The reality is if you read a variety of articles or talk to a group of “experts” you’ll actually get a broad range of opinions [...]]]> A certain television station likes to pitch its programming with the slogan: “It’s not reality it’s actuality.”  It’s an interesting statement, although a bit confusing – much like today’s job market.

The reality is if you read a variety of articles or talk to a group of “experts” you’ll actually get a broad range of opinions about the current state of the job market.

The National Association for Business Economics reported statistics indicating there has really only been a marginal increase in jobs due to the stimulus money. However, government reports have shown job losses have actually slowed throughout country for the past four quarters.

If we flip over to the recruiter community to look at the Recruiter Confidence Index, 53% of the industry is confident the job market is picking up. However, if you’re actually waiting for your phone to ring from a recruiter with a job offer, the reality is, you’ll be out of work for a very long time.

A 2009 ExecNet survey polling over 8,000 professionals provides an interesting perspective from the trenches.

• Only 5% of companies polled are still cutting back or have hiring freezes. Many “cut back too far”, with 14% adding positions and 57% looking to “trade up.” These numbers are actually up significantly from this time last year.
• Companies have taken their focus off of retention. The reality of this shift will be a different kind of bail-out with disgruntled employees “jumping ship” once the economy becomes more stable. The irony is that this turnover will place more of an emphasis back on retention making the job you land more stable.
• There are expanding industries. Healthcare and Clean/Green Technologies lead the pack in opportunity with Energy, Pharma/Med/Biotech and Environmental-related industries rounding out the top five.

So what does this really mean for you?  What do you have to do to get employed – now?

Here are a few tips that actually work so you can too:

1. Be positive and action oriented. Shake off the fear, dump the negative perceptions and get to work on your search. You’re still the same competent, skilled and experienced person you were when you had a job. So print up some business cards using your expertise as your title and start networking. You could be a handshake away from your next great success.
2. Get comfortable as an expert. There is something you do really, really well and probably enjoy doing more then anything else. Run with it. Mrs. Fields was an expert in cookies. She was never nominated for the Nobel Prize but she made a big batch of money.
3. Be relevant. No one cares what you’ve done for the past 20 years. Everyone cares about what you can deliver in today’s economy, industry and market. Tell them in simple, concise, personable language. Dump the jargon and be authentic,
4. Be solution-oriented. Forget about the laundry list of responsibilities you’ve had. Talk in terms of bottom-line results. Be the “aspirin for their headache”.
5. Be a master networker. There are no short cuts. This is still the best and fastest way to get employed. Create a profile on LinkedIn (www.linkedIn.com) and join some groups related to your expertise and interests. Interact with groups, associations and other industry experts you can become aligned with. Go to networking meetings each week and be actively engaged. Give and get business cards and follow up with the objective of building relationships. Offer assistance, provide value and make introductions. The more you give, the more you will receive. Remember, people help and hire others they know, like and trust and this takes time. So speed it up and whatever you’re currently doing – double your activity to reduce time in search.
6. Be focused, proactive and strategic. Set objectives for each week and break them out to daily activities. Create a target list of companies where you’d like to work and network your way in. ExecuNet reported that 58% of hires last year were for existing positions. That means 42% were newly created jobs (otherwise known as the hidden job market) and landed by people who acted on this strategy.
7. Be aligned with people and resources that can help you. Get a coach; create an advisory board of positive, connected peers; and build a strong diverse network and nurture long-term relationships.
8. Be smart. Do your homework and conduct research so you can make fact-based decisions about your career to ensure you’re actually working with reality not hype. Just yesterday I actually met five people over 50 who had landed great jobs….really.

Share with me examples of you putting this to work and getting results.  The rest of us want to know.

People come to me looking for help with their careers and businesses and I tell them if we are going to partner, they have to adhere to my three “golden rules”. Thou shalt not prejudge, compromise or assume.

Now that sounds simple enough, right? But how many times each day do we do that?

Many people prejudged [...]]]>

People come to me looking for help with their careers and businesses and I tell them if we are going to partner, they have to adhere to my three “golden rules”. Thou shalt not prejudge, compromise or assume.

Now that sounds simple enough, right? But how many times each day do we do that?

Many people prejudged Grace Groner and assumed a few things about her, including the folks at Lake Forest College in Illinois.

Since it’s been big news this week, you may have heard how sweet Grace gave the school a donation that will enable their students to pursue internships and study abroad. Grace was a lovely, unassuming basic senior citizen so perhaps you can imagine the surprise when the College received her donation. It was seven million dollars.

No one would have ever guessed in their wildest dreams.

In a Chicago Tribune report “Secret millionaire donates fortune to Lake Forest College”, I learned that at age of 12, “Amazing Grace,” as they papers are calling her, and her twin sister were left orphans. They were taken in by a local leading family who paid for them to attend Lake Forest College. She graduated in 1931, never married and worked as a secretary at Abbot Laboratories for 43 years.

As a child of the Depression, her friends described her as “exceptionally restrained with her money.” She shopped for clothing at rummage sales, walked instead of buying a car and lived in a one-bedroom house near the college. She only moved into the tiny, scantly furnished house because a friend willed it to her. It has a smaller living room than most people’s closets.

You might think she was a miserly old hag, but that’s not the case. She had plenty of friends. After retiring she traveled widely and would occasionally give anonymous donations to needy locals. She remained connected to the college all her life, attended football games and donated $180,000 to create the scholarship fund.

When she passed away this January at age 100, God bless her, she gave them her fortune. She made it off a $180 purchase of Abbott stock. Since 1935 she’d been reinvested the dividends and after all the years, it added up.

If you’re in a job search, I’m sure you’ve heard to the point of nausea that networking is key. You probably know that most people get the best leads and introductions once they get beyond their small circle of immediate friends and family.

The problem is we all have a tendency to prejudge, assume and compromise.
There is a little voice in our heads that says:

That person can’t help me…..
They wouldn’t know anyone……
They’re too old, too busy, too important, too removed, out of my industry, out of my life, blah, blah, blah.

This is when I get sick. See, this is the stuff that trips you up and makes any challenge harder than it needs to be.

Grace built her life on a foundation of values. She could have moved up given the very affluent area where she resided, but it wasn’t something that mattered to her. Because she needed so little, she probably had so much. You think she had too many worries. I’m sure her most valued wealth was her relationships and the love she shared with those around her. Even the house where she lived was given to the college for use by the students receiving her scholarships.

As you work your search, I challenge you to build your network based on real values not perceptions and assumptions. Consider what’s important to you in terms of respect, trust, integrity, honesty and perhaps even legacy. How do you want to be thought of and remembered by others?

Then let’s knock the challenge up a notch…… I challenge you to go out and meet 10 new people this week. (Ten a day if you’re highly motivated)… And Don’t Compromise. Lock in your number and make it happen. (If you get stuck, send me a post and I’ll “unstuck you” or as my clients tell me, I’ll get your ass in gear again with a not so gentle nudge).

Make a phone call. Go have coffee. Attend a meeting. Talk to folks. Learn more about them. Find out how you may be able to help them. (Their need could be something completely unrelated to you – which is why a diverse network is quite handy). Share you marketing plan and ask for their feedback.

Am I making you cringe? Is the challenge too much? Well think about it anyway. There are very few times in our lives where you reach a crossroads like a job hunt. Besides the worry and anxiety, it opens up options for you. You are given choices and the decision you make can take you a lot closer to where we really want to be. Life is full of surprises….. Surprise yourself with a whole new level of productivity, contacts, information, direction and maybe even a new friend or two. You’ll end the week feeling like a million… or maybe even seven million.

Share your thoughts with me.

What a concept…becoming unattainable for some [...]]]> No matter if it’s voice mail, email, your Blackberry, a text, your next meeting or perhaps  even an letter delivered the old fashioned way – in an envelope with a stamp, every once in a while you have to pull the plug and scream an obscenity ridden with – ENOUGH!

What a concept…becoming unattainable for some degree of time.

I was looking around a website belonging to Harrison Barnes, the Job Guru, and caught his article “The Importance of Disconnecting from Your Work.”  That’s exactly what he’s promoting and I can only say, “He’s right on.”

Check out the opening lines of his post:

Some of the happiest, most well adjusted, and most effective people I know are also people who have a profound ability to disconnect from their work. They can disconnect rapidly and put themselves in another state of mind which does not involve work.

It’s interesting how he uses the word “profound” to describe this skill.  I know what he’s talking about.  I’m driven.  Those that know me understand I run a million miles a minute, answer emails late at night / early in the morning.  I’m at it all hours of the day and it does take a “profound ability” or more like an act of God to get me disconnected.

Now you job hunting executives are no exception to this “disease,” but you’ve got it worse.  You don’t have a defined work schedule.  Even a crazy, highly-driven work schedule has on and off time built into it.  I could be the off time are hard to find, but you know when you’re on work and off.

When you’re looking for work, it becomes your full time job working out of the house.  You run into the same problems typical of small business owners encounter working out of home.  If you can fall out of bed and start hitting the computer the minute you open your eyes.  If you research, fine tune the resume and scan the Internet well past Late Night with David Letterman (or Jay Leno for those fans), when do you disconnect from work?

Let me tell you.  You have to be at your creative best during your job hunt.  You actually have to be pleasant when interacting with possible contacts that can lead you to your next employer.  You have to be open to subtle opportunities that might pop out at you during your day.  You cannot do that well and be at your very best if you work 24/7 and never get any mental rest.

Here’s a word of advice.  Get yourself on a schedule.  Pretend you have a work day and schedule your time accordingly.  Set the times when you’re laptop will be open for emails and when you’ll accept Blackberry (it really is a Crackberry) phone calls and text.  You’ve got the time.  Schedule working out into your schedule.  If it’s getting up to run before or after you drop the kids off at school (hey you can do that now that you’re off work), going to the gym at a set time or attending Yoga or spinning classes at a set time, commit to doing it.

You owe it to yourself and more importantly, it will:

• Relieve stress
• Keep you more centered (meaning you won’t freak out at everyone as often)
• Improve your effectiveness and efficiency (You really will get more work done.)

To keep yourself honest, share whatever commitment you make with your spouse, friend or coach (that’s where folks like me come in) and do what you say you’ll do.

This should be a help now when you’re looking for work and later when you land your next position which just might be around the corner.

You both have to manage your turf and keep the grass from growing under your feet.

I bet you never knew you had so much in common. But “mowing down” these sod (and sad) analogies, let me ask, “Do you have this in common [...]]]> He’s the expert on the greens…….. You’re the expert in the field.

You both have to manage your turf and keep the grass from growing under your feet.

I bet you never knew you had so much in common. But “mowing down” these sod (and sad) analogies, let me ask, “Do you have this in common too…….. Avoidance Behavior?”

When life throws you a curve ball no matter if it’s an accident with your car (combined with an affair) or a crash to your career, there are certain things you have to do…………

You need to be pro-active not reactive. Tiger hoped that by staying quiet, this issue would blow over. If Tiger had managed the communication the ugly details around his accident up front, perhaps there wouldn’t have been so much initial speculation now would there. When you become proactive in your career search, you manage the situation rather then letting the economy or age biases or other real or perceived situations dictate your outcomes.

You need good strong messages that direct not deflect. By not saying anything, Tiger is letting other people come to their own conclusions (even before the really ugly stuff came out) about the events that took place. Are you one of those people who say, “I’m not comfortable blowing my own horn” (hmm…horn….car… the relationships are amazing aren’t they). But I digress…. When you don’t communicate with clear powerful messages that tells people how well you’ve managed the events and experiences throughout your career, they will also come to their own assumptions and I know you know what happens when people assume.

You need to be able to step up to all kinds of situations. Tiger has been front and center as an athlete and a spokesperson. He has confidence and charisma on the course and in front of a camera. However, his current situation is much more uncomfortable and he’s backed off. Don’t let this happen to you. You have the same ease and appeal in the things you excel at. When you have to get beyond your comfort zone and do things like make a cold call, ask for help, share your “elevator pitch” or effectively network with people you don’t know – don’t back away. Maintain consistent integrity in your behavior.

Avoidance may seem like a great option at the time, but it’s behavior that won’t make you a master.