by kgettelfinger | Jul 13, 2009 | Job Transition
I was speaking on a panel for job transition and my topic was networking. I enjoy these panels because job transition is such a mix of confusion for people and it is so overwhelming so anything I can do to shed some light or give some positive energy and information to a person in this situation feels right. One gentleman said that he was exploring a change of career and had been advised by people in the industry that this was a terrible time to explore that because there are so many well qualified people on the market right now. Why would anyone take a chance on him? Two different people said this to him and he was asking if that was right, that there was no hope for him to make this change and that he should forget about going back to school to learn more in this field. I can’t stand these blanket statements. We all make them and probably with the best of intentions and they are completely bogus. I told this man that if this was a change he was really passionate about he should do it. Yes, he might have to make some sacrifices such as starting at the bottom, getting more education but ultimately you need to be doing what you really like/love to do. Or you should at least really enjoy what you do. You spend so much of your life in it.
They say changing an industry or changing a role is possible but to try not to do both at the same time and I would agree that this conventional wisdom is true. Changing both at the same time will require more sacrifice and more ingenuity but I won’t say it can’t be done. First see if you can make a change of industry/organization within the type of role you have held before then once you have proven you’re a valuable addition to the organization making the role change will be easier. Or make a change within your organization to a role that will give you needed experience to prove your abilities to move to a new organization. This is definitely the easier way. But don’t discount your options before you have explored them. Are there organizations you can become a member of which may not directly equal a job but will get you near others in the field? Can you create connections and work with non profits in your desired sector to show people your interest and drive? Don’t let anyone tell you what isn’t possible, not even yourself.
by kgettelfinger | Mar 23, 2009 | Career management, Job Transition
If you think its difficult to be looking for you next job right now as an experienced professional (especially as a Workforce Nomad) spend some time listening to the folks who have recently emerged from college. Imagine if you haven’t been building up a network in the professional world aside from family and neighbors the only people you know are your friends and they are in the same boat as you! It can be intimidating showing up at networking events even with a great background but I imagine if you are green and don’t feel confident in telling your story and everyone seems older than you, it must really be difficult. If you even know how to find networking opportunities
So you are left with internet ads for entry level sales positions. Even I’ve been tapped by some of these silly things. Door to door sales of financial products or some equally unlikely prospect, but they go anyway and hope that this one will be different. Herded into rooms for sales presentations in sketchy locations. Taken for all day “interviews” out to remote neighborhoods where they have to actually sell as part of the interview. And today I heard a really good story. One particular young man entered the room of a sketchy downtown building with others like him only to be told “this will be a no talking interview.” They proceeded to show a presentation of the company which said young man did not stay to witness as he had seen it before or something much like it anyway. I would leave too. The absurdity of the job search really is at its height when you find yourself in a no talking interview.
The only thing I can say is networking, networking, networking….Its the only way.
by kgettelfinger | Mar 9, 2009 | Career management, Job Transition
Here is an interesting concept that I was discussing with someone last week. How do you tell your story? You’ve heard it put a few different ways I imagine. What’s your pitch? What’s your elevator speech? etc… The overriding point is that people want to know in 30 seconds or less who you are or were or will be or all of the above. Now I could go on about what it says about our society that one must be able to tell their story in 30 seconds or less but I leave that for another day. Besides, why have an argument with reality? The fact of the matter is you need to be able to give people the nugget of who you are and what you do so that they want to hear more. It’s like hooking them to a movie. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back (that fits about a thousand movies but people seem to love it). There is an article entitled “What’s Your Story?” (Ibarra and Lineback, HBR January 2005) which speaks to this issue. I won’t regurgitate it for you since your library can feed you a copy that you may digest in your own way but I will share what it and countless other promoters of the story say about how to formulate yours. First you need your key elements;
- A protagonist (your prospective customer or employer- people love being the center of a story)
- A catalyst (your passion or skill which would engage you to help the protagonist)
- Trial and Tribulation (a problem hurting the protagonist)
- Turning Point (enter our hero with her passion and skill)
- A resolution (happy protagonist thanks to our hero)
With these elements you craft a sentence that relays your story, good to have a short version and then be able to elaborate with a long version of juicy detail because the hero will be so compelling they will want to hear more.
Sometimes we are so wrapped up in our story we can’t really distill it ourselves. This is where it is helpful to talk with colleagues about what you do and have them explain it back to you. It’s particularly helpful if your friend or colleague has marketing or some other story telling experience but that isn’t a requirement, it just makes it go faster. I had coffee with a marketing guru and after babbling for a bit about what I do and care about he came back at me with the following:
Helping businesses accelerate success and growth by realizing the value of
individual contributors and teams through the successful implementation and integration
of systems and processes.
This is pretty good. It has a business (protagonist) in peril of not realizing value (read lost money) and it has a hero (me) coming in to help them successfully implement and integrate solutions. Certainly it is enough to warrant further response, perhaps “Really, and how do you do that…” or something along those lines. It gives me a chance to explain why I think most software and process change fails (80+% failure rates) and how my skills and talents have made a difference.
As with all great stories revision and change will happen but it’s important to have a start to work with so your are ready for the inevitable question of “What’s your story?”
by kgettelfinger | Mar 3, 2009 | Job Transition
I know that sounds a little trite. But there are three possiblities in your job search. Finding a job, finding an opportunity or finding a job that could lead to an opportunity (okay there are probably also different categories of job that range from mind numbing mortgage payer to satisfying/fulfilling experience but we’ll ignore that for now).
To me an opportunity is that great gig that allows you to expand your skills, be valued, create a great product or experience, have fun and hopefully even make the world a better place. This is a terrible market to be looking for an opportunity, I know that is what you are thinking, but I believe it is out there. I’ve heard tell that it exists. Now one might need to take a job in the mean time (in this case the ‘one’ is me but maybe it’s you too) but that is okay because I’m going to go ahead and make believe that the job can become an opportunity if I clap my hands hard enough. Or at least pay the mortgage while I figure out what my change the world opportunity is. I’m still a little away from above mentioned mind numbing job thank goodness, I don’t think I’ll have to go there. I just need to find a company that will play along while I clap my hands.
by kgettelfinger | Mar 2, 2009 | Career management, Job Transition
It doesn’t exist. Sorry for the tease, I know how you feel. I’ve been on a quest for it myself. How many versions of your resume do you have? I’m getting close to a dozen. That can’t be right! First you start out trying to describe your past and fit it all onto two pages. Then you realize that your resume might need to get past a search algorithm first so you try to fit in every necessary buzz word to make sure that you get considered for the right roles. Then you need to make it look pretty. Large enough font, enough white space (dang three pages) now reduce. Then you realize that recruiters are giving each resume approximately 14 secconds of scan time which means the first 1/3 of the first page is all that human eyes will look at before you even make a cut. Even for a person like me who enjoys simplyfying things to their core this is a really painful process. How do I explain what value I can bring to a company in 1/3 of a page? Thank goodness for networking and informational interviewing so I can meet with many people and get great ideas and opinions. The only downside is that each person has a different approach and perspective on what the resume should do and how. How do I distill all these very valid ideas into one cohesive piece?
For today I’ve settled on a format which meets as much of the above mentioned critera as possible that I can use as a template and swap around bullet points depending on the audience. It just isn’t possible for a person with broad experience to sell their value with one resume. This is why 80% of jobs are secured through networking, even employers are frustrated with resumes. I’m sure that tomorrow will bring a new set of ideas and a new template for I think for tonight I will pretend I’ve solved the problem so I can move on to world peace.
by kgettelfinger | Feb 9, 2009 | Job Transition, Uncategorized
As someone who doesn’t normally caffeinate to start my day, it is funny that the coffee shop has become my new office. In fact I had one day with four meetings in two different coffee shops. Today it was only two meetings in two coffee shops (same chain different suburbs). I learned my lesson from the first time though and switched to decaffeinated beverages. Otherwise I risk appearing as a chipmunk on crack (hello shakes). Apparently, I’m sensitive to caffeine.
Coffee shops are such great places to meet with people without making a production out of it. And you start to run into people you know if you do enough of it. Ad hoc networking at its finest. I wonder what the record is for most coffee shop visits in one day and how many different shops/chains? I think coffee shops must be doing pretty well in this environment because I am not alone in my routine. They are full of folks working on laptops and meeting with people.
I won’t be giving up my home office though, having my dog sleeping under my desk just can’t be beat.
