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.

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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I tell my clients, “You MUST have a target, because if you shoot at nothing you will absolutely hit it . . . NOTHING.”

One of the things job seekers today do most often to sabotage their job search is to be unclear about their perfect job.  When asked what kind of job they are looking for, many will answer, “Any job. Any shift. Anywhere.”  I understand about keeping your options open, but the truth is that you will not be happy in just ANY JOB.  Unless you are specific about what you can and will do in your next position, other people can’t help you find opportunities.  If your job search does not have a clear target you are very likely to hit that target . . . which is NO JOB.

Here are the 4 key ingredients you MUST be clear about in order to define a target for your job search:

1. Job Satisfaction. What do you do well that you would like to do in your next job?  What skills, knowledge and abilities would you like to use in your next career position?  What gives you energy on the job, and what sucks the life out of you?  What are you good at, and why?  These are key questions, because if you don’t have job satisfaction you will not be happy or productive in your next career — which ultimately will lead to looking for another job soon.  More than 2,500 years ago Confucius said, “Do what you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.”  Some things never change!
2. Growth Opportunities. What kinds of growth opportunities will keep you engaged in your next job?  Is it important for you to have the opportunity to move up the corporate ladder?  Or are you more satisfied by doing work that is physically engaging or mentally challenging?  Without opportunities for growth you will, sooner or later, become disengaged from your job . . . which leads you back to the job hunt (see above).  It’s important to know yourself and what learning, development, growth opportunities you need in order to stay engaged.
3. Work Environment. Do you work best in a large company or a small one?  Do you need to have a team of people working along side of you or would you rather work alone?  Are you willing to travel or do you prefer to have a routine schedule every day?  Is relocation an option?  To where?  What kind of corporate culture fits with your personal values? Do you like a fast paced environment or one that is slow and relaxed?  What kind of boss or manager do you work best with? These are questions that you need to research before you agree to your next job. The wrong environment can be deadly to you and your career!  Do your homework BEFORE you start looking for your next job.
4. Salary Requirements. What do you need to make in order to be satisfied?  What is your target salary?  Do you need health insurance, or are you covered under your spouse’s plan?  Are retirement benefits important? How about vacation, training, etc.  One problem I see too many times is that people put the salary question first.  That’s a BAD idea!  As we have discovered above, if you aren’t satisfied on your job, don’t have opportunity for growth, and are working in the wrong environment you will not be happy.  If you are not happy in your career it doesn’t really matter how much money you make, because you are not likely to stay there long.  Salary considerations are important, but only so far as they fit in with the other three keys to your perfect career.

Identify these 4 keys to your perfect career and your job search will start to move along quickly.  By being clear on what you are looking for, you will see more opportunities and you will help others (i.e. your network) help you find potential jobs.  Get a clear target and you will have something to aim at!

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After watching the winter Olympics and marveling at the level of athletic excellence displayed by the athletes over the past few weeks, I got to thinking about what job seekers can learn from these amazing athletes. Time after time the difference between earning a metal or not ranking came down to superb coaching, practice and finely honed technique.

In today’s highly competitive job market the same holds true for job seekers. It is not enough to be good, you need to be great to get placed with an employer. Let’s take a closer look what that means for your job search strategy.

Olympic athletes leave nothing to chance. They have a clearly defined winning strategy. They choreograph every stage of their event. By that I mean they have a clear sense of how they will begin, how they will proceed and how they will finish their performance. They have a clear and strong winning strategy in place. How solid are you in all the elements of your career search strategy? Do you have a clear sense of every step of your job search process? If you don’t, you are going to be passed by other job seekers who know what they are doing.

Olympians use coaches to mentor and correct potentially costly mistakes. Are you using a career expert to advise you in your career search strategy? If not you are not getting vital help to give you a competitive advantage.

Olympians rely on cutting edge methodology and technology to give themselves every advantage in their performance. You are relying on yesterday’s career methodologies to compete in today’s job search? Are you hanging on old ways of doing a job search because it is comfortable instead of stretching and pushing yourself to be more up to date? If you want to be noticed and get interviews you need to adopt new methods for doing an effective job search.

And finally, are you practicing like an Olympian? Are you fully engaged and committed to investing the time and energy it takes to place? Good enough will not cut it. It takes hours and hours to come up with clear and compelling SAR (Situation-Action-Result) stories that will showcase your strengths and achievements.

I hope you enjoyed watching the winter Olympics as much as I did.  Now it’s time to remember the lessons from the athletes for top performance and apply them to your career strategy job search.

Gary Prehn is a Career Management Solutions Career Advisor in Southern California.

Mom says that grandpa was without regular work for about 10 years. During that time he did whatever odd jobs he could to pay the rent and put food on the table. He worked on a friend’s ranch in Eastern Oregon and did day labor when he could find it. Grandpa heard that the railroad was hiring in Portland, so in early December of 1941 he found his way to the big city. That day was December 7th — the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor marking the U.S. entry into WWII. Needless to say, when grandpa got to Portland the railroad was no longer hiring.

Too old to enlist in the war, grandpa stayed with his brother-in-law and went about looking for work wherever he could find it. After many fits and starts, he finally got hired on with a trucking company where he spent the rest of his working career. He learned about the opportunity from a friend, and followed up.  Luckily that opportunity turned into a long lasting career.

For several years the family lived in NW Portland in a house with 3 other families — and only ONE bathroom!  It’s all they could afford.  They got along and enjoyed each others company even thought times were tough.

I’ll bet there is a similar story in your family. Since I heard mom tell that story, I’ve been wondering “what can WE learn from those past experiences?”  Well, several things. . .

1. Things are tough right now, but not nearly as bad as they have been. The country has come through worse economic times, and we WILL weather this storm.  Work to keep a positive attitude and together we can make it through this economic crisis.
2. Our grandparents (or great-grandparents) did whatever the had to do in order to put food on the table.  How many unemployed people today are willing to take a subsistence job for a time in order to keep themselves afloat until something better comes along?
3. Follow up on opportunities your hear about through others.  Today we call it “networking”, but I doubt grandpa used that specific word for it.
4. Everything is temporary. The Great Depression was temporary.  WWII was temporary.  Your last job was temporary.  So will you next job be temporary.  What are YOU doing to focus on the long term?
5. Enjoy each other.  Even though my mom and her family lived in a house with several other families and only one bathroom, she tells me they enjoyed each other.  They were a generally loving family, taking care of each other and providing emotional security in a world where it was severely lacking.

I encourage you to talk to someone in your own family who has a memory of how things were a few generations ago.  I think it will put perspective on the challenges we are all facing, and perhaps give us some hope to move boldly into the future!

Just one more thing — Peter Clayton of Total Picture Radio believes recruiter confidence is picking up.  He writes, “According to the latest ExecuNet Recruiter Confidence Index, a growing number of companies are adding new executive jobs, and fewer are eliminating them, leading executive recruiters to confirm economic recovery is beginning to take hold.” You can listen to the podcast at: Total Picture Radio (with Peter Clayton).

When you go through a grocery line today the bagger asks you how you want your items packed. “Paper or plastic?”  Many stores do not even offer us an option. They hand us our items bagged in plastic. There was a time when all groceries were packed into paper bags. Plastic bags were uncommon but not anymore. Today plastic bags are the norm.

Last week I stated that traditional jobs were going away. I recommended that it was time to change your career strategy and stop looking for jobs and start looking for work. The insight I want to share with you this week is that work used to be packed in paper bags but today it is being packed into plastic bags. There is work to be found but more and more companies are offering it in unconventional ways.

We are used to looking for work packed into job positions with clear cut duties. The jobs were offered in a paper bag called full-time, or permanent work. Today many employers are packaging work into plastic bags called projects, temporary work or contract work.

What is happening?  Companies are finding that they have to be flexible and nimble in order to compete in today’s market. They need to enlarge their workforce on short notice in order to produce a product or service. Once they have achieved their objectives they need to reduce their workforce rather than pay out wages to idle employees.

Think about the difference between paper bags and plastic bags.  A big paper grocery sack could hold a lot of groceries. You could pack many items neatly into one bag. The bags had a rigid shape and fairly predictable volume of room. Traditional jobs were like paper bags, sturdy and dependable.

But today employers are packing much of their work into plastic bags. Work today is much more flexible, odd shaped and comes in smaller units. Plastic bags are a better container for holding or assigning work.

Be careful that you do not overlook, ignore, or turn down work because it is being offering in “plastic” as contract work, temporary work or as a consulting assignment and not offered as “paper,” a full-time job. Plastic not paper is the new norm for work today.

So, which is it for you?  Paper or plastic?

That’s a direct quote from George Clooney in the movie Up In The Air. My wife and I saw it yesterday, and it really made an impact on me.  One, because this is some of the work I have been doing for the last 16 months – not the firing part, but the part about helping people move past the job loss on to a new opportunity.  Two, because it deals with an issue that more that 20% of us have had to face in the last 12-18 months — losing a job and its affect on our career, family, psyche and life.

I won’t spoil the movie for you. You should really go see it.

Now read this next part carefully, because if you don’t you may think I’m saying that working isn’t important.  I’m not saying that at all.  Our jobs allow us to exchange time for money.  Money allows us to purchase the things we want and need — i.e. food, clothing shelter, and cool stuff like iPhones and computers.  The problem is that too many of us take a job to pay the bills then end up settling for something less than we really want.  We work our jobs and they consume us.  We get tired and worn out.  Something has to give, so we settle.  We HAVE to have a job, so we give up on the one thing that really matters to us . . . our dreams.

If you have lost your job recently you have been forced into something that you didn’t want and which doesn’t feel very comfortable.  The good news is that the time you have been given may just be the ticket you need to re-focus on what really matters to you. I hope you will take the time to do that, even though it may be uncomfortable (or even a bit painful).

When our clients are evaluating their next career position we coach them to look at 4 things:

1. Job Satisfaction
2. Growth Opportunities
3. Proper Environment
4. Compensation ($$$)

When you evaluate your next position you should look for a balance of these 4 things.  If you don’t, you will probably have an opportunity to do it again within 18 months.  That’s because studies show that more than 50% of all employees are dissatisfied with their current job.  Nearly half of them state that they are looking for a new position. I assure you, that will be YOU if you don’t try to balance job satisfaction, growth opportunities, proper environment and compensation within your next position.

You don’t have to settle.  You don’t have to take a position that will suck the life out of you. You don’t have to give up on your dreams…and I hope you don’t, because life is just too short!

Happy Hunting!

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Your network let you down?  Really?

If you feel like your network has let you down, then you really don’t understand what a network is, how to develop it, or how to use it to help you in the job search.  Listen up, kids.  There WILL BE a test at the end of this post, and if you fail you will add several months (not weeks . . . MONTHS) to your job search.

What you must understand first and foremost is that networking is NOT about you. Ever.  It’s about connecting people to help them get what they want or need. Anything that comes your way out of networking is a bi-product of you connecting other people. Many job seekers don’t understand this, and thus, are frustrated when their network doesn’t produce the results they think it should.  Many job seekers think the network is there to serve them, to pass along job leads, or to help them get a foot in the door. That is NOT what a network is for.  YOU exist to serve the network. The network is not there to serve you.

Here’s the tricky part. It is a proven fact that most people find their job because of a network connection.  They know somebody who knows somebody who needs what that particular job seeker has to offer. Your name gets passed along as a potential fit, and before you know it you are sitting in an interview.  Somehow that confusingly gets turned into, “my network is there to help me find a job.”  Look closer, because that’s not what is happening at all.  That scenario is not about YOU, it’s about the person or company that has a need for something.  Your name gets passed along because you have built up trust and respect within your network.  You are the connection that helps the other person fulfill their need.  Don’t ever get this confused, because that’s when people feel that their network has let them down. In fact the opposite is true — YOU have let down YOUR NETWORK.  You haven’t shown yourself to be trustworthy, so nobody passed along your name as a potential solution to the other person’s problem. Bitter medicine, perhaps, but that’s the way it works!

In their book, Trust Agents, Chris Brogan and Julien Smith offer a mathematic formula for trust.  (It’s not theirs originally, but that’s where I saw it, so they get the credit.) The formula goes like this:

(C x R x I) / S = T

That is, CREDIBILITY times RELIABILITY times INTIMACY, divided by SELF-ORIENTATION equals TRUST.  The key here, as I see it, is to understand that as SELF-ORIENTATION (or self-interest) increases, your TRUST factor decreases.  The more you are in it for yourself, the less trust you obtain. Networks are driven by trust.

So, the next time you feel like your network has let you down check your heart and clarify your motives.  Others can tell if you are there for yourself or for them, and they won’t tolerate it.

What’s your TRUST factor?