law. In contrast, however, overtly pessimistic corporate executives are often seen as pariahs. Pessimistic politicians suffer the same intolerance. Political pundits universally give bad grades to government officials that express doubt and negativism. Realistically, few citizens would be likely to vote for a candidate that said we faced complex problems, years of difficulties, and that we would have to sacrifice to dig our way out of this mess. Voters and corporate stockholders universally want to hear only of cheap, fast, and easy solutions. Cheerleading, it seems, is simply an expected part of the executive job description.

Everyone gets nervous at the status meeting when an engineer says words like "problem" or "delay". Likewise, a corporate CEO expressing worry about the future of the company could cause a dramatic drop in the stock price and perhaps a mass exodus of critical staff. In both cases, problems and uncertain solutions cause anxiety.

But the similarity between engineers and executives ends quickly.

A development engineer often walks into a new project knowing she will face troubles and, initially, may have little understanding of important facts and technologies. She knows it is her job; her very reason for drawing a salary, to learn needed information and overcome complexities as they arise on the project. Research engineers and scientists are even further removed from the executive world. Their world consists of complex and confusing problems with no obvious solution. Scientists discover and overcome the laws of nature by poking and prodding and thinking and hypothesizing and testing. You are likely to hear only scientists and hardcore engineers say "Wow! That is really a cool problem. I have no idea how I'm going to solve it".

Executives, both corporate and governmental, may be expected to already know everything. Sometimes it seems they are not only expect to know everything but to act that way. It can be unbecoming for an executive to say a problem is difficult and will take a long time to solve. Indeed, incumbent elected officials most often lose to a newcomer because the newcomer does a better job of convincing the voters that the problems we face are easily overcome.

While the details of the work of the engineer and the executive differ greatly, an even greater difference is the image or perhaps aura that the person must create and cultivate. Engineers are generally tolerated if they are quirky or moody, cynical or pessimistic, or even perhaps antisocial. Executives must always be and act the part of coach and mentor. They must not only lead but also cheerlead. Herein lies the difficulty that distinguishes great leaders from the ordinary.

I've seen staff roll their eyes in meetings where senior executives state with great vigor how well things are going. The working folks know the reality of what is going on. They see it every day. Boisterous, excessive cheerleading loses the audience. They think the executive is either a liar or a fool.

Great leaders are able to walk the line of encouragement. They are not insanely optimistic, nor brutally honest about severe problems. They are "Goldilocks", the just right cheerleaders who motivate the staff to greatness instead of losing them to hyperbole.

The demands of the two jobs (engineer and executive) are so very different few excel at both – but the world lies at the feet of those who master them.

If You Cannot Win, Then Do Not Play - Personal Info on the Resume

noreply@MyPath.com — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:45:20 GMT

The bottom one-third of your resume holds tremendous potential in helping you stand out from the crowd. The question is – is this a good idea or a bad one? Of course, we know the rule. Never put anything on the résumé that could cause a person to exclude you from a search for any reason beyond your capacity to do the job. If you want to try picking up that one little edge in a job search environment where resumes deluge inboxes every day? There's a risk.

Here’s the basics:

Education, both formal and continuing professional development, is in.

Religious affiliation, marital status, and number of children / age of children is out.

Memberships, affiliations, and offices held in professional organizations that support your job objective are in.

Organizations that, by their name, disclose your cultural background, religious affiliation, sexual orientation or other possible targets of discrimination are out.

Political affiliation is out – even if you’re an Accounting professional and Chair of the Finance Committee for the Democratic / Republican State Committee.

The phrase "references furnished upon request" is out. What, you’d say "no" if they asked? Don’t waste the keystrokes; you only get so many.

Hobbies that are risky (skydiving) or time-consuming (training for triathlons) are out.

Other languages / bilingualism is in. Identifying your "native" language is out.

High profile volunteer / community service work is in – if your goal is to stay local, and your work has not been on behalf of potentially polarizing causes (HIV awareness, improving race relations).

Information that seems to say, "This is me; take me or leave me as I am" is out.

Folks are going to be prejudiced. We can’t fix or change that. The trick for the resume writer is to recognize that we just aren’t smart enough to predict who is going be prejudiced about what. So if you can not win, do not play.