Tag Archives: career management

The Worst Thing Is to Be Stuck in Your Career

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Business SuitMany of my clients say they feel suffocated in their careers. For whatever reason, they do not like the profession they have chosen for themselves: they feel they’re poorly fit for their careers, and they dislike everything associated with their jobs, their companies, and their bosses. So, the question is, what to do next?

Recently, I had such a client, who is a successful and experienced litigation lawyer but completely fed up with the profession and feeling stuck. In his case, we explored and evaluated other options in related fields where a law degree and years of experience could be beneficial.

One of his options was to move into the field of negotiation and conflict resolution as a mediator. For such work, his legal knowledge could be helpful. Another option was the banking field, wherein estate planning and tax planning are helpful services offered for depositors. Some lawyers gravitate into academia by teaching law or doing research in the field of law. Many lawyers are good writers too, and so, writing or journalism might be a suitable field. For instance, writing books about the law made John Grisham famous. Other lawyers have morphed into politics by joining the government. For example, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama used to teach courses in constitutional law at the University of Chicago.

Some lawyers become entrepreneurs, an occupation in which negotiation skills and knowledge of the law are essential and at times even crucial. Public advocacy is an area in which one influences policy decisions, and lawyers could do well at that. A lawyer could also consider moving into the human resources field by assisting with recruiting and human resources policies. Large businesses always need legal help in their mergers and acquisitions departments. And there are endless other options. How about becoming a Foreign Service diplomat, a law school counselor, or a law school recruiter?

As you can see, in this case we explored fields related to the skills and background of an experienced legal litigator, but the same process could be applied to the skills and backgrounds of those in other fields and professions. The process is not simple; it requires due diligence and willingness to accept change. Horses wear blinders to avoid distractions and scares, but looking all around and seeing more than just what’s narrowly in front could be helpful—especially in the face of a desire to change careers.

Communication While in Transition

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free_2789878Disclaimer: My professional background is not in the field of communication, but I still have some opinions.

Certainly, the cliché “It’s not what you know but whom you know” is often true. However, when people are in transition, I would add “but while in transition, who knows you is more important” because you are the one who needs a job, and if people cannot find you, your job search will be unnecessarily prolonged.

I categorize communication in general to occur on three levels: The lowest level is daily chitchat. We chitchat with people we know: family members, friends, and perhaps others we communicate with occasionally such as other job seekers. Communication with job seekers is superficial, though, because its only objective is to get connected.

The second level of communication involves passing or receiving relevant—or sometimes less relevant—information. For example, the news on television. This type of information is intended to inform and is often given a spin to dramatize it and keep viewers glued to the TV, but when the excitement is at its peak, we hear, ”And now this commercial.” Of course, that’s how television stations—which, after all, are businesses—generate revenues. In most cases, though, we commit this type of information only to short-term memory. Nobody remembers news from two weeks ago.

The third level of communication has to do with ideas. This is what attracts me. I’m interested in other prominent people’s or experts’ ideas. It’s where we can learn about and understand the Big Picture.

So, how is all of this relevant to people in transition? Well, you want to be viewed as an expert, and you want people to be attracted to you. When they check you out, you want potential employers to consider you an expert in your own professional field. The way to project that image is to communicate—sporadically—with those connected to you. Be aware, though, that every time you do communicate, your writing had better be of value to them. Given a little time, your connections will learn that when you send them a piece of communication, it is indeed worth their while to spend the time to read it.

A good communicator while in transition knows to use social media to advantage. On one hand, certainly you should connect with many people; on the other hand, you must connect with prospects who could help you into your next job. Remember: What’s important when you connect with others is that they be willing to share their networks with you. The power of networking is not vested in the person you communicate with so much as it is in the person’s connections. You never know whom they know!

How to Shorten Your Job Search

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People in transition know that finding a new, suitable job is a process—and most often, an unpleasant and lengthy one. While this is true in most cases, it doesn’t have to be that way, provided the job seeker understands the search process and becomes efficient with planning, creative thinking, networking, and research.

Where Do You Start Your Search?

You can’t even start searching for a job unless you know what you’re looking for. Unfortunately, many people are so burned out from their previous jobs that the idea of going back to the same kind of position seems to be a monumental barrier. Often, talking to an experienced career coach can help. No career coach will tell a client what to do but will ask the right questions, and jointly the coach and the client can come to the right conclusion. Occasionally, when the situation is severe, a third party is introduced for help. In such extreme cases, I myself refer clients to an experienced counselor and career-coaching expert who has a Ph.D. and over 20 years of experience specifically in such situations.

How to Plan Your Day

A job seeker needs to develop a plan and a strategy. The plan is not only a road map but also an important element in achieving a positive mind-set. Focus and determination are integral parts of the process if one wants to shorten it. This job search strategy has as its goal the identification of ways the job seeker will conduct the job search via various methods, including searching for online job listings, connecting with employment recruiters, and building personal relationships through networking. Keeping track of daily activities is essential by developing a spreadsheet with such information as whom you called and e-mailed and when, what networking events you participated in, and so on. Build a roster of people you met and followed up with. And beware of falling into the trap of spending more than 10 or 15 percent of the day answering online job postings and just searching the Internet in vain.

The job search has several components to it, and therefore, identifying and measuring realistic milestones are very important in order to maintain the positive attitude and self-confidence needed during the long process.

Make sure you have an outstanding résumé. I mean outstanding—not good or very good. Those who do not have an outstanding résumé unknowingly prolong their job search. This is a shame, because they think they’re in the running when in fact they’re not—because their résumé isn’t up to snuff. Companies search mostly among only outstanding candidates. Remember that you are represented by what your résumé projects. No company is knowingly looking for good or very good job candidates. Companies all are looking for outstanding ones. For years, my recommendation has been to use a recommended professional résumé writer. Unless you are one, chances are very good that you’re not capable of producing an outstanding résumé—even if many others have helped you improve or edit it. And last, I suggest you work with a career coach who can prepare you by helping you acquire the skills needed for a successful interview.

Only in the Olympics are there three winners. In the job market, all candidates are losers except one. Good luck to you!

Are You Media Social?

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Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

Many people don’t realize how different the job search of today is from the job search of not even a few years ago.   Many others find it difficult to learn about today’s different kind of search and therefore shove the issue to their back burner, planning to deal with it later—if they do at all. Yet others, often younger ones, embrace the new wave and benefit from it.

Social media are open for two-way communication and are important for more than social interaction. Those media are especially important for job seekers because more than 80 percent of recruiters use social media to find job candidates. In 2008 and 2009, many company human resources departments eliminated part of their staffs, and thus the recruiting responsibility fell directly on the shoulders of the hiring manager. An advantage offered by social media is that they reveal people’s personalities, and after all, companies are looking for candidates who will fit into their cultures.

Using social media, job seekers should follow the following steps.

  • Identify target companies and the people in your specific area of expertise.
  • Research specific problems you can help with.
  • Identify people within the target company who might be willing to be of assistance to you. This requires tenacity!
  • Connect to those people via social media.
  • Start interacting with them to establish credibility.

Admittedly, accessing the Internet to find a job is tedious, laborious, dull, and exhausting, but it can be made easier with several existing job search tools and organizers. For example:

  • CareerShift.com
  • Becomed.com
  • JibberJobber.com
  • JobKatch.com

None of those organizers are perfect, and users experience a steep learning curve to set one up and master it. Some of the organizers connect easily with LinkedIn and Outlook. Others require a fee. And yet others do not connect with certain job boards.

It’s all about building mutually beneficial relationships. But it’s worthless unless the other party can help and is willing to refer you to others. Of course, the same is expected from you. The advantages of online networking are numerous: It’s free. Job seekers can do research before meeting the other party. The connection is fast and easy. And such communication is effective and speedy. Regrettably, though, in many cases the relationships are shallow and not durable.

In the past, job search networking meant going to meetings, shaking hands, smiling, exchanging business cards, and following up. That still holds true today, but via social networking, one can do preliminary research in order to make an event more effective than it would be without such advance research.

One way or another, to benefit from networking, one needs to vastly increase one’s sphere of acquaintances. And that process itself needs to be managed carefully. Luckily, several programs can provide some help in this area. For example:

  • BatchBlue.com
  • Plaxo.com
  • Gist.com

Again, another learning curve with advantages and disadvantages.

Looking for a job is very time-consuming, but it can have a fun component if one has the patience, tenacity, and foresight to see that at the end of the job search tunnel will be a wonderful job waiting to be found. Good luck on your journey and I invite your comments.

How Hiring Decisions Are Made

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AP Photo - Adrian Dennis

Years ago, I had a large office in the Wall Street area with a personal secretary screening my phone calls, opening mail, taking dictation, and managing my calendar. Since then of course, the business world has changed. The next phase had executives sharing a pool of secretaries using floppy discs working on word processors. That was followed by an administrative assistant supporting at times an entire group.

Whereas years ago the hiring process and the hiring decision were the exclusive domain of the executive, nowadays—since so-called teamwork has become a major part of the work environment—hiring decisions are often shared and thus made by several team members. That process supports the concept that a group decision is better than an individual decision. As a result, the process has become convoluted, protracted, and not necessarily better—in my opinion.

Today’s job market is flooded with lots of very qualified candidates chasing very few openings. The way hiring happens has also changed. Technology has infiltrated the process, and today’s submission of one’s candidacy is purely mechanical. Nobody sees the candidate’s skills and qualifications unless the hiring manager’s keywords match those on the résumé, and only then is the original résumé reproduced for reading. Once that happens, several candidates get reviewed via a selection process.

To save time and money, a phone interview, or screen, is the next hurdle candidates face. It’s usually accomplished by someone junior in the human resources department who does not fully understand the hiring department’s particular needs. If an external recruiter is the intermediary between the candidate and the hiring company, then the recruiter’s financial motivation is playing a key role. That’s because recruiters work for the company paying their commissions.

Decision Making

Decision making is a complex process because several parties have a say and a stake in it. For example, sometimes the human resources department representative’s opinion carries significant weight, and other times the rep is merely a paper trail processor. Sometimes a candidate is interviewed by several people in addition to the final decision maker. Those others, too, have a say—because hiring managers want to show their support of their teams by demonstrating their collegiality—but to what extent those other opinions matter is probably variable. And what happens when a hiring manager favors a particular candidate but several others who’d be future peers of the candidate show resistance? In addition, in most cases hiring managers know the thinking and mentality of the person they report into, so what happens if their own opinion is opposed regarding the type of person who should be hired?

A recent large survey was conducted among human resources professionals and hiring managers. The survey clearly found that by far, the number one factor in the hiring decision is the fit factor—meaning, the determination about whether a candidate will fit into the culture of the company. Fully 100 percent of the respondents said so! But what is this culture that’s referred to? Who defines it? Who interprets it?

Some companies use exclusively behavior-based or situation-based interview questions. The tenet here is that past performance is a good indicator or predictor of similar such performance. I wonder if those companies can decisively demonstrate that by practicing this theory, they become able to hire and retain a higher-caliber labor force.

Ultimately, of course, it is people who make the final decision about which candidate to offer the job to. The interview process is certainly not a science but an art. Can that art be learned in order to improve one’s chances of being hired? Well, I’m sure you know the answer to the old riddle that asks, Do you know how to get to Carnegie Hall?