Archive for the ‘Career’ Category
Guest Post: Maximize Your Job Search Efforts
January 13th, 2012 | 
Author: 
by Bill Barnett
Massive outreach to a strong professional network is the best way to find new job opportunities. It’s also a good way to test your personal strategy. You’ll talk with tens — maybe hundreds — of people.
It sounds easy. Once you have the contacts, one big blast should do the trick, right? No way. Unmanaged outreach is the path to missed opportunities. Using your professional network in a carefully planned and thoughtful way yields better results.
Take a strategic approach. Make different kinds of contacts when the time is right, in the right sequence. Don’t try to do everything at once. Don’t let everything just happen when it does. Here are five steps to make your outreach productive:
1. Get started. A mental block may keep you from writing an email or picking up the phone. You may be uncomfortable asking for help. Or you may wait for perfect preparation before meeting people. If that’s you, you may be surprised to find that a month’s gone by, and little’s happened.
Everything will take longer than you might first assume. Busy people will have to fit this into their schedules. You must follow through on the intention of contacting people, and the way to begin is to go ahead and contact the first one or two or three. Get started.
2. Start with people you know best. It’s natural to begin with close friends and colleagues. They’re the foundation of your professional network. They’re the easiest to meet. Talking to close acquaintances also makes sense from a learning perspective. At the outset, you’ll be testing your personal value proposition (PVP) — getting reactions to your target jobs, how well you fit, and perhaps what else to consider. You’ll need open, exploratory conversations with people who know something about you. They’ll have a basis for making suggestions, possibly ideas you hadn’t considered. They may suggest others to call.
3. Cast a wider net. As your plan develops, you’ll have more conviction about your direction. That’s when to see people you don’t know well and people you’re meeting for the first time. You’ll still hope to get reactions to your strategy, but you’ll mostly be asking about opportunities.
This is the time to consider social networking. As COO Frederick who was looking for a new job said, “I can post something on Facebook or LinkedIn and tell 300 people something has changed in my life. I was very careful about that. I wasn’t ready at first. I wanted to get my ducks in a row. I didn’t want 20 people calling and saying they have a great offer for me. I had to do this, this, and this first.”
Before he broadcast his new job search, he wanted to resolve any issues related to his leaving his employer, to think through his new plan, and to develop his new PVP. If he’d gone out too soon, he’d have used up these weaker contacts before he was ready to ask for the specific kind of help he wanted. He might not get their attention again.
4. Determine whether to begin with higher priority or lower priority employers. Because a job search is difficult, people sometimes hope to do as little as possible but still find the perfect new job. They begin with the possibilities they think they’d like most. That’s not always the right answer, and it’s certainly foolish to do that to avoid the need for a big job search.
There is an advantage to approaching your top priorities first: You’ll have more time for possibilities to develop at those institutions. But if you plan early meetings with lower priority employers — those that might not be on your ideal job list — those meetings can help you hone your PVP and interviewing skills. As a result, you may do better in the interviews at the higher priorities. And you may be surprised if some lower priorities look appealing.
5. Sequence follow-up meetings. Ideally, you’ll have two or more job opportunities to consider. You’ll be able to compare them and determine which one is best. You won’t have to decide whether to say “yes” to an acceptable bird in the hand when a bird in the bush looks more attractive. As Frederick said, “It’s very hard if you have an offer. Are you going to give up an offer with X dollars in hope another one shows up in January? The offer I got the first week of October retracts on November 1.”
You may have no choice, but you’d like to avoid this dilemma. Truly massive outreach helps by giving you the best chance to surface multiple possibilities. In some recruiting situations, you may be able to influence timing. Some employers are so busy that they may not notice if you’re slowing things down (for example, suggesting a follow-up meeting two weeks away). Or you might try to speed up another situation or at least learn where they are. Rank the possibilities that emerge and, if you can, try to time them so that you don’t have to make a decision before you’re ready.
Sequencing and timing matters in reaching out to your network and as you follow up on concrete possibilities. Are there other actions you’ve taken to manage timing in your job search?
Source: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/01/maximize_your_job_search_efforts.html
Personal Branding from William Arruda
Effective personal branding requires that you know yourself. Brands are based in authenticity. In this video for Personal Branding TV, William Arruda shares with you some questions you can ask yourself so you unearth your personal brand.
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Do You Know Your Leadership Style?
Every manager has a leadership style. Just ask the staff. Great bosses understand they need to adapt their style to fit the situation.
This video lesson will help you understand the variety of leadership styles a manager can use and how they can adapt those styles in response to specific situations.
Posted in Career, Career Coaching, General, Leadership, Make a Difference, Presentations |
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According to Marshall–December 2011 Edition
Welcome to the December issue of According to Marshall…
The purpose of this message is to share just a quick summary of some of the topics that I think are relevant to your personal and professional success.
I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for your readership and your feedback over the course of this year. I wish you good health, happiness and success in 2012. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can support your success in any way in the New Year.
If you have trouble reading this or seeing graphics click here for the online version.
Lessons in Leadership from Andy Bernard of ‘The Office’
By Julie Rains
“Underdogs inspire us. That’s the lesson Robert California, the fictional owner of the fictional paper vendor Dunder Mifflin, teaches us when he promotes Andy Bernard to branch manager of the Scranton sales office (aka The Office). Despite his Ivy League credentials, Andy is an unlikely choice to replace the departing Michael Scott. Watching Andy navigate his new accountabilities in the episode entitled “The Incentive” prompted me to consider how a less-than-perfect leader can inspire people.”
Click here to read the full story. . .
Best Gifts for Employees
By Helen Zhang
“During the holidays, giving the perfect gift is always a challenge. With tons of friends and family members on your shopping list, it’s easy for employees to get left behind. And let’s face it, it’s easy to dole out generic and thoughtless knick-knacks to your staff.
This year, take advantage of the holiday season to show genuine employee appreciation. We’ve talked about how important this is to your office morale, productivity and, ultimately, your bottom line. So why not use this time to show your employees how much you care? Here are 10 easy gifts, from affordable to high-end, for every type of employee.”
Click here to read the full story. . .
10 Innovative Ways to Reward Your Employees
By Kentin Waits
We often think that rewarding employees means big bonuses, which can affect the bottom line. But recognition for a job well-done can come in all shapes and sizes.
Small tokens of appreciation given at the right moment not only provide well-deserved acknowledgement—they can keep your employees motivated. Let’s explore the art of saying “thank you” in new and innovative ways.
Click here to read the full story. . .
Companies Hiring in Large Volume
By John Smith
“December often becomes a transition month for job seekers. As the busy holiday season approaches, calendars get filled with parties. Relatives come into town for a visit. Children have a few weeks off from school and need to be entertained. Plus, there’s probably shopping to be done.
In addition to this jam-packed schedule, many job seekers believe the myth that employers aren’t hiring new workers until next year. As a result, some job seekers decide to take a step back from sending out résumés and attending networking events and instead focus on how they will revise and improve their job search in 2012. You should always be thinking about how to tweak your job search, but don’t put everything on hold until next year. Employers aren’t.”
Click here to read the full story. . .
Focus on Others to Keep Social-Network Posts Professional
By Michael Crom
”Question: I work at a large financial company.
I have always maintained very professional behavior at work, and I believe this has led to respect from my co-workers. But like many of young professionals I enjoy social networking and I have built my profile on these sites. I recently started receiving requests from some of my younger co-workers, clients, and even higher-level professionals to add them as Facebook friends. Since I really want to maintain my professional image moving forward, I need some tips on how I can keep my profile on these sites as professional as possible.”
Click here to read the full story. . .
I also invite you to forward this to a friend.
Guest Post: Leadership–Are You In Your Comfort Zone?
By, Dwight Frindt
The term “comfort zone” has become a popular way to describe how we are feeling about various activities we are taking part in – “that pushed me way out of my comfort zone,” or “that was not in my comfort zone,” are pretty common phrases these days.
When we talk about our “comfort zone” what we are talking about is our personal orbit, our range of personal activities. Each of us has a daily routine, a weekly routine and perhaps even a monthly or yearly routine. Generally speaking we are creatures of habit and we develop comfort zones we like, and of course, feel comfortable in.
Often, even when we do try to venture out of it, we are quickly pulled back in to it. There is a dynamic called “homeostasis” which is critical to this. Homeostasis has both psychological and physical implications and what it’s pointing to is the fundamental and biological drive for equilibrium and stability in a system, (and yes, we are including human beings as systems). In effect, homeostasis helps create and regulate our “comfort zones.” This is a very important phenomenon to understand. It works for us in critical ways. For example, it helps keep our body temperatures stable. As we know, we all have a set-point for body temperature that is on average 98.6 degrees. The homeostasis in our bodies helps insure that when our temperature fluctuates, it comes back to this comfortable set point. The downside is that when we challenge ourselves psychologically and emotionally in various ways, there can be a “homeostatic back lash,” and a strong pull to go back to our existing comfort zone until we have solidly established a new set point.
So our comfort zone is somewhat like a thermostat. Unconsciously it has been set at a particular point and when we change it, it takes some time to “heat up or cool down” to the new set point.
An amazing example of this is the research that has been done on lottery winners. It has been found that generally, if someone was poor before winning the lottery, they will end up poor again. If they were middle class, they would ultimately end up middle class again and so on. This is a powerful example of what happens when our set points or comfort zones are radically and unexpectedly challenged and how powerful homeostasis can be.
As we discuss comfort zones, set points, etc. we want to be clear that this is not a piece about people who plod along and move slowly or people who seem risk averse. If you are a fast-paced, “go, go, go” type of person that is your comfort zone. What if you had to slow down, be more reflective, bring your energy “down and in” instead of being an “up and out” kind of person? What if you had to take on a meditation practice? Would you still be in your comfort zone? What if you are a thrill seeker and look for ways to “push the envelope” all the time? What would happen if you lived a more mundane existence and had to experience the ordinary? Would you still be in your comfort zone?
The thing is, if you want new outcomes, bigger results and to achieve your vision are you ready to expand your comfort zone? Are you ready to alter your personal orbit? Are you fortified and prepared for the inevitable backlash that may come from inside you, but also from those around you who may feel threatened or unnerved by change? If you are part of their system, their orbit, their comfort zone, and you change, what happens to their comfort zone? If you aren’t ready to expand your orbit, how can you expect your colleagues, team, or employees to do it?
Source: http://www.2130partners.com/leadership-are-you-in-your-comfort-zone/
Job Seekers: Use Branch Out to Leverage the Power of Your Personal Relationships
The tagline of the largest career app on Facebook is, “Unleash the Power of Your Network.” With Branch Out you can leverage the power of your personal relationships to form professional connections. Branch Out is designed to reveal the connections that you have within your personal network of friend and family to the companies that you are interested in working with.
When you are looking through the over 3 million job listings on Branch Out you will see all of the connections that the people in your network have to the companies posting job opportunities.
If you are an active Facebook user you will want to go in and adjust your privacy settings to protect your personal information. Then you should make sure that your profile picture looks professional enough to display to prospective employers.
There is a series of ‘how-to’ videos on Branch Out that will walk you through creating a profile, finding jobs and growing your network. Go in and create your profile and start giving endorsements to your friends, who will more than likely return the favor. If you want an endorsement from someone, you might consider writing one up yourself and sending it to them and invite them to revise is as they see fit.
Recruiters who are searching for certain demographics utilize Branch Out, so making sure that your profile is complete and that you have a few key endorsements can make you more visible.
If you are in the midst of a job search and you are looking to make the most of all of your connections you should go ahead and set up your Branch Out profile. If you are spending time on Facebook you might as well make it count towards helping you to land a great job.
Want to make a Radical Career Change? Coaching can keep your career healthy, improve the quality of your life and make you more effective at work through a heightened sense of self-awareness and greater clarity about your purpose and goals. Contact me today for a complimentary consultation.
According to Marshall–October Issue
| Welcome to the October issue of According to Marshall…
The purpose of this message is to share just a quick summary of some of the topics that I think are relevant to your personal and professional success. If there are particular subjects that you would like to receive more information on from me, reach out and let me know. I also welcome any relevant information that you have produced or found that I can share with my readers. 7 Tips From CEOs On How To Eat Uncertainty For Lunch By Marc Figueroa, Vistage International “Today’s business owners and CEOs are constantly being tested. Faced with volatile markets, shifting customer demands and economic uncertainty, the only thing most business leaders are certain of is that there’s more change ahead. So how do you continue driving your business forward? We asked seven members of Vistage International, a CEO peer group organization, for their insight on how to lead with confidence in times of uncertainty.” Click here to read the full story 6 Personal Branding Mistakes That Can Threaten Your Job Search By Meridith Levinson “In 2009, personal branding became the buzzword of choice for job seekers and career coaches alike, and for good reason. When done right, personal branding—the act of identifying and communicating your unique value to people who can help advance your career—promised to be the job seeker’s silver bullet, his surefire way to stand out in a crowded job market.” Click here to read the full story Building Authentic Relationships in the Workplace By Chrissy Scivicque “Back when I worked in banking, as the Assistant Manager of a branch, I wore a mask. No, not literally, you silly goose. After all, banks and masks don’t go well together if you know what I mean…But I hid all the same. I was hiding behind an image of who I thought I should be, who I thought others wanted me to be. I didn’t show the “real me” because I was scared.” Read more at: Click here to read the full story Top 5 Secrets to Make Your Web 2.0 Job Search More Effective By Rosa Elizabeth Vargas “Social networking sites have dramatically changed the job search “game.” LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, and Online Career Sites can help you, from the comfort of your home, discover new opportunities and tap into the hidden job market. Why? Because networking, whether it is performed offline or online, is still the most effective way to find a job. However, building a brand, connecting with professionals in your field, and maintaining those relationships is not as easy as just setting up an account (don’t we wish!?). ” Click here to read the full story Top 10 Steps To Reclaim Your Life From Distraction By Guy Kawasaki, Co-Founder, Alltop “Peter Bregman is strategic advisor to CEOs and management teams and author of 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done. According to Peter, people are interrupted, on average, four times an hour, and the more challenging the work, the less likely you are to go back to it after the interruption. In other words, we are most likely to leave our most important work unfinished.” Click here to read the full story SEO for Your Resume By Mona Abdel-Halim “With the advent of “intelligent” technology, technology that more and more mimics human behavior, a slew of new tools have emerged to help recruiters quickly identify candidates with relevant skills. The behavior such technologies emulate are the mental scoring and comparing of candidate applications, primarily resumes, that recruiters used to take days to sort through manually. Now, by simply inputting key phrases or an entire job description, recruiters can automatically generate reports of upwards of thousands of job seekers in rank order.” Click here to read the full story I also invite you to forward this to a friend.
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Posted in According to Marshall, Branding, business, Career, Job Search, Job Search Strategies, Mentor, Networking, Personal Branding, Resume, Skills |
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Are You Managing Your Personal Brand Effectively?
Quiz: How Well Are You Maintaining Your Personal Brand?
Developing and managing your personal brand—that which creates a clear and memorable impression about who you are and what you do—is practically a requirement in today’s economy. Doing so not only gives you greater control of your career and personal destiny. Take the Self-Quiz below to see if yours needs just a dusting off, or some full-fledged spring-cleaning.
1. I know what’s important to me, and I can list the values that inform my work and my approach right away when asked.
2. When colleagues (and those I work with at all levels) think of me, the idea that comes to mind is clear and consistent, from person to person.
3. I know how I create value for my company and/or my clients. They do, too.
4. My personal “brand message” is targeted and focused.
5. I put my brand, my unique contribution and/or approach, on everything I do: presentations, reports, meetings, deals, etc.
6. I look to connect my personal brand to every situation possible (and appropriate).
7. I consider myself my own CEO and have a vision by which I lead myself.
8. My emails are consistently opened, read and acted upon.
9. I focus on growing and nurturing my professional network, both through offline approaches (e.g., associations, speaking, etc.) and online strategies (e.g., LinkedIn, blog/forum participation, etc.).
10. I look to find what’s distinct about me and what I bring to the table, rather than try to conform to the norm. In essence, I create my own “unique selling proposition” (USP).
11. I have a personal brand plan, and I execute the strategy and tactics in it.
12. I establish appropriate partnerships that will extend my brand and help me get complementary brand value.
13. I make sure that everything that surrounds my brand (my office, my website, my customer service, etc.) communicates the same brand message.
If you answered true to at least eight statements, you’re well on your way to building a powerful personal brand. But don’t forget: it’s not only about creating a distinct personality, but also telling the world about it. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you’d like support shining up your personal brand.
According to Marshall–August 2011
Welcome to the August issue of According to Marshall…
There is a lot of information out there and most of us have little, or no time, to read it. My goal is to provide you, my readers, with relevant, important and up to date information that will help you in your business success. It’s just a quick summary, on various topics of interest, that I am sure will be relevant to your personal and professional success.
If there are particular subjects that you would like to receive information on, let me know. And if you want to share relevant information I would be happy to include it to my readers. Please feel free to send your information to me.
If you have trouble reading this or seeing graphics click here for the online version.
Examples Of Good Resumes That Get Jobs
By Sam Dogen
“One of my predictions for this year is that the job market will surprise on the upside. With cashed up corporate balance sheets and a revival in demand, there is little doubt in my mind that unemployment levels will continue to improve. Unfortunately, 2011 has proven to be a little more challenging than expected, with unemployment levels staying at above 9%. This is why now more than ever, you need to get all your documents in order, starting with your resume.”
Click here to read the full story
A Winning Job Search Strategy
By Peter Vogt
“You’ve posted your resume online and are submitting resumes and cover letters for all the job openings that seem to fit you.
Is there anything else you can do to look for a job? Absolutely! In fact, the more diverse your job-hunting strategy, the more effective it’s likely to be.”
Click here to read the full story
Staying Positive During Your Job Search | Jobfully Blog
By Stephanie Heydrick
“Having a positive mindset is important in your job search. However, job search length has become much longer since the current “Great Recession” has begun. It’s common to see job seekers get discouraged, particularly during an extended period of job hunting without results. Keeping a positive mindset constantly can be challenging. Here are some suggestions to help you stay positive:”
Click here to read the full story
A Resume Checklist: 13 Things to Do Before You Apply for the Job
By Selena Dehne
“When writing the first draft of your resume, you probably know it could be — and should be — stronger than it is. If you’re like many job seekers, though, you might feel pretty mystified as to which specific steps will lead you to more powerful content and a more attractive design.
Fortunately, boosting a bland resume or simply polishing it before applying for a job isn’t as cumbersome as you might expect.”
Click here to read the full story
According to Marshall – June 2011
June 2011
Welcome to the June issue of According to Marshall…
There is a lot of information out there and most of us have little, or no time, to read it. My goal is to provide you, my readers, with relevant, important and up to date information that will help you in your business success. It’s just a quick summary, on various topics of interest, that I am sure will be relevant to your personal and professional success.
If there are particular subjects that you would like to receive information on, let me know. And if you want to share relevant information I would be happy to include it to my readers. Please feel free to send your information to me.
10 Tips to Get People to Act on Your Emails
by Jessica Strelitz, Smart Blogs
“Want to be more innovative? Stop doing all the stuff that is wasting time and sapping energy.”
Click here to read the full story
The Most Important Question a Manager Can Ask
by Linda Hill & Kent Lineback, Harvard Business Review
“The most effective way to find out what your employees need from you — and to be a better leader — is to ask “What can I do to help you be more effective?”.”
Click here to read the full story
9 Ways to Use Summer to Your Career Advantage
by Andrew G. Rosen, USNews
“As adults, most professions require we that we show up at the office, regardless of the season. While summertime can be considered “lazy days,” it’s actually the perfect time to up your game and advance your career.”
Click here to read the full story
Why Branding Your Resume Produces a High ROI
by Jessica Holbrook, JobDig
“It has been no secret in advertising and marketing for some time now that you need to know your target audience. In a job search it really isn’t any different. You need to know who you audience is, what their needs are and how to communicate the benefits of what you offer.”
Click here to read the full story
Posted in According to Marshall, Branding, business, Career, Quick Tips, Success, tips for 2011 |
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