Let me offer a bit of free career advice as to why this is a BAD IDEA!

If your resume looks like everyone else’s you increase your competition. If a hiring manager sees 15 (or 50 or 500) resumes that all look the same, then his/her hiring decision becomes a lottery. Make your resume stand out by emphasizing solid accomplishments from your past.

Narrow the target of your job search. It’s a bit counter-intuitive, and most people don’t want to rule out any job opportunity. But, narrowing your job search is actually a good thing. By narrowing your job search target you will be able to rely more on your network of friends, family and former colleagues to pass along specific opportunities. If your job search target is too broad, they won’t be able to help you.

Rely on your network to find job opportunities for you. At least 60% of all jobs are found through some form of network connection. Most jobs are never posted online (i.e. Monster.com, or CareerBuilder.com). In fact only about 5-7% of people ever get a job this way. By letting your network know exactly what kind of new job you are looking for, you will allow them to help you find it.

So the next time you are asked what kind of job you are looking for, don’t say, “any job will do.” Be specific about what kind of job you are looking for and let your network help you find your next career opportunity.

Revenue (or income) - Expenses = Net Revenue (can be profit or loss).

Money in minus money out equals net revenue. The goal of every business is to increase revenue and decrease expenses so they can turn a profit.

Every business is in business to turn a profit. Without a profit, a business cannot sustain itself.  (BTW – this is true of non-profit organizations and governments as well. They just call it something different.)  Profit is made when the cost of providing the goods or services is less than what they sell for. In other words, if I sell a book for $20.00 and it cost me $10.00 to produce it, I have made a profit.  If, on the other hand, I can only sell the book for $7.00 even though it cost me $10.oo to produce, I have made a loss.  If I keep losing money this way I will not be in business much longer.  I think you know why.

In order for a business to stay alive it must have MORE expenses less than revenue.

Now here’s why that’s important to you as a job seeker.  EVERY manager is concerned about this little equation all the time. It’s their job. They are supposed to help the company make a profit. When a manager goes to hire someone, they have to do the math and figure out if paying your salary and benefits will help turn a profit or turn into a loss.

As an interviewee, your job is to help the hiring manager see that you are a good “investment”. The way to do this is to give proof on your resume that you have helped your former or current employer make or save money. When you show results, your resume gets read.

Theses people were frantic. They were anxious. They were most certainly NOT enjoying life.

Then I noticed the family in the plain clothes quietly talking to each other near the corner of the station.  They seemed oblivious to the hustle and bustle around them. They quietly waited for the train as if they didn’t have a care in the world.  This Amish family caught my eye.  Not because of what they were doing, but rather because of what they were NOT doing.  They were not caught up in the frantic nature of the day. Instead they were enjoying just being in the presence of each other’s company. As a recent New York Times article proclaims, we are certainly “wired for distraction.”

I watched for a few minutes and thought, “sometimes I wish I was just a little bit Amish.”

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to live without my laptop, my iPhone, or my flat screen television (with ESPN and the Food Network).  I don’t want to live without electricity or flush toilets.  But sometimes I wish I was just a little bit Amish. I wish I could force myself to unplug and enjoy things as they unfold, rather than always pushing, pushing, pushing.

How about you? Do you ever want to unplug? Do you ever wish you were just a little bit Amish?  Well you can be, you know.  All you have to do is turn off everything and read a book. . . . which I think I  will do right now.  Peace!

He put the large rocks in first, followed by the stones to fill in the gaps.  Then came the pebbles with a bit of shaking. Finally he poured in the sand and the class saw that everything fit just fine.

The point is to put the large rocks in first.

So it is with our life, our business, our career.  Put the most important things first (the large rocks) and everything else will fit!

Once you know the trick, this doesn’t seem so difficult.  Why, then, do so many of us spend our days running from appointment to appointment, falling behind, and not accomplishing the most important things?  I believe the key is in identifying what the large rocks are.  Most of the time they are not what we think!

One of the most helpful tools I have found for identifying and keeping prominent the large rocks in my life (or business), is an annual strategic planning retreat.  I take time away for a day or two in order to focus on the big picture.  What is my life purpose? How does my work/business reflect that purpose?  What are the key things I need to accomplish this year in order to live up to my life’s purpose?

Taking time away helps me to see the big picture — to identify the large rocks.  Once I have done that I can simply ask myself at any time during the day, “does this activity help move me towards my goal(s)?”  If the answer is “no”, then I give myself permission to stop what I’m dong so I can focus on what really matters.

Do you take an annual strategic planning retreat? If not, I encourage you to plan one RIGHT NOW!  It will help you put the big rocks first, which will allow you to fit everything important into your life!

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If you are going to be in the Portland area on November 17, 2010 I’d like to invite you to join us up at Mt. Hood for a one day strategic planning retreat! You can go to this link for more details >> http://seminars.careeradvice4u.com/strategic-planning-retreat-at-mt-hood

He drew a circle that shut me out —
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in!

Edwin Markham

The spate of political ads has me thinking about this famous poem by Edwin Markham. It seems like the most effective thing our current political system does is to draw circles around “like-thinking groups” — circles that exclude others.

This doesn’t seem to me to be a very good way to build a nation.

It’s also not a very good way to build a business, yet I see so many companies doing just that.  They draw circles that exclude or (get rid of) good employees. They draw circles that undercut their competition. Circles that separate management from line workers.

So I ask you, gentle reader, what kind of circle can YOU and LOVE have the wit to draw that will bring others into your circle?

Networking is about finding opportunity to draw other people into your circle.  Are you a quality networker?

Happy Hunting!

Related Posts:

• What Is A Personal Brand And Why Do You Need One?
• How to Work With A Recruiter In Your Job Search
• Why A Great Resume Is Not As Important As A Decent Network

It wasn’t that way when you started the day. You set out to do something good or important. In your efforts to search for a job or complete an important business project you threw yourself into it heart and soul. You were busy all day long and yet, at the end of the day (or week, or month) you wondered if you really accomplished anything important. How did that happen? You were busy, but not productive.

One of the problems many of us face is that we don’t have a system for defining, achieving and measuring our effectiveness.  We haven’t set specific goals for our business, project, or job search. Because we have not set specific goals, we don’t know when we have been successful at achieving your goals. . . or even if we HAVE achieved them.

A professor of mine in business school famously said, “if you can measure it, you can improve it.”  I wasn’t sure what he meant at the time, but as I have spent more time pursuing both life and business objectives I have begun to understand.  Setting specific goals allows us to measure our effectiveness at our work. Having a system to measure the outcome of our activities allows us to improve on what we have done in the past or achieve want to get done in the future.

Here are some tips that will help you develop a system for defining, achieving and measuring goals.

1. Make time to set goals.  It is said that every hour spent on planning saves 5-6 hours in execution. The simplest way to get something done is to set a goal to accomplish it.  For your business you want to set chronological goals (annual, monthly, weekly and daily goals) as well as project goals. The same is true of your job search – and here’s an important hint: applying to jobs on the Internet is NOT a goal you should set for more than 30 minutes per day! Schedule time for planning and goal setting. I recommend you block out a couple of days each year for strategic planning and setting annual goals; a half day each month to set monthly goals and a few minutes each week to set weekly goals. Be sure to make your goals specific and achievable.
2. Define clear objectives.  Objectives are the steps required to accomplish a goal. They formulate your action plan for accomplishing your goals. Your objectives should be measurable so you know when you have accomplished them. They should be realistic and time bound as well.
3. Keep track of your progress. What metrics or benchmarks will you use to mark your progress.  Set the tracking mechanism up before you start, that way you will be able to prioritize and focus on the parts of the project or goal that are the most important. If you need to let something fall between the cracks, make sure it’s not the most important thing. Setting metrics and tracking your progress will help you keep the first things first.
4. Make mid-course corrections as needed.  Things seldom go exactly as planned. Life happens. Things break or need to be replaced. People get sick. Money runs out before the project is complete. The successful person is able to step back and make course corrections if necessary to accomplish their goals.  In order to be effective at this you must focus on the ultimate goal or objective – not the action itself.  Remember, it’s easy to forget your objective is to drain the swamp when you are up to your eyeballs in alligators!

A mentor of mine used to say, “plan your work, then work your plan.”  He was a wise man! If we follow that advice we will have fewer days (weeks, months, years. . . ) where we get to the end of the project and say, “gee what HAVE I accomplished?”

Happy Hunting, friends!

Dr. Sean Harry
Career Management Solutions

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Are you plagued with thoughts like these?  If so, they are probably keeping you from moving forward with your job search, business plans or even the ability to deepen important relationships.  Negative thoughts can be discouraging or even debilitating, but you don’t have to let them rule your actions! You can beat negative thoughts and negative self talk with a few simple steps.

In his recent book, “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsiveness“, Dr. Daniel Amen calls this negative self-talk the “fortune-telling ANT.”  These ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts) can cause anxiety, stress, inaction and even problems with our physical health.  If you are a job seeker or an entrepreneur you are, no doubt, intimately familiar with ANTs.  They are the little voice inside your head that tells you that you aren’t smart enough or good enough or experienced enough.

The good news is that these ANTs can be killed quite easily.  Here’s Dr. Amen’s recipe:

Step 1 – write down the event that is causing you stress or anxiety.

Step 2 – Notice and write down the automatic negative thoughts that come to your mind when you think of this event.

Step 3 – Label those thought as a fortune-telling ANT. Amen writes, “Often, just naming the thought can help take away its power.” (Amen, p. 98)

Step 4 – Talk back to the ANT – or squash and kill it. Chances are that the negative thought is only partially true. Squash the ANT by bringing in as many positive responses as possible.  For instance, if the ANT is telling you that you don’t have enough experience, make a list of the experience you DO have.  Counter the ANT with facts.

Dr. Amen offers the above 4 steps to kill ANTs.  To that I add this fifth one:

Step 5 – Make an action list of 2 or 3 things you can do TODAY that will prove the ANT wrong.  Being proactive will help you prove to yourself that the ANT is wrong and you are right.  Thus, the ANT stays dead longer!

You don’t have to be held hostage by your negative thoughts.  You can beat your negative thoughts with these few simple steps.  Now, go and kill those ANTs!

Happy Hunting!

I’ve always known that “if we can measure something, we can improve it.”  Brogan’s list gives us a way to measure something that is a bit intangible — how we use social media.  It is possible to waste an incredible amount of time on social media, thus many people (including job seekers and small business owners) are reluctant to spend any time there for fear of watching the day go by unproductively. But Brogan gives us a model for measuring our activities to get maximum impact.

For my own purposes, I have created a spreadsheet from Brogan’s list and plan to keep track every day.  Every item simply gets 1 point, and my goal is to get 10 points per day. I’ve even added a couple of items of my own (i.e. writing a blog post gets 5 points). This system keeps me on track doing the things that are most important to me.

I encourage you (whether a job seeker or an entrepreneur) to do the same.  Develop your own systems (or borrow them from your friends and colleagues). Systems will help you track, measure and improve your actions so you are doing the right thing at the right time for better results.

Happy Hunting!

It got me thinking. . . what can I share with YOU, so that YOU can learn from my past mistakes that will make THIS job search better for YOU?

1) If it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. I remember taking a job that I felt wasn’t right from the day I started.  However, I was too stubborn to quit, so I “stuck it out” for several weeks.  At which point I was frustrated and my boss was frustrated with me because he knew I didn’t want to be there.  When I left that position there were hurt feelings and some negative experiences all around.  I don’t want to do that again.

2) Negotiate up front. I once took a job with substandard pay and a promise that my salary would increase after a certain amount of time in the position.  Needless to say, the time for a big raise never came.  I should have negotiated a better compensation package going in.

3) Don’t take any job for granted. Most of us live in “employment at will” states, which means that we can be terminated for any (or no) reason at any time. There is no longer any such thing as a “social contract for life” when it comes to the employer/employee relationship. That may be good, or bad, or just the way it is.  At any rate, once you have a job you need to work hard and show your supervisors that they have done the right thing in hiring you.  If work slows down, you don’t want to give them any reason to allow you the opportunity to be the first out the door.  In other words, show up and work hard.  Hey, your employer is paying you to do your best, so give it to him/her.

4) If you lose your job go find another one. I have a good friend who worked for me a while back.  When business slowed down and I had to let him go.  I was very apologetic and felt bad, but my friend said, “I was doing something else when this job came along.  Now I’ll go do something else.”  It was a great attitude! I appreciated it and it helped him find his next job in nothing flat.

What about you?  What have you learned from your previous jobs that will help you in your current job search?

April is in full bloom.  The trees are budding. The flowers are blooming. Allergy season has kicked in. I LOVE this time of year! One of the things I love most about Spring is the opportunity to go through my closets and drawers and do some spring cleaning. I find it rewarding and energizing to get rid of the old and make room for the new.

If you’ve been unemployed for longer than 4 months you probably need to do some spring cleaning on your job search. The resume you wrote months ago has probably become stale. Your LinkedIn profile is probably showing some gaps that you will turn off potential employers. It’s time to revise your resume, update your LinkedIn status and get back into gear.

Recruiters are predicting a hiring tsunami sometime around Q3 or Q4 this year. Are YOU ready?  Here are 3 things you can do to spring clean your resume:

1. Add in any volunteer activities you have been doing since you wrote that resume a few months ago. You want potential employers to see that you haven’t been idle during your unemployment. Go ahed and list the duties accomplishments you’ve had while working at the Children’s museum, leading a fund raiser for your local church, or grading papers in your son’s 3rd grade classroom. (Haven’t done any volunteering?  Well guess what should be on you “To Do” list for today!)
2. Include books you have been reading into your LinkedIn Profile. LinkedIn has an app entitled “Reading List by Amazon.”  This is a great way to show potential employers you are an expert in your field.
3. Revitalize your network.  How long has it been since you talked to the people in your network who have actual jobs?  If it’s been more than a month, you need to “ping” them soon.  You want to keep your name on the top of their mind for when something opens up in their company.  Reach out to them with a pertinent article or website you have found that will help them in their business.  Let them know you are still around!

These three steps are so simple we can ALL do them today.  With the weather changing and the flowers blooming, it’s time to reinvigorate your job search.  Clean up your resume and get back in touch with your contacts.  You will be surprised with the results!

Like the article? Check out these related posts

• How To Write a Professional Summary Statement for Your Resume
• How Effective Is Your Resume?
• 3 Different Types of Resumes You Need To Know About
• Why a GREAT Resume is Not as Important as a DECENT Network
• Resume Writing Tips