Category Archives: General Career Advice & Tips

Why Staying Employed Can Hinge On Some Superficial Criteria

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This weekend I read in one of the newspapers careers sections about some research done by Hays Recruitment about how employees are now more focussed on dressing up for work.

According to this research and article, due to the uncertain economic climate employees are increasingly fearful of losing their jobs. Based on the Hays research it seems an increasing number of employees are opting to dress more formally during the work week, including on casual Fridays for fear or losing their jobs.  It strikes me given this that employees don’t have much faith in how organisations measure employee productivity!

The idea of ‘been seen’ and ‘looking professional’ by the right people (your bosses etc) at work still pervades.  Being seen is more important than productivity and output. Perhaps this is due to many organisations still unable or unwilling to put in place measures to actually understand and measure their employee’s productivity.  Instead of focussing on output, many are still focussed on the old school way of tracking performance.  While I can appreciate some professions are easier to measure than others in relation to output by each employee, such as sales – there are certainly more effective systems that can be incorporated for tracking output across all professions that are less superficial.

So it seems that if you are at work on time and work the set hours (often recorded via your security pass and/or computer login times), are seen by the right people and look professional your likelihood of staying employed are increased.

Share your views on the subject. Have you experienced this in your career? Do you think organisations need to be better equipped to measure employee productivity?

Liars Poker, Hitting the Wall & Finding Meaning in Your Work

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I found myself re-reading the Financial Review article, ’Hitting the wall – Michael Lewis figures out what went wrong, 30 January 2009’  by Michael Lewis, author of Liar’s Poker over the summer holidays.

For those of you not familiar with the book Liar’s Poker it takes you through the fall of Salomon Brothers through the perspective of a former employee Michael Lewis.  One of the key figures in the book is the “immensely rich chairman of Salomon Brothers, John Gutfreund.”  Gutfreund was eventually forced to resign from Salomon Brothers, and supposedly fell on harder times. Lewis tracked him down to find that he was working on a panel about Wall Street at Columbia Business School. “When his time came to speak, he advised students to find something more meaningful to do with their lives. As he began to describe his career, he broke down and wept.”

The book Liars Poker and article provide a fascinating read on a number of levels, particularly around the trading and packing of the mortgage bond. As I re-read the article the message of having a sense of meaning and purpose in your work emerged. A topic that I covered in a previous post ‘Questions to Help You Find ‘Meaning’ in Your Work’

While for some, the concept of having meaningful work may appear soft or perhaps simply impossible – the reality is that for most of us having a meaningful work life, brings a sense of purpose and satisfaction. Would Gutfreund have experienced this insight had he not fallen on hard times? I would like to think so.  Regardless, it certianly offers food for thought.

 

Powerful Words to Sell Your Skills, Engage the Reader & Get the Interview

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Most Executives and Senior Professionals find preparing their resume a challenge. As a result the resume is put together quickly and reluctantly, and reads like a chronological list of their education and work experience. At its basic level this is what the resume needs to be, however if actually want your resume to stand out and engage the reader, more energy needs to go into how you write about and sell your skills and experiences. It is difficult for most of us to sell ourselves effectively in a couple of pages of text, yet essential for job search success.

Quantify and Qualify Your Skills!

A sentence that says you have ‘exceptional interpersonal and communication skills’ is largely a waste of text! It tells the reader nothing, yet many resumes have a listing of skills or competencies with no supporting evidence to demonstrate them. You know why you are skilled in certain areas however unless you can communicate them to the reader in a powerful way, they are empty words.

Including specific examples, where you can demonstrate these skills or competencies in a past or current job is crucial as they create a picture in the readers mind and offer credibility to what you are saying. Without it, the words are pointless. If you cannot quantify or qualify everything in your resume (aside from your personal details) then the information is taking up valuable real estate that you could be using to really sell yourself to the reader and secure that next brilliant role.

Always avoid including lists and sentences that don’t describe in detail with a relevant example your skills or competencies. Rather than, ‘I have excellent client relationship skills demonstrated through 10 years in Sales‘, the example below tells the reader you deliver client satisfaction which is more important than how many years you have been using these skills. Being specific and outcome orientated wins hands down.

Example: Client Relationship Skills: In over 100 client assignments I have never received negative feedback from a client. I have used each new project as an opportunity to develop my client relationship skills to ensure their continued satisfaction.

Below is a listing of words to assist in selling your skills more effectively in your Resume and in the interview. These relate to everything from data to people and systems. Using powerful action orientated words create a positive impression.

 Accomplished  Administered  Analyzed  Built  Completed  Composed  Conducted  Controlled  Coordinated  Created  Decreased  Delivered  Demonstrated  Designed  Developed  Directed  Eliminated  Established  Evaluated  Expanded  Founded  Generated  Guided  Implemented  Improved  Increased  Initiated  Instructed  Invented  Launched  Led  Maintained  Managed  Modified  Motivated  Negotiated  Organized  Originated  Participated In  Performed  Planned  Produced  Proved  Provided  Recommended  Reduced  Re-organized  Researched  Revised  Saved  Sold  Solved  Streamlined  Supervised  Trained

The resume is often only looked at when you change employers. Such an important document warrants more attention and together with these tips you should see your resume have more impact.

Tips to Write & Sell Work Achievements in Your CV

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Achievementsare a critical part of your resume, perhaps more important than responsibilities, and therefore should be given prime resume real estate. Ensure that any achievements that are already listed on your resume are engaging to the reader and actually quantify or qualify what you have achieved. If they are fairly un-inspiring due to how you have presented them, either edit or remove them and update with more exciting and relevant examples. When describing your achievements, remember to think about how your reader is interpreting what you are saying. A couple of well written, relevant examples paint a more positive and engaging picture and far outshine a long list of basic and poorly written achievements.

Consider reading the following statements whilst reflecting on your more recent jobs. Take down notes of situations that come to mind.

Have you designed or introduced a new process that may have increased efficiency or sales?

  • Have you solved a difficult problem?
  • Have you received any awards?
  • What has been your experience with managing or training difficult people?
  • Have you mentored or coached colleagues or those external to your business?
  • Have you developed a new system, a product, etc?
  • Have you designed something?
  • Can you think of something you have done for the first time?
  • Have you prepared any reports, papers, articles etc that others could not?
  • Have you saved your company or department money?

It is worth compiling this information as it happens, get into the habit of documenting your achievements either as they occur or regularly with enough detail that you can recall what you did when it comes to updating your resume. With these examples at hand, it will help enhance your resume and create more compelling stories for the interview. When documenting your achievements, it is important that they are detailed, relevant and engaging to the reader. Below is a weak and strong example of the same achievement.

Weak Example: The introduction of new rebate initiatives, that was successful in saving the company a substantial amount of money.

Strong Example: I successfully negotiated revised annual trading terms by offering lower rebate terms to the company’s key accounts through incentive targets and the introduction of promotional rebates. This initiative generated a cost saving of $700,000 within six months of the change.

If you are unsure if your achievements are coming across strongly, ask a colleague or friend to review.

The Benefits of Putting Yourself & Your Career Goals Out There

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I have been fortunate to have had a great start to the year.  Upon reflection I had done a fair bit of the preparation in 2011; however luck certainly has also been on my side.

In early January 2012 I was surprised and delighted to be called by a producer from ABC radio to come and speak on Prue Bentley’s drive program on the topic of making a career change.  Having never done radio, to make my debut on talkback radio was certainly moving me out of my comfort zone. I adopted the attitude that I know and am passionate about my subject matter, which helped put me at ease. It also helped that the staff at the ABC Radio station were all friendly fantastic people.

This call did not come out of nowhere, as in 2011 I had some ideas for career related radio segments. I put out proposals to various radio stations, some via network introductions and others cold. I received the ‘no thank you’ messages as well as some ‘no responses’. The approach I took is what I encourage my careers clients to undertake when making a job or career change. And the responses I received were very similar to those in the job search process.

In 2011 no one was interested in what I had to pitch, which also shows you timing is everything. It also highlighted that because you are not snapped up right away, it does not mean there is not a market for what you have to offer.

There are many benefits to putting yourself out there, rather than simply applying for jobs via the traditional channels. The difference is that it can take time, and also relies on building relationships.  It requires a strategy and extra effort.  Most importantly it relies on moving out of your comfort zone – which is not easy I know.

If you have some career ideas or dreams for 2012,  be it about growing your personal brand (via public speaking, writing etc), changing jobs or careers, setting up your own consultancy or sideline business, volunteer work, a board position etc, I encourage you to put it out there, as you never know what will come back.

Share any stories you have where you have put yourself out there in terms of your career, and what it led to.

Job Seekers & Career Changers Monthly Newsletter – Subscribe Today

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Each month I produce a highly regarded newsletter that is read and appreciated by successful professionals and executives throughout the country looking to get the most out of their careers. The newsletter contains job market updates, careers related articles and resources, tips, jobs of interest, plus information about management, leadership and professional development.

To subscribe to the monthly newsletter plus go into the draw to win a terrific new iphone cover ‘have a nice day at work okay….’  Winner to be drawn early March 2011. Email your details to kellymagowan@hotmail.com including in the subject line the word ‘newsletter’.

Book Review ‘How to master networking’ by Robyn Henderson

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“Trust is built by repetition – the more they see you and get to know you better, the more trust is built.”

My husband attended a presentation by Robyn Henderson  via one of the events held by an industry association he is a part of.  He came back from the event with the book ‘How to master networking’ and speaking very positively about Robyn and her networking advice.

I could not help myself from reading the book as I had to find out what great information Robyn had to share on the topic that had got my husband so inspired.

Pleasantly I found that the book was short and easy to read with lots of easy activities to follow. The advice imparted is just as relevant for those who are self employed as for those who are job seeking or looking to progress their careers.

The book offers a lot of practical advice in addition to the support tools to assist you with implementation, management and measurement of your networking.  It covers everything from time management, to tips for shy or nervous networkers, conducting yourself at networking functions and generating referrals.  My only observation with the book is that includes very little about online networking. The books focus is very much about offline networking, which is equally as important as online.

While reading the book, it became clear that while I do some networking, I certainly don’t do enough of it, nor am I am member of enough groups or associations.  Robyn states that we need to make networking the #1 priority every day. Something I will certainly be working on for 2012 with the advice from her book.

If you feel that your networking skills need to be improved, I would recommend this book.

If you have read the book, I would welcome your comments or if you have any great networking tips for us all.

How to Set Your Career Goals for 2012 & Make January Count!

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Welcome to 2012.  It is the start of a new year and for those of us willing to put in the effort, hopefully it brings lots of new and exciting challenges on the job and careers front.

Already I am hearing stories of those that have spent a year or few wanting to make a job or career change, deciding that this is the year it will happen. If this is you, then I encourage you to start today.   Too often we let the month of January slip by without achieving anything on the professional or careers front. While it is certainly a time for relaxation, family and friends, it is also the perfect time to set your career goals and undertake the less onerous tasks that will lead to achieving these goals.

When it comes to goal setting, the key is to start with the end goal and work back from here, enabling you to put in place a manageable plan that will keep you both focussed and accountable throughout the year.

  • Have you thought about what you want to achieve on the work front this year? Be it a promotion, further study, leadership training, more networking, a new job, a new career etc.
  • Write down a few of your objectives for this year, giving them priority and timeframes. i.e. to be working for a top ASX listed company as an IT Manager leading a small team, earning 10% more than I currently do by July 2011
  • What information are you missing? Who do you need to speak to? What actions do you need to take to start things moving?
  • Create an excel spreadsheet or something similar with a sheet for each month of the year. Within this include the required actions to work towards achieving your goals. Keep this document updated, ensuring that you are looking at it and making progress each week. As you see the activity and results, your motivation will naturally increase.

The above suggestions are simple ways to start the process. And as we all know the hardest part is often just getting started. Once the momentum builds, great things can be achieved.

For further tools and career support, including a ‘free electronic copy of the Career Strategy Tool’ email your details to kellymagowan@hotmail.com. In the subject line include ‘career strategy tool’.  There is also a lot of great information available online, via professional Career Coaches and through the Career Development Association of Australia (CDAA).

A Few Social Media Terms to Help in Your Job Search

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Social media is so much a part of our lives these days, and if not so much our own, chances are it has consumed our children’s, nieces’ and nephews’ lives. Terms like ‘trending’ have been added to our vocabulary in recent times.

12. Trending: A word, phrase or topic that is popular on Twitter at a given moment.

17. Tweeps: Twitter + People = Tweople.

21. Link bait: Designed to attract incoming links. News and widget hooks are good examples.

This short post THE TOP 25 SOCIAL MEDIA TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW on Social Media Today gives a snapshot of the key terms.

How much influence do our parents have over our career choices?

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Whilst completing the Resilient People Program these past few weeks, there were many interesting discussions, of which a couple covered the themes of children often going on to work in the same fields as their parents. Another was ‘smart’ high school students often selecting study and careers in fields that hold a high level of ‘status’ such as medicine or law. The general consensus was however that this does not translate into a satisfying career. Understanding more about what drives these decisions could certainly assist both children and adults in achieving a more meaningful worklife.

In relation to children following in their parents career paths, there are probably a few reasons for this; being most kids admire their parents and so want to please and perhaps think selecting the same or a good ‘high status’ career to be a way of achieving this.

Others like me select study and career path by default. Not sure what I wanted to do after school, I followed in my father and eldest brother’s footsteps in studying economics. I did not have enough information about other careers or any understanding of who I was – my skills, values, personal attributes and so on.  I did not last long in my economics degree before happily finding humanities – which was the perfect fit for me.

Interestingly as one of four children, three of us studied economics (two going on to have careers similar to my father’s) while the other selected law. This leads into the second discussion around ‘smart kids’.  This discussion was prompted by the research by Dr. Carol Dweck on Fixed and Growth Mindsets This topic provides a whole new interesting discussion in itself – again very pertinent to our own careers and that of our children.

I and no doubt others would be interested to hear your views or research on Smart Kids, selecting high status fields of study and work. Also, around study and career selection of children that follows in their parents career paths.