Archive for January, 2008

A new career – it may not be what you think

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

I tell all my consultees to get out there and check out careers they find intriguing. Even if you don’t think it’s practical or possible, find out all you can about it. You never know when it may lead you to another possibility that never occurred to you, but which will just might be your perfect fit.

As a motivational exercise, read Amy Quinn’s list of Jobs That Are (Much) Better or Worse Than You Think. She does a great job (pun intended) of pointing out that every glamourous job has its dark side, and every tedious jobs has its good points. The more things you read about, and especially investigate and talk to people about, the more likely you are to find the perfect job for you – one where you love the good parts, and don’t mind the bad parts.

Posted in Career Fulfillment, Job Searching, Nontraditional Career Options | No Comments »

Protect your Career

Monday, January 28th, 2008

With all the talk about how we might be in a recession, you may be wondering what you can do to protect your own job. Barabara Stefani has a list of Ways to Recession Proof Your Career. Her suggestions are things you should be doing constantly, not just when your job is in jeopardy.

Like most things, your career will progress most smoothly if you plan ahead, pay attention to the signs, and know where you are going. You should always be on the lookout for interesting new opportunities – to learn a new skill or try working in a new field. If you’ve thought ahead of time about what you might like to do, you will be better able to find these things when they come along. Or even better, you can work to create the opportunities you want.

Posted in Career Fulfillment, Job Searching | No Comments »

Email Etiquette

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008

A recent Wall Street Journal article entitled Avoid These Email Blunders To Prevent Career Derailment talks about three things you should not do with email. I know something about this – I once won a national contest for the worst email blunder. Let’s just say it involved a well-meaning colleague, not checking carefully all the settings in the software, and discussing personal issues and a third party.

Email works well for communicating data, setting appointments, and the like. But subtle nuances, tone of voice, facial expression, and body language are all missing, so it’s easy to misread the intent of a message. It’s also easy to fall into the trap of sending a message to everyone who might possibly be interested, instead of just those who need to know. When teaching first aid to boy scouts, we tell them to point to a specific person and say “YOU! Call 911!”, instead of just yelling “Someone call 911!” By picking one person, you put the responsibility on them to either do it, or make sure it gets done. If you just yell to the group, everyone will think someone else did it, and no one actually will. The same thing happens with email – if you send a request to a group of people, and say “someone do this”, most likely everyone will let someone else take care of it, and no one actually will.

So next time you’re about to “reply to all” or CC multiple people, take a second to think if they all really need to be copied. If it helps, think about all the email you get copied on that you don’t really need. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone would think before they pressed SEND!

Posted in Job Searching, Networking | 1 Comment »

Am I Bothering You?

Wednesday, January 16th, 2008

A consultee recently asked me the following:

“I am wondering what is the fine line between contacting and annoying people. Now I want to learn more about sales….I have considered getting a sales job so that I could build up my contacts…..”

This person is currently between jobs, and exploring options. She’s wondering how many times she can call/email someone before she starts becoming a nuisance. In most cases, she’s contacting these people to ask for information about their company, their job, and so on.

My personal rule is that I will attempt to contact a new person about twice, and if they don’t respond I will move on. One phone call, and a follow-up email, is enough to let you know if someone is willing to help you. In some cases, I will leave one phone message, then call back at different times of day but without leaving a message. If I know people who know them, I may try to find out if they are on vacation, or there’s some other reason why I’m not getting a response.

But just as important as how often you contact someone is the content of that contact. If you are always only asking for things, you can bet you will soon have trouble getting anyone to return your calls. The true secret to networking is to give as much as you get, and giving more than you get is even better. Send someone an article on a topic they are interested in, pass along a tidbit of info you heard about a cause they care about, and so on. Look for opportunities to provide information and do things for others, and you will go a long way towards strengthening your relationships.

And that’s really what networking is – building relationships. You don’t want to just know of people, you want to know about them, just like you want them to know about you.

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Networking – How and Who

Friday, January 11th, 2008

Recently I’ve been seeing lots of postings on networking. It appears that everyone knows they should do it, but they don’t know where to start. I thought I’d provide a few pointers, since this is one of the most important things you can do to help your career.

The good news is that if you’ve ever spoken to anyone, you have already started networking. It’s all about building relationships with other professionals. You are doing this throughout your career, as you talk to others about projects, interact with supervisors and subordinates and sales people, apply for jobs, and so on. The trick is to start doing it consciously, seeking out people who can help you, and people whom you can help. Think about the professional image you want to portray, and keep that in mind during your interactions.

Here’s an example. I have been a freelance technical writer for over 15 years. After volunteering with the local chapter of a professional organization for 10 years, I interviewed a colleague I knew from that group for an article. When I sent her the article for proofing, she responded “This is great! It sounds like a real writer wrote it.” Obviously, I had failed in my interactions with her. She associated me with the types of volunteer jobs I did for the organization, and had no idea what I did for a living. This is bad enough for a traditional employee, but devastating for a freelancer who depends on referrals for their livelihood! You can bet she now knows what I do, and I am working to provide subtle reminders to others in the group about my core areas of expertise.

With whom should you network? Everyone! You have no idea who someone else knows (though new tools like Linkedin.com are making it easier to find out). Most obviously are co-workers, supervisors, collaborators, sales people and so on. The next level is former co-workers, supervisors, employees, advisors and advisees. Then there are people you meet through professional societies, trade and professional organizations, alumni associations, and so on. And even people from other parts of your life – parents of your kids’ friends, people you share hobbies with, and so on. Again, you never know who they know. The more people you have real connections with, and the more people who know what you want to find, the more likely you are to find it.

One of my favorite books on this topic is New Network Your Way to Job and Career Success by Ron L. Krannich and Caryl Rae Krannich. It’s out of print, but there are lots of used copies out there.

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The more things change, the more they stay the same….

Wednesday, January 9th, 2008

One of my current favorite songs has a line that says “everyone dies famous in a small town”*. We all know how in small towns everyone knows everyone else’s business. Rumors fly, and the stories get more outrageous as they are repeated over and over.

It occurs to me that the internet is putting us all in a small town. Everyone knows everything you say, and your comments can (and will) be passed on and on. Not only that, but unlike people in a small town, the internet remembers forever.

This is good and bad. Good if you build up an online reputation as an expert in your field, someone to be respected and trusted, and a valuable team member. Good if you have made yourself findable, so opportunities arise without you having to search for them. Bad if you post youthful indiscretions, or publish things you later change your mind on or regret. Even things you think you’re sending privately can end up getting forwarded to public forums. One or two little mistakes may not hurt you, but over time they can build up. Instead of just letting your online personality appear, think about proactively working on it. Post thoughtful responses in professional forums. Submit detailed comments to blogs in areas of interest. Start a blog of your own.

The Internet has become the “permanent record” for all of us. Once you put something online, it’s out of your control and there forever. Think about your own electronic footprint. What sort of information is already out there about you? If you google yourself, is that a person you’d like to know (let alone a person you’d like to BE)?

*Miranda Lambert, “Famous In A Small Town”

Posted in Career Fulfillment, Job Searching, Networking | 2 Comments »

So what have you done lately?

Friday, January 4th, 2008

If you don’t remember your own accomplishments, who will do it for you?

Keep your own “kudos file”. Write down times when you made valuable contributions to the company – impacted the bottom line, saved a failing project, learned a new skill, and so on. This list will prove invaluable at annual review time and resume review time. By watching how the list grows over time, you can see what track your career is on, and if that’s the direction you want to be going.

So start now! What have you accomplished recently? (And no, eating all the Christmas cookies does not count as an accomplishment.)

Posted in Career Fulfillment, Resumes/CVs | No Comments »

Is the Next Step the Right Step for You?

Thursday, January 3rd, 2008

Many people don’t give much thought to their careers. They continue along, taking the next logical position, doing what “everyone expects” them to do next. Eventually, they realize they don’t really like what they are doing, but aren’t quite sure how they got there, or how to fix it.

An article entitled A Different Animal Seeks The Chief Executive Post talks about some of the reasons for this. Often the next job up the ladder is quite different, and requires skills and abilities that may not have been part of the previous job. The most obvious change is when one moves from the lab bench into management, but every transition has some elements of change.

Another, more science related article on this topic can be found at Top of the Heap.

As you review your career goals for the new year, don’t just set your sites on the next obvious step. Resolve to spend some time finding out what is actually involved at the next level, so you can make an informed decision as to whether or not that is what you want. If you’re going to be doing something different, make sure it’s what you want, not what everyone else expects of you.

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