Barton Career Advisors

Empowerment Stories for Your Life and Career

2011-08-12T14:28:00.003-04:00

If your career search has been challenging you’ll want to read this! It’s a little long for a blog post but you won’t regret reading it. On August 6, 2011 I had the privilege of presenting to the Arizona Hemophilia Association and their constituents at their annual state conference. This was a moving experience for me and I wanted to share the speech and some of the career and life stories from people affected by bleeding disorders. Through significant periods of adversity and trials these folks have pushed through to become empowered in their careers and life!

First, I want to share with you the details about hemophilia and von Willebrand disease. Hemophilia is a hereditary disorder in which the clotting ability of the blood is impaired and excessive bleeding results. Uncontrolled internal bleeding can result in pain, swelling, and permanent damage, especially to joints and muscles. Like hemophilia, von Willebrand Disease (vWD) is a hereditary deficiency or abnormality of clotting factor in the blood. It's the most common hereditary disorder of platelet function, affecting both women and men. The disease is estimated to occur in 1% to 2% of the population.

These bleeding disorders present major difficulties for the families affected. Aside from the very serious physical medical issues, career and job issues take front and center stage for those with a bleeding disorder. Why you ask? Solid health insurance is critical due to the astronomical cost of the medication required to treat these disorders.

Empowerment Stories- Life and Career

Introduction

Allow me to take this opportunity to thank Cindy Komar and the staff at Arizona Hemophilia Association for the opportunity to be with you here today.

I still remember over 8 years ago when I got the call from my friend Chris Komar that his son Cade had been born. Chris and I went to college together at the University of Delaware and graduated the same year 2001…(pause for laughs). Anyway, when I got the call about Cade I was excited for Chris, Cindy and Cailin but I could hear a sound of concern in Chris’ voice that was unusual. Chris shared that Cade was healthy but tests revealed that he had hemophilia. He went on to explain the bleeding disorder to me in as much detail as he had at the time. This might have been the first time I heard the word “hemophilia”. Of course I had heard of people who could not stop bleeding but I did not know what that meant or what it would mean for Chris and his family. Today, I know a lot more about the bleeding disorder and this community because an Empowered family shared what they learned along their journey.

My talk today is about Empowerment and more centrally about the lives and careers of a few people who found their way to the nexus of their inner power and shared that really fascinating labyrinth of a journey with others. There are no stories of empowerment that I could tell that don’t have a little adversity and cathartic self discovery along the way. So strap yourselves in for a bumpy 45 minutes!

Let’s start our stories of empowerment with a disadvantaged kid with parents that had an “accident” just after high school. His mom was 19 when she got pregnant and his Dad was just finishing college in the backwoods of the Appalachian Mountains. Yes, this kid might as well have been Loretta Lynn crawling out of the “holler” with bare feet, dirty clothes and a can of moon shine in his hand. He grew up with one leg shorter than the other from standing on the side of a mountain all day long. When he grew up and went to high school he really loved Duran Duran’s music and even let his hair grow long and got it “frosted” so he looked just like his favorite band members. Can you believe this guy? Born in West Virginia and an 80’s pop music lover? That’s two strikes against a life of empowerment…right there! To finish this guy off he lost most of his hair in college and had to go bald. Yes, he became “follically challenged” and then he got the worst job in the world after he graduated----selling credit cards to people over the phone at dinner time! Wow! Stick a knife in the hillbilly loser! And his name is…Chris Barton.

In all seriousness, today is about a challenge to each of you to understand empowerment and how you can live a life to the fullest and most rewarding extent possible. So, let us start with a definition of empowerment. We’ll take a huge LEAP today and I hope that you come with me on that adventure.

Definition of Empowerment-

Providing resources and tools so that the individual can discover and access their innate talents and abilities to achieve excellence and success. This concept defines the awesome capability within humans to overcome adversity and obstacles. Within systems and organizations the individual and their talents are often subjugated to the goals, objectives and cultural norms of the entity or society. Even more detrimental to a state of empowerment are forces such as toxic, close relationships with friends, family members, colleagues and acquaintances that unintentionally poison our mental capacity for hope, excellence and achievement.

If we are to achieve all that we are meant to be. If we are to become truly aware of our inner power we must take a L.E.A.P and we must develop what I call----

A Life Emergency Action Plan

To do this we break the plan into three areas of practice and development. Practice #1 is Engagement and Education. Practice #2 is Attitude and Aptitude. Practice #3 is Planning and Prayer.

Engagement/Education- It is critical to our self-esteem and sense of relatedness to others who can help and support our plans that we take initiative to become engaged and educated on the topics that #1 matter to us and #2 are critical to our life path, success and well being. WE MUST EDUCATE OURSELVES AND ENGAGE in our world to prevent a debilitating life sentence of fear, isolation and decline. This approach often leads us to people and organizations who are experiencing similar circumstances or who are planning for similar greatness! The key here is to seek out people, organizations and communities that provide re-enforcement of a “doer and contributor” mentality. Watch out for the “support groups” that are nothing more than a “woe is me” gathering of the angry, negative and disenfranchised! AHA is a great example of a doer and contributor organization with abundant resources, events, programs and a keen advocacy agenda. There are numerous opportunities for those in the AHA community to gain access to the positive energy which is advancing this cause in ways that some may have once though were impossible.

I often think of stories that bring points to life. This opportunity will be NO exception to that rule! At Barton Career Advisors our line of work brings us into contact with hundreds of people a year that are experience significant adversity in their lives. In case you are not familiar with the outplacement industry does I’ll share a few details. Outplacement firms work directly with companies who are actively planning to reduce their workforce. In layman’s terms they are going to fire a lot of people. Our firm provides career transition services to people who have lost their job and in many cases job loss comes with a host of other circumstances and situations- substance abuse, family issues, mental illness the list goes on and on. Our role in the career transition process is to help people find their power, their understanding for what needs to be done AND what they need to learn to become effective at finding their next career. In short, our goal is to ENGAGE these folks in activities that improve their knowledge of job search techniques and the skills required to move ahead. What’s the result? Professionals who are confident and EMPOWERED to go out and capture the success they so richly deserve. You see…it’s really not abilities and skills that are really in question with some of our clients. It’s their ability to BELIEVE they have the ability and skills to do what is necessary. Education and engagement has a way of bringing out that belief!

One of our clients came to us in early 2009 just after we launched the business. This story still brings out a lot of emotion in me. Let’s call him “Steve” for the sake of the story. Steve had just been through 20 months of a living hell. He’d changed jobs four times while supporting his wife who had aggressive colon cancer. His wife insisted that he become more focused in his job search and she had begun plans for Steve and the kids to have a life without her. Steve was broken but was prayerfully focused on his wife’s recovery and fulfilling her wishes that he aggressively pursue his next career move. We worked with Steve through a series of career assessments and personality tests. We worked diligently to understand his accomplishments so we could convey them in a compelling way on his resume and other career documents. We connected him to decision makers in his field to launch productive conversations that would hopefully lead to his next opportunity. We acted as advisor, coach, counselor and teacher. Ultimately Steve did land in a new role and through ENGAGEMENT and EDUCATION. But his words say it best-

"As I stepped into the office at Barton Career Advisors for the first time, the career and personality assessments, to the resume input, presentation and completion, to working with their team has been a life-changing experience. BCA gathered accurate, factual information about me and my past work experiences and then presented the results to me in such a way, that I immediately regained my self respect and confidence that had been missing for the last 3 years of my life. The experience with everyone at BCA completely removed my fear of the process of searching out a new career. My new, reformatted resume from Barton Career Advisors allowed me to look directly into the mirror and see the reflection of a successful, self-confident man who will bring in a high level of professionalism and accomplishments to benefit his new employer. I walked into Barton Career Advisors a tired, worn down and insecure man, and today I am walking tall and I believe in myself. I am very excited about my future. Thank you all for giving me back the zeal for life."

Heinrich Family Story

From Left Julie, Paul, Paul Jr. and Chad Heinrich

Another story of Education and Engagement comes from a family that is in the AHA community and this one hits a little closer to home. Paul Heinrich, his wife Julie and two sons Paul and Chad know what it means to get ENGAGED and EDUCATED about a life ever changed BUT not limited by von Willebrand disease. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to learn more about their story speaking with Paul this past week. Julie was diagnosed as a young adult and Chad also shares von Willebrand with his mom. The Heinrich family IS ENGAGED in the bleeding disorders community and they have become EDUCATED about the disease that affects their lives daily. Julie always says to her husband Paul, “If I am going to complain about something I am not going to be a complainer. I am going to be a part of the solution” Julie is co-founder of “Bleed Hers” an organization devoted to bringing awareness to bleeding disorders as they affect women and girls. AND it was ENGAGEMENT at her church that led Julie and her family to the doctor that would save her life. After life changed at Pine Top nearly twelve years ago and Julie was almost lost to an allergic reaction to antibiotics she and her family ENGAGED in a brighter EDUCATED future. Today Julie is studying nursing and Chad….well….he is a normal 12 year old that loves swimming and being active…just as he should be. Earlier this year the family attended the National Hemophilia Conference in New Orleans to continue their growth together. Bravo!

Attitude/Aptitude- This brings us to my second major point in defining the necessary ingredients for an empowered path. Our ATTITUDE is the #1 differentiator and strategic advantage in this journey we call life. Interestingly enough, it’s also the factor that many of us unwittingly allow to be high jacked by the flood of antagonistic, hopeless messages around us! This putrid, deluge of adverse proclamations surrounds us at every turn. I mean really, have you turned on the news lately? There is something to be said for staying informed but for goodness sakes, when you turn on the TV or computer and can’t escape the apparent end of our economy, the decline of western society, the threat of nuclear war, terrorism, bio-terrorism, global warming, global cooling, the debt crises, crashing airplanes, the rising price of oil, the reasons you are too fat, how good that 52 year old gut from P90X looks and the apparent lack of an incomplete life if you do not possess an i-phone, i-pad or a 3-D TV…….well? What kind of a sewer swamp defeated mind do you think we are going to possess? Add on top of all this our own daily personal struggles and difficulties and you have the recipe for what I like to call “attitudinal disintegration”. What does this mean? It means that you’ve lost judgment and control over the most valuable real estate known to man---the 6 inches between your left and right ears! That’s right at the end of the day.

Running tangential to the importance of our Attitude to our empowerment is the concept that we need to increase our Aptitude to grow our competency in all areas of our lives. We need to increase our Aptitude (i.e. our knowledge and skill) at work, at home, at school, at church, in our communities, in our relationships, in our physical and emotional well being and in our spiritual growth. Just a rhetorical question, ever seen a person with a negative, entitled to everything, “the world owes me” attitude being open to new thoughts, ideas, feedback, criticism or information which would otherwise improve their ability to grow and handle the future with optimism and competency? No way! Attitude and Aptitude are inseparable by definition but not 100% tied by a direct correlation. Specifically, you can make up for a lack of knowledge, life advantages and skill by controlling your Attitude and outlook. In short, we can’t fill our minds with horse manure and expect to produce a life filled with sweet chocolate pudding! Famed motivational speaker Zig Ziglar once said that it’s your “Attitude not your Aptitude that determines your Altitude”. I love the quote but I think the two are VERY closely related.

Matt (again name protected) was a client of our firm in 2009 and came to us after a losing a senior executive level position with a global chemical services company. In short, Matt had lost the power of controlling his Attitude to influence his prospects for a successful career transition. We met Matt at a networking event through a chamber of commerce networking event. He described to us how he’d “lost his confidence” and needed to “turn around his situation”. Matt said it best in his own words after he found empowerment and confidence once again-

“...after many months of frustrating and futile efforts in my job search, I attended a formal local networking event with one single objective in mind: To meet at least one person who could help turn my situation around. This objective was achieved in the first person I met that evening, Chris Barton. I followed up with Chris immediately after the event and decided to engage his services to help me rebrand myself. This was actually the best decision I had made in months. Besides being great to work with, Chris not only helped me develop a renewed confidence in myself, but also was able to help me make my search more purposeful and targeted. I was also extremely impressed with his professional rewrite of my credentials. In the end, I felt extremely good about "my brand" and the results began almost immediately. Within one or two months, I made several connections which led to my creating my own consulting firm. Now I am providing consulting services to one of the World's most recognized brands from the financial services industry...a company who also it happens has asked me to come on as a permanent employee. I credit Barton Career Advisors for helping jump start my success!”

Another inspiring story of Attitude drives Aptitude is from another member of the AHA bleeding disorders community, Tony Hernandez. For those of you that do not know Tony he has hemophilia and is HIV positive. I had the honor of speaking with him earlier this week. He shared the following thoughts-

Tony Hernandez

“I am a very stubborn guy but I think that has made me successful”. Tony went on to share with me “Chris, most people have a low pain threshold. Something gets painful and they just stop trying. If you just push through, you’ll get through it.” I am inspired by Tony’s Attitude and even more inspired by his commitment to increasing his Aptitude and learning around his bleeding disorder and health. Since he was 16 years old Tony has been involved in AHA and now runs his own home health care company, Reliance Factor of Arizona with another investor. From one of Tony's recent blog posts he shines a light on his contagious and positive influence-

“All the great home run hitters also have another stat that they lead in that no one likes to talk about; strikeouts. To succeed in anything you have to make mistakes. A lot of them. It is very uncomfortable and this discomfort, I believe, is the #1 reason people fail when trying new things. Why? Well tell me if you enjoy any of these things.

-Looking foolish to others as you struggle.
-Feeling dumb. Getting frustrated.
-Not making any perceived headway.
-Getting bored.
-After failing and failing, you try again and fail again.

Now imagine all this happening… everyday. Doesn’t sound like much fun does it? Well anyone who got good at anything had to go through all these trials and tribulations. And if you want to succeed at any of your goals, you will too. But I do have some good news. It’s not as bad as it seems.” Thank you Tony for sharing with me.

Planning/Prayer- I have often said to clients, colleagues, friends and family members, how can you plan for the future if you are not willing to make a to-do-list today? We have a duty to be good at planning because we need a road map to get to where we desire to be. I am always amazed when I watch those who plan diligently for a vacation or a wedding, or even the 100 million people in the US that have a GPS in their cars or on their cell phone. These people will not walk out the door without a sense of where they are going in their car or what flavor cake they are going to have at their reception but they can’t seem to come up with an integrated, specific, measureable, time-bound plan for their future. It was Yogi Berra who said, “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.” I don’t think that I’ve ever heard this concept brought to life in a more compelling way. Yes, it’s true that planning is integral to an empowered life. However, you’ve heard it said, and I think it was Woody Allen that if you want to make God laugh you should tell him about your plans!

With that said I’ll tread lightly on the concept of prayer because I know there is a tremendous diversity of religious beliefs out there. But, I truly believe if you want to feel a sense of empowerment in your life then you may want to allow for a connection between your plans and the master planner. At minimum we need to permit time each day for quiet reflective meditation. Nelson Bolles the famed career expert and author wrote-

“Your first Mission here on Earth is one which you share with the rest of the human race, but it is no less your individual Mission for the fact that it is shared: and it is, to seek out and find, in daily -- even hourly -- communication, the One from whom your Mission is derived. The Missioner before the Mission”

The principle here is simple, but certain. If you want to achieve anything in life you need to PLAN and while you are at it, why not ask for spiritual, meditative guidance in making it all possible. We get in touch with our awesome power to change our place in this world WHEN we create a solid set of goals and allow for daily time to meditate and visualize what it will be like when we get there. As we spend time together this afternoon in our sessions for Career Emergency Preparedness Planning and Interview Skills we will build on the foundational tenet of planning and self-knowledge to ensure career success. I am looking forward to sharing that information.

I’ll take this opportunity to share a little of my own personal career story over the last couple of years. Back in early 2008 I was writing down my goals for the year. At the time, I was the Chief Administrative Officer for a $50MM educational company called ComputerTraining.com. I wrote down only two to three things on the list. This was my plan for 2008. One of the items on the list was- “Launch Barton Career Advisors”. I am not sure why I did this but I changed planners shortly after this and placed the old planner with my written 2008 goals in my desk. I never looked at that list again throughout the year. But….I DID regularly say a prayer throughout the year silently to myself. “God, help me to be a good leader, help me to make wise decisions for my career and my future, help me to be a good father and husband. Come into my heart and mind keep me humble and mindful of your plan for my life.”

In December of 2008 I started designing logos for the launch of Barton Career Advisors and contacted an attorney friend to form a limited liability company to launch the business. In April of 2009 the whole world was embroiled in financial crises. The market for student loans was in freefall and the loan approval rate for ComputerTraining.com’s core student customer fell dramatically nearly over night. In short, we could not get funding or loans of any kind to make it possible for our target client to attend the school. On April 9, 2009 I woke up and just knew what I was supposed to do. I left my job and launched Barton Career Advisors to fulfill my life plan and mission. The business closed in December of that same year. I am sure that action conquers fear and I am sure that planning and prayer will play a role in helping you find an empowered life, full of the success, love and career that you so richly deserve.

Today I challenge you to Take a LEAP and create an Emergency Action Plan to empower your life. Through the practices of

1. -Engagement and Education

2. -Attitude and Aptitude

3. -Planning and Prayer

You WILL be empowered. My hope and wish for each of you is that you can turn the word Empowered into the three words- “I have Power”. You do have the power. Stand up and take it. Thank You very much.

Three Fundamental Questions to Ask When Your Job Search Stalls

2011-04-25T19:23:00.001-04:00

By Christopher L. Barton, President Barton Career Advisors, LLC

I have heard from a number of individuals over the last several months who ask specific questions related to the length of their job search. More specifically, I can see deep concern on a professional’s face when they explain that they have been in a career transition for an extended period of time. If you have been in a job search for more than 12 months there are three fundamental questions that you need to ask-

1. How do I spend my time? Quite often professionals that are having challenges with an extended search process have not undergone the task of evaluating how they spend their available waking hours. If you are not getting results, then it is important to re-evaluate utilization of the most important asset you possess in your bag of tools- your time. Create a simple tracking sheet and hold yourself accountable. If you have 40 hours per week to work on your job search know how each and every hour has been spent. If there are activities that drain a lot of your time yet have not produced any measureable results, reduce your time commitment or better yet eliminate the activity entirely. Internet job boards are often big culprits when it comes to draining available search hours.

2. Do I have an image problem? If so, what is causing it? A great way to think about the answer to this question is to attempt to ask those around you what they really think of your professional persona. This can encompass everything from the quality of your resume to the topics you choose to surface when at a networking event. It can get a little tricky to determine the root causes if you don’t get honest feedback. The key is to get out of your normal comfort zone and ask for input from an objective source. For some this source could be a former boss or a qualified career expert. Still for others it’s cathartic to get image advice from a clergy member or another professional that has the type of position that you are looking to land. Finally, an honest internal dialogue can really be important. Just remember, it’s often the people that are closest to us that are the least likely to say, “Your suit looks outdated and your shoes need a good polish.”

3. What is the status of my relationships? This is the lynchpin of it all. I would say that 9 out of 10 times people don’t have any objective approach for evaluating the strength of their personal and professional relationships. We all need to understand the balance in our relationship accounts. If you have an acquaintance with a decision maker that can help your career but you have not taken the initiative to strengthen the connection, you can expect unfavorable results when you ask for help. Take an honest accounting in this area. Get your hands on a printed list of your contacts from LinkedIn or your address book. Take an hour and identify the ten people that have the most power to impact your career. Then ask the following question, “What have I done for these people lately?” Many, many professionals realize their core challenge after this exercise.

While the process of career search and professional branding and can be complex, we often find the most compelling answers by asking the simplest of questions. Ask these three questions and you may just be surprised by the answers. Even better, you may find that the effectiveness of your search increases by a factor of ten.

JA Career Fair Video April 2011

2011-04-19T16:51:00.000-04:00

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Chris Barton to Give Keynote At Junior Achievement Job Fair

2011-03-23T13:54:00.001-04:00

Event Details----- CLICK HERE TO REGISTER @ EVENTBRITE

Delaware Job Seekers

Come to Junior Achievement to Connect with Local Employers!

ING DIRECT ~ Diver Chevrolet ~ Delmarva Power ~ State Farm Insurance ~ Burger King ~ Delaware Army National Guard ~ Happy Harry’s, A Walgreen’s Pharmacy ~ WSFS Bank ~ Wilmington Blue Rocks ~ AAA Mid-Atlantic ~ Tidewater Utilities ~ Brown & Brown of Delaware, Inc. ~ Sterling Life Insurance Co. ~ CSC ~ MySherpa ~ CBI Group

Ticket options include morning and mid-day tickets for the Career Fair, as well as for the Career Fair and Workshops.

Workshops:

9:30- 10:30am: Chris Barton of Barton Career Advisors presents "Finding Your Career, Landing Your Perfect Job"

10:40 - 11:00am: EXIT REALTY "The TRI-STATE Group" presents on real estate careers and advice

11:30- 12:30pm: Chris Barton of Barton Career Advisors presents "Finding Your Career, Landing Your Perfect Job"

12:40 - 1:00pm: EXIT REALTY "The TRI-STATE Group" presents on real estate careers and advice

For more information, contact Patrick Daley
at 302-654-4510 or pat.daley@ja.org

Sponsored by:

UD Entrepreneurial Studies Interviews Chris Barton for Inaugural E-Inspired Magazine

2011-03-18T15:45:00.000-04:00

This article appears in the March, 2011 issue of University of Delaware's E-Inspired Magazine.

________

What do putting on a performance and starting a business have in common? According to alumnus Chris Barton, they share just about everything. You need to have a script or plan, you need to engage in continuous refinement and rehearsal for many different roles, you need a stage or location for your show, you need to find and attract an audience and you need to deliver a great performance that leaves your audience wanting more. Although Barton never finished his vocal performance minor, the feedback from the clients of his firm, Barton Career Advisors, suggest that he has developed into a skilled performer.

Barton Career Advisors is a relationship-based career coaching and outplacement firm that provides career transition services to both individuals and corporations going through a force reduction. Barton founded the company in December, 2008, a few years after he exited from corporate America and gained firsthand experience with traditional career outplacement services. This experience suggested that the one-size-fits-all approach of most traditional services left many transitioning executives feeling underserved.

"You have to be just a little crazy to be an entrepreneur."

Since its founding, Barton Career Advisors has hired two employees and expanded to include a network of about twenty people. The company offers services to all levels of professionals and stands true to its motto of "Investing in people. Investing in the future." Barton Career Advisors plans to continue its rapid expansion by attracting a geographically diverse portfolio of clients. The company recently signed its first international agreement in Toronto, Canada. As Barton exlplains, "I am finally at the point where over the next twelve to eighteen months I will be looking for someone to invest in the business model along with me."

For Barton, the hardest part of the entrepreneurial process has been juggling the different roles he has to play. "I go from being the head of business development, to the chief marketing officer, to the CEO, and then the next day I am on my knees under a desk putting in a new desktop computer," he says. Looking forward, Barton believes that all of the time he has spent studying the lines for these different roles and learning how to perform them will help him to scale the business by teaching others how to perform the roles as the business grows.

Barton describes his busy life as an entrepreneur as rewarding. He funded the company from personal savings and finds satisfaction in taking a step back to look at what he has created. "You have to have passion for your entrepreneurial dream and that passion has to far exceed the negative influences that you are going to get from outside of yourself," Barton states. "You have to be just a little crazy to be an entrepreneur, and that is the key."

The 4 Pieces of Career Advice You Will Not Hear from a Career Coach in 2011

2010-12-20T15:12:00.008-05:00

Click here to read on Examiner.com!

1.       Support Groups May Not Be Helping You. I have spoken at a number of non-profit support groups and networking organizations that are specifically designed to support those in career transition. Some of these are very good. Others can be debilitating. Specifically, support groups can turn into an emotional cesspool if all of the attendees are in the same situation as you- Unemployed. I often ask people who regularly attend these groups a specific question- “How many of the people in your support group are currently employed and in a decision making role that could influence your career search?” The answer is often, none! It is important to vary the contact and event strategy, so you are going to meetings and events where decisions makers are present. Start with some local chamber events and then expand your net to include professional associations. If you spend more time with decision makers and leaders who are employed, you’ll increase your success factor tenfold.

2.       Stop Networking! The message here is simple. The reason that many folks hate the concept of “networking” is that is denotes people who are “schmoozers” or who are otherwise disingenuous. You know what I am talking about! You go to an event and the goal is to see how many business cards you can obtain from those in attendance. Relationships are a two way street and people quickly sense those that are in it for themselves. Spend less time knocking people over the head with the “Hey, how YOU doin’?” mentality and invest some effort in asking thoughtful questions that show you care about the person standing in front of you. And for Pete’s sake drop that canned elevator pitch routine. Talk to me like a person! Sure, you have to weave in some of the professional stuff but it does not have to be ALL about the networking. Make friends, be personable. You’ll be surprised where it can take you!

3.       LinkedIn is a Tool. It is NOT your brand or your network. LinkedIn is perhaps the most powerful professional networking tool ever devised on the planet! I am a power user and have nearly 600 professional relationships that I track regularly on this tool. However, it would be a huge mistake for me to think that my 600 contacts represent the total strength of my network. LinkedIn also provides access to a number of profile applications that allow a professional to do everything from display a portfolio, embed video or integrate with Twitter. It’s powerful stuff but it ain’t the secret sauce! YOU are the brand and relationships are your social currency. There is a huge difference between the electronic two dimension LinkedIn version of you, your actual brand and the strength of your relationships. So think quantity but don’t ever forget quality. The quality of your relationships that is.

4.       Give up on Your “Career”. Having a “career” used to mean that we pick an area of study, go to college, get a degree and get a job at a company doing something. That “something” we started doing at the beginning of our career usually defined how the rest our working days would unfold. More specifically, if one started their career as an accountant they would more than likely be doing some form of accounting work in the late stages of their adult working life. Forget it! Much has been published about the growing trend of multiple job changes over one’s career. Even more data suggests that “re-inventing ourselves” is the pinnacle of surviving the troubled seas of technological innovation, corporate restructuring and the changing roles of knowledge workers. I’ll make it much, much more simple. Don’t wait to be acted upon. Learn every aspect of your business and industry and become knowledgeable about its trends. Strive not to have a career but to be remarkable and truly valuable to all those with whom you interact. Leave ahead of that wave of change if necessary. Add to this concept a little flexibility around your career path and modes or working (contract work or using the skills you’ve gained to grow in a new profession) and you have the recipe for a lifetime of work.

Network with Gratitude to Gain Altitude

2010-11-29T16:49:00.000-05:00

The importance of effective, vibrant personal and professional networks cannot be overstated. The first ever survey of LinkedIn members published by Anderson Analytics in December 2008 reflects that those with larger networks through LinkedIn earn more than those who have smaller networks. Should this be a surprise to anyone? One would certainly hope not! More specifically, the survey states that those with personal incomes between $200K and $350K are seven times more likely to have 150 or more LinkedIn contacts compared to those professionals who made less money. Hmmm. You can’t resist doing the math (while it’s probably not the intended use of the survey) that a single LinkedIn contact could be worth somewhere between $1,300-$2,300 per year in annual income! This is probably overstated for the example, but the point made is clear. Professional networks and more importantly the relationships involved are very valuable indeed.

The question that we have to ask ourselves deep down inside, where only we can hear that still, small voice is this: “What have I done lately to show the people who support me professionally how much I appreciate their role in my success?"... (Click here to read more!)

Confidence: Gasoline for Your Career Search Engine

2010-11-08T14:14:00.000-05:00

There is a lot to be said for the latest technological tools in powering your job search. It is critically important that we take the time to develop impressive materials, including a powerful resume to stand out in an otherwise difficult economy. Additionally, having a solid plan for execution that includes multiple lead sources will ensure a diversified approach to the hunt. All of the aforementioned is true, and at the same time it can be misleading.

The holy grail of a well-executed career search is confidence. As a matter of fact, confidence is the very power source, the gasoline for your career search engine...
(Click here to read more!)

Deepen Your Social Media Substance

2010-11-03T15:38:00.020-04:00

Throughout Philadelphia and the broader Delaware Valley you cannot turn a corner without a career coach, recruiter or public relations expert explaining how important it is to improve your social media presence. They will commonly add on the value of tools like LinkedIn, Twitter and blogs to create an “expert presence” on the internet. It seems these days that the “secret sauce” for an award-winning job search recipe is creating an online persona that gets you to the top of Google search rankings. Good. Problem solved. Not so fast grasshopper! Spit-shined shoes, a good hair cut, a great blog and solid LinkedIn page will only get you so far.

You know those folks that evaluate used cars for a living? You drive your used car into the dealership hoping to get top value as a trade-in on a new model...

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The Art of Career Suicide

2010-10-25T15:22:00.005-04:00

The gaffes are legendary and we laugh (or wince) at them every day. Those more than notable mistakes made by a professional that is in the fury of a career death spiral are all too painful to watch. Or are they really? We share these stories at the dinner table, with our co-workers, across the fence with the neighbor and with the coach at our kid’s soccer match. We talk about this kind of stuff because it’s great for a laugh. This is mostly because those who commit career suicide do so without an apparent shred of consciousness. They make “errors” so fraught with stupidity and bereft of common sense that we actually wonder if their decisions are coming from their last séance with Dionne Warwick!

Let’s do a crash course of the Art of Career Suicide with some quick anecdotes of the stuff that is hitting the news reels and the desks of HR executives in the Philadelphia region and across the country...

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Relationships that Produce Results Aren’t “One Way”

2010-05-18T17:45:00.001-04:00

By now, every career transition professional within earshot has explained the importance of “networking” as it pertains to managing your professional brand and unlocking the secret code of the hidden job market. Lots and lots of documentation exists to support the well known fact that you’ll find your next gig through networking 73% of the time. What does that really mean though? Of course it means that you’ve got to get out of your pajamas and out of the house to land a job, at minimum. I am terribly frightened though by how often I hear that getting ahead through networking is a numbers game. It’s not…a game.

My grandfather, a Sergeant in the US Army during World War II and a proud representative of the greatest generation, used to teach me fundamentals of leadership through little jokes and jabs. He was known for his attention to the important relationships in his life. Sometimes we can all get a little stubborn, particularly when it comes to getting what we want. When my grandfather observed this behavior in someone he’d say directly to that person, with a little crooked mischievous smile and a sparkle in his eye, “Well, you’re just ONE WAY!” He could get away with this not because he was old but because he was genuine, caring and his delivery was impeccable. He was so well known for this phrase that a relative even made him a ONE WAY arrow sign (just like the traffic signs) for a special occasion. The darn thing even had hooks on it so he could hang up his keys. My grandfather displayed that sign right next to the family room door for all to see! It served as a constant reminder that relationships are not one way and it always made me smile.

In a world of slick technologies to accomplish everything from love matchmaking to landing in a new career, I have begun to wonder if we are not missing the true manna! Personal attention! Relationships in business and in all endeavors are similar to living organisms. What happens if those petunias you bought to make the house pretty don’t get watered while you are away for a long weekend? In exchange for water and little Miracle-Gro® they give you bright color and great fragrances into the early fall! While this analogy may define relationships as quid pro quo, the point is rather clear – our relationships need to be TWO WAY!

At the foundation of every effective relationship you will find trust and a passion for truly understanding what is important to the other party. This goes well beyond immediate tangible goals and extends to the use of our human sensibilities to detect the hopes, fears and aspirations of others. Hey, if you really want to see how a one way street works for relationships, try jumping in your car and driving the WRONG WAY on a ONE WAY street. If you are lucky, don’t get hit by another car and manage not to kill anyone I guarantee you’ll get honked at!

Career Webinar- "Develop Your Career Emergency Preparedness Plan"

2010-04-21T14:47:00.002-04:00

Join us for a Webinar on April 27th!

Having a Plan for "career emergencies" and the act of daily planning are inextricably bound together by necessity. How can one plan for the future if one is not willing to make a to-do-list for today? This is where the discipline of professional focus comes into play. Within the "art" of planning the "duty" of goal setting manifests itself. We need a road map to get to a destination and we must have a plan to make a career long journey.

Title: Develop Your Career Emergency Preparedness Plan (C.E.P.P.)

Date: Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Time: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM EDT

REGISTER NOW! CLICK HERE!

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Building A Winning Resume Webinar

2010-04-16T15:17:00.013-04:00

Creating a powerful resume opens doors no matter what the economic climate. However, when companies begin to execute their growth strategies for late 2010 a well crafted resume will be even more important. How will you know if you are ready for the economic "bounce back"? Does your brand convey the right messages to compete in a market undergoing a revival? We recently shared our insights at Congressman Castle's Delaware Works events. Learn all about building a winning resume in the attached 40 minute webinar! Press PLAY and go! Post your comments! We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Click to Watch- Develop A Winning Resume!

Two Decades of Change in Career Search

2010-04-06T22:24:00.000-04:00

I was talking to a client last week about the importance of a simple networking tool that is now ubiquitously used by professionals, recruiters and astute entrepreneurs alike, LinkedIn. It is a powerful way to connect to the hundreds of professionals that you have interacted with, worked for and impressed over the years. More importantly, it’s a great way to establish a few “cyberspace building blocks” for a professional brand. You know what surprised me? This particular professional had no real frame of reference regarding the importance of social media in career search and branding. To be fair, this person is an accomplished senior level professional that has not had the burden of looking for a job in the last twenty years. “For two decades I have been simply tapped on the shoulder for my next gig. It’s always been that way.” Unfortunately, it’s not that way anymore.

Twenty years ago finding your next role was relatively simple and I am not talking about looking in the paper or filling out job applications. A good professional brand used to consist of three things- 1.) Be dependable and show up on time (i.e. “work hard”), 2.) Get an education in your field and 3.) Be loyal to the “hand that feeds ya” (i.e. be a company soldier). In 1990 with the US unemployment rate at 5.6% the services, financial and IT sectors were exploding. If you brought these three secret ingredients to the 90’s marketplace you got hired and stayed employed. Companies and their hiring managers needed professionals who could come to their roles with a few basic ingredients and stay for the long haul. Ah, the “good ole days”.

Today, career search is not as much about being “present” as it is about being “found”-- being found to be a solution to an employer’s problems, being found on LinkedIn (and everywhere else for that matter), and being found to have credible results and contributions. My high school band director used to say, “Showing up is not enough. Anyone can be mediocre.” How true! As in marching band competitions so it also goes in a career search and building a professional brand. Defining who we are as professionals and what we can deliver is critical to our future. We can’t compete with tools that are twenty years old……..

FREE Webinar Event- "Managing Your Professional Brand for Career Success"

2010-03-23T17:37:00.001-04:00

Attend this FREE webinar and learn how critical it is to maintain your brand in this competitive job market. You will gain key insights into what will get you noticed by recruiters and learn the basics to developing an impressive list of accomplishments. Finally, obtain some inside information that your competition does not have about job search techniques!

Title: Managing Your Professional Brand for Career Success!

Date: Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Time: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM EDT

REGISTER NOW! CLICK HERE!

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Your Career Emergency Preparedness Plan (C.E.P.P.) for 2010

2010-01-20T15:21:00.003-05:00

I have found it exciting over my career to have the opportunity to interact with professionals from many different disciplines and practices such as healthcare, financial services, pharmaceuticals, insurance and education. If you are curious about the work that your friends and colleagues do every day you pick up a few nuggets of wisdom here and there. I have to give a shout out to my many IT and disaster recovery friends over the years for helping with this first weekly CareerFlash™ for 2010. Specifically, the concept of implementing a Career Emergency Preparedness Plan (C.E.P.P.) came from countless hours and meetings with those devoted to business continuity in the face of the worst possible scenarios. Yes, there is an entire profession devoted to ensuring businesses are ready for emergencies. If a tornado hits, the business is ready. Building burnt down? The business has a plan and has been doing quarterly fire drills. If there is a snow storm affecting mid-west operations, capabilities get moved to the south-west. It begs two questions-

1. If businesses plan and devote resources to the protection of assets and capabilities, why don’t individual professionals?

2. As a professional do you have a Career EPP to weather the storm of career transition?

An EPP for professionals contains three core components that prepare an individual for the worst of times in career crises. This is illustrated in a simple acronym- Exercise Plan Pray.

Exercise is perhaps one of the most important life sustaining habits for professionals exposed to the daily rigors of demanding leadership roles. This concept goes well beyond the narrow thoughts of taking care of your physical health through regular movement. Our mental health and spiritual well-being are vastly improved through the process of “sharpening the saw” as made famous by Stephen Covey. Exercise in the purely physical sense has many published, researched benefits for the human body. The number one advantage to old-fashioned exercise as published by the Mayo Clinic is the improvement of our mood. Who can’t leverage this benefit? Beyond this, consider the criticalities of exercising your grey matter through a regular reading list on topics that not only entertain but inform. Additionally, make time to feed your personal hobbies and passions (including family) so that resentment does not create hostility toward the sacrifices you must make for your career.

Having a Plan for “career emergencies” and the act of daily planning are inextricably bound together by necessity. How can one plan for the future if one is not willing to make a to-do-list for today? This is where the discipline of professional focus comes into play. Within the “art” of planning the “duty” of goal setting manifests itself. We need a road map to get to a destination and we must have a plan to make a career long journey. Just as we plan for a family vacation, prepare for that big presentation or take steps toward losing 10 pounds, we must document what we will do in the event of involuntary career transition. Better yet, let’s come up with a plan to identify the signals that lead to major career changes. Among other items on your checklist to mitigate the effects of career transition, you should plan around the following questions- How strong is my current network of contacts and what can I do to develop it ™and do they reflect the most recent writing principles? Have I chronicled a quantitative set of wins to share with others? Do I need additional education or certification to update my skills? Have I allotted enough time to manage the stress of my career on a daily basis? Do I need professional help to prepare for a transition? Answering these questions and taking action will ensure that a company downsizing does not turn into a personal career apocalypse.

I tread lightly on the concept of Prayer because I understand the diversity of spiritual beliefs in our society. However, I would tell anyone who asked me on a personal level about the importance of prayer that it is a powerful cornerstone in our preparedness planning. When all else fails, meditative reflection enables a fountain of serenity that can come from no other place. In a December 2009 article written for the Harvard Gazette (“Want to Live Well” By Alvin Powell Harvard Staff Writer Thursday, December 17, 2009) Cheryl Giles a professor at Harvard Divinity School said-

“…..spiritual practice — regardless of personal belief — should not be limited to Saturdays or Sundays but should be part of every day. Giles recommended that people find quiet time each day for meditation, prayer, journal writing, or other forms of reflection. It’s an important exercise, she said, that helps people to avoid being consumed by routine daily demands.

“You should take 10 minutes, 15 minutes a day to sit down and be silent,” Giles said. “All this stuff goes through your head. This is an opportunity to let it out.”

Take the necessary time to invest in yourself and invest in your professional future by developing a Career Emergency Preparedness Plan. You will not regret it.

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Angry Elmer Fudd

2009-12-18T12:00:00.001-05:00

All of us remember that beloved character from the Looney Tunes™, Elmer Fudd. He was hilarious because he worked really hard at tracking that rascally rabbit. However, he never quite seemed to end up with his prize in a big stock pot on top of the stove. Didn’t someone famous say, “A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush”? Anyway, I digress. Elmer is much like some of the job seeker types that we see in the marketplace. The Elmer Fudd job seeker gets to the final stage of the interview process but never gets the position. Much like the animated rabbit hunter that we all know and love this person in career transition never lands their ultimate prize- a new and interesting career.

More entertaining and perhaps even more tragic is when Elmer Job Seeker goes “postal” on the people that have been working with them throughout the process, particularly the recruiter that delivers the turndown decision. I work with a great team of partners and professionals every day and have the opportunity to sit around some great recruiters. Recently I heard a conversation that blew my mind. A senior level professional recruiter was delivering a turndown decision over the phone to a candidate in the final stages of a retained search. This particular candidate had actually interviewed with the client and was indeed a pretty good candidate for the role…but not quite the fit that was needed. I heard the recruiter’s tone of voice start to get sharper and more pointed, “I am just trying to deliver some useful feedback that you can use…..[silence]. I understand that you are disappointed [silence]. No, I would not advise that [silence]. Well, best wishes to you and I am sorry you feel that way.”

I have listened to this particular recruiter verbally communicate turndown decisions at least a dozen times in a caring, thorough and professional way. He takes the time to add value to all the professionals with whom he interacts, even the ones he has to turndown. What happened? I knew right away. Elmer got angry and unloaded an arsenal of vitriolic commentary in the frustration over not getting the nod for the position. When Elmer was finished not only had he razed the relationship “bridge” between him and the recruiter, he had firebombed the whole network “village” connected to this valuable career advocate.

It’s taught in the “Relationships 101” class that you don’t tear apart the people that have to deliver disappointing news. If you are lucky enough to come across a talented, principled recruitment professional who acts as your advocate, nurture that relationship and embrace every ounce of feedback you get. Better to leave the turndown with something in your back pocket- a powerful networking contact to aid your career transition objectives. After hearing this conversation I walked down the hall to my recruitment friend’s desk and said, “I bet you’ll have that guy at the top of your list on your next search.” My friend just looked at me and smiled. I said, “Elmer got angry, huh?” We shared a good belly laugh.

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The Grass is Greener.....

2009-12-02T10:59:00.001-05:00

At the most very basic level of our human, professional DNA is the concept that we must continually seek to better ourselves by evaluating “opportunities” within the context of our current situation. In other words, we look at where we are and say, “Maybe it would be better if I were doing something else, someplace else.” While it is very much true that identifying inflection points within our career is vital to long term success, change for the sake of change can have devastating effects on our professional and personal well being.

I have the privilege of interacting with many, many professionals each and every week. Some of these talented people have been thrust into change through a recent reduction-in-force or have been asked to take a significant step back within their current organizations. Professionals in this situation must indeed seek change, mostly because it has been activated by an external force. Others that I meet take action out of a desire to continually evolve, staying ahead of the wave and thus fastidiously managing their uniqueness as a solution to business challenges. Interestingly enough there is a category of professional change “seeking” that I find to be harmful – changing direction because we are bored or uninformed. Sometimes that little devil on our shoulder convinces us, “It’ll be better if you could only have a little more control. No one around here knows what’s going on! My boss really aggravates me. I just need a change.” Is anyone familiar with this inner-monologue?

Well, the grass is not always greener. So let’s talk about how to validate our professional feelings about required change. There are always the simple pros and cons of staying or going but there is more! If you are contemplating career change, then you owe it to yourself to engage in a thorough due diligence process. After all, our professional well being ranks right up there with family, health and finances in terms of priorities. Does it not? Start with your professional assets- strengths and values. Make an honest inventory (a simple list) of these attributes and “must haves” if you are going to make a move. Ask yourself some key questions. What type of experiences in life do I find to be satisfying? What things do I just not like to do? What are my natural abilities? What is it that I truly find dissatisfying or unsettling about my current situation? Okay. Now, make a list of organizations where you believe your requirements may be met, no more than ten, and evaluate each and every one against your criteria. Oh I forgot, put your current company and role on the list. Evaluate that one too! The idea here is simple but powerful. Take a step back, evaluate that “grass is greener” feeling objectively, and take control of the most valuable real estate in the world—the six inches between the left and right ears.

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Giving Thanks…….for Information!

2009-11-25T15:58:00.001-05:00

This will be an odd “Thanksgiving” reflection. I was considering what career management must have been like 30 years ago. The realization hit me. As professionals we should probably be giving thanks this holiday season for information! Does anyone really recall when a school assignment or business project was researched through an encyclopedia or other common print references? Through the internet, we have more access to information than at any other time in the history of mankind. Even better, it seems as if one giant Hoshin Plan has been put in place across the world holding us accountable for keeping the information in its most current form. With all this providence on our side, we should surely be ascending to a new, peerless level of preparedness in all things professional. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. I am still amazed at laziness when it comes to company research.

Kim receives a call to interview at ACME Insurance after months of beating the pavement for job leads. She has sent out so many resumes. Kim has been at the “job hunt” for so long that she is feeling a little worn down. Nonetheless, she gets some help from her human resources friend on common interview questions that she can expect. Kim even goes to the trouble of scripting some answers to deal with the weak areas of her background. She talks to her friend who works at Nordstrom’s about the right clothes for the interview. Kim programs the address of the corporate headquarters into her GPS and decides to do a “test drive” the weekend before the interview so she is familiar with parking and directions. She even knows the location of the closest Starbucks in relation to the office. Kim is prepared?

Dave the “Evil” HR Director shakes Kim’s hand and welcomes her to ACME. They make small talk and grab a cup of bad coffee (oh how Kim can’t wait for her triple grande non-fat cappuccino with cinnamon sprinkles- $4.40) as they walk back to his office to start the interview. Evil Dave asks his first question- “What did you think of our recent partnership announcement with AIG?” Kim panics and thinks, “uh-oh”. She successfully escapes total embarrassment by winging it. Question number two from Evil Dave- “So, what do you know about ACME and what did you think of our new web site?” I guess you probably can see where this is headed. Evil Dave thinks to himself, “Next please”. With the world at her fingertips and a wireless laptop, Kim forgot her final step in due diligence- company research.

The minimum investment of time in preparing for an interview is to visit the company web site and review recent press releases. Take the time to memorize at least three key facts that you can pull out at will. There are lots of great resources out there. Public company? Try sec.gov. A visit to Hoovers.com might very well get you to interview number two. Not a public company? Visit the local chamber of commerce web-site and see what you can find out. Better yet, could we use Google? We are masters of information. Shall we give thanks and use it? We shall!

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A Resume is a Terrible Thing to Waste!

2009-11-17T07:23:00.001-05:00

Not all resumes are created equal and I see quite a few each and every day. As a matter of fact I have personally reviewed no less than ten-thousand resumes in the last two years. Want to know what 98% of them have in common? They are not very good. They don’t get noticed. They open no doors. I am serious! Most professionals give the resume little weight in their overall career management or search strategies, preferring instead to “slap-up” any old document. You can always tell when the construction is shoddy. It’s not unusual to find severe grammatical errors or poor formatting. The vast majority of documents confuse job responsibilities from actual accomplishments. Finally, this essential tool often does not adequately describe what is unique about the person behind it. It’s a marketing brochure for goodness sake!

Remember those anti-drug commercials from the late 70’s and early 80’s? They show an egg and then a hot frying pan? “This is your brain.” The egg gets cracked into a hot, oily pan. “This is your brain on drugs.” Got the visual? Okay, apply the same concept to your resume. “This is your resume. This is what happens when you put a poor resume on the internet.” Do I have your attention now? What I am saying is that you do some damage to your professional persona by not thinking through how you advertise yourself. The reality is that a recruiter or hiring manager will make a decision about you (without a phone call or email) within seconds of reviewing your document. The new way to think about resume preparation is to conceive the following: What do I need to do to impress someone with this document, in seconds?

Here are a few pieces of advice on the professional resume. Whatever you do, take the time to proofread your marketing brochure. Spelling errors and poor grammar are not received well by professionals looking to hire the “solution” to their current challenges. Get some help with the editing if you can. Another set of eyes can be an asset. A critical step in constructing a good resume is to separate job responsibility details from accomplishments. Use two to three sentences to describe what you are actually paid to do, your job duties. Then use succinct bullets to present your quantifiable accomplishments. Spend some time each and every month documenting your wins. Creating an accomplishments “inventory” will be a big help when it comes time to put together your ad campaign.

Finally, it is important to personalize your resume so that it speaks to your unique qualities as a candidate. This can be done with a solid, descriptive leadership profile. The prime real estate on page one becomes minimized with an “objective” statement! If you state a narrowly defined purpose for your candidacy you can reasonably believe that the reader will hold you to it. A resume is a terrible thing to waste. Don’t let yours end up on the TD (turn down) pile.

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Practice or Peril!

2009-11-11T13:07:00.000-05:00

There is a significant body of organizational research devoted to the study of delay or inaction when it comes to making business decisions. Have some fun with this! Go to Google right now and type in “the cost of delay” and you’ll get oh…about 9.1M hits! Why? There is tremendous opportunity lost in all (well almost all) endeavors when you sit around and wait. It certainly seems there is plenty empirical support for this theory. Most recently the entire country has been engulfed in a debate over “the cost of doing nothing” as it relates to healthcare reform. The simple question is - Why are we not talking about this concept as it relates to career management? We should be. Professional brand marketing is not magic. It’s hard work and there is no better time than now to start practicing productive behaviors.

One of the things that we hear often in our work is that professionals don’t particularly enjoy going out to do the meet and greet stuff that puts them in direct contact with other professionals. You know what we’re talking about, right? We hear, “I have had such a busy week and I have been traveling. I just can’t bear the thought of going to another event.” Other commonplace viewpoints from professionals are that there is some mystic reservoir of time from which to draw or they are “okay right now” because they “have a good job”. This is scary stuff and even worse you can’t see the damage that is being done until it’s a little too late.

Career management is an every day job for a lifetime. It’s not just networking either. We have to take a fastidious approach to managing our professional brand. And what if we don’t have good technique? We get a coach. The best in the world do it and we should too. Remember when mom or dad would tell us that practice makes perfect? Do you recall a trainer or coach saying, this isn’t a sprint were running here, it’s a marathon? How about the tried and true – Success is a journey not a destination? We could do quotes all day here! Bottom-line? Practice or Peril!

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The "Enlightened" Job Seeker

2009-11-01T19:15:00.001-05:00

It certainly is no secret to anyone reading this that there is a new “normal” in the process of personal career management. More than ever, professionals of all skill levels-- and within all industries-- have been tasked with the complicated process of managing their careers in transition. You know what’s scary? Not very many of us know how to navigate the labyrinth of the new economy. Take care! We now inhabit a career minefield. An old marketing concept from 1961 has re-emerged at the center of professional branding and…it makes perfect sense. Each of us as professionals must now understand our Unique Selling Proposition (USP). It’s simple. What about our professional brand makes us desired as a sought solution to our respective organization’s problems? Can we assess ourselves? Are we in touch with our professional wins? Does our body of materials demonstrate our worth? Can we count on our network to help us solve problems? The new imperative is the job seeker who can answer these questions--- the Enlightened Job Seeker.

Assessment is required to reach the state of career enlightenment and the job seeker must know herself better than ever before. She is willing to do the cathartic assessment to understand strengths, weaknesses, personality type and desired work. She knows however that too much “thinking” is probably not a good thing. When faced with mistakes her instinct is to act with purpose to correct professional flaws and continue the evolution. Because the enlightened job seeker knows herself she does not make desperate career management decisions. The right behaviors produce the right results, time after time. She knows it!

Winning in all types of situations makes sense. For individuals managing a career, not having a list of quantifiable accomplishments is suicide. Being able to demonstrate a solid track record of quantifiable accomplishments bolsters buyer confidence. And guess what? From a talent perspective--it’s a buyer’s market. Professional contributions must be presented to show bottom-line numerical impacts. If there are no numbers, there probably aren’t any results. This reality is tough but absolutely true. Our enlightened job seeker understands that documenting a lifelong inventory of professional accomplishments IS their career. Action oriented behavior makes it all possible.

Materials of all types demonstrate a linkage between the enlightened professional and their total body of work. And yes, this means solid search documents like a resume. More importantly the simplistic word “materials” is used here to represent an investment in professional brand (time, money, sweat equity) that the enlightened job seeker understands---really well. Social media is used responsibly and with forethought. Even the business “suit” becomes a part of the cadre of tools used by our new age career management guru.

Network your way to a successful career? You better believe it! The enlightened job seeker gets a tremendous “kick” out of their competitors who treat networking events like a drive by shooting! A collection of 2,123 “contacts” on LinkedIn is not a network---it’s a list of names. Making deposits into “relationship accounts” ensures that we get reciprocal benefits for the long run. Fully aware professionals prepare for every event and informational meeting with a purpose in mind. They go the extra mile to ensure that the most influential players in their network are not overleveraged. Getting out of the office pays big dividends for the enthusiastic practioner of enlightened career teachings. Post and pray? NEVER! Action conquers fear. Period.

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