Sunday night..

How do you answer the question, how do you feel on Sunday night? Do you dread Monday, the boredom or monotony of the workweek, dislike things about your workplace or the people there, or are you overwhelmed by the work itself? If the slump is serious maybe it’s time for a new act…. Maybe a multiple career act.

Maybe it’s our culture of stoic old world work ethic that still lingers and makes us think a successful career means one job till retirement, like my uncles who went from school to the automobile industry in Detroit to retirement. I don’t remember hearing about how much they loved their jobs, just how good the benefits and retirement plans were. Why do we feel the need to defer our happiness?

It that all there is? Working for the future? Spending 40 years – the prime of our life – trying to get ahead not loving what we do? I started thinking of celebrities and athletes with multiple income streams. OK, maybe they aren’t in the chemistry lab concocting the fragrance themselves or proficient in auto cad, designing the next indoor grill between movie gigs and concerts… But, how many of us are well known enough to be asked to endorse products and be paid for it or have enough money to invest in a new venture? Well, not many for sure, but the book puts down every excuse known to mankind for not doing what you love and making a career out of it. The book walks you through how to do it.

Paula Caligiuri, Ph. D., writes about investing in yourself and analyzing your options for simultaneous career acts and taking steps toward career freedom. She deftly points out that turning a passion into a career cannot be only a dream, it can be a reality.

I think it was the example of Monica and her multiple career acts that most resonated with me, though there are plenty of real life examples for inspiration. Monica was unfulfilled by her career as an organization development specialist when after 6 years she was laid off and turned her passion for gardening into being a gardening coach and now combines that with a few days a week of management coaching and some website development on the side.

Does that type of variety intrigue you?

Having multiple career acts based on what fulfills you, your motivations and how you like to work is what Get A Life Not A Job is all about. Is it really achievable? I think that if you can live with the fact that Paula points out -

The best career acts require you to take some risks or make some investments in yourself

The answer is yes…

Guest Post by Peter Lanc

Wedding day blues and getting a job what’s the difference? Not a lot…. Aren’t we all looking for superior performance?

I was speaking to a friend recently who is getting married.

She asked how she could know what it would be like after got married. I told her it’s a bit like my recruiting job. The candidates look great but how can I know what are they really like?

It’s all good up until the day, kind of like a probationary period, but as they say current and past performance is no determination of future success!

That’s got us thinking, so off to the bar we went for cocktails to muse over this delicate  topic. Over a few drinks we continued to ponder what would it be like to ask a soon to be spouse the following questions:

1. How can I be sure that you are who you say you are and that you’ll stay that way?
2. What will you be like when I am having a baby or mother in law troubles- will you stick around or move on?
3. Will you always remain as a high performer or will you (like the Who tune) ffffffade away….
4. How can I know you will treat my friends right even if you don’t like them and not have emotional outbursts and cause relationship problems?
5. Will you continue to put me at the center of your world and not go off with your buddies all the time?
6. Will you stay the course, not get bored and go somewhere else?

Oh and what about references!! That caused some chuckles I can tell you. Now would that not be something… Can you see their face when you say, “Give me 3 names of people who you have dated so I can check you out, I want to see how you were with them!!!”

Can you imagine the response? Well that’s not fair they will never give me a good reference because….. etc etc.

There were even more questions we thought of. Oh what fun we had, the more we had to drink the better and more incisive and personal the questions were that we came up with. Oh boy, well maybe some of us do this and some of us simply think it over cocktails, with our buddies and girlfriends.

I guess a job is a job yet it is much more and how many take the same time and thought over it as my friend who was getting married, and oh my those references!

Who would you not want your prospective employer to ask a reference of?  Just think, who are we really and for how long?  How many masks do we have and what shadow do we really cast? What are we really like? I mean really…

Its all so important, just like a marriage we have to be the right fit… all of the time!

Once a year there is another type of event at the Arena that is totally different. It’s an interactive event that can literally change your life. It’s the NEPA Job Fair. Similar events are held in cities across the country every year. So, if you’re lucky enough to have landed here through finding this blog in a Facebook or Twitter post or Google search it’s for you too.

Now of course, you can walk in the Arena doors and on to the floor and weave in and out of the maze of employer booths like a spectator – that’s what most people do. Then you’ll go home and talk about how it was, “OK but nothing special, there are no opportunities around here.”

That’s the big mistake most people make, they treat a job fair as a spectator sport. Find out how to work the job fair over at the NEPA Job Fair blog…

For instance, there once was a woman named Reina…… It’s your lucky day for I will spare you the very gory details.

It’s not a common name in the US and it had been a few years years since I had been subjected to it. About 7 years ago as a call center manager I received a calendar appointment to interview a “Reyna”. The hair stood up on the back of my neck. Immediately, all I could think of was there was no way I was going to deal with that even though I knew with 100% certainty that it was not the same person.

I got up and took a walk.  I needed air. And as I walked I talked with other personalities that reside in my mind and as we conversed and sorted it all out we came to the conclusion it was important to give this person a chance.

It’s not the same Reina so what are you worried about? She doesn’t even spell it the same way. You can’t judge a person by her name, don’t be ridiculous. What if you dismiss her because of something in your past that nothing to do with her, miss out on a great hire and do her an injustice? Just get over it.

I took some deep breaths, convinced myself to do the right thing and accepted the interview. Reyna turned out to have very high performance reviews over the next 5 years and in most respects really was a model employee.

This is a true story! I’m glad I recognized it wouldn’t be fair to judge someone on something that wouldn’t be performance related. Had I allowed my personal bias over a name to influence my decision it would have been a very big mistake.

What personal bias have you had to deal with? Was it difficult to recognize it existed? How did you overcome it?

She lost her job 2 months earlier and since then had spent countless hours scouring job boards, employment websites and submitting resumes. Mine was the first call she had received. She was amazed the call had come within minutes of clicking the submit button.

I’m blogging this to let you know to not relinquish your job search because it is a certain season. Employers have year round needs and opportunity. We may take a little time to decorate, eat cookies and take a few days off but we still need to conduct business and meet our goals to accomplish our mission.

If you are unemployed you can’t afford to “take a vacation” from your job search. You must be relentless. Rise each morning as if you are going to work and then go to work on finding opportunity that matches your skills and employment goals.

Treat your job search as a full-time job!

When you find yourself becoming discouraged, remember that when you are depressed and down on yourself it shows and it could impact your interview. Think of your job search for what it is… you are marketing your skills and yourself as a product for prospective employers to lease. That’s right, an employer leases your time and talent! Make yourself as marketable as possible, showcasing your talents. An employer must feel that if they do not hire you they will be losing out.

If you fear rejection think about it this way.. In sales it can take 10 “no’s” to get a “yes”. You might get the yes the first or tenth time you ask for the sale, you can’t predict. Each “no” you get brings you closer to the “yes”! To be effective, you need to be steadfast and approach each potential customer with the same confidence and presentation – because that could be your sale. If you waiver, become doubtful, skip a step or lack thoroughness you could jeopardize the sale.

A job search is no different!

The key to a successful job search is to remain steadfast and remain consistent in your approach.

♦Treat each opportunity as if it will be a a “yes” and know that each “no” will only bring you closer to your new employment.

♦Present yourself to each employment opportunity as if it were the only opportunity. It will keep you sharp and make you work hard to win it.

♦Prepare for each opportunity by researching each company you apply to then target your resume for that particular job. It’s time consuming but it will stand out from the mass template submissions employers receive. Invest the same time and energy in your resume as you would if you were on the job and being paid to create an important presentation or report.

♦If you have anything less than a professional sounding email address create a new account such as firstname.lastname@host.com. Whimsical, cutesy, goth, TMI, sexual in nature, etc., type email addresses are simply inappropriate. After all, at least in my inbox the first thing I see, my first impression of a candidate, is their email address.

The key is to maintain a consistent professional image from A to Z

♦Keep a spreadsheet for (or jot in a notebook) the positions you have applied to. Include the company, contact, phone number, email address and date submitted.

♦Follow up with a call or email a few days later to ask if you are being considered a candidate. If the answer is no, ask for feedback on why. Don’t be afraid to ask – It will help you understand employer and industry needs and help you refine and target your search to match your skills. Thank the Recruiter for taking the time to provide you with valuable feedback and ask to be considered in the future for positions that match your qualifications. If a Recruiter has been particularly helpful it can’t hurt to follow up with a brief thank you email or note.

♦Start answering your phone in a professional way. “Hello, this is Sam” is a good greeting. Answering with “Yeah, who is this?” is less than impressive to a potential employer.

♦When a potential employer calls understand that is the first step in the interview process. That call is a phone screen. Put a mental “suit” on and conduct yourself professionally as if you were in a face-to-face interview.

♦If you are invited to interview in person ensure you arrive 10 minutes early. If you are not familiar with the location do a dry run. The day of the interview is not the day to get lost. Use that 10 minutes to psych yourself up for the interview and envision the job offer.

♦Dress, speak and act like the position you aspire to. One step up from the position you are interviewing for is a good guideline. Put on your best clothing and grammar (without gum in your mouth, of course), hold your head high and pretend you are the leading role in a movie. Be self-conscious of your posture and body language. Try really hard to have good eye contact.

♦Listen carefully to the interviewer’s instructions and questions. Focus and answer appropriately. Don’t deviate from the questions and do not offer up personal information. Remember it is a job interview and keep your comments to your skills, abilities and talents in regard to the position you are interviewing for. Arrive prepared to discuss examples of your performance, teamwork and people skills at prior places of employment.

♦Let the interviewer know you have done your research. Ask questions to show you are interested and engaged. If you don’t know what to ask some possibilities are about the number of employees and/or locations, what is a typical day like for a person in the position, examples of employee recognition, etc.

♦Thank the interviewer and offer a handshake. If you are still interested in the company at the end of the interview tell the interviewer. Something like, “I am very interested in this position, more so now after the interview and meeting you”. Ask for a business card and send a follow-up thank you email as soon as possible.

I look forward to your feedback on this blog post. Let me know if it is helpful to you. I would love to know what topics relating to employment you would like me to blog about and be sure to send me your success stories.

I want to hear your story!

That’s how I started both of the presentations I co-facilitated as an advisory board member and volunteer for the NEPA Veterans Multicare Alliance (NEPA MVA) today on Chapter 33 The Post 9/11 GI Bill. I was pleasantly surprised to see about 90% of hands go up.

Ma’am, I started college before I was deployed to Iraq and continued when I came back. Then I was deployed to Afghanistan and now I’m in the Guard and working 2 jobs to stay ahead. I want to finish but I don’t have a lot of free time, how can I take advantage of my benefits?

Soldier, you’ve been to Hell and back, you can do anything you want to.

I was in harm’s path but never in its way. Most of the time I was preparing secret messages on ancient equipment about what kind of socks the Russians were wearing in their troop movements as photographed by satellite imagery. Oh yeah, there were those Iranian hostages that had us on alert and walking around all our waking hours in charcoal chemical warefare suits, rubber gloves and masks for what seemed like an eternity and we were scared of WWIII till they were released.

The Baader-Meinhof Gang (Red Faction Army) disco bombings were bad and those rolls of film we had to confiscate from Germans taking photos of the F14′s taking off outside the perimeter that got analyzed then incinerated were largely amateur. There was that that stint as an SP when I got bit by a Japanese woman who wanted to commit suicide and take her 2 babies with her as I lodged my hand in her mouth so she couldn’t swallow the pills. Human bites are nasty by the way.

But none of that was even close to what today’s troops have been dealing with recently.

There is no doubt that today’s military is highly incentivized with the huge carrot of up to a 100% paid college education to join and doubly so to “re-up”. That means that more college bound youth join. Today’s military men and women are intelligent, not afraid to take calculated risks, perform under pressure, are willing to go the extra mile, fiercely loyal, dependable, trustworthy, hard working and well mannered. They have leadership skills and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to get the mission accomplished, even if it means putting themselves in harm’s way to get ahead. Just look at the lengths they’re taking to be able to get a college education.

Doesn’t that sound like the profile of someone you would like to talk to about a job req you have?

Today I’m asking you to recruit a Veteran. Chances are you’ll be very happy you did. Here are some resources to help you in your search. Job postings and resume searches are FREE at these sites.

HireVetsFirst There are nearly 2,000 One-Stop Career Centers nationwide where employers can go to receive assistance in connecting to and recruiting veterans. Or, call 1-877-US2-JOBS for direct assistance.

HireHeroesUSA HHUSA’s mission is to provide career placement assistance to all of our returning service men and women.  The HHUSA program focuses on the career placement of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans, specializing in the placement of those injured or with any level of disability. Plus, you can download several nifty badges and ads to put on your job postings, website or blog.

HirePatriots Hire Patriots is to help veterans & communities connect for employment for both 1 day jobs & full time careers in order to help put veterans back to work which will allow the community to be able to show their support by hiring veterans in their local community.

Now what’s stopping you? Move it!

Anyway, last Wednesday, on the ride home from an ever so richly rewarding day at the Bat Cave, Ralphie was on the air commenting on recent stories in the news regarding companies banning the use of social media in the workplace. It was good… but it reminded me of biblical stories of the plague that killed first born sons.

Because that is how important being connected is for so many people. I can see the day when we’re all chewing Socialmediadone™ while at work to kill the craving for 8 hours because the addiction has become too strong to resist….

@Shoefeen would be a great candidate for Clinical Trials

Where is the nearest Socialmediadone™ clinic?

I hope it passes and gets over the counter approval so I can contribute to humanity and leave a legacy in the same capacity as my long gone but not ever to be forgotten relative Marie Curie. Um, do you think Pfizer or Merck would pick it up and I could get rich and lay in bed with a laptop and Blackberry the rest of my life tweeting, facebooking, linking and blogging???

I did not facebook him while I was driving! Why do you think like that? I chewed my lip for the other 3 minutes until I got home and then I sent him a message  (yes before I went potty… you’re so nosy sometimes) letting him know I  understand how scary this threat of withdrawal is and asking if he wanted to have a conversation about it from an HR and employer perspective.

He did… he facebooked me back (you know as well as I do that facebook is a noun as well as a verb) and asked if I could come over to chat with him and Mike on Monday night about it.

It might be too late for @Shoefeen, and she’s not in the right DMA anyway, but I am excited at the prospect of making an impact on #NEPA SM addicts so they don’t make the same mistake.

Warning: Do not try to be slick and steal my creative terminology. I grant you permission to use it but I demand credit for the stuff I invent, google, and if it doesn’t exist throw on a ™.

Thurston: You think I began a dozen global corporations by stooping to thievery?
Professor: Well, of course not.
Thurston: Shows how naive you are. How else do you get to the top of the corporate ladder!

I loved Gilligan’s Island  as a child. Young and innocent I wasn’t capable of delving deep into the hidden meaning behind the parable. I didn’t even know it was a parable. I thought parables were lessons about how to provide enough alcohol at parties. You know, that stuff about tuning water into wine.

Just like on the island, workplaces have cultures. If we don’t create them they create themselves. As long as humans and their nature is involved it happens. There’s the larger corporate culture we may be aware of, even indoctrinated into. It may be attractive to us in the interview. Maybe it was a strong draw to work there in the first place. Companies these days are keenly aware of branding and marketing their corporate culture. Smaller companies may just be a an uncharted isle waiting for someone to to write SOL in the sand on the beach.

What companies come to mind when you think of corporate culture?

Snap! When the Googleplex was unveiled in 2006 I would have sacrificed a kidney to be an insider there. I wanted everything to be googlesque. I wanted to sit in front of the idea board to have coffee. I wanted a massage during work hours when my neck tensed up. I wanted to take my dog to work! Most of all, I wanted an environment where creativity and experimentation was encouraged and where flops weren’t seen as failures. Ah…. freedom to do my best, be me, be motivated and unconstrained.To wear jeans and t-shirts, be anti-social if I wanted to and live in my mind as long as I produced.

Back to the show.

You have an opportunity to play the role you aspire to. You might not have the title officially but you can study hard to be the stand-in. The way you portray your role affects the culture of your work area. Your work area has the ability to be a role model for company culture. If it stands out it will be emulated and imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. So, if your workplace isn’t quite the Googleplex, you can help lead it in that direction.

Cast of Characters

Trainer: The Professor
Manager: The Skipper
Human Resources: Maryanne
CEO: Ginger
Entry Level Worker: Gilligan
Chairman of the Board: Thurston Howell lll

Now here’s Bill!

I don’t know if anyone has noticed, but Karla has an obsession for food. Could it be that it’s a diet phase, and hunger is bringing food in to all her writings. Barely a blog goes by without a mention of an éclair, bun or other pastry product. We were discussing this on twitter recently (it was a Saturday) when I commented on two things: 1) Being a Saturday I should really get a life & 2) that I talk about “cake making” in my training. Curious about this, and desirous to discuss food further, invited me to add a guest blog.

If you bake a cake as badly as I do, the reason is because I get bored of recipes and guess the ingredients. Forget the scales; chuck in a handful of this and a handful of that. Mix it in a pot, drink a beer then stick it in the oven. Surprise, one hour later I take out the smoking stodgy mess and then rush to the shops to buy a real cake made by an expert baker, so that we don’t have to spend another of my children’s a birthday singing happy birthday whiles they blow out candles stuck in a potato covered in tinfoil. (This is true!) And a wife expressing an opinion that makes Gordon Ramsey sound like a priest.

Where did it all go wrong? Despite my blaming the cooker and banging the thermostat, I know in my heart of hearts I should have really paid more attention to the traditional recipe handed down from grandmother to grandmother, before deciding that actually I knew better than those that had gone before, and winging it. More preparation to get the ingredients and timings right, following the words of the wise and I would have ended up with a cake to be proud of.

O.K., that’s a wise culinary lesson but what has this got to do with a blog aimed at job seekers? For me, it’s simple. While putting together Career Carnival, I collected over 30 expert blogs and twitter tips on every aspect of the job seeking process. This is the recipe you need to follow in your search for your next big step. From reading all of this material I can give you my 10 commandments for the job search. Be sure to follow the recipe!

1. Before you start anything define what you want. Be clear what will be right for you, why you want it and use this to define your search. Check with people who know if you are being realistic in your expectation.
2. Create an on-line presence that includes a linked in profile fully completed including references. Check Facebook etc., and see what it says about you. Change it if you think it wouldn’t look good to hiring managers.
3. Collect references from past managers and create a brag file that illustrates your achievements.
4. Conduct at least 4 mock interviews with friends who you trust to be critical.
5. Apply for one job at a time, make each resume and cover letter personal to that job and keep a track on a spreadsheet of every job you apply for and where you’re up to. It’s not impressive to say “Sorry, what was the role again?”
6. Make friends of recruiters. They are not the enemy and your relationship with them will determine where you are in their thinking. Be professional and courteous, and always ask for (and more importantly accept) feedback.
7. never be late for an interview and spend time preparation. The right ingredients for the interview are 80% preparation,20% presentation.
8. During the interview take notes and ask 3 types of questions:
   1. Questions about something you’ve been told by the interviewer. Shows you have listened and are interested.
   2. Questions that show you have done your own research about something you haven’t been told.
   3. Qualify what the next step is, and if you want it, ask for it.
9. Make sure you close for any job you want by stating that and asking for reservations. If there are none, ask for the job.
10. Always plan and follow the plan. An old cliché but “Fail to plan, plan to fail!”

This is my recipe for success. Follow the instructions to avoid ending up huddled round a burning potato rather than pulling out a masterpiece, testament to your ability.

Good luck!
Bill

You can follow me on twitter: @BillBoorman (I highly suggest you do ~Karla)