I have found that the best way to manage myself is by asking for a lot of help. The question is, how do you know who to take advice from? The answer is not always intuitive. For example, you'd think that if Bill Gates wants to give you career advice, you should take it, right? I [...][Read Entry]

Dear J.T. & Dale: I'd like to take your advice and do more networking, but I don't have much to work with. I haven't kept up with former co-workers, and among my friends and family, no one knows anything about my work or that I'm now unemployed. I believe in ...[Read Entry]

By CAREEREALISM-Approved Expert, Karen Siwak One of the many things I appreciate about the web is the opportunity to connect with a really interesting and diverse group of people. Typically, we stay in the realm of cyber-networking, but occasionally we transcend the limits of the computer to connect in person. Last ...[Read Entry]

Are you dissatisfied with your career? Maybe it's time for a career change. But how do you know for sure whether you need a career change or if a new job will do the trick. A career change takes time, energy, and money since there is a good chance you will need training in order to pursue your new occupation. Before you begin this endeavor take the Career Change Quiz. Find out if it's time for you to change your career.

More Career Change Advice:
How to Make a Successful Career Change

Quiz: Do You Need a Career Change? originally appeared on About.com Career Planning on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 13:06:56.

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Next week is Pursuit of Happiness Week, so I'm featuring some articles about how to manage those aspects of your work life that contribute to your happiness at work. Getting along with your boss and holding on to your job are excellent places to start if you value success and happiness at work.

The best place to start first is to love your work. If you love your work, just about everything work related can be managed. Consider subscribing to my weekly newsletter, Your Tip of the Week for Success in Work and Life. In a hurry? Try Ten Days to a Happier, More Successful Career and Life.

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Pursue Happiness at Work originally appeared on About.com Human Resources on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 19:21:39.

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By CAREEREALISM-Approved Expert, Mary Sevinsky I recently responded to a concern from a woman who worked for a government agency. She reported winning several awards a year, but not being promoted as she has special needs children: "The employer felt [her] "family responsibilities” might interfere with [her] ability to handle increased ...[Read Entry]

By CAREEREALISM-Approved Expert, Rob Taub The best way to introduce yourself to a company that doesn't appear to be actively looking is to know the "What, where and how you can help the company”. I can give you a better-than-even chance to get the door to open to be able to ...[Read Entry]

Dear J.T. & Dale: I'm an experienced, educated manufacturing manager who was downsized at the age of 62 in July of last year. I have been working daily through networking, Web sites and headhunters to find a new position. My wife thinks it is my age; although I don't want ...[Read Entry]

I keep finding that successful people have, in addition to intelligence, one key quality: focused relentlessness. They latch on a goal and then persist in a comprehensive attack on it.

For example, if I aspired to the long-shot career of sportswriter, I'd:

• identify the 20 sportswriters I most admire. For each, I'd read five or ten of their most recent articles, taking notes on what I most wanted to emulate.
• then write to each of them, explaining how much I admired them, and would include the aforementioned examples. I'd ask if they might be willing to offer me career advice and/or feedback on the articles I wrote, say, for the college newspaper.
• send profuse thanks and another clip to any sportswriters that responded to me. Eventually, I'd ask for leads and a letter of recommendation for a job or internship.
  
• read the useful articles on the websites of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, the Baseball Writers Association of America, Football Writers Association of America, and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. I'd network and get advice at their national conferences and local chapter meetings. And I'd keep writing a lot, ever incorporating the useful feedback I was getting.
  

Does anyone doubt that despite sportswriting being a long-shot career, if I had at least moderate talent, I'd achieve my goal of becoming a professional sportswriter?

Even in mundane fields, focused relentless is the most potent way to ensure your success. If you wait for good things to happen, unless you're brilliant or lucky, you'll likely be waiting for Godot. [Read Entry]

The following post is courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap: From: Peter Weddle You may have seen the news story. A teen was recently found in New York City with no memory of her name or personal history. Her amnesia was...[Read Entry]

Dear J.T. & Dale: I was laid off recently after almost 20 years as a project manager. I'm not sure how to answer the question about what my career goals are. I'm at a point in life where I just want a job to carry me to retirement. I've already ...[Read Entry]

Now that we've provided some Basic ideas as to how to start the Job Search (Interview) Process, (in our previous Blog) I have highlighted more of of an actual checklist with regards to this Process.

YOU SHOULD HAVE:

• A clearer understanding and knowledge of the job search process and have developed a job-search strategy. 
• A clear understanding of the jobs that interest you and that I am QUALIFIED for.
• An outline and Clear Career path/track  
• Identified Your Strengths and Weaknesses. 
• Developed My Personal Selling tools, which will help me Distinguish myself from other job-seekers.
• Identified KEY accomplishments from all school and work experiences. Also identify core transferable skills.
• Identified the main industries/companies that I have an interest in, AND the ones most likely to take an interest in me
• Researched specific companies that most interest me.  Don't limit yourself to your immediate geography
• An understanding of the importance of marketing skills when job-hunting.
• Developed and strengthen network of contacts and know the value and importance of networking in a job search.
• Gathered a key list (including contact information) of references. (Even at an early stage)

Our next article will most likely involve the Resume Writing or Networking process.

 

Any Comments of Questions please email, call or post a Comment on this site

 

Eric Brooks, CPA/MBA

Sr. Managing Partner

Edward Lewis Group

executive recruiters and consultants

(212) 689-0900

www.EdwardLew.com

Eric@EdwardLew.com

 

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Social networks are so hyped right now among recruiters that it is hard to separate their real value and purpose from often overblown marketing promises. By creating a social network specifically for your organization, you can differentiate yourself from the crowd, build your brand, and find most of the candidates you need without any other [...][Read Entry]

I recently wrote about the need to directly stimulate job creation by giving employers incentives to hire workers. I'm glad to say that the government is taking the advice seriously. I guess the White House has gotten over the Olympics debacle. Okay, I can't claim the credit, but the good news is that several measures [...][Read Entry]

Think twice before you use Twitter to vent or blab about work: that indiscreet tweet could cost you your job. There have been a number of incidents this year involving people using the popular microblogging site in ways that have gotten them fired. Some classic examples (including the graphic for this blog post) are covered in [...][Read Entry]

As you know more about your ideal green career destination, there are a number of ways you can move your career in that direction.

Are there any skills you need to add to help you step into your new career?

You can learn new skills in a variety of ways. Consider taking a class, taking on new responsibilities in the job you have, volunteer in your community or find a mentor.

Do you need to nurture a different network to build a stepping stone to your new career?

Join a national professional association, attend meetings at the local chapter meetings, and join a relevant volunteer project to plug into the active green network in your area. Combining these three tactics can strengthen your network.

Do you have a way to track the cutting edge developments in your target profession and industry?

Be on the look out for newsletters, blogs, and trade magazines you can read on a regular basis to keep up with the news. When you have the opportunity, talk with others in your field to get their take on developments. Devote some time each month to doing your own online research to see what you can learn.
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Following seven months of struggle, one Minnesota man made a simple change in his job search in August, and was hired for a new position only 30 days later. What did he do? Read on … Scott Bornstein, from suburban Minneapolis, was using what he thought was a well written resume, but without results. "Every time I sent [...][Read Entry]

I just wrote an article on choosing a career that will appear in American Mensa's magazine. Part of the article consists of these descriptions of 16 careers I believe are particularly worthy of consideration by Mensans and other intelligent people. Perhaps you'll find one or more that you might want to check-out:

Researcher with expertise in physics, math, molecular biology, engineering, and/or computer science. Key specializations:

• energy: e.g., developing more efficient hydrogen and solar cells and transmission devices, genetically engineered biofuels, efficient insulators such as nanolevel-designed films and paints.
• genomics : e.g., determining what gene clusters affect what phenotypes, developing safe, effective methods of gene knockouts and transfers.
• neurophysics: e.g., understanding the physics of various mental illnesses: depression, ADD, schizophrenia, etc.
• diagnostic imaging: e.g., developing the next generation of medical imaging-- for example, molecular-level imaging.
• pollution control: e.g., nanolevel industrial emission air purifiers, making nuclear waste safer.
  
  Those careers' big draw is the excitement of being on the cutting edge, with potential to make a big difference. Alas, even in those likely-to-burgeon specialties, this career isn't for the faint of heart. A Ph.D., often followed by a one-to-two-year post-doc is de rigueur. Even then, you're not guaranteed a university- or even an industry job. Learn more: Career Guide for Scientists: www.phds.org/career-guide/. Science Careers: http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/
  
  Federal government manager, especially in homeland security, energy, health care, veterans' affairs, defense, and the environment. Common federal job titles for Mensa-level people: program analyst, program manager, director. Also needed are country experts, especially on China, India, and Middle Eastern countries. The Federal government is expected to be the largest source of new jobs, with 300,000 hires expected within the next two years. Learn more: Partnership for Public Service: www.ourpublicservice.org/OPS/
  
  Corporate executive specializing in global business development or managing global workforces. Being bilingual/bicultural in Chinese, Hindi, Thai, or Vietnamese is a plus. Learn more: Thunderbird School of Global Management Blogs: http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/research/knowledge-network-blogs/

  Finance specialist, especially with skills in raising funds globally. Learn more: Global Finance Magazine: www.gfmag.com/

  Terrorism expert, especially on bioterrorism and nuclear/radiologic weapons of mass destruction. Learn more Careers in the Age of Terrorism: www.martynemko.com/articles/careers-in-age-terrorism_id1285

  Cognitive-Behavioral Therapist. The Mental Health Parity Act now requires mental health to be covered as fully as physical health, but many insurers will cover only cognitive-behavioral therapy because it 's shorter-term and has generally shown greater efficacy than traditional therapy, which explores the impact of past experiences on your psychology. Among my thousands of career coaching clients, I've found that those who have undergone long-term traditional psychotherapy often suffer side effects from the therapy: excessive self-absorption, preoccupation with their past, and/or externalization of responsibility. Learn more:Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies: www.abct.org.

  Immigration expert. President Obama has promised a path to citizenship for America's 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants. After ObamaCare is passed, that will likely rise on his agenda. Experts will be needed to figure out how to successfully integrate such a large population of largely uneducated, limited-English-speaking, and high-health-care need people. Learn more: Department of Homeland Security: www.dhs.gov. National Council of La Raza: www.nclr.org.

  Optometrist. This career offers high success rate with patients, good income, status, and shorter-than-MD training: four years after a bachelors, seven years in a combined BS/OD program. Learn more: Bureau of Labor Statistics profile: www.bls.gov/oco/ocos073.htm

  Genetic counselor. With personal DNA sequencing becoming ever more informative and affordable, people face many more gene-related decisions, for example, if your genome doubles your risk of breast cancer, should you have a preventive mastectomy? Or you're pregnant and a test reveals your baby has the gene for a genetic disease that may or may not be serious. Should you abort? Genetic counselors help people figure out what to do. A master's is the terminal degree. Learn more: National Society of Genetic Counselors: www.nsgc.org/career.

  Health informatics specialist. Hospitals, insurers, and regional collaboratives are switching to electronic medical records. Nurses and doctors, urged to do more evidence-based medicine, are using computerized expert systems to guide diagnoses and treatment recommendations. Healthcare providers also are collecting more data to evaluate quality of care. Learn more: American Medical Informatics Organization: www.amia.org, American Health Information Management Association: www.ahima.org.

  Patient Advocate. Even Christopher Columbus would have had a tough time navigating the tricky waters of the U.S. healthcare system, and most people, especially when ill, aren't the best navigators. Enter patient advocates. They help ensure that the patient gets to see the right specialist. They do Internet research so the patient is better informed when talking to the doctor. They educate family members on how to support the patient during a hospital stay. And they sort through the mountains of bills and, if necessary, negotiate fees with the healthcare provider, insurance company, or other payer. ("Medicare, how dare you refuse to pay for that surgery?!") Learn more: Becoming a Patient Advocate: http://patients.about.com/od/caringforotherpatients/ss/becomeadvocate.htm.

  Program Evaluator. Not withstanding politicians' rhetoric, is Head Start really worth the taxpayer dollars? What are the benefits and liabilities of online versus in-person training of lab techs? How might a teen-pregnancy prevention program further reduce teen pregnancy? Program evaluators address such questions. Learn more: Basic Guide to Program Evaluation: www.managementhelp.org/evaluatn/fnl_eval.htm.

  Higher Education Administrator. Even in tough times and despite annual more-than-inflation price increases and low student achievement growth, many people continue to view higher education as worth the money. So manager types may find the job market better in higher education than in corporate America. Also, colleges are among the more felicitous work environments for Mensa brains. Plus you get lots of vacation: Neat niche: Student affairs administrator. (No, I'm not talk about assignations.)

  Learn more: the book, The College Administrator's Survival Guide.

  Physical Therapist. Job satisfaction surveys rate this career near the top. One-on-one interaction, with progress usual, reasonable work hours, and you get to spend more than the physician's 12 minutes per patient. In addition, the job market will likely strengthen as aging boomers are ever more likely to sustain weekend-warrior injuries and worse. A three-year Doctor of Physical Therapy is becoming the standard terminal degree. Learn more: Dept of Labor profile: Department of Labor profile. American Physical Therapy Association: www.apta.org.

  Veterinarian. For many people, this career is more desirable than physician: shorter training, you get to do a wider range of procedures, less insurance paperwork, and you avoid the uncertainties of health care reform. Of course, your patients can't describe what's wrong with them. Learn more: About.com's veterinary career portal: http://careerplanning.about.com/od/occupations/p/veterinarian.htm.

  Media coach. I include this self-employment opportunity because it has near-zero start-up costs, demand is strong and likely to grow, and many Mensans would find it fun. Media coaches prepare executives, job seekers and others, to do well in front of a camera or microphone: YouTube, intranet, video-resume, as well as traditional TV and radio.

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(Originally posted on ImSoCorporate.com)

When I was a little kid, I dreamed of climbing the corporate ladder in my pinstripe suit and stiletto heels. I wanted nothing more than to be toughest, no nonsense attorney in a top law firm and live in a high rise apartment in Manhattan with my CEO husband and our glamorous life of jet setting weekends to Europe and dinner parties with the other fabulous people.

Well, at least that is who I wanted to play on TV. You see, I started studying theater and performance arts when I was 4 and auditioned for my first role in Annie at 5. I spent the next decade and a half in a variety of classes, training programs and live performances from one act to television to full theater productions. Like Rachel from Glee sets her sites on an grammy - mine was set on an Oscar. Or at least an Emmy - (but not the daytime one)

In college I was a theater major. Until I met a recruiter toward the end of my 1st semester who laughed at me and then shared his passion for this industry. I quickly changed it to Public Speaking with a business minor - it was the closest I could get to a business major and still be allowed to participate in the theater program. I spent the next 4 years carefully balancing my two lives - the liberal arts side made up of innovation and philosophy, Shakespearean theater productions, hosting a tv show and open thought along with the business school side (or as we referred to them as "the others") which was comprised of suits and SHRM meetings and case studies and mock interviews and alcohol free "business" fraternities.

It was like the melding of two worlds that just didn't belong and it was somewhere mixed in with all that mess around my 3rd ‘business' internship that I realized - I will never even try for my big break break and I should utilize what i have learned through all of that to kick some serious a$ in the corporate world. This is the role I was meant to play.

Our industry is made up of a lot of people with some really varied backgrounds and experience. We are full of innovative ideas and people that want to make a change. We are also filled with a lot of rules and regulations - process and best practices. We are a group of people that question everything and nothing at the same same time.

Imagine what you would do if you could wipe away the rules and processes and best practices and just create. Imagine if you could just do what your passion is and have it meld with your career. Imagine if you were asked to redesign whatever it is you want and you had no lines, no boundaries, no budget - just innovation. What would you do? How would you do it? Why aren't you doing it already?

 

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In continuing our theme of "game changing" tactics of elite recruiters...It's something we all struggle with, the balance of consistently maintaining the passion for what we do each day as recruiters. For folks like me that have been doing this for years, it's a constant struggle. I have been in the game long enough to know what to do and how to do it, but I'm human, and we're prone to make mistakes. It's honestly probably every day that each of us struggles with keeping the passion alive. We need to maintain our passion for the profession in dealing with candidates, hiring managers, internal business partners, etc. Everyone has different needs and wants and personalities to manage.

I'll share here a few techniques that have helped me over the years:

1. Planning and time management - David has written some great articles on this, from managing your time for sourcing to managing your CIE's (calls, interruptions and emails). We also spend a great deal of time in your educational programs talking about the Perfect week and Perfect Day. If you'd like to learn more about what we teach here, just contact me.

To me, the key to time management is not the systems I use (Outlook, CRM tools, ATS, etc.) or the processes, but the discipline that needs to be applied. I have always prided myself on completing my task list each day before I end the workday. I allow myself exceptions to this, but only once per week. So if I have 5 to-do's on Tuesday and I only get 3 of them done, then I have to make up the remaining 2 to-do's in the next couple of days.

2. Become focused and single minded - When I plan my days, either the day before, or the morning of, I know I must maintain a single minded focus on the task. For example, I learned long ago to close, literally close, my email box or real time communication systems when I am on a call with a candidate, hiring manager, or client. We all know it's way too easy to have an email come through that upsets you and completely throws your focus from the task at hand. So for me, no emails stay open during important phone calls.

3. Warm up and cool down each day! - I have found that a quick launch leads to a long-term psychological effect to a productive day. Sure I do the requisite cup of coffee and peruse the emails at the start of my day too, but I only give myself 20-30 minutes for this - I literally time myself. Once that time has passed and the coffee's gone, I jump in, and all the way in. If I start with a high intensity of activity right away, I've found that it will continue throughout the day. When you work out, you start with a quick warm up to get the blood flowing. It's the same approach here. If I start with a good warm up, it will continue. Whether it's a day of cold calls, meetings, or data entry, the approach is the same. Warm up, start strong, end strong.

I also like to end the day like I end a workout, with a nice stretch. As the day winds down, I try to avoid emails and jumping online to read the news. I prefer to get out of chair and do some simple stretches. Neck, shoulders, whatever. The key is to have some simple blood flow and breathing to wind down. Try it for just two minutes today, and you'll see what I mean.

4. Have a positive support system - Finally, I believe in support mechanisms. I like to talk with colleagues about their day, and share war stories. I also like to discuss the day with people outside of our profession. Whether it's your friend, your partner, your plant or your pet, talk with someone that has a fresh perspective on the challenges you face. They don't bring the jaded view we can have sometimes of our work, and can offer fresh perspectives that we haven't thought of.

Practicing some or all of these techniques will definitely enable you to maintain your intensity and passion in your work, and I know you'll see and feel the impact in your productivity.

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